A Challenging Person Helps Me Improve

(Minghui.org) I am 48 years old and began practicing Falun Dafa in 1998. I cannot express my gratitude to Master Li in mere words for leading me in my quest. In recent years, Master arranged for a challenging person to help me cultivate.

This challenging person is a man one year younger than me; I would call him Mr. Wang. I transferred to a less busy department in 2020. Although my income was less, I had more time to practice cultivation. I worked with two other ladies, and was very happy there.

Mr. Wang was an employee of another company doing services at our company. He was mainly responsible for equipment maintenance and daily inspections. I was polite to him when we first met. He needed a knife to peel an apple, so I quickly handed him one. After using it, he asked me for a tissue to wipe it. I said, “It’s okay, I’ll wash it.” So I took the knife and washed it. But I was a little unhappy, thinking that he should have cleaned it himself. I heard my two colleagues talking about him with a bit of disdain sometimes.

Soon, I was transferred to another branch. Mr. Wang also maintained the equipment there. My partner told me to put away the drinks for lunch, otherwise Mr. Wang would take them. I was a little suspicious. How could a man take things from a woman?

I didn’t put my drinks away. He didn’t take it the first time. The second time he saw the drink, he said, “Oh, I’m thirsty. Do you have any water?” I thought he might be really thirsty, so I handed him the drink, and he drank it. Later, whenever he saw the drink, he said he was thirsty. I finally understood why my partner and other colleagues spoke this way about him. Since my mother also liked the same drink, I hid it. When he came the next time and didn’t see the drink, he asked my partner and me for some.

He sometimes asked my partner for food if he didn’t have breakfast. He didn’t ask me for it because I just ate crackers. Sometimes I made some snacks for my partner, and I would offer him some. When I asked him about some work-related questions, he would say, “I cannot tell you something for nothing. Give me some snacks in exchange.”

This made me very angry, since I thought friends should treat each other with sincerity. I treat him as a friend, but he is only concerned about his own self-interest. I gradually realized that he was always trying to get something from us. A colleague said that he would not do anything unless he could profit from it. My dislike for him grew day by day.

Later, I learned that everyone who came into contact with him was annoyed by him. Because I was more concerned about my reputation, and I thought that I was a cultivator and should be kind to others, I basically gave him whatever he asked for. Although I didn’t want to do it, I wouldn’t say no. I often thought to myself: “I am a cultivator. I cannot be as petty as him. Maybe I owed him from my previous life. If he wants it, I will give it to him.”

He needed us to sign on the days he came. Sometimes he put down more working hours, or he did not come, and asked us to sign. At the beginning, I didn’t think there was any problem. I thought we all worked together, and I shouldn’t make things difficult for him, so I just signed. I thought about the fact that I am a cultivator, and this wasn’t truthful, but I was too embarrassed to refuse.

He would ask, “Why are you so nice to me,” when I gave him something to eat. I felt unhappy to hear that, as if I was being nice to him for some purpose. Later, my partner was transferred to another branch, and I was left alone. He tried to sit next to me when he came to the office. I immediately stood up and paced around the room. He was a bit lustful and annoying. I kept my distance from him.

Sometimes I also talked with him, and clarified the truth to him. Once, after he was hurt by the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) policy, I comforted him and told him to withdraw from the CCP. He finally agreed to do so. I was very happy and thanked Master for saving him.

After a while, he went to our headquarters to provide the service. I was very happy that he left. But I was also transferred to the headquarters soon after. Mr. Wang bought drinks for everyone to smooth out the relationships. I didn’t want any because I knew he was stingy, and it must be hard for him to spend all that money. He often acted as if he were our superior, and he sometimes would order us to do this or that. He still wanted food from us, and before long, almost everyone was annoyed with him.

I sometimes asked him work-related questions. If he didn’t know the answer, he would beat around the bush and make it so confusing that no one could understand him. Once I asked him which one is the UPS power supply? He ignored me. I asked him again in the afternoon. He looked at me, pointed at the distribution box angrily, and said loudly: “This is the UPS power supply.” Then he slammed the door and left.

I was stunned: “How had I provoked him? So that is a UPS power supply? Why do I feel something is wrong?” I searched online and found that it is a battery pack that provides backup power. I looked and found that it was the big black box next to the distribution box. Now I was angry. How could he lie to me? No matter how much I offended him, he shouldn’t lie to me. All my past negative perceptions of him came back to me, and I felt uneasy for days.

But I am a cultivator, and this state is not right. Is there something that I did wrong? I remembered that he was working that day, but the person he was working with was on the phone all the time. He must be unhappy. But I told him to be considerate of his colleague. I didn’t consider his feelings at all and thought everything was his fault. No wonder he was so angry. It turned out that I was indeed wrong.

I noticed one time that he looked down on others in the way he spoke and acted. Afterward, I thought about Master’s Fa. I wondered if he looked down on others, did that mean I also looked down on others? When I looked inward, I realized that I had this attachment. I would often feel that I am a cultivator, and that others cannot compare. They understand things as ordinary people. I am superior to them.

Although I didn’t show it, I thought so in my heart. At work, I would feel that I worked harder, knew more, and was more attentive than others. Only then did I understand that Mr. Wang is a mirror that reflected me. Then, the lustful behavior that he exhibited may also be present in me? When men were nice to me, I would automatically wonder if they had some thoughts about me. Isn’t this lustful? I was so embarrassed.

Since he always wanted food from us and always wanted to benefit in some way, did it mean I also have the same problems? Am I nice to others because I want others to be nice to me and to help me when I need it? When he asked me to sign something false, wasn’t he helping me get rid of my human attachment to not wanting to reject people? He is truly here to help in my cultivation, allowing me to see so many of my attachments.

As I continue to practice Dafa and look inward, I no longer see so many annoying things about Mr. Wang. Instead, I feel that he has many good qualities. I am grateful to Master for arranging this person to help me cultivate.