Disregarding Even Petty Gains

(Minghui.org) I began practicing Falun Dafa in 1998 and it has been 27 years. I have also changed from a young person to someone who is about to retire.

When I first obtained the Fa, I had just begun to work. The principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance deeply moved me. I did not practice for healing or fitness, but wanted to be in line with the principles.

I worked for a state-owned enterprise, and I frequently looked for chances to clarify the facts about Falun Dafa to my coworkers. This required me to lead by example in order to show the goodness of Dafa practitioners. The Fa principles in Zhuan Falun are in fact very concrete.

Master said:

“In terms of xinxing improvement, though, there are many outstanding examples. One practitioner works in a textile factory in a city in Shandong Province. After studying Falun Dafa, he taught other coworkers to practice. As a result, the factory has taken on a new look. He used to take home pieces of towels from the textile factory, and so did the rest of the employees. After he started practicing Dafa, instead of taking things home, he brought back to the factory what he had taken home before. When others saw his actions, nobody would take things home anymore. Some employees also returned to the factory what they had previously taken home. This situation occurred throughout the entire factory.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)

I was quite in awe after reading this passage of the Fa. Because my workplace was doing well financially and provided good benefits, many of my colleagues frequently took big and small things home from work for their personal use. People saw it as normal. To give an example for the types of big things: when a computer was still functioning a coworker listed it as outdated. After the company replaced it with a new computer, he took some accessories from the new computer for his own use and continued to use the old accessories at work. My coworkers even complimented him for being smart. The small things included new brooms, and some people even took new rags home. I am a cultivator and Master has taught us to follow the Fa. Therefore, I should follow what is said in the Fa. I should not behave like an ordinary person. Cultivators have to act according to the Fa's requirements.

A senior colleague who was close to me brought over a set of computer speakers for me to take home. I asked him about it and learned that it was new equipment that he had requested for his work computer. Because he did not need it, he gave it to me. At the time, I happened to have a computer at home that needed speakers. But I recalled that Master had said that some practitioners would not even take towels and returned the ones they took home before. How could I take advantage of this public entity? When my colleague saw that I did not want it, he said that he did not need it anyway and refused to take it back. I left the equipment on my work desk. I never took it home, even after I stopped working there.

With so many temptations, there were times when my heart was moved when no one was looking. When I returned home after having gotten a little extra, I would feel that something was wrong. I would not experience the joy of having gained something, but would instead feel discomfort for not having complied with requirements of the Fa. Many times, I thought that to be in line with the Fa, we shouldn’t try to even obtain a penny's worth of advantage or benefit!

I looked within for my attachment to personal gain. When I ate out for breakfast in the morning, I took a bowl of noodles to go and would grab a pair of disposable chopsticks. Sometimes when I brought lunch to work, I also needed a pair of chopsticks. It was pretty convenient to take an extra pair from the breakfast place for lunch. The disposable chopsticks were placed in the middle of each dining table and anyone could take them as they wished. No one would say anything if you took an extra pair. I suddenly thought of the Fa about how every penny reveals a cultivator’s realm. I then quietly put the extra chopsticks back and only took one pair.

Nobody else is aware of these petty things, but they reflect how practitioners cultivate themselves and act in accordance with the Fa.

I once was reported to the police while telling a pedestrian about the goodness of Falun Dafa, and I ended up suffering for more than a year in prison. After I was released, I was asked by my workplace to resign. Without a job, I stayed home and learned various new skills, hoping to find a job again. After lots of tries, I got a job in a company. The company owner saw that I seemed quite honest and was aware that Falun Gong practitioners are reliable and would not be greedy toward small benefits and gains.

After observing me for a while, my boss made me the company’s cashier and gave me a high salary. I had more chances to have direct contact with money. I could control and measure the amounts requested for reimbursement. I upheld professional ethics as well as a cultivator’s xinxing at all times.

Slowly, my boss also asked me to engage in financial operations that would avoid taxation. I found that these were things that a cultivator could not do. But if I did not do as required by my boss, I might lose my job.

I looked for sharing articles on Minghui.org to read. Some practitioners had faced similar situations and had done very well in walking their paths righteously. I thought a lot about it and asked myself: Do I fear losing my job if I adhere to a practitioner’s principles and do not perform the extra work asked by my boss? I answered myself: I would not fear it! I should just do what is required of a practitioner!

After letting go of the fear of losing my job, I spoke to my boss and said I was unable to do certain questionable things. My boss did not force me to keep doing them. I understood at that moment that it had been a test, and it all depended on how I maintained my xinxing.

While working in ordinary society, I still need to continue to maintain my xinxing and resist temptation. For many things that I did not do well previously, I hope to be able to adhere to a practitioner’s standards going forward and overcome my shortcomings. I hope to display the good demeanor of a Dafa practitioner in this turbulent and chaotic world.

I will be a true Dafa cultivator, study the Fa well, do the three things well, and let more people realize the truth so that they can be saved by Dafa.