(Minghui.org) Greetings, Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I realized that the job a Falun Dafa practitioner holds in everyday society not only allows us to financially support our family, but is also an opportunity for us to cultivate, validate the Fa and save people.
I hold a sales job and I worked at different companies over the years. I meet many different people every day. My interactions with them provide good opportunities for me to remove my attachments and notions. I noticed that if an attachment isn’t eliminated, it repeatedly surfaces until I get rid of it.
I’ve cultivated for 27 years and felt that I'd eliminated my jealousy. One incident showed me that my jealousy was still there.
Several years ago I met a former coworker, Tang. He told me that he just bought an expensive car and seemed to live a luxurious lifestyle. I hired Tang before I left that company. We got along well, and had similar financial standings. It was hard for me to accept that he was doing much better than me, but had less work experience. I couldn’t curb my jealousy no matter how hard I tried. I felt terrible, but didn’t realize it was an attachment. It occasionally occurred to me that my jealousy was at work, but the thought was quickly replaced by my strong notion. Besides feeling jealous, I was also upset.
Seeing that I failed to notice my attachment, Master had my boss demonstrate the manifestation of jealousy to me. My boss had a good relationship with the manager at another company. But after that manager was awarded the outstanding employee of the year, my boss started to distance himself from him and badmouthed him in front of me every day, and said that, “the outstanding employee” wasn’t outstanding.
Seeing how jealous my boss was, I began despising him, instead of looking within. I thought, “You two were good friends, and now you belittle him because he won an award. This is obviously sour grapes.”
Seeing that I didn’t get the hint, Master arranged for another person to wake me up. I went on a business trip with sales person Bin. One day he talked to me about Tang, saying that he was an agent for several products and sold them in our stores. But instead of paying the stores proper commissions and rebates when the products were sold, he kept them.
I was shocked that Tang made money by losing virtue. I was no longer jealous of him—instead I was worried about him. I was sad to see how a once sincere and kind person became like this in the corrupt society under the communist regime. I suddenly saw my attachment to jealousy, and how it made me ridiculously mad. It scared me when I realized I was so absorbed by it that I couldn’t see it or rectify my thoughts.
The hardest part of eliminating an attachment is understanding that my thoughts and actions are the result of it. Sometimes we think eliminating an attachment is hard. In my view it’s because there’s a large amount of karma behind the attachment that needs to be transformed before the attachment can be eliminated. Also, there are infinite sentient beings in our world that need to be rectified and saved while we eliminate our attachment.
When I couldn’t see my own jealousy from my boss’s jealousy of the other manager’s success, when a practitioner can’t see his attachment in the world of unknowing, what can we do? First of all we must diligently study the Fa because it’s the foundation for us to tell righteous from evil, and good from bad. Second, we should treat things that happen between us and others as mirrors to reflect our notions. When conflicts arise, we should not first think about what the other person did wrong, or how to change others. There’s a reason why others do what they do, and it’s to remind us of our own notions.
Once I found my jealousy, my boss and that manager got along again—like nothing happened. I later discovered a pattern: when I had problems with fellow practitioners, one of my two bosses (co-owners of the company) criticized the other one behind his back. Once I improved and worked well with other practitioners, my bosses immediately got along.
After passing the test about Tang, I stopped feeling jealous of others’ material gains. I understood that when they die, no one can take anything with them—no matter how rich they are. The material gains were obtained at the expense of virtue, which is needed for us practitioners to build our gong energy that will follow us for eternity. The mighty virtue a practitioner built during Fa rectification is colossal and forever. Why am I jealous of some short-lived material gain?
I also learned that I still cared about the so-called “wonderful life” and didn’t want to give it up. So, I felt uncomfortable when rich and powerful acquaintances showed off their wealth in front of me. I also felt a sense of inferiority, which hindered me from properly clarifying the truth to them. Now I don’t have any of these feelings, and I can treat everyone, rich or poor, with compassion. They are all Master’s family members, and we should try our best to save them, instead of feeling that we are against them. When I rectified my notions, no one show off in front of me anymore.
Now I constantly remind myself that whatever I see in others, I should first and foremost find my own problem and what causes it.
Our company had two electric motorcycles to transport heavy goods and deliver products. Due to frequent use and poor quality, we had to replace them every few years. One year, when it was time to get new ones, the female boss strongly objected. Everyone including me resented her for being too stingy and disregarding our safety.
I resented her so much that as soon as I rode the electric motorcycle, I couldn’t stop complaining. For a few days I had severe heartburn. When I took a sip of water, the pain would spread from my throat to my stomach. I quickly negated the idea that I had esophageal cancer. Days later, I suddenly realized that as soon as I began to complain, the pain started. Obviously, it was related to my resentment.
One day as I was riding the motorcycle, I thought to myself: Did I feel unsafe riding it? Is it because I had to make several trips instead of one when I delivered heavy goods, due to the weight limit of the old motorcycle? Was I annoyed by the female boss who was selfish and stingy?
As I examined myself, I told myself that as a practitioner, there was no reason to feel unsafe because Master would protect me. The trouble of making several trips to deliver goods was nothing compared to the torture I endured in the forced labor camp due to the persecution.
I also remembered a story of Buddha Milarepa. When his Master told him to build a house on the mountain, the requirements kept changing. As a result, Milarepa had to tear down and rebuild the house repeatedly. His back bled and was covered with sores and pus. He did not once complain about his Master, who later explained to him that he was using this process to help him eliminate his karma.
I was ashamed and awakened, “Isn’t suffering a good thing? The motorcycle isn’t running well, so I’d drive it slowly. The goods were too heavy and I can’t finish delivering it in one day, so I’ll come back and finish it tomorrow. What’s there to be upset about?” As soon as I accepted using the old motorcycles, my resentment disappeared, and my esophagus stopped hurting. I felt relaxed and laughed out loud.
After I returned to the company, the female boss came to me and apologized, “We do need new motorcycles.” I felt calm, as I knew the reason she opposed it was to expose my attachment. Master arranged this to help me improve.
The male boss later got two new motorcycles which could carry twice the load. He also traded off the old ones for 900 yuan each. The new motorcycles are very good quality and don’t need to be replaced every two years, just the batteries. Everything worked out so well.
I used to become very irritable when I was busy and tired. After this incident, I no longer feel angry no matter how busy or tired I am. When Falun Dafa requires us to be tolerant, it does not mean that we just control our temper when we are resentful or angry; it requires us to not become resentful or become angry in the first place. When I improved my xinxing, the bad elements in me disappeared.
However, my resentment later manifested outside of work. There are many reasons behind it, especially when my interest, ego, reputation, and feelings were challenged. Behind it were hidden all kinds of human notions, which I need to eliminate.
Many of my attachments and notions were exposed in different settings over the years and I was able to use such opportunities to improve my mind: I learned how to handle anxiety and worries well in stressful environments; how not to slack off even in a relaxed working environment; how to respect others and be tolerant when people failed to do their work well; and how to stay calm and properly communicate with others in different situations.
The entire society is for us to cultivate, especially at work; there are constant opportunities for us to improve. Although we can't pass the tests every time, it’s important that we keep improving no matter how hard the situation is.
Over two decades ago I was sent to a forced labor camp because I refused to renounce Falun Dafa. Before I was released, a guard asked me what my plan was for the future. I said, “I’ll find a job, and tell more people the facts of Falun Dafa and the persecution.” I have fulfilled that plan in the past 20-plus years.
The nature of my job allows me to meet people every day. Master led people who have a predestined relationship with Falun Dafa to me so that I could clarify the facts to them and help them quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
A former coworker who became a sales person elsewhere asked me to help her design advertisements for her products. We scheduled to meet in one of my company’s stores. The day of the appointment, she brought the regional manager of her company with her. He looked very familiar to me but there was no way I met him before.
At some point during the meeting, everyone left for various reasons, and he and I were alone. I took the chance to tell him about Falun Dafa and the stone with the words “The Chinese Communist Party Will Perish” discovered in his home province, Guizhou. After he agreed to quit the CCP, I gave him a flash drive with more information about Falun Dafa. As soon as he took it from me, the other people returned to the meeting.
One day after I delivered goods with the new electric motorcycle, two women stopped me, asking for my help to deliver their broken electric scooter to a repair shop. They mistook me for someone working for a delivery company. I agreed to help them since the repair shop was on my way back. I clarified the truth to them on the way, and persuaded them to quit the CCP. The same thing happened another time with a husband and a wife.
It’s my belief that as long as we wish to improve, Master will arrange opportunities for us to clarify the facts to people.
The outcome of truth clarification depends not only on our cultivation state but also on whether we can customize our approaches based on people’s backgrounds and preferences.
In 2012, Wang Lijun, the former police chief of Chongqing ran to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province to seek asylum. I was interested in the political infighting between the officials and used this incident to clarify the truth. At first, I got good results referring to it, so I always talked about the incident in my truth-clarification.
Many of my customers were female and felt this issue was boring and irrelevant. I suffered a little setback and began to look within. I came to the understanding that politics and military are often men’s preferred topics, but not for women, who were more into lifestyle, health, and fitness. From then on, I talked to the female customers about issues they were interested in. The conversations went well and so were the results of truth clarification.
When I initiate conversations with men, women, old, young, religious or not, I use topics they are interested in to build the common ground and enhance interactions. I listen carefully when people talk about things I don’t know, and incorporate them into my talking points. The wonderful stories published on Minghui.org of practitioners from all walks of life are also great materials for me to attract people of different backgrounds.
Sometimes when I clarify the truth to people, it’s like I’m holding a story-telling session. They all happily listen, and before I ask them to quit the CCP, I already answered any questions they had.
When time allows, I try to clarify the truth from various angles. One time I visited a relative and several of her friends were also there. I chatted with them for several hours and one of them said to me, “You talked about so many different things. I feel I benefited from listening to you. Young man, be sure to visit us often.”
One of our store clerks treated practitioners well after I clarified the truth to her. One day she began to repeat the CCP’s propaganda that defamed Falun Dafa. Her attitude changed after the CCP launched a new campaign attacking Falun Dafa online and in the news. I knew that I had to further clarify the truth to her. I loaded pictures related to the Tiananmen self-immolation, live organ harvesting, and the Hidden Character Stone on my cellphone and showed them to her. She quickly understood what really happened in the persecution. Other store clerks also saw the pictures and learned the truth.
What impressed me the most over the years in my truth clarification are the incredibly kind people I talked to. They are pure and benevolent, free from influence from this degenerate world. They trusted what I said and quit the CCP without hesitation. When I told them how practitioners are brutally tortured, they wept. Their reactions made me feel that all the hardships I endured were worth it so these special lives can be saved.
In our cultivation, no matter what we do, we do it for ourselves. Master looks after us and endures karma for us, without asking for anything in return. When I fail to pass tests, I remind myself that I can not be depressed and beaten down by evil elements. When I fall, I must get up as soon as possible. Even if I am the worst among all of Master’s disciples, I’m still a Dafa disciple, and I should continue to walk on the path Master arranged for me.
I know one thing: only Master and Falun Dafa can genuinely change a person’s nature, save him, and deliver him to the new universe. It’s very important that we study the Fa well and assimilate to the Fa, for it’s the foundation for us to rise from tribulations and fulfill our cultivation path.
Thank you, Master!