(Clearwisdom.net) After reading "Validating the Fa from the Aspect of Finances" (http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2008/3/15/95356.html), I wanted to share my experiences, which are very similar to the author's. There have been quite a lot of practitioners who have experienced financial problems over the years. They were laid off, forced to become homeless, or are just poor. The old forces try to persecute practitioner by making their monetary situations difficult. In my opinion, Dafa practitioners are blessed in their daily lives. Not only does the evil have an effect, but practitioner's xinxing levels have contributed to the situation. Some think that we practitioners are not attached to money, so they are satisfied with the low expectation of "having enough money to pay for necessities." The old forces take advantage of this notion by making trouble and creating barriers for practitioners as they validate the Fa and save sentient beings. I think Dafa practitioner's living conditions should match or reflect their social classes.
I work in the financial industry. My salary is quite high and I am a manager. I started practicing Dafa in late 1998. After the persecution began on July 20, 1999, I persisted in cultivating Dafa, so the perpetrators demoted me from manager to salesperson. At work, Teacher arranged for many predestined people to keep in touch with me so I have had many opportunities to clarify the truth to them. At the same time, my performance at work is good. I have two stories to share.
1. A co-worker (after the persecution began in 1999 she gave up the practice of Falun Gong out of fear) told me that our boss had praised me in a meeting because of my excellent work and called for the other employees to learn from me. She asked me if there was any special method of doing excellent work. I told her I was a Dafa practitioner and cultivating Dafa brings blessings. She respectfully agreed and said that she wanted to practice Dafa again. She is now practicing and has also convinced other former practitioners to come back to the practice.
2. I have a classmate to whom I clarified the truth several times, but she didn't believe what I said. One day she visited me at home. During our conversation, she said she could not understand why I insisted on cultivating Dafa, and asked me not say anything about Dafa to her. I said that I would respect her request if she would answer three questions. She agreed, so I asked whose health was better, hers or mine? She said, "Of course, yours." Then, I asked who had the higher salary. She said, "Of course, you." Last, I asked her who had more prestige. She replied, "Of course, you do." I told her I had these blessings because I practice Falun Gong. Not only blessings in good health but in other things, too. She suddenly understood and said, "Falun Dafa is good! Falun Dafa is good!" This person was saved at that point.
Now I use part of my salary to cover my home and family expenses. The rest I use to make truth clarifying materials. With my job, I am used to meeting high-class people who have been deeply poisoned by the Chinese Communist Party and have misunderstandings about Dafa. Some of them are totally against Dafa. To save them, I use my own money to cover expenses so I can socialize with them. They can see a practitioner's personality during our activities. I use a social setting to tell them that cultivating Dafa is blessed. One has good health and is also blessed with a good financial situation. When they see this, many of these people change their attitude towards Dafa and pledge to make the "three withdrawals," agreeing to withdraw from the Party and/or its affiliated organization. Some of them say they want to practice Dafa.
My understanding is that, as practitioners, we need to give up the attachment to money, while on the other hand, we should negate the old force's arrangements, clarify the truth, and cultivate Dafa.
Thank you, Teacher, for your arrangements. I realize that practitioners who have financial advantages should use wisdom to clarify the truth and deny the old forces that try to negatively affect Dafa financially. We use money on the projects to validate the Fa.
February 29, 2008
