(Minghui.org) I have worked as a tour guide for nearly 30 years. Before I started practicing Falun Gong, wealth was my only goal. I fooled many tourists into thinking that I was considerate, but I was taking them to shops where the owners gave me kickbacks.
Also, the tourists paid in advance for high-quality meals. After I lowered their expectations, I took them to less expensive restaurants and pocketed the difference.
The managers and owners of some new tourist sites did not know that tour guides expected kickbacks, so I made excuses to avoid going to those places. Some of my co-workers asked me to teach them how to squeeze money out of our customers.
A person I knew well asked me to attend a Falun Gong experience-sharing conference in 1998, and a Falun Gong exercise site near my house started soon afterwards. I learned the five Falun Gong exercises and also read Zhuan Falun, the primary book of Falun Gong.
However, I was extremely busy at work, and I did not continue reading. On July 20, 1999, Jiang Zemin, the former head of the Communist Party, initiated the persecution of Falun Gong. TV programs kept slandering Falun Gong, and I stopped practicing. Fortunately, in 2004, I took it up again.
My dishonest ways of chasing money were against the practice's primary principles, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I was also breaking another Falun Gong principle “No loss, no gain” (Lecture Two in Zhuan Falun). I realized that I was incurring debts and stopped asking the restaurants to serve my customers poorer quality food. However, I kept seeing the large sums my coworkers were returning with and the satisfied looks on their faces. Out of envy, I returned to cheating my customers.
As a consequence, I experienced extreme pain while I was meditating, which I realized was a warning. I contemplated some of the words of Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong:
"Amidst your critical self-interests, are you moved? Amidst interpersonal mindgames, are you moved?" (Lecture Eight, Zhuan Falun)
"As a truly-determined practitioner, one is able to endure everything and give up or care less for any attachment in the face of various self-interests. As long as one can do this, it will not be difficult. Those people find it difficult because they cannot let go of these things." (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)
I kept studying the Fa, my righteous thoughts kept strengthening, my xinxing rose little by little, and I was finally able to let go of my pursuit of self-interest.
I made less money than before, but every day my mind was at ease. My smiles were real, and I pleased my customers without even trying. I applied Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance when interacting with my customers, and they felt it, which laid a good foundation to tell them the truth about how Falun Gong is being persecuted.
When my supervisor gave out assignments, I was no longer picky and even volunteered for the tours the other guides avoided, which took pressure off my supervisor. I thought about something else Teacher Li said:
"Since studying Falun Dafa, these workers have been coming to work early and going home late. They work very diligently and will do any assignment the boss gives. They also no longer compete for personal gain..." (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
When I was arrested and sent to a forced labor camp, my supervisor told the public security agents and the 610 Office personal that I was an excellent tour guide. He also told my family many times that, when I was released, I would have a job waiting for me with the company.
I was afraid of telling tourists about Falun Gong for a while after I was released. Through Fa-study, I realized that Teacher has rescued us and given us the Great Law so that we can share it with others. I have a mission. If I let fear hold me back, then I would not meet the standards Master Li set for us. (In the East, “Master” refers to a respected Teacher.) He said:
"What is a 'Dafa disciple'? Whom Master teaches are precisely you, these disciples of Dafa. You are being cleansed, being tempered to maturity, and made ready to save sentient beings. These are Dafa disciples." (“Fa Teaching on World Falun Dafa Day”)
I began to make use of many opportunities at work to explain to people how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is persecuting Falun Gong.
On one occasion, I explained the facts to an elderly couple. The husband said, “We would have had no way to learn truth if you did not tell us. The best part of this trip was what you told us.” With happiness on their faces, they withdrew from the Party and accepted a copy of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party on the last day of their tour. I appreciated this opportunity that Master arranged for me to increase my virtue.
Many tourists commented that I looked young. I used these opportunities to tell them that I practice Falun Gong and that it healed my ailments. This opened up their minds to hearing more about the practice and the facts about the persecution.
On another occasion, I was assisting an unhealthy tourist as we walked in a cave. I volunteered to carry all her heavy belongings. She was touched and said I looked healthy. I said that practicing Falun Gong enabled me to have strong body.She walked slowly, so we were behind everyone else. She listened to me and said, “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”
I often shared a room with other tour guides, which was a way to tell my coworkers about the persecution. One young guide I roomed often played games on her cell phone to avoid talking to me. This went on for several days, and I nearly gave up.
I woke up at midnight on the morning we were to leave. One thought lingered in my mind: Each of us goes her own way in the morning; many are waiting to be saved. Master said:
"The responsibility of Dafa disciples is to save sentient beings and validate the Fa.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Meeting on Writing Music”)
“All beings are waiting for you to save them.” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa-Fa Teaching Given at the 2011 Washington DC Metro Area Fa Conference”)
“As long as he is someone you run into, you should save him.” (“What is a Dafa Disciple”)
I decided not to give up. If I did, she might never have another chance to learn the truth about the CCP's crimes, and I would shoulder that responsibility. When she woke up, I told her the facts and helped her to quit the CCP.
I am grateful to Master for giving me so many opportunities to help others through my job. Recently, I even helped a coworker learn the exercises and get started reading Zhuan Falun.