[Celebrating World Falun Dafa Day] “The Cafeteria Completely Changed After You Came”

(Minghui.org) I started practicing Falun Dafa in 2014. During these eight years I truly experienced the splendor and beauty of Falun Dafa. I’ve had so many wonderful experiences that I think I could write a book. I’d like to share with you the story of how I began the practice.

Practicing Dafa Ends My Physical and Mental Exhaustion

I grew up in the countryside. My father died when I was young, and I dropped out of school to work at home. Because I didn’t have much education, I struggled to read the newspaper and I could only write a few words. Trying to find work in the city was even more difficult. Because I was less educated, I couldn’t find easy or well-paying jobs, so my life was hard and exhausting.

Before 1999 I read a family member’s copy of Falun Dafa’s main book Zhuan Falun. I struggled to read and had difficulty understand the meanings of the words. Maybe it’s because I have a predestined relationship with Dafa, I knew Falun Dafa was special.

In the summer in our area when the sun is about to set, it appears big, red and round. One day, I noticed the sun was turning, it was beautiful. It spun fast, sometimes clockwise, sometimes counter clockwise. As long as I looked at it, it spun and I knew no one else could see it.

I was fascinated by the world and didn’t realize how good and precious Falun Dafa is. I didn’t persist in trying to practice. Thinking back now, I regret that.

In 2014, exhausted physically and mentally, I suddenly recalled Falun Dafa, and I decided I wanted to practice. I made up my mind that I must practice no matter what. Since then, my health improved. All the pain disappeared. It felt so good to be free of disease!

After I began practicing, Falun Dafa opened up my wisdom. I can read all the Dafa books fluently, which for a nearly illiterate person is really amazing. I follow Falun Dafa’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, remind myself to be kind, and considerate of others when things go wrong.

I changed, and so did my family. I now live in harmony with my husband and children, and I have a warm family. My family saw the changes in my health and outlook on life, and they all encouraged me to practice Falun Dafa.

“The Cafeteria Completely Changed After You Came”

In the second half of 2021, I was hired by a kindergarten as cafeteria staff. When I first arrived, I noticed that the floor was covered in water, rice, vegetable leaves, etc. No one bothered cleaning the floor. Because there was also spilled cooking oil, it was slippery.

The entire cafeteria was dirty and greasy. It looked like the doors of the storeroom and the lounge hadn’t been cleaned for years. There was a thick layer of dirt, and the originally white doors had turned black. I thought to myself: This is a kindergarten canteen. The hygiene is so poor, is the food the children eat clean?

There was a chef, baker, fry cook, and some helpers working in the cafeteria. One person per post is responsible for one task, and everyone is also responsible for cleaning an assigned area. I heard that several of the prep staff left before me. They only finished their own work but did not clean up their area under the excuse of heavy workload and exhaustion. Over the years, the sanitation in the canteen was very poor.

After I arrived I thoroughly cleaned the canteen. I scrubbed the dirty doors. I scraped the ground with a scraper, gradually clearing away all the filth. The entire cafeteria looked refurbished.

When I first began working in the cafeteria, the baker said to me in private, “These people in the cafeteria look good on the surface. But in fact, they are not at all harmonious and scheme against each other every day.”

She also told me, “No one likes the chef. He often slips and falls. Sometimes he can’t hold a plate of rice, and drops it. His hands don’t seem to work well. He sneezes several times a day but doesn’t cover his mouth.” Indeed I had noticed this when I first arrived.

Whenever the baker complained to me about her grievances, I enlightened her with the principles that I learned from Dafa. I said that one can be a good person according to the standards of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. We must learn to understand others, be kind to others, and tolerate their shortcomings.

I also said that no matter how bad he was in the past, how many shortcomings or faults he had, we should give him a chance to change if he realizes them and wants to change and to be a good person. If more people can be good people based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, then the environment we live in will become better, and everyone will benefit from it.

At work, I strictly require myself to behave according to the standards of a cultivator, and take every process seriously: I wash the vegetables, cut them into shapes according to the requirements of the dishes, and sort them into categories; clean up the canteen, and work carefully.

Every day when I go to work, the baker tells me to do this and that, and she also says that this job is yours and that job is yours. I don’t care or argue. I do whatever she asks me to do. I treat everyone kindly, help them with their work whenever I have time, and I have a good relationship with everyone.

When the people in the cafeteria saw my words, deeds, and behavior, they were moved. The environment in the cafeteria changed, the atmosphere has become harmonious, and the relationship between the chef and others has become better.

“I’ve worked here for three years, and this cafeteria has never been so clean,” the baker told me emotionally. “Everything changed after you came. Before you came, the prep staff was so tired every day—cutting things from morning to afternoon. But I see you do it quite happily and easily.”

Not only did she say that, but so did the chef, the doorman, and others. I know that Falun Dafa has given me a healthy body, super strength and energy. I can do more work with less effort.

“Why does the chef look like a different person?” one woman said, “He used to scold people, even the nurse upstairs. He doesn’t scold anyone now.”

The baker also said that the chef often scolded and bullied her. I later learned that her husband died when their child was very young. It was hard for her to raise the child alone.

After I went to work in the cafeteria, I never heard the chef swear at anyone. He changed a lot. I noticed that over time he was able to hold things and seldom dropped anything. He also seldom sneezed. The baker said, “His problems are gone.”

She said, “When the previous prep person left, he went to the director and complained about me and the chef. Especially the chef was under scrutiny. If you didn’t come, the director would have fired the chef. After you came, everything changed. The chef never cut vegetables before you came. Now he helps you cut vegetables.”

Now no one goes to the leadership to complain, and every meal is guaranteed to be served on time. Because the atmosphere of the entire cafeteria has changed, people get along well with each other. While doing their job well, they take the initiative to help others. No one feels stressed and everyone is relaxed. They said that I was their little savior, and if I didn’t join them, they would have broken up.

Seeing the change, I truly enlightened to what Master taught us,

“We subscribe to the belief in saving all living things, and not just achieving our own liberation. And so the Falun benefits you as it turns inward, and others as it turns outward. When it turns outward it disperses energy, to the benefit of others. So whoever is within the range of your energy field will benefit, and might find it noticeably pleasant. And you might have this effect on people wherever you are, be it out on the street, at the workplace, or at home. You might be unwittingly rebalancing the bodies of whoever is in your presence, since it has the power to correct anything not right. And that includes the ailments of the body, since the human body is meant to be free of such things; illness is not the normal state of the body. Similarly, your field could have the power to alter any improper thoughts that might be going through the mind of someone immoral who is in your presence. Or it might cause someone who was about to use foul language to change his or her mind suddenly and not do so. But this is only possible with the field of energy that comes from doing true spiritual practice. You should now be able to understand an old Buddhist saying that goes, “Bathed in divine light, conduct and thought become right.”” (The Third Talk, Zhuan Falun)

My Colleagues are Blessed

I know very well that the changes in the environment at work and in my coworkers come from Falun Dafa. It is the display of the boundless power of Dafa. Whenever I get a chance, especially when the chef is chopping vegetables, I clarify the truth to him. I explain the principles of being human, the principle that good deeds are rewarded but bad deeds are punished. I also explained how I changed after I began practicing Falun Dafa.

Because the kitchen is not large, when I talk, the baker and the fry cook also listen. Whenever I have the opportunity, I clarify the truth to them.

I told them: “Falun Dafa is not at all like what the CCP propaganda claims on TV. The CCP slanders Falun Dafa and they deliberately smear and persecute practitioners. People who practice Falun Dafa always think of others and are kind to others.”

The chef said, “As soon as you came, I saw that you were a good person.”

I gave each of them MP3 player which had information about Falun Dafa. After a few days, I asked if they had listened to it. The chef said he did. The baker said she didn’t listen much. The fry cook said she didn’t listen to it.

The fry cook seemed powerful and seemed to think she was the boss of the cafeteria. She always claimed she was right and ignored others. But I also treat her kindly. Whenever I have the opportunity, I tell them: “When you have time, try listening to the MP3 player. It will be good for your physical and mental health.”

After a while, I gave them truth-clarification letters. After reading it, the fry cook changed a lot. Before that, as soon as I spoke to the chef, she would begin complaining about me.

After reading the letter she stopped complaining. The letter contained my own personal experience and the changes in my body and mind after cultivation. There are also other topics, ancient and modern stories that inspire people’s kindness. They read the entire twelve page letter, which is really remarkable. After that, they all withdrew from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. I am really happy for their choice.

When I first went to work in the cafeteria, no one in the kindergarten knew that I practiced Falun Dafa. Before long, the director of the kindergarten gave me a high evaluation: “Everyone in the kindergarten speaks highly of you. You are very kind.”

One day, the director found out that I practiced. The chef was worried that I would be dismissed. So he quickly spoke to the director and praised me. He said, “Faith is a personal matter. I have worked here for five years, but no one is as good as her or does such a good job.” After listening, the director left without saying anything.

The next morning as soon as I arrived, I heard the chef saying, “I had a good day yesterday. This year’s green onions and cabbage are so expensive, but I bought them very cheap.” He added, “My house for rent has been vacant for so long. I thought it would remain vacant for another winter. But unexpectedly three people rushed to rent my house yesterday. One offered more than the others.” He said excitedly, “Its amazing!”

After I heard this, I was happy for him from the bottom of my heart. I knew he was blessed because he treated Dafa disciples kindly and dared to say good things about Dafa disciples in public. Sometimes the chef is happy, and shouts loudly in the cafeteria: “Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!”

The baker said that she had a smooth life recently. Her son wanted to buy a house, but he didn’t have enough for a down payment. Her family attaches great importance to money. Not being able to raise money bothered her. One day she said that her family actually paid the down payment and helped her son buy a house.

Dafa disciples are cultivating themselves in the social environment, work environment, and family environment. After improving their xinxing, their high-level conduct has moved the people around them, corrected the surrounding environment, benefited all beings, and validated that “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good”. All beings benefit and are blessed.

Falun Dafa has given me hope and a brand new life. Falun Dafa’s blessings to all sentient beings have greatly benefited me, my family, and the people around me.

I am infinitely grateful to Master for his compassionate salvation!