(Clearwisdom.net)
Greetings esteemed Master!
Greetings fellow practitioners!
I have wanted to write and share my tumultuous cultivation experiences. My journey has not been an easy one.
When I was laid off by my former workplace, I was just over 30 years old, and my appearance was young and good-looking due to the practice of Falun Dafa. My husband found me a position at the local traffic police station. I had been happy about the offer, until I found out on the first day of work that my job was to clean public washrooms in the administrative building. I was shocked and I wasn’t sure how to do this, because I didn’t do such work at home, let alone in a public place. I was fond of cooking, which I would have been happy to do if I had to do domestic work, but not cleaning washrooms! I was upset and could not accept this arrangement. My husband comforted me and said, “Don't worry, just stick with it for a little while and I will find someone to help switch your position later.” In any case, I did not have a choice, as I had lost my former job. So I unhappily started the new job.
I felt like I was losing face when I went to work. I kept my head low to avoid people's gazes, but that made them even more curious about me. In the end, I covered my face with a hygiene mask because I feared running into acquaintances. There was even more about the job that I did not like. What I needed to clean was gross, the workload was heavy, and since the workplace was very far from my home, it took me a long time to bike there. After the first day, my legs were sore and my hands were swollen due to the amount of work I had to do. However, I did not complain and went back to work the next day.
My co-worker, sister Zhao, was kind to me and taught me a lot about the work. One day, she said to me, “Other co-workers and I never thought you would stay here too long, because you are so pretty. We bet that you would leave within three days.” I smiled, “Well, I’ll just hang in there.” Obviously this was not an ideal job, and I wanted to work in the business sector.
Regardless, I stayed at the cleaning job. Following Dafa teachings, I did my work well and tried to be a good person in my daily life. My supervisors were happy with my work, and other staff in the building, including police officers, were friendly to me, which laid the foundation for me to introduce the truth about Falun Gong to them eventually. For example, I talked to sister Zhao, who was a Buddhist, about Falun Gong and the persecution.
There was a small staff room on the main floor that eventually became a place to save people. The second and third floors were offices for the traffic police station, where many people came to handle personal and business affairs. Some people had to stay over the lunch break if they had not finished their business in the morning, and they had nowhere to hang out during the break. I would, therefore, invite them to the small staff room for a rest. I then told them the facts about Falun Gong and advised them to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. One day, a woman came to help her husband to get a new driver's license. She bought lunch and was about to eat it outside. I invited her to my room, and she was thankful and started telling me about her family. She said that her husband has often been sick, so I told her about the health benefits of practicing Falun Dafa. She listened attentively and read a truth-clarification pamphlet. At the end, she asked me to teach her the practice. I solemnly gave her my copy of Zhuan Falun and provided her with some basic instructions. We were done when the afternoon office hours started and she left to finish her business.
Master guided people with predestined relationships with Dafa to me every day for them to know about the truth, especially during my weekend shifts. Some drivers from out of town came to handle their business affairs, but found the office was closed. If their issues were not confidential or too complicated, I would offer to take a note of their issues and pass them on to the relevant officers on the next Monday, then I called them with the answers. In such cases, I would talk about Falun Gong directly to them, and the people I had helped usually had no problems understanding.
An elderly woman gardener lived in the greenhouse in the back courtyard of the traffic police compound. When she and I became friendly, I told her about Falun Gong. That very night, the elderly woman had a dream in which Master indicated that I would save her whole family. She excitedly told me about the dream the next day and requested that I teach her Dafa. Later, her sister began to learn Falun Gong as well. Her brother-in-law, who had been reading the Fa but not practicing the exercises, learned the importance of Dafa exercises from me when we were sharing cultivation experiences. Eventually, her entire immediate family quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations, and convinced many relatives to so do as well. The elderly woman also helped me convince a party secretary at the police station to withdraw from the CCP.
Slowly but surely I established my cultivation environment and was able to save more people. Upon reading fellow practitioners' articles of the experience of memorizing the Fa, I started doing that, too. I recited the Fa when I was collecting garbage from every corner of the police building and courtyard. I would talk about Falun Gong and quitting the CCP with anyone whom I had a chance to have a conversation with. I worked there under these circumstances for five years.
To be honest, from my human perspective, I did not like the job I was doing, if it had not been for saving sentient beings in the police station. The more I disliked the job, the more tired and ashamed I felt. Ordinary people's words would stir up my human notion, “You're so young and good-looking, why are you doing this kind of work?” Then my mind would be roused by all sorts of attachments, thinking my life was so tiring and bitter. Master says,
“An ordinary person cannot see this point and always believes that he should do exactly what he is able to. Therefore, he competes and fights all his life with a badly-wounded heart. He might feel very bitter and tired, always finding things unfair.” (Zhuan Falun)
This really hit the mark for me. I must get rid of my attachments. I went through my attachments of vanity, having a heart of competition, jealousy, and wanting to avoid hard work. There were so many of them. I then thought, it was not coincidental for me to be in such an environment. I must have made an oath to save the sentient beings here, so I should cultivate myself well and do the three things well here. It is predestined for me to fulfill my mission in this insignificant job.
A new co-worker was a Dafa practitioner. We have been coordinating to distribute truth-clarification materials and talk to people about Falun Gong in the neighborhood during our breaks. We often went to a nearby brainwashing center where Dafa practitioners were being detained, and sent forth righteous thoughts until it was closed. We were close to being arrested on a few occasions, but Master protected us. Later, there were chances for me to switch to better positions, but I refused to change my job, as it is important to save the sentient beings here.
Sometime later, I was assigned to do the cleaning in the next building, which had less staff in it. Thus, I could do my work any time and finish it earlier than when I worked in the previous building, where I could only finish my work after all the staff had left. I started to have time to develop a materials production site at my home. I have not needed to depend on the local practitioner who helps fellow practitioners with technical problems, because the seller from whom I bought my printer and computer has been providing technical support, and I have paid for all the supplies.
I have been working in this job for eight years now, and I feel that I am getting more mature in many ways. The most obvious thing is that I’m getting rid of my laziness and human emotional attachments. For example, when I was tired from mopping the floor, I encouraged myself, “I am a Dafa disciple and Dafa disciples should be able to do anything the best and the fastest. Let me finish the work quicker so that I will have more time to study the Fa and save people.” Once, my human notion was provoked so terribly that I cried, “Why do I have to take this arrangement? Why do I have to save sentient beings in this environment? Why do I have to do this job?” When I stopped crying, I said to myself, “I want to do business and open a store.” However, after rationally considering the pros and cons, I changed my mind because no other job would allow me so much time to do the three things. Time is most precious now. I also enlightened to the fact that I was upset because of my human emotions, because my liking or disliking a job was rooted in my emotions. I should make the Fa and the three things my priorities, instead of what I want. The Fa decides what I should or should not do in terms of work.
Now my attitude is much more positive and in line with the Fa. All that I am thinking of is how to save more sentient beings. One day I was cleaning the men's washroom, when a woman approached me quickly and asked where the women's washroom was. I told her that it was on a different floor. She then asked me to watch the door of the men's room for her, as she needed to use it immediately. I agreed, so she was really thankful. We started chatting, and she told me that she had come from out of town to do the written test for her driver's license. I then talked to her about quitting the CCP and its affiliated organizations, and she was glad to quit.
Some police officers have heard about the movement of quitting the CCP from me, as well. Lately, two department heads and one party secretary withdrew from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. I was happy to be able to do the three things well at my insignificant ordinary job.
My cultivation path continues. I need to study the Fa more in order to overcome my attachments that impede my validating the Fa and saving people. I must fulfill my oath of assisting Master in the Fa-Rectification and saving sentient beings, while working in the most insignificant position.
Thank you, Master!