(Minghui.org) I am a doctor who works in outpatient clinics. As a Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) practitioner for over 20 years, the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance have become ingrained in my life and work. Falun Dafa is a virtuous cultivation way that improves people’s morality and benefits their physical and mental well-being. Falun Gong practitioners are good people who do good deeds.
Letting Go of Personal Interest
The medical care system in China operates based on profit. Doctors at private clinics all earn commissions, with their salaries closely tied to personal performance. If their performance is good, their salary for the month will be high. Conversely, poor performance will result in a low salary. High turnover rates are common at private practices, since doctors will leave if they cannot make enough money. Sometimes, clinic bosses will assign high earning patients to the doctor, all to prevent the doctor from leaving their clinic. High performers can earn enough to enjoy a stable job in the outpatient clinic setting.
I previously worked at clinic A for six years. Although my performance was not the most outstanding, I had served the longest and was the most reliable employee there. The clinic boss held me in high regard and would transfer his high earning patients to me. By the time they were transferred to me, my boss would have handled most of the diagnosis and treatment work, leaving only a little work for me to undertake. But the patient’s full consultation fees would be calculated under my name, as though I had handled their entire treatment.
At first, I thought nothing of it, believing it to be an alternative form of benefit due to clinic employees. Moreover, I did a lot of miscellaneous work for free at the clinic and considered this my due compensation. Over time, the increasing frequency at which I received this benefit made me reflect internally: “Do my actions conform to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance? I’ve received huge amounts of compensation from patients whom I failed to substantially treat. Isn’t this inconsistent with the principle of truthfulness? My boss did most of the work but got nothing in return. Instead, I received the benefits from his hard work. Can this be considered compassionate?” Moreover, Master Li, Falun Dafa’s founder, has clearly explained the principle of no loss, no gain. A person’s gain corresponds to the extent of his sacrifice. Gain without sacrifice is not possible and a person’s virtue will be taken away as compensation.
As a Falun Dafa practitioner, I should avoid things that are not in line with the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. To achieve a higher income, I should have performed the necessary work myself, instead of taking advantage of others.
The next time this occurred, I declined my boss’s kind gesture and told him I wanted to rely on my own abilities to earn my payment. As the first and only doctor who voluntarily gave up this benefit, my words took my boss by surprise. My boss agreed to follow my decision and at our year-end meeting, he publicly highlighted this matter to the other employees and praised my actions.
Experiencing True Compassion
To obtain a higher professional title, I resigned from my job and studied to pass a test. Afterwards, I took a break to rest before I started working at clinic B, which was close to my home. In recognition of my high professional title, I was given a high base salary. Yet a week after I started work, my boss sought me out. He praised my good character, expressed a desire to retain me, but asked me to agree to a slight salary reduction based on a very flimsy reason. It was already winter by then, and seasonal conditions made it hard to look for a new job. Given the convenient proximity of this clinic to my home and lack of motivation to find a new job so soon, I agreed.
Just as I was integrating into this new work environment, something unexpected happened. The clinic experienced a sudden, sharp drop in the number of patients, causing my monthly income to drop from 210,000 yuan to 80,000 yuan. Moreover, a doctor who had previously resigned came back to work at the clinic. There were so few patients that the boss would occasionally gather several doctors and nurses to play mahjong on the second floor, leaving me to manage the patients alone. The clinic only employed one nurse, whose workload was simply too overwhelming. As a new doctor with a relatively light workload, I would voluntarily help out whenever I had no patients.
After working more than a month, my boss suddenly approached me to discuss another salary reduction. Just like last time, he gave me some flimsy excuses, but I knew this was because the doctor who had previously resigned chose to come back. I had originally been hired to fill this vacancy, but as the number of outpatients dropped, my position in this clinic became redundant.
During the application interview, I had asked if the clinic had enough patients to support each doctor on staff. As the clinic was short on manpower at the time, the boss reassured me the clinic was very profitable and could afford to pay my high salary. He reassuringly told me to accept the position and work hard. Yet with his original employee back, he decided to reduce costs and fire me. During my free time, I helped at the outpatient clinic and even assisted others with their work. Having observed my good work ethic, the boss was too ashamed to fire me directly, and was trying to get me to resign on my own by cutting my salary.
The boss also admitted that, due to a miscommunication between both parties, he had not anticipated the return of the doctor who had previously resigned. By then it was late winter, making it nearly impossible to find a new job. I had to bear the consequences of my boss’s communication error, yet my first thought was that I should not quarrel with my boss. I should show kindness based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
I often recall Master’s teachings:
“You should always be benevolent and kind to others and consider others when doing anything. Whenever you encounter a problem, you should first consider whether others can put up with this matter or if it will hurt anyone. In doing so, there will not be any problems. Therefore, in cultivation you should follow a higher and higher standard for yourself.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
I calmly submitted my resignation and told my boss that I understood his difficulties. The COVID pandemic had placed everyone under great pressure; my boss had to juggle higher operating costs, along with his employees’ wages. My words surprised my happy and grateful boss. I handed over my tasks and calmly left the clinic. My boss subsequently paid me my monthly salary on time, without any deductions.
I had started work at clinic B after nearly a year without getting paid. In addition, my resignation occurred late in the winter season, a period which was difficult to find a job. In the midst of this harsh situation, I asked myself, “I practice Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. What does it mean to be compassionate? In the face of great personal difficulty, I cannot be hateful or complain, but must put myself in others’ shoes and be kind to them.” This is true kindness, and only Falun Dafa practitioners with righteous faith can do this.
A week after leaving clinic B, I found a new job with a higher salary and a better working environment. By following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, I lost nothing and on the contrary, gained more.
A New Start, a New Beginning
I started working at my current clinic about three years ago. When I first arrived, the clinic had only been open for a month with no regular clientele. Founded by two bosses, the outpatient clinic staff consisted of them, myself and a nurse. Of the two bosses, one is a layman without any medical knowledge. Another was a woman named Jane (pseudonym), who was a medical doctor but had not practiced for so many years that her expertise was equivalent to that of an intern. The two bosses managed clinic operations, while I undertook most of the outpatient diagnosis and treatment work.
The medical system in mainland China, whether public hospitals or private outpatient clinics, operate primarily for profit. In private clinics like ours, medical care has become so commercialized that most bosses just focus on creating a profitable business. Finding a conscientious and compassionate doctor is a matter of luck. Patients who meet with a good doctor spend less money. Rotten doctors will cheat their patients and make them pay for worthless medical procedures.
After coming to this clinic, I swore to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I will serve my patients conscientiously and avoid deceiving them for the sake of earning more money. My kind bosses also agreed to follow my philosophy of using high-quality services to win the trust of patients.
I take a serious and responsible attitude towards my patients. During my patient consults, I explain their medical conditions, the treatment methods employed, the things they need to take note of, treatment costs, and anticipated prognosis, so my patients have a better understanding of their own conditions and overall outcome. A clear understanding of the treatment process also eases their anxiety and raises their confidence in my medical skills. Whenever I encounter difficult patients, I try to treat them with the kindness I have cultivated from Dafa. Our clinic has won over many such patients after successfully treating them.
Once, I encountered a mean and demanding middle-aged woman. At first glance, she gave off an unwelcoming vibe. Moreover, her highly sensitized body caused her to react quite badly to my prescribed therapy. After her initial round of treatment, my boss said, “You are in trouble this time; this patient is not going to be easy.” At first, she left a bad impression on me, and I searched for an excuse to turn her away. After further consideration, I realized our meeting was fated. Since I practice Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, why was I failing to empathize with her? A sick person is already suffering, so how could I fault the patient for her bad attitude? I decided to treat her with sincerity and kindness.
By her second consult, this woman’s condition had improved and she started to trust me. Over time, this woman became more and more cooperative and by the end of her treatment sessions she told me, “I will come back to you the next time I get sick.” Many other patients also expressed the same sentiments as her.
Whenever I encounter conflicts in my daily life, I always rely on Dafa’s teachings to put my interests aside and be kind to others. Whenever my boss’s relatives and friends come by for a consult, my boss will give them a big discount. Despite doing the same amount of work for less money, I do not take it to heart and still provide them with the same level of care I give all my patients. Sometimes after receiving a patient with a high consultation fee, I split the work with my female boss, even though I could have completed it on my own. We share the work and consultation fee equally, and this helps her since she also works as a doctor in the clinic and her wages are calculated based on the patients she sees.
When I first arrived, Jane’s medical experience was equivalent to that of an intern. She would ask me questions and I would explain to her without reservation. Her diagnosis and treatment approaches visibly bore my influence. A previous colleague once told me, “Never teach others what you know. You’ll only generate more competition for yourself.” In contrast, the principles of Dafa instruct me to treat others with kindness and sincerity. Besides, Jane’s improved medical acumen benefited our clinic and patients.
Initially, our clinic hired one nurse. Later, the nurse resigned, leaving me, boss A and Jane to run the clinic. Over the three-year duration of the pandemic, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) imposed frequent quarantines, worsening common people’s lives. Business was originally good at our outpatient clinic, but after the CCP’s forceful measures, the number of patients we saw dwindled. To save costs, the bosses decided not to hire any nurses. In between patients, I took the initiative to help out with some of the extra duties. It has been two years since our nurse left, and I have continued to complete these extra chores without complaint and I haven’t asked for a higher salary. My bosses remain very grateful.
In 2022, the city I lived in experienced an unprecedented, severe lockdown for several months. All business activities were suspended, and I had no income for several months. After lockdown measures were slightly relaxed, Jane and her husband drove to my house and gave me a thousand yuan as a welfare subsidy to cover the past few months. I thanked her but declined to accept the money. It had not been easy for the bosses. Besides earning no income, they still had to pay rent to maintain the clinic premises. Master has taught us to be considerate of others, so I returned the thousand yuan and only kept a few food items my boss brought along with her.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival that same year, my bosses gave me a red envelope with a 500 yuan bonus. As the lockdown had just been lifted and our turnover remained bad, I did not want to increase their financial burden and declined the money, only accepting a box of mooncakes from them. Moved by my gesture, boss A said, “We really met a good person.”
My bosses look upon me favorably, and when I told them about being persecuted by the CCP for practicing Falun Dafa, they expressed deep sympathy. Most people possess an innate sense of justice and moreover, Jane had clear insight into the evil nature of the CCP and became very protective of me. Boss A also quit the CCP after some persuasion on my part.
Now, we see an increasing number of patients visiting our outpatient clinic, most of whom are satisfied, repeat clients in our practice. These patients praise our expertise and even introduce their relatives and friends to us. We have even become regular family doctors for entire families. Over the past three years, we have accumulated a sizable patient base and garnered a positive reputation in our area.
Conclusion
Looking back on my twenty-six years of cultivation, I am filled with emotion. Falun Dafa taught me the true meaning of human existence, how to cultivate and improve myself, how to accumulate virtue by doing good deeds, and warned me about receiving retribution for evil deeds. I have learned many Fa principles that ordinary people do not know. In today’s apocalyptic world filled with materialistic desires and temptations, it is precisely because of Dafa’s guidance that I can cultivate compassion, control myself and avoid sinking deeper into a sea of desire. In these troubled times, only Master is leading practitioners along a righteous path to purity.
The CCP’s brutal persecution of Dafa is proof of its extremely evil nature. I hope that every conscientious person will choose kindness and abandon evil. May every kind person remember the phrases, “Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” be safe, and enjoy the blessings of Falun Dafa.
(Selected submission in celebration of World Falun Dafa Day on Minghui.org)
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