(Clearwisdom.net) I am a government township employee. Our office was recently instructed by the County Government to promote two employees through "democratic assessment." Although this was called democratic, in reality, the candidates had already been selected. This is the typical election process within the evil Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government: from the top, down. First, the leaders unofficially name candidates to ensure unified thinking, then ask the public to nominate them. Although this may appear to some to be democratic, there is in fact nothing democratic about it.

As a Fa-rectification practitioner who follows the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, what should I do when I receive the nomination ballot? I wondered whether to follow the sham election process, or ignore their instructions and call for a true democratic election. As a matter of fact, the two nominees were not the best-suited candidates based on their professional abilities and personalities. One of them was involved in the persecution of Falun Gong, and continues his hostile attitude. I just cannot recommend such a person to be a leader! Therefore, I recommended two prominent individuals who have a good relationship with me. This was a secret ballot election, and nobody would know whom I recommended.

Surprisingly, a supervisor opened every ballot. He was equally surprised at my selection and gave me an unfriendly stare for a few seconds before he left. Two days later, I was placed under observation when I was doing the final ballot count. My mind hasn't calmed down since then. I regretted my decision which intensified and disturbed the surrounding atmosphere. I worried that my supervisor might ostracize me, thinking that I wasn't a cooperative employee. What worried me more was that the candidates might think that I would interfere with them at critical moments, which may cause them to hate Falun Gong, thus destroying sentient beings. I was confused about the election system being right or wrong. I was uneasy and blamed myself for the failure to judge right or wrong in a rational manner.

Suddenly, Teacher's lectures flashed into my mind, such as,

"Nothing you encountered is a simple, accidental or ordinary thing. It must have to do with your cultivation and your improvement. Because you are a cultivator, your life path has been changed and you have been given a new cultivation path. Nothing on your path happens by chance." ("Fa Teaching in the City of Los Angeles")

and

"Could anything that happens in Dafa cultivation, in Fa-rectification, or in validating the Fa be simply by chance?" ( "Fa Teaching at the 2008 New York Fa Conference")

I used to follow the supervisor's direction to select designated persons, except in this case. The supervisor used to collect the ballots without opening them immediately, except for this instance. Did those things happen by chance? Did Teacher use this embarrassing situation to touch my heart and expose my attachments? In his article, Teacher said,

"During your cultivation practice, I will use every means to expose all of your attachments and dig them out at their roots." ("Digging Out the Roots" from Essentials for Further Advancement)

I needed to go beyond the issue of right or wrong, and look inward carefully to identify my own attachments throughout the entire process.

First, I exposed the hypocritical mind. I was very polite, friendly and deferential in front of other people, but I badmouthed, criticized, and even said bad things about them behind their backs. I was not sincerely kind to others. I was not consistent inside out. I was a cunning and treacherous hypocrite, compared to an ordinary being. As a practitioner, I was somewhat stunned by my hidden dirty mind, cultured by the evil CCP.

Second, I exposed my revengeful mind. My revengeful mind was stronger in my childhood, but had improved a lot since I became a practitioner. This nomination ballot incident exposed the shadow of my mind of revenge, which I had covered up with excuses, such as, "He persecuted Dafa practitioners before."

Third, I exposed my mind of self-protection. I worried that my supervisor might treat me differently. I also worried about the loss of a peaceful work environment, and damage to my reputation. I couldn't clearly clarify the truth to my colleagues and family, because my mind of self-protection developed the fear of losing these amicable situations. For this reason, I even played poker and mahjong with my colleagues in order to keep up good relationships and maintain the amicable situation, comforting myself with the thought that it was entertainment, not gambling. I spent precious time dealing with everyday people instead of studying the Fa and saving sentient beings. I fell into a trap set up by old forces, that penetrated through the hollow mind of my pursuit for comfort and self-protection.

Fourth, I exposed my jealous mind. I was an ambitious young man, and developed a jealous mind because I was not offered an opportunity for promotion. I forgot the principle that Teacher told us, that "Every person has his or her own destiny."

Fifth, I exposed my mind of power. I had hoped for a good relationship with our work leader, and that a relative would get promoted. I hoped that the villains who persecuted Falun Gong would step down. These hopes are simply attachments that ordinary beings have with the dirty mind of politics and power.

I sincerely appreciate Teacher for using this incident to help me find many of my attachments and providing me an opportunity for improvement. I don't cultivate well, but I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone: When you encounter anything that distracts your mind, you should look inward to identify the attachment which caused the distraction, and then eliminate it.

In our daily life, especially in China, the working environment is deeply affected by the evil party's culture, making it difficult to decide whether some work should be done or not. It is also hard to judge if the work done is right or wrong. Our cultivation format requires us to conform to ordinary human society to the maximum extent. Therefore, it is very difficult to live, work and think completely free from the impact of the evil CCP culture.

What should we do? We may handle it well if we follow what Teacher said: "Studying the Fa well, doing a good job of clarifying the facts, and saving sentient beings are your top priorities. " ("To the Midwestern US Fa Conference") We must follow directions on how to save sentient beings and help them to know the truth.

The above mentioned are my personal understandings, please kindly correct anything inappropriate.

December 25, 2009.