(Minghui.org) I was engaged in a direct sales business selling health products for nearly 10 years. This caused me to take a long detour in my cultivation.
While writing this article, I kept getting interference in the form of sleepiness, and it was hard for me to keep myself together. But I knew that I must write this article to alert fellow practitioners with similar experiences so that they could also correct themselves based on the Fa.
Pursuit of Fame and Gain
I started to engage in direct sales as a way to make a living. At first, I was able to keep telling people about Falun Gong and the persecution, and to advise them to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations.
As my customer base increased and my sales team expanded, I had less and less time to study the Fa and do the exercises. With a lack of Fa study I became attached to fame and wealth, and I started to promote my products and talk about business opportunities, instead of talking about Falun Gong whenever I met people.
Pressured by competition in the industry, I used my chances to clarify the truth about Falun Gong to talk to people about business opportunities and cooperation in direct sales marketing. I was trapped in the pursuit of fame, gain, and emotion.
In the end, I would only study the Fa and behave myself as a practitioner when faced with frustration in my business and in personal conflicts. At the time, I thought I had passed tests well, but when I looked back, I saw that I was using Dafa to find a way out of bad situations, to comfort myself.
I was following the path arranged by the old forces.
Master’s Fa Lecture Awakened Me
At the 2014 San Francisco Fa Conference, in answering a practitioners’ question about how some people promoted direct sales among the practitioners, Master said:
“Whoever does these things is not a Dafa disciple, so don’t regard him as a Dafa disciple no matter how long he has cultivated for.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2014 San Francisco Fa Conference”)
At that moment I suddenly realized that I had made a big mistake, and I immediately stopped doing direct sales marketing.
Master does not recognize the people who engage in this kind of business as Dafa practitioners. I realized how serious a mistake I had made and how big a sin I had committed! I knew then that I had not cultivated myself well. But, because I believe in Master and Dafa, I would never want to undermine Dafa and Fa-rectification.
As someone who started to cultivate before July 20, 1999, I still remember how I felt when I just started. Back then I thought, “The Fa is what I have been waiting for, and my life is for the Fa!” That excitement and joy shook every cell in my body.
Now realizing the present mistakes and sins I had made, I felt that I was not worthy of being Master’s disciple. That feeling was terrible beyond words.
At the 2015 West Coast Fa Conference Master said:
“Each instance of human thinking during a test, each instance of inadequate righteous thoughts, and each attachment that a cultivator has will be seized upon by them as an excuse to drag you down and take you out from among the ranks of cultivating Dafa disciples. This results in our paths of cultivation being full of tribulations as well as danger.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2015 West Coast Fa Conference”)
Whenever I think back about that business experience, I feel scared. I would have lost all the opportunities if Master had not taken on a huge burden and extended the Fa-rectification period so that we could correct and cultivate.
Master Did Not Give Up on Me
When I read other practitioners’ sharing articles before, I often wished that they would include more details so that I could learn more from their lessons. However, when I started to write down my own experiences, I realized that some cultivation experiences are really hard to share.
These mistakes and detours are so shameful for a cultivator! I also came to realize that several of the direct sales business deals I had lost, had they succeeded, would have advanced my direct sales career in a big way. I now realize that the failure of those sales was actually Master protecting me. If I had really made those deals, I could have lost my most precious cultivation foundation.
Dafa practitioners like me certainly suffer different degrees of persecution, and I was no exception. I caught a strange incurable illness. But I knew that Master was watching over me and giving me chances to correct myself.
While I was bearing the bodily torment from the illness karma, Master protected me and gave me hints. I studied the Fa and did the exercises every day. I felt many Falun turning and purifying my body. I knew that this was Master giving me encouragement and hope. Whenever I recall those experiences I cannot hold back my tears.
As far as I know, some Dafa practitioners suffered significant financial losses for engaging in direct sales. Some of them even went into debt. They ran around all the time trying to make money and had no time to cultivate or do the three things. Though fellow practitioners tried to help them return to cultivation, some thought that they had made too big a mistake and that Master would not want them as practitioners anymore. Some felt that they were not worthy of being Master’s disciples; some felt that they had lost their chances; some of them just gave up cultivation.
Master said:
“So what can you do if you’ve made mistakes? Yes, I have said that before the persecution has ended you still have the opportunity to cultivate and do well. And though I have said that, if you really understand what I meant, you should know not to always interpret things to your liking. What I was saying was, you still have an opportunity before the persecution ends. Yes, you still have a chance, but if you don’t make use of the chance that’s provided to you, or if you are still indulging yourself, then you are destroying yourself.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2015 West Coast Fa Conference”)
To Make Up for Losses
Master said:
“If you use Dafa’s resources to make money for yourself, then what you are doing is no different than persecution. You will realize this in the future. This form of interference depletes Dafa disciples’ resources. Resources are limited, and they are meant to be used for Fa-rectification and saving people. In the future, there will turn out to be serious consequences for this.” (“Fa Teaching on World Falun Dafa Day”)
I came to realize that Dafa practitioners themselves are Dafa resources. Activities that try to get practitioners to use their resources for projects not related to Fa-rectification and cultivation disrupts Dafa and resources intended for Fa rectification. I also realized that using the connections we have among practitioners for our own personal interest is committing a sin.
These sins may not show up as bodily symptoms right away, but they accumulate in other dimensions. The accumulated sins may result in ferocious persecution in forms of illness karma. If a practitioner who has accumulated sins of this nature can’t hold up strong righteous thoughts at critical moments, he could lose his life. Some practitioners have also suffered persecution in the form of imprisonment for the same reason.
I did not have contact with many fellow practitioners. Only one practitioner bought products from me. I calculated the overall money she spent buying things from me, and I returned the money to her. I asked her to use the money for projects to save lives to make up the losses I had caused.
In the whole universe Master cherishes us the most and hopes for us to achieve consummation. Master takes on a huge burden to give us more time and looks forward to us correcting ourselves and cultivating ourselves well. If we have the determination to start again, do the three things well, and to save more lives, we can make up for the losses.
Category: Improving Oneself
