(Clearwisdom.net) In 2003, I obtained employment with a private company, dealing with imports and exports. I had only a little knowledge in this area of business. I started at the bottom and worked my way up to become the department head within two years. The owners of the company appreciated my work. During this process, I gained a better understanding of maintaining righteousness while conducting business. I am writing my personal experience to share my understanding with fellow practitioners. Please kindly help me understand any shortcomings I may have.
At the very beginning, I was busy with my work and almost forgot that I am a practitioner. Only after returning home in the evening and reading Falun Dafa books, did I remember to measure myself with the Fa, therefore I completely separated my cultivation from my work. My understanding of the Fa was basically focusing on clarifying the facts to people. As for the three things Teacher requires us to do, I took a one-sided approach and thought it was merely posting the facts on walls, handing out fliers, reading Dafa books and practicing the five sets of exercises. Therefore, I did not meet the requirements of doing the three things in my actual work and I even seldom mentioned Falun Gong at work. I was basically in a state of indifference.
Not until the end of last year did I realize that I had taken a one-sided approach in my cultivation and failed to understand the things that happened in my daily life from the perspective of the Fa, and instead I relied on my notions while trying to understand the Fa. Actually, what had happened in my work directly displayed my xinxing level. Teacher said in Teaching the Fa at the Conference in New Zealand, 1999:
"Work is not cultivation, yet everything that is displayed among ordinary people is a reflection of the cultivator's mind--one's cultivation behavior will be reflected in one's work."
At the beginning of this year I negotiated a deal with a client. At the time when the client was about to pay the deposit, an engineer in our company insisted that I must talk to the client about one of the details before he pays the deposit. The result was that the client postponed submitting the order form. I was almost angry about it and complained to the engineer, "Why do you think so much about these trifles? Can you not talk to the client about these details after he paid the deposit?" The engineer pointed out to me, "This is irresponsible toward others." After I thought about it, I realized that my thought had not been righteous. I was seeking short-term successes and quick profits. As a matter of fact, I only cared about my own interests and neglected that of other people. As for ordinary people, they would consider the deal to be secured after their client had paid the deposit. However, as a practitioner, I should not only care about how much money I could be earning. This is not right. We must walk on the righteous path all the time during our cultivation and be responsible for others. Most important of all, we must be worthy of the title of Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples. When digging deeper, I realized that seeking short-term successes and quick profits was one of the nine basic inherited traits of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the "scum of society." In countries that pursue sincerity and honesty, one would have to pay back a deposit when a product failed to meet the satisfaction of the client. This is the real ethics in human society and it is wrong to think that one should get other people's money first.
Not long ago an employee from another trading company wanted to sell some very valuable information about their clients to our company because he was a disgruntled employee. When I first heard about this, I thought that this was an everyday people's business. Our company needed to decide whether to accept this or not and it had nothing to do with me. Later, I talked to this person and reported it to the managers of our company as usual. My attitude from the very beginning was to stay out of this and let the managers handle it. I thought that today's people have no longer any moral standards, and since I am a practitioner it would be good if I can keep myself clean. When fellow practitioners reminded me, "Why do you think this has been disclosed to you? Do you really think it has nothing to do with you?" I had to agree and realized, "Don't we try to walk on a righteous path when faced with these things? If I really consider my company's and other people's interests, would I have a second thought about it?" We must play a very positive and righteous role in matters like this. This is part of my responsibility in validating the Fa. Therefore, I talked to our company managers about my thoughts and explained to them that if the company was supposed to receive any benefits they would not be lost. But if the company is not supposed to have any, they could not get any even if they tried it with all their might. I also talked to them about how to be good people, how to manage a company, and the relationship between people's moral standards and the development of the company. Finally the managers of our company agreed not to accept this information.
This issue helped me to understand the principle of:
".. the Buddha's light illuminates everywhere and rectifies all abnormalities." (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)
When we are on the righteous path, everything around us will position itself accordingly. Therefore, our company would achieve better businesses because they made the right decision. My only regret was that I failed to position myself correctly when meeting with that person in the first place. I only dealt with this person the way everyday people would and looked down upon this person.
How did I let go of the attachment of seeking fame? It took me quite some time to achieve this. For a long time I had not solved the issue of my residence registration and because my records stated that I had been in a forced labor camp, I could not apply for a passport. As a result I lost many opportunities to go abroad. From the surface it seemed that I could easily deal with this and that no matters of everyday people bothered me any more, since I did not care about personal gain. However, whenever others raised this issue, I felt wronged and sometimes shed tears. When other people displayed their passport in front of me, I usually could not remain calm. I would think, "It doesn't really matter whether I am able to go abroad or not. After all, even though they can go abroad, they are still not as capable as I am as far as business is concerned. Another reason why I cannot go abroad is because I was put in a forced labor camp for being steadfast in my belief. Without this entry in my records, I would be able to go abroad." This was how I tried to comfort myself. I had this attachment of validating myself and seeking fame and it was buried deep down in my heart, but I had not noticed it. This had dragged on for too long. Recently when I recited the "Lecture Two" of Zhuan Falun, I realized that it was a very serious attachment to vanity. What was it I really wanted to show off? What did I really want to achieve? Did I live just for competing with everyday people to see who is more capable? Why could I not accept the possibility that others were better than I? Was it because I felt ashamed that others were better than I was, and therefore this would impede my leadership ability as a department manager? After I found the attachment of seeking fame, I instantly enlightened to a lot of things and therefore the feeling of being wronged disappeared.
I also want to discuss some basic issues about engaging in business.
In my spare time, I developed some clients of my own and earned some money. Every time, I received money, I knew clearly that it was given to me by Teacher, so I used the money for Dafa purposes. At the time my elder sister, who had deviated from her path of cultivation, had lots of debts. She also owed money to another practitioner. In other words, that heavy debt of hers caused that particular practitioner to have financial problems. I thought that it was the old forces that persecuted us financially and my sister was arranged by them to persecute our local practitioners as a whole. Therefore, I thought that Teacher let me to earn this money so I could help my sister to pay back her debts and thereby giving her a chance to return to Dafa quicker without creating too much karma.
Therefore, I helped my sister to pay back a lot of her debt. My condition for helping her was very simple, I requested that she return to Falun Dafa as soon as possible. I always thought that it was arranged by Teacher and to allow my sister not to accumulate too much karma, so that she was not burdened by everyday people's debts and she could thus realize her mistakes and mend her ways. However, the old forces used this thought as an excuse and manipulated her to further intensify their persecution of us. My sister's attitude had also changed from feeling embarrassed at the beginning, to absolutely justifying her actions by accepting the money. She acted as it was perfectly alright to borrow money from us and force her debts upon us, as if we were responsible for her debts. Later, the old forces used her to persecute us financially, which occurred in all sorts of ways. At one point, she was hospitalized and other family members quarreled with us about the benefits. All of a sudden, my husband and I had incurred money problems at our respective homes. These interferences forced me to rethink and to find where my loophole was. Why was everything that happened to us related to money? Finally, I enlightened to the fact that after all, I did not position the basis of my own business correctly. My sister used to be a practitioner, but she deviated from the Fa and whether she could return to Dafa depended entirely on herself.
"I'll earn some more money to settle my family down well so I won't have to worry about anything. Afterwards, I'll practice cultivation." I would say that this is your wishful thinking. You are unable to interfere with the lives of others, and neither can you control others' fates, including those of your wife, sons, daughters, parents, or brothers. Can you decide those things?" (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
Using the excuse that I should pay for my sister's debts, I used my own business to earn more money. This was my attachment of affection among family members which was not arranged by Teacher.
I often asked myself, "As a Falun Dafa practitioner I should take fame and gain lightly, then why do I need to earn so much money? What should I spend it on? What was all this about on my path in this human world?" Finally I realized that the money I was earning at this time, was to be used for validating the Fa. Anything else was not arranged by Teacher but by the old forces, which tried to persecute us financially.
If I set my basis on how to enjoy a good life among everyday people, instead of on saving people, then I must exchange my virtue for money. Teacher states clearly in Zhuan Falun on the issue of healing illnesses,
"You are giving away your inborn quality to another person for karma. With more karma, how could you practice cultivation? Your inborn quality will be totally ruined by that person. Isn't that scary? That person's illness is gone; he feels comfortable now, but you are suffering at home. If you heal a couple of cancer patients, you will have to take their places. Isn't this dangerous? That is just the way it is, and many people do not know the truth." (Lecture Two, Zhuan Falun)
During the process of doing business, if we fail to face it with a practitioner's standards (Pursue nothing and gain naturally. Be honest and not deceitful. Observe morality and justice. Do not be prompted by self-interest. Trade fairly and have a righteous mind.) we will fall into the money-earning process of everyday people, and therefore be dragged further away from Dafa by the old forces in the opposite direction until we are completely ruined.
Now when I conduct business, my purpose is no longer to see how much money I can earn. It was only the path I needed to take at that moment. During the process of doing business I must blaze a new path for the people of the future. Dafa has always been the main theme, therefore I only need to walk my path righteously. At the same time I must save the people who have a predestined relationship with me. These people are waiting for me to save them.
Now, whatever we are doing in the human world, practitioners always play the main role. If we act in accordance with Teacher's requirements, then we are walking on the righteous path. If we deviate from the Fa then we would be walking on the path arranged by the old forces. In this play we would certainly reach Consummation and set examples for the future people to follow.
These are some of my understandings that I enlightened to while conducting business over the past six months. Since my understanding of the Fa principles is limited, please kindly help me understand any shortcomings I may have.
