(Clearwisdom.net)
Greetings, Master!
Greetings, fellow practitioners!
It has been a year since we last shared at a Minghui Internet Fa Conference. During this past year, under Master's guidance, I assimilated to the Fa and cultivated myself well, thus, the path has become wider. I'm grateful for Master's benevolent salvation. I would like to report my cultivation experience to Master and share with fellow practitioners.
Understanding Fa-Rectification and Fa Principles with Clarity to Save More Predestined People
Master said in “Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference,”
“No being in the entire cosmos knows the true situation. They regard me as a cultivator, and so they dare to do what they have. As I told you before, no sentient being knew about the Fa of the cosmos. That’s why they think that I’m establishing a system of things that I’ve enlightened to—when I’m really doing Fa-rectification—with the only difference being that it’s exceptionally pure and righteous, and extremely high level. In their view, that’s all it is. This is why they’ve dared to bring us this disaster today. In other words, a higher Attainment Status and a Fa this immense require a test this massive. Yet on the other hand, if this hadn’t been allowed to happen it wouldn’t have. My intention was to utilize all the things they arranged so as to see their xinxing displayed in their actions.”
I realized that the reason the old forces arranged such a huge tribulation during the Fa-rectification period is to test Dafa disciples. They see Master imparting the Fa of the cosmos as part of our personal cultivation. Master is using their arrangement to see their xinxing displayed in their actions, and does not recognize their arrangements.
Master said,
“As a Dafa disciple, everything of yours is formed by Dafa and is the most righteous, and it can only be that [you] rectify everything that is not righteous. How could you bow to the evil?” (“Dafa is Indestructible” from Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Master only looks at sentient beings' understanding of and attitude toward Dafa. Thus, our cultivation is not limited to cultivating ourselves well, but also includes rectifying unrighteous elements, negating the old forces' arrangements, and clarifying the truth to people so that they have a good understanding about Dafa to obtain a bright future. Dafa disciples ought to rectify themselves and walk their paths with righteousness to guarantee sentient beings' salvation.
Rectifying Myself to Create a Good Environment to Save Sentient Beings
I work as a cashier at a hotel. The employee turnover rate is quite high and everyone is from out of town. Because we live and work together, we inevitably have conflicts with each other, and it is not always easy to resolve the problems. Therefore, it is important to cultivate myself well in order to save those around me, since I came here for them.
I worked with the first accountant during the hotel renovation, and also helped and took care of the construction workers. Once I gained respect from them, it was easier to tell them the truth about Falun Gong. I tried to meet as many people as I could and clarified the truth to them and encouraged them to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. Even though I had a lot of work to do, I did not forget about the accountant I worked with. He had another job in his hometown and only came to the hotel once a week. I said to him, “I have never used this accounting software, but if you teach me how to use it, I'll input the information. The next time you come, you'll only need to check the summary report. This will save you time so that you can go home earlier.” I learned to use the software fairly quickly. One time, he only spent two hours at the hotel and finished all the work. We made the same amount of salary, and I did not complain about it. He was very touched, and I clarified the truth to him with ease. My supervisor and colleagues noticed the things that I did for others.
When the second accountant came to work, the hotel was open for business. Since he had never done any accounting work, I taught him about the business. The custodian was also new, and besides taking care of both of them, I was responsible for a lot of work myself. I was busy every day at work, but the two of them took time to play games online. Not only did they not want to learn their jobs, but they kept complaining about being tired. I thought, “The reason I want to do a good job at work is to validate the Fa and create an upright environment to save people, but now I'm so busy that I don't have time to do the three things.” I shared with fellow practitioners and looked inward based on the Fa. When I worked with the first accountant, I tried to lighten his workload. When I worked with the second accountant, I wanted to show off my capabilities as a Dafa practitioner. I put too much emphasis on my personal cultivation, and by doing so, I fell into the old forces' arrangement, and it had an excuse to interfere, “So you want to do better, then I'll give you more work to do.” When I walked on the path arranged by the old forces, I did not have time to study the Fa.
During the Fa-rectification period, Dafa disciples' cultivation is not a simple issue of personal advancement. We are assisting Master with Fa-rectification and are connected to the Fa. We are shouldering the responsibility of saving sentient beings, which is our number one priority. My work environment came into existence so that I can save sentient beings. Of course, though I must cultivate myself well, I should not shoulder heavy workloads that prevent me from doing the three things. This was an incorrect state. I did not want this kind of arrangement, as it was a manifestation of my attachments, and I only wanted to follow Master's arrangement.
When I had a clear understanding based on the Fa, I told my boss, “I can handle the workload temporarily when business is not good, but this is not a long-term solution.” Very soon, a third accountant was hired. This time, I had a correct understanding of the relationship between Fa-rectification cultivation and personal cultivation, and I had more time to do the three things.
When the fourth accountant came, my boss told me, “The accountant is complaining that you are not doing any work.” I replied with a smile, “You know very well about my work ethic, and I can do things that others cannot. Just wait and see, she will change her mind.”
At the end of the month, she said she did not know how to staple the receipts. So I helped her put all the receipts into a booklet. I took care of her daily chores too. I gave her the best room, and made the bed for her. During the winter, I sealed the cracks in her window and bought gifts for her for Chinese New Year. When her office was moved to another room, she and her daughter went for a walk while I moved everything for her. Although I was suffering from “sickness karma,” I still shopped for food for her visiting daughter. Sometimes when the cook could not come to work, I cooked for everyone. I did all these things without any complaints. Her attitude changed over time. She began to care for others and did not waste food. One day, I came back late, and she filled a bowl of rice and asked me how I was.
I treated my subordinates well and took care of complicated matters at work. For a period of time, my boss asked me to help the hotel manager run the operations. There were hardships, conflicts, and successes, and I saw where I fell short. The manager was younger than my child, and he was very arrogant. He complained about me behind my back even though I helped him. He made a lot more money than I did, but his job performance was unsatisfactory. My attachments to jealousy, wanting to complain and save face, were exposed. Once I complained to my boss, he wanted to fire the young manager and promote me to vice president. I looked inward based on the Fa, and thought, “I know that I can do a better job managing the hotel, but he must have had a predestined relationship with the boss. If he lost his job because of me, I would have done a bad thing and failed at cultivating myself.”
I told my boss, “I have shown him the ropes and done what I was supposed to do. I should go back to my previous position and let him do his job. I'll lend him a hand as long as he needs me.” I also told the manager, “I've taught you ways to manage, and now I wish you success in your job.” I think my kindness touched him. He worked very hard and I eliminated my attachments.
Eventually our business became successful. When one person cultivates, the entire business benefits from it. More importantly, when I cultivated well, I was able to save more sentient beings.
Saving Predestined People at Work
Once a good work environment was established, I clarified the truth to people that I came into contact with, including relatives of the hotel employees. Everyone at the hotel knew that I practiced Falun Dafa and that I was a good person. Thus, it became easy to clarify the truth. I could not let any predestined person miss the chance.
I once had to glue some ornaments in the hotel rooms, and ran into two guests who wanted me to glue them in their room. I obtained permission to fulfill their request first, and they were happy about it. While working in their room, I clarified the truth and persuaded them to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
One day, another hotel guest wanted to buy shampoo in the guest room. I informed her that the shampoo did not come in a container and could not be sold, and added, “Thank you for trusting our hotel. I know someone who sells name-brand shampoo. I can take you to buy it at the wholesale price.” She was very grateful, and I clarified the truth while we walked. Although she did not quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations, at least she knew about the goodness of Dafa and practitioners. Perhaps one day she can be saved.
One of the employees came to the cashier's room to borrow some money. She said with tears in her eyes that her father was at the hospital emergency room. I took some money and accompanied her to the hospital. On the way to the hospital, I told her that Dafa could save her father. She quit the Party after she understood the truth. Her father-in-law and mother were waiting outside of the emergency room. I shared with them about my mother-in-law recovering from a serious condition after reciting “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” Both of them recited the phrases repeatedly and quit the Party and its affiliated organizations. I later asked to see the patient, and the nurse said that I was not allowed to see the patient in the emergency room. I thought, I came to save people, so I told the nurse that I understood the hospital's regulations and asked if I could see the patient for just one minute. She asked the doctors for permission, and eventually allowed me to enter the emergency room. I got close to the patient's ears and called his name, “Please listen to me. You will get well if you recite 'Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.'”
The next day, I went to the hospital and gave the employee's mother an amulet (1), and asked her to pin it on the patient's clothes when he was awake. She held my hand and thanked me with tears in her eyes. I also persuaded four of the relatives to quit the Party. Very soon, the employee's father was discharged from the hospital, and he is doing quite well now.
One day, the boiler at the hotel was out of order. We called the repairman to fix the problem. That evening they finished fixing the boiler, and I brought breakfast and fruit to their room and introduced myself, “You both worked very hard. Your boss called and asked us to take care of you. I brought some food for you, so that you'll have something to eat on your trip tomorrow.” I then clarified the truth to them.
There were a lot of opportunities like this at work. Although many things were not directly related to my job, I found opportunities to clarify the truth to people, and not miss the chance to save them.
Negating the Old Forces' Interference and Saving Sentient Beings Amidst Adversity
I know that everyone that I come in contact with is predestined. I met some people amidst adverse situations. In that case, I negated all the interference and focused on the thought of saving them.
I recall when the hotel was under renovation, several tenants who rented office space from the hotel wanted to break the lease and move out. One of them kept giving us a hard time. He turned in the key and then took it back. I did not let any of them affect me, since I just wanted to save them. I clarified the truth and persuaded them to quit the Party.
I regretted not doing well when handling a situation. One of our employees was hurt and my boss wanted me to take care of the situation. I told the elderly employee who was lying in bed to recite “Falun Dafa is good.” His son-in-law stepped forward and yelled, “We don't believe in such things. Just give us the money so that we can take him to the hospital.” My boss asked me to talk to them first, then pay them later, but his family wanted us to pay them first. The day the employee had the surgery, his family wanted to videotape me and hit me in the hospital lobby. It took me months to take care of the matter. Although the family finally saw the goodness of Dafa, I was only able to save the two elderly people. After this incident, I vowed to rectify myself first, negate all unreasonable demands, and save sentient beings amidst hostile situations.
When the boiler was out of order, a young employee who helped fix the boiler accidentally cut three of his fingers, including two tendons. I took him home and explained the situation to his parents. I knew this was an opportunity to clarify the truth. Thus, I negated all the interference. That night, I brought some gifts and apologized to his family for not taking good care of him and asked for their understanding. I said that I would try my best to help take care of him until he was well.
The next day, I took the employee to the hospital for intravenous treatment. I stayed with him until noon and brought in lunch. His grandmother was thankful and I explained to her about Falun Gong. She quit the Party and later persuaded her children to quit also. Every day, I took time off to visit the employee and brought him an MP5 to watch Shen Yun Performing Arts. I also clarified the truth to his roommates at the hospital. Before the treatment was over, I called his father to report his son's health condition and comforted the family. I kept the family informed after he was done with the medical treatment. When it was time for the employee to return to work, he made many unreasonable demands because he was hurt on the job. I was not affected by his unreasonable demands and explained things to him. I taught him to be a good person, treated him with kindness and tolerance, and gave him what he deserved. He finally left the job happily. His father and relatives were satisfied with the way I treated his son, and I took the opportunity to persuade more than ten people to quit the Party.
One of our guests was unable to get to the airport on time due to weather problems. He called us many times early in the morning to make changes to the airplane tickets, and sounded upset and anxious. It turned out our salesperson made mistakes transferring the phone calls, and the ticket prices kept going up. Three hotel guests were very upset and claimed that had we transferred their phone calls earlier, they wouldn't have had to pay a lot more for the changes on the airplane tickets. I knew that they were predestined people, so I negated all the interference and comforted them, “Don't worry, let's make the changes first, then we'll decide who is responsible for your losses.” I helped them resolve the ticketing problem and they were very satisfied. I took the opportunity to clarify the truth to them and they all quit the Party. They shook my hand and thanked me before they left.
There were many incidents like these. No matter how the old forces arranged for the predestined people to meet me, I'm responsible for saving them, and turn bad things into good things. Master has transformed us into lives that are assimilated to Dafa, hence, we are the most righteous beings. As I rectify myself and assimilate to Dafa, and righteously correct what is not upright, then “The Buddha-light illuminates everywhere and rectifies all abnormalities” and can change my environment accordingly. Thus, all the interference will disappear and allow practitioners to save sentient beings amidst adversities.
Negating the Old Forces' Arrangements of Persecuting Us Financially and Saving Sentient Beings. Cultivating in the Righteous Fa and Shouldering the Responsibility of Saving People.
My work unit stopped paying my salary in July 2000. Although I had been doing the three things, I did not have a clear understanding of the Fa principles. I had to leave home because of the persecution, and my family could not understand that. Consequently, my husband was negatively affected by the persecution and my family had no source of income.
In the spring of 2006, another practitioner and I opened a small shop. We were not successful with the business and lost the money we borrowed from others.
Later a practitioner found me a job at a business. I continued to study the Fa and cultivated myself. After raising my understanding of the Fa principles, I rid myself of the attachment to fear. The business environment became a place for me to save sentient beings.
Other than performing my duties at work, I helped my coworkers with some of their duties. This was so that I had more opportunities to meet people. Because I focused on saving sentient beings, my salary increased annually, and eventually I was paid the highest salary in my department.
When I look back at 2006 when I had the small business, I realize I had acknowledged the persecution and thought that I was a “wanted” person by the CCP. Because I had fear I did not dare to clarify the truth. During that period of time I met many predestined people, but they lost the chance to be saved because of my attachment.
In “Teaching the Fa at the Meeting with Asia-Pacific Students,” Master said,
“You are a cultivator, so you need to have mighty-virtue. And where does your mighty-virtue come from? Doesn't it come from letting go of self and being selfless in this grueling environment, and being completely responsible to the Fa as a Dafa disciple? Isn't that, itself, mighty-virtue? And what's more, you did it in a grueling environment. The more you put you first or mix in [factors of] self, the less mighty-virtue you have, and that's why it is less likely that you succeed at things or do them well. Dafa's things should be the most sacred, and that's why the less you have of your own notions and involve your own factors, the better you can handle them and the more likely you are to succeed.”
At the time I used the excuse of making money to negate the persecution, and put my self-interest ahead of everything else. Later when I let go of self and followed Master's requirements to save sentient beings, Master gave me the best. My husband also found a job that paid well.
When I had a correct understanding of the relationship between Fa-rectification cultivation and personal cultivation, my family also supported Dafa. At the moment, although my job is out of town, my family business is running well. We make more than 20,000 yuan in profit per month. I don't care about the profits generated by the family business, because I know that “Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts while the transformation of gong is done by the master.” (Zhuan Falun) As long as we focus on assisting Master with Fa-rectification and do what Master requires of us, everything we do to validate the Fa will not be restricted by the principles of each level and will be the best.
Clarifying the Truth to my Former Colleagues
I used to work in a department under the city government. There are very few practitioners working at the city level. I had been thinking about my former colleagues and sometimes I visited them to tell them the truth about Falun Gong. Some of them were very happy to see me and I was glad that they had obtained salvation. Others reacted coldly toward me, and I was worried about them. Master must have seen my wish to save them and arranged for us to run into each other on the street. I seized the opportunity to clarify the truth whenever I saw them. Many were concerned and encouraged me to ask the department to pay back my lost wages.
I actually wanted to send a request for my lost wages and negate the financial persecution a few years ago to save my colleagues, however, every time I visited my hometown, human notions stopped me from doing so. My righteous thoughts were weak and I kept dragging my feet.
Master mentioned in the “Fa-Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference”,
“You know what? Just on the one issue of cultivation alone it's so complex at the cosmos's lower levels. But it becomes simple at higher levels, where there's no longer any concept of cultivation but only the concept of karma elimination. At levels higher up, all troubles are to pave the way for ascending to Heaven. And at even higher levels, concepts like eliminating karma, enduring hardships, and cultivation no longer exist, and it's just a choice! This is the principle at high levels of the cosmos: you think someone is good enough, so you choose him--that's the principle.”
During this important Fa-rectification period, Master chose me to be a Fa-rectification Dafa disciple, and I chose to come to the human world to assist Master in Fa-rectification, which is a great honor. To repay Master's benevolent salvation and to assist in saving sentient beings is my choice to fulfill what Master wants. My righteous thoughts can split mountains, and Master will eliminate all the interference. I decided to visit my former work unit to save the predestined people.
Practitioners in my hometown that day sent righteous thoughts to help save my former colleagues. Some came near the department to send righteous thoughts to disintegrate the interference. When I arrived at the work unit and saw colleagues that I had not seen for more than ten years, it was like seeing my long lost family. Some hugged me, some held my hand wanting me to stay for dinner. The historic vows that I had made were unfolding in front of my eyes, and it was an unusual feeling.
When I greeted the present bureau chief, I said, “I came here for two things. First, I want you to remember that 'Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,' and to nullify in your heart the vows you made when you joined the CCP. By doing so, you will have a bright future. Secondly, I have lost wages because I practice Falun Gong, and I would like you to help me get reimbursed.” The bureau chief kindly told me, “I had a good impression of you. I did not understand why a good employee like you did not get paid because you practiced Falun Gong.” Then he picked up the phone and inquired with the person in charge. What I would like to do is to use the reimbursement to save people. What is mine will not be lost, because “Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts while the transformation of gong is done by the master.”
The above are some of the experiences I encountered in assisting Master with Fa-rectification. I know that I lag behind practitioners who do well and am far from the requirements set by Master. I will continue to be diligent!
Thank you Master! Thank you fellow practitioners!
(1) Amulet - In China, practitioners sometimes clarify the truth by giving people something small to wear or cherish, bearing a few words reminding them of the goodness of Dafa.