(Minghui.org) I am a young Falun Dafa practitioner that began cultivating Dafa 19 years ago. I was offered a job after I graduated from middle school, five years ago. Even though the morality of society has been sliding down tremendously, the Dafa’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance has guided me to be a kind person with a pure heart.
Falun Dafa’s founder, Master Li Hongzhi, said:
“When it’s hard to endure, try to endure it. When it seems impossible to do, or just hard to do, give it a try and see just what you can do.” (Zhuan Falun)
Displaying the Demeanor of a Practitioner During Adversity
I work for a small private company with a total of three employees. My co-worker Ying (alias) is two years older than I and had a lot more work experience than I did when I first started with this company.
Ying often gave me a hard time. I resented her, but because I am a practitioner, I looked the other way.
I often arrived at work early. Ying was always late getting to work in the morning. Sometimes she would be half-an-hour late. As a result I would have to stay late to help her finish her work at the end of the day.
As a Dafa practitioner I have to be strict with myself and behave better than ordinary people. So I came to work earlier and left work late. I was not merely obeying our company’s rules. As a Dafa disciple, I have a moral responsibility to do my job well and set a good example.
When Ying was faced with a lot of work, she would be in a bad mood. At those times she spoke rudely to customers and was reluctant to do anything. She would direct me to do this or that job with the excuse that it was impossible for her to finish all of it by herself.
Following the Fa Principles Without Regret
I was not happy with Ying in the beginning because she never helped me when I was very busy, yet she always expected me to finish her work for her. But I knew that a practitioner should not argue with everyday people, so I still helped her finish her work and completed mine as well.
During a national holiday, Ying, our boss Ming (alias) and I took turns taking time off and each of us had half a day to rest. More customers were expected in the afternoon so there was more work to do then.
Ying asked to work the morning of the holiday but Ming had other ideas and they had a conflict about it.
Master said:
“For us cultivators conflicts come up suddenly. So what should we do? If you always keep a compassionate heart, and a peaceful state of mind, when you run into problems you’ll handle them well because it will give you space as a buffer. If you are always compassionate and friendly to others, if you always consider other people when you do things, and whenever you have issues with other people you first think about whether they can take it or whether it will cause them harm, then you won’t have any problem. So, when you cultivate you should follow high and even higher standards.” (Zhuan Falun)
I talked to Ming and offered to work on that holiday afternoon to help resolve their conflict.
In the beginning I did not like Ying. I wondered why I got stuck dealing with such a person? I felt wronged. With this resentment in my heart I increased my Fa study. By doing so I was able to improve my xinxing.
I asked myself: “Why did I feel wronged? Didn’t that indicate that I was the same as her? Is there any difference between us if I harbor such bad thoughts and feelings? Doesn’t it expose my attachments to competitiveness and jealousy? How could I blame her?”
I decided to cast off those attachments. I kept studying the Fa every day; my mind was broadened. In the past when I helped Ying complete her work I was secretly upset. Now I maintain a very kind and peaceful mind.
Master said:
“Now, you know that in our discipline we don’t avoid the ordinary world when we cultivate, and we don’t shy away from or try to escape from conflicts. Right in the thick of this complicated ordinary people’s environment you’re clearheaded, you get shortchanged while you know full well what’s happening, and when other folks compromise your best interests you don’t fight tooth and nail like they do, and you’re taken advantage of while all kinds of things try to drag your character down. In a grueling environment like this you temper your will, you improve your character, and here, with all kinds of bad thoughts from ordinary people preying on you, you manage to come out of it detached.” (Zhuan Falun)
I felt that I had already grown on my cultivation path and was truly a good person. I was no longer upset, I realized that everyday people acted the way they did to protect their self interests.
Master said:
“So what's their state of mind? It's tolerance, an extremely immense tolerance, being able to accept other beings, and being able to truly think from other beings' perspectives.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.” from Teaching the Fa at the Conference II)
I truly let go of those attachments and asked Master to strengthen me to do better and adjust my work environment. Soon, when Ying asked me to finish her work, Ming told her to do her own work.
Dafa Broadens the Mind
As soon as I found my attachments and let go of them, the environment at work improved. Ying no longer asked me to help her finish her work.
Ming and Ying used to be very abrupt with the customers. Once I rectified myself based on the Fa they became very polite when speaking to customers. I was always polite and now they were being polite as well.
Ming often heard our customers compliment the quality of my work and my personality. I was surprised last month when she added 400 yuan to my salary. It’s been less than two years since I started to work for this company and nearly 2,000 yuan has been added to my monthly salary since I was offered the job.
I am a Falun Dafa practitioner and follow the Dafa principles. I work very hard to demonstrate to people around me the true behavior of a practitioner. Dafa taught me how to behave kindly and helped me have a broad mind.
I treasure each person and every incident I meet with everyday. I use the compassion gained from Dafa to help the people I meet take a righteous path.
Category: Improving Oneself
