(Minghui.org) I overcame many tests and tribulations, both mental and physical, after I began practicing Falun Dafa in 2008. I would like to share an incident that happened in 2016.

Besides farming, my family breeds sheep to supplement our income. One day my husband, who is a practitioner, attached two sheep to his tricycle and was on his way to sell them. Along the way, he met someone who offered him 1,200 yuan for the sheep. He thought it was a reasonable price, so he agreed.

The money my husband received was all in 100 yuan notes. When he returned to our village and tried to purchase something with the money, he was told that his 100 yuan note was fake. The shop attendant even put the note through a detector and verified that it was indeed fake. My husband was shocked, so he took out all his notes to have them checked. All of the notes were counterfeit!

My husband was upset, as was I when he told me what happened. The 1,200 yuan was gone just like that. To us farmers that was a hard-earned, large sum of money. We both felt helpless and were at a loss about what to do.

It suddenly occurred to me that I was a Falun Dafa practitioner and I shouldn't get upset. I calmed down and remembered what Master taught us,

“Therefore, from now on when you come across a conflict you should not consider it a coincidence. This is because when a conflict occurs, it will take place unexpectedly. But that is not a coincidence—it is for improving your xinxing. As long as you treat yourself as a practitioner, you can handle it properly.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)

I said to my husband, “Don't fret. What happened was no accident. We may have owed that person something, or we may even have deceived or swindled him in our previous lives. This may have happened to allow us to settle old scores. Even if that wasn't the case, since that man defrauded us and gained at our expense, which according to the principle of “no loss, no gain” in Zhuan Falun, he has given us virtue in return. In that case we shouldn't resent him, but should thank him!”

My husband suddenly smiled and said, “You’re right. Let's forget about it. But what should we do with the counterfeit money?” I said, “We were tricked but we certainly can't pass them off to others, because we are Dafa disciples. We practice Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, so we have to be strict with ourselves. I think that we should burn the money!”

He hesitated briefly, shocked at destroying so much money, but then said firmly, “Alright, we really don't have any other option!” We made sure that every yuan note went up in flames, and we both felt relieved afterward. We felt as if we had finally burned off our attachment to money.

Master said,

“Hardship is the repayment of karmic debts, and things that don't go so smoothly enable your xinxing to elevate. That holds true for ordinary people as well, in fact--it's all about removing karma, and when someone is rid of his karma he will be well-off in his next life. It's just that people don't realize it. A cultivator is to reduce his karma, improve his xinxing via cultivation, and in the end achieve Consummation.” (Fa Teaching at the 2008 New York Conference, Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. VIII)

Master also said,

“So whether it is good things or bad things you run into, so long as you cultivate in Dafa, they are all positive, to be sure.” (Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005)

I think we have done the right thing and have followed Master's teachings. Although we lost 1,200 yuan, we did not feel bitter in the least. We instead felt relieved that we passed this heart-wrenching “test.” Master's teachings gave us the courage, strength, and righteousness to avoid temptation and to achieve peace of mind.

The above is my experience. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate in my understanding.