A Return Journey

(Minghui.org) I have been practicing Falun Gong for 15 years and have benefitted greatly. It was Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance that purified my body and soul. It was Falun Gong that enabled me to let go of the pursuit of fame, self-interest, and sentimentality. I have gradually become a better and better person, as well as a better manager. This is the reason why no persecution can ever stop me from practicing Falun Gong.

15 years is not a short amount of time. It is enough for a new generation of people to grow up. Sometimes I ask myself what kind of person I would have become if I had not practiced Falun Gong.

I am responsible for operations management for a large investment firm. I manage projects worth tens of millions of yuan. I report to no one. I only need to report to our investors. I have no supervisor. I have no auditor. The investors trust me. They trust me as a Falun Gong practitioner.

If I had not practiced Falun Gong, I might have adopted a friend's advice to use some of the investment funds to start my own business and secretly return the funds once I had made a profit. I might have acted like another friend of mine, who ran business operations at a loss until the investors lost all of their investments, and then started her own company.

My money had always been tight until 2013. I would buy dozens and dozens of potatoes wholesale every autumn for the whole year. I would make radish pickles as my main dish for the whole year. I would buy fresh vegetables only occasionally. My sisters once commented, "You have so much money in your hands. Must you live like this?" "That's not my money."

I was sentenced to prison because I persevered in my faith in Falun Gong. When I was released, my husband finally collapsed because he was unable to bear the shock and pressure. He lost the ability to work. We had to pay a high tuition rate for our child. I became the only provider for my family. I am also responsible for determining the salaries for all employees in my company, but I would not give myself any raise in salary because I needed more money. I would not violate Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

15 years ago, before I started practicing Falun Gong, I was fully immersed in the big dye vat of Chinese society. I was surrounded by corruption and vanity. I was surrounded by people who flattered me because they wanted to be part of my projects. We drank, dined at fine restaurants and enjoyed ourselves. I bought a lot of designer clothes. I was rather pleased with myself.

I didn't pay enough attention to my child. I was always on business trips and hardly ever at home. I acted like a queen at work. But the truth was that I was nearly morally bankrupt.

It was then that I found Falun Gong! The Chinese idiom, "stopping a running horse from falling over the cliff," was a perfect description of me at the time.

Teacher said,

"[...] as long as you read Dafa, you are changing; as long as you read Dafa, you are elevating." ("" in Essentials for Further Advancement)

When I first started practicing Falun Gong, I just studied Zhuan Falun (Falun Gong's main study text) on my own and practiced Falun Gong exercises based on the illustrations in Falun Gong. Yet Teacher did look after me. I felt everything in the Falun Gong books is true. I wasn't looking for anything when I was reading these books. Back then my stomach felt very hard and swollen because I overate nearly every day. I also had a tumor in my uterus. I felt listless and frail. About 30 days after I started practicing Falun Gong, all the health problems went away. I became perfectly healthy.

My family was like a miniature of the Chinese society that pursues only financial interests. My daughter was only agreeable when my husband and I gave her money. She did not have respect or affection for us. There was no joy or harmony at home. My husband and I were both busy, so she was left home alone often. After several years of neglect, she became friends with a group of kids who were just as lost as she was. She started having boyfriends at a tender age. She skipped school. She ran away from home. She was nearly expelled from school. My husband and I tried reprimanding her and disciplining her, but she remained unruly.

Eventually I started communicating with her with what I had learned from Falun Gong. One minute she was talking back, but in the next she lowered her head and kept nodding. I realized Falun Gong's teachings are capable of rectifying everything and everyone. I became all the more diligent in studying Falun Gong books. I kept rectifying myself by conducting myself according to Falun Gong's teachings. I started paying more attention to my family, taking care of the housework, and leading my daughter to study Falun Gong books with me. Soon she was completely transformed. She is now an excellent student at school. A nearly broken family is now in one piece again.

Before I started practicing Falun Gong, I behaved badly at work because I made decisions based on self-interest. I had to take care of a lot of problems. It was exhausting. I told lies all the time. I would delay payments and promise to pay when I had money. It was not necessarily because I wanted to keep the money. Sometimes I did it on purpose because I didn't like the person or I was in a bad mood. It was quite random. In hindsight, I was really a bully who took advantage of my power and position. It was just like what is described in Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. I was tainted with the Communist Party's culture. I was a ruffian who enjoyed strife.

I looked down on everyone at work. I might be nice to this person and nice to that person based on my business needs at the time.

I was suddenly inspired by the following passage one day. Teacher said,

"The Buddha School emphasizes cultivating Shan of Zhen-Shan-Ren. Because the cultivation of Shan can generate great, benevolent compassion, and when compassion develops one will find all beings suffering, the Buddha School thus develops an aspiration to offer salvation to all beings. It also has Zhen and Ren, but with an emphasis on the cultivation of Shan. Our Falun Dafa is based upon the highest standard of the universe, Zhen, Shan, and Ren, all of which we cultivate simultaneously. The system that we cultivate is enormous." (Zhuan Falun)

I felt free and relieved all of sudden. I felt that Teacher suddenly blessed me with compassion. I could finally relate to the pain that those people felt when they had to deal with me. I finally understood the pain they went through to force a smile at me in order to be part of my projects. I finally understood the humiliation of my subordinates, who had no choice but to act humble and obedient before me. I could not stop the tears from flooding my face. I could suddenly relate to the pain of everyone I knew of. Meanwhile, I felt sad for my old self.

I felt transformed since then. I felt grounded. I was finally able to put myself in other people's shoes. It was just like Teacher said,

"Upon walking outside this auditorium, many of you will feel like different people, and your outlook will be guaranteed to change. You will know how to conduct yourselves in the future, and you will no longer be so befuddled. It is guaranteed to be this way. Therefore, your xinxing has already caught up." (Zhuan Falun)

Since then, I have conducted myself at work according to Falun Gong's principles when I ran into issues. I do something if it complies with Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance; otherwise, I don't do it. When a client tells me, "If you give me a 20,000 yuan discount, I will give you 10,000 yuan under the table as a reward," I find it insulting as a Falun Gong practitioner. I would tell the client calmly, "I am a Falun Gong practitioner. I mustn't do such things." I return all gifts and cards. Eventually everyone knows that I do business fairly and honestly.

I manage my team based on Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I created a comprehensive evaluation system by which I motivate and supervise the employees. The new revolutionized work environment became relaxed and self-supervisory. People stopped taking free rides because now people are actually compensated based on how much they contribute. I have also ridden the corrupt culture of reporting expenses unrelated to work, such as dining expenses. I explained to the employees the Buddha law of "no loss, no gain" after having gotten rid of the corrupt expense reporting. I pay attention to and respect everyone. I share their joy and misery. My team has become unified. We work together cohesively and help each other out. I was actually inspired by Teacher's teaching to improve the business operations.

I am no longer the type of manager who is only concerned about herself and sees my employees as slaves. An employee's family once told me, "You will never find such a wonderful work organization as this one. We are like family." Her husband responded, "You will understand it if you only know that our boss practices Falun Gong." It is actually Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance that has purified everyone's souls and our work environment. My team members and their family had the great fortune of knowing some Falun Gong teachings. It is the mighty virtue of Falun Gong that allows us to have such a wonderful environment.

There are all sorts of strange clients in today's morally deficient society, but they all share something in common – self-interest. In the past we resorted to violence. We would seal their doors, cut off their electricity, have our security guards beat them up, or ask thugs to deal with them. Violence did not solve problems. It only created more. These clients became our enemies that constantly sought opportunities for revenge. Some clients even threatened to report me as a Falun Gong practitioner to the police. Our clients also fight with each other. They often call 110 (equivalent to the 911 in the United States) on each other. The entire industrial environment was very problematic.

Teacher said,

"Cultivation needs to be integrated with our work. When you run into any challenge in your work, you should always check your own xinxing and be able to examine yourself. When you come across troubles, look at yourself and think: “Why are things happening like this? Have I done something wrong? Is there a problem with my intention? Or is it because of something else?” That is, you should demand of yourself and evaluate yourself with a cultivator’s standard at all times." ("Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Switzerland")

I knew I had not handled things correctly like a pure, righteous Falun Gong practitioner. I merely issued my orders at will and ignored my employees' suggestions. I acted like a tyrant. Teacher said, "Coercion Cannot Change People’s Hearts" (Essentials for Further Advancement II). I must no longer try to solve problems with violence. It is the opposite of Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

I began to work with my management staff to understand our clients' business needs and problems in an attempt to identify why they chose to stand against us. Meanwhile, I continued to rectify myself and solve problems in my team.

I ran seminars and talked to our clients separately. I talked to them with the honesty, sincerity, tolerance and peace that I have attained through Falun Gong. I explained to them the way of running a business with civility and virtue. I also owned up to the mistakes and flaws I had made at work. I had friendly talks with my clients and the results were very good.

One day a client decided that it was our fault that he had suffered from financial loss. He sent the mafia to threaten us, yet I explained the truth to him with sincerity. I also told him that I practice Falun Gong and I am telling him the truth. He stopped fighting and things were eventually resolved harmoniously.

Teacher said,

"While working, your tone of voice, your kindheartedness, and your reasoning can change a person’s heart, whereas commands never could!" ("Clearheadedness" in Essentials for Further Advancement)

Indeed. When we truly think for the best of others, communication and consensus become easy.

Nowadays my management staff are able to communicate with our clients and resolve problems peacefully. When I praised them for their progress, they replied, "You taught us to think of others." This goes to show that Falun Gong's teachings have improved our management style and transformed our management staff.

It is Falun Gong that has transformed me and my work environment. Falun Gong has rectified and purified everything that was tainted. When I treat my employees, clients and everyone around me with compassion that I have attained through my cultivation, everyone here gets along harmoniously. It is truly the embodiment of "The Buddha-light illuminates everywhere and rectifies all abnormalities." (Zhuan Falun)