(Minghui.org) I met Xiaoli through business contacts, since we both sell products made by the same manufacturers. Whichever of us sold more would be assigned more and better products by the manufacturers. So, naturally, we always competed with each other.
Competition Wore Me Out Mentally and Physically
Xiaoli and I kept redecorating each of the stores and displayed more goods to make the products look better. We both spent lots of time and money improving the appearance of our stores to make them look more elegant than the others.
To attract more customers, we were constantly holding price wars. If one store's prices went down, then the other stores immediately dropped their prices. Thus, we not only lost customers, but we were also always stressed and angry.
Because of this situation and the intense competition, the mental toll was intense. I was afraid that Xiaoli would get more business than I! I could hardly eat or sleep. I became very thin and was always tired. I felt life was a chore.
After I Read Zhuan Falun, I Became More Positive
In 2006, I was very lucky to obtain a book, Zhuan Falun. This book contains the following sentence:
“You do not know what a tiring life he leads: He cannot eat or sleep well; he fears losing self-interest even in dreams…” (Lecture Nine in Zhuan Falun)
I was amazed that the person described in the book was me!
I kept reading and discovered the following in Zhuan Falun:
“From the perspective of a higher life, the development of human society progresses according to the specific law of development. Therefore, what one does in life is not arranged based on one’s abilities. Buddhism believes in the principle of karmic retribution. One’s life is arranged according to one’s karma. No matter how capable you are, if you do not have de, perhaps you will have nothing in this life.” (Lecture Seven)
I began to understand that a person's life was arranged by the Gods long before he was born. Whatever accomplishments we achieve and how much money we earn are predestined, and I had to walk that path. Throughout my life I competed and fought and kept generating more karma, which would need to be repaid during the endless cycle of reincarnation.
I felt life was so sad. I realized that since I had the opportunity to obtain Dafa, I should treasure it. I decided to begin practicing and gave up my pursuit of profit and let go of my competitiveness and jealousy.
I Paid Less Attention to Pursuing Profit, Yet My Business Improved
I began acting in line with the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I became more considerate of others. Several times the manufacturers accidentally gave me more goods or charged me less. I knew I should not take something that was not mine, so I gave the goods back or reimbursed the manufacturers.
The sales people could not believe that there were still people who would do that. They checked the account and found that it was true, so they were very appreciative and thanked me again and again.
Gradually, I gained a good reputation and improved my credibility at the factory. They often delivered the products to me first instead of urging me to pay for them in advance. With the financial pressure gone, my business kept getting better. I sincerely treated everyone around me with kindness.
My Competitor Became My Friend and Got to Know the Truth
When I saw Xiaoli again, I sincerely helped her to select products. There was a limited amount of some of the best products, so I let her take them. Gradually our relationship improved, and we became good friends and talked about everything.
We often went to buy goods together and even had dinner together. Each time, I would pay her parking fee and pay for her dinner.
I knew that Dafa was good, so I behaved according to Dafa’s principles. I knew that as a Dafa disciple my mission was to help people learn the facts and save them. I thought that I should tell Xiaoli the facts about Dafa. I told her, “You noticed how much I've improved, right? It's because I now practice Falun Dafa.”
I told her, “Master told us in Zhuan Falun: 'considers others first when taking any action,…' (Lecture Nine)
"So I could not hurt others to promote my own self-interests and I need to be a good person."
Xiaoli was surprised and said, “I trust you and I believe you are a good person. But do not promote Falun Gong to me because I don’t believe in it.”
I said, “I do not wish to promote anything to you. The Buddha Fa is only for saving persons with a predestined relationship and not everyone has the chance to obtain this Fa. Without that predestined relationship, you could not obtain it even if you wanted to. You were fooled by the false news on TV. The ‘Tiananmen Self-immolation' was staged by the Chinese Communist regime.”
I continued to tell her what Falun Gong was and why it was persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). After carefully listening, Xiaoli was very surprised: “So that's how it is!” I saw that her mind was opened, so I advised her to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. She instantly agreed.
Look Within, Get Rid of Attachments, and Save More People
I looked for opportunities to talk about Dafa to our product manufacturers and dealers in other regions. Some did not support my belief in Falun Gong because they were influenced by the CCP propaganda. Others were afraid of the CCP, so they said bad words to me and claimed they would stop doing business with me.
I kept a positive attitude in dealing with them. I knew that every good fortune I had was granted by Master.
Master said in Zhuan Falun: “If something is yours, you will not lose it. If something is not yours, you will not have it even if you fight for it.” (Lecture Seven)
After returning home, I started to look within and asked myself why this was happening. Was it because I had been selective about whom I approached to see if they would quit the CCP, so I wasn't able to truly save them? Is that why they had such a negative attitude? Clearly I needed to cast off this attachment.
Slowly, some people began accepting the truth and quit the CCP, but some still refused to accept the facts. They even told Xiaoli to stay away from me and tried to isolate me. Each time, Xiaoli would stand up for me and said, “I will continue to keep her as my friend. She is indeed a good person and I trust what she says.”
Competitive Enemies Become Fellow Practitioners
Xiaoli was influenced by me after she had dealt with me for a long time. She started to adopt the standard of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to regulate her behavior and to be an honest business person. She tried not to take advantage of others. If she charged her customers too much by mistake, she would give the extra back if possible. If not, she would not keep the money.
Both of us gained a better reputation in our field of business during the recent economic slowdown in China. Even during the bad economic times, our businesses were not affected very much. Some manufacturers heard about our good reputation and looked for us to sell their products. It was hard for us to represent all of the brand names. There were too many to count.
Xiaoli noticed that I was healthy and had lots of energy. Although I had quite a few stores, I wasn't stressed out. She really admired me. She said, “Being a cultivator is very good and you have a happy and positive attitude. I want to cultivate, too!”
She bought a whole set of Dafa books and Master’s exercises instruction DVD, and she started to learn Falun Gong and practice the exercises. She even taught her child to practice with her. She also started to tell people the facts and helps people quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
We went from being competitors with strong self interests to being Falun Gong practitioners who are always considerate of others.
