Being a Good Person by Taking Personal Fame and Fortune Lightly

(Minghui.org) I was born into an ordinary rural family in China. My family was very poor when I was a child. Because I suffered a lot from the poverty, I had a strong desire to be wealthy. But I was weak and sickly since I was a child, so it was very difficult for me to do farm work. When I was in high school, I knew that going to college was the only way to change my fate, so I studied hard. In the end, I was admitted to college and left the countryside.

After graduating from college, I worked in a government institution as a teacher. At that time, I had a low salary of 100 yuan a month. I once actually said in the office, “It would be great if I could find one million yuan on the road one day!” It showed how important money was to me.

Since I was a child, I felt that my parents liked and favored my younger sisters. Thus, I had a strong desire in my heart to stand out, and I always wanted to be recognized and valued by others.

I worked hard at my workplace to improve my professional level, and actively participated in various job-related competitions at all levels. I achieved good results in the city and provincal competitions, and received many professional certificates of various types. After working for a few years, I was awarded an intermediate professional title. In the process of obtaining professional titles, I thought only of my personal gain without considering the feelings of others. At that time, many colleagues in their 40s had not yet been awarded intermediate professional titles. I recall that a friend from upper management said to me, “You are so young, yet you have been awarded the intermediate title. There are so many colleagues who are older who have not been awarded that title. Let them have a chance if you can.” Upon hearing this, I didn’t agree, and thought, “Why should I give the opportunity to them? Isn’t all this the result of my own efforts?”

While I achieved alot and was awarded the intermediate professional title early, it ruined my health. Before turning 30, I suffered from atrophic gastritis, superficial gastritis, allergic rhinitis, and other diseases. I took a lot of Western and Chinese medicines, and tried various treatments, but there was no improvement. I was very miserable.

Later, with the help of a colleague, I was fortunate to start practicing Falun Dafa. From then on, I understood the standards and principles of Dafa, how to be a good person, and the relationship between gain and loss. Through cultivation, I strictly held myself to Dafa’s principles. I was able to consider others when doing things, and I treated the people around me kindly. My body underwent earth-shaking changes, and my various diseases were cured without any treatment. I experienced the beauty of being free of illness, and my heart was filled with happiness.

Numerous facts have proven that Falun Dafa can improve people’s moral standards and health. However, the evil Jiang Zemin (former CCP head) and his gang ignored the facts and used their power to launch a brutal persecution of Falun Dafa in July 1999. Because I refused to give up my belief in Falun Dafa, my evaluation for a senior position was delayed for a year. Yet among my peers, I was awarded a senior professional title relatively early (There are several levels of senior professional title). However, there were very few opportunities for promotion to the higher levels of senior professional title. One year, there was only one such vacancy. According to the promotion scoring criteria, after comparing myself to my colleagues, I knew it was my turn this time. However, there were many colleagues older than me at that time, and some were close to retirement age. They could really benefit from such a promotion. But if I didn’t get promoted this time, I would have almost no further chance. After repeated consideration, I gave up the opportunity for promotion and did not participate in the performance evaluation.

Unexpectedly, during the next two or three years, the leaders decided to promote people according to a report of people’s performances, and I seemed to be forgotten. I didn’t take it to heart, thinking that many people older than me hadn’t been promoted yet, so I would just wait and let them get promoted first.

During that time, a colleague close to me said, “Promotion is a lifelong thing, which is related to one’s salary and benefits. You shouldn’t keep giving up like this.” I smiled and was not tempted. A few years later, a new leader was in charge of the matter. Maybe when sorting out these materials, he found that I should have been promoted earlier than some teachers. That year, he promoted me to the next senior professional title level. Two years later, the leader came to me and said, “There is an opportunity for you to be promoted to the next level within your title, but you and another teacher were both awarded senior positions in the same year. Can you talk it over with that colleague and let him give the opportunity to you because you are about to retire. If you don’t get promoted now, you will not have another chance. The quota will be his next time.”

After hearing what the leader said, I knew they had encountered a problem. In fact, that colleague and I were both awarded a senior position in the same year, but I was awarded the intermediate level position earlier than him, so I should have been promoted first. But because my promotion was previously ignored, that colleague thought it would be his turn next time. Later, a new colleague was transferred in, and they were already fighting for this position. At this time, if I got involved, it would only make things more complicated, intensify the conflict, and give the leader more headaches. I said to the leader, “I’ll think about it.” At that time, I thought that if this happened to me before I practiced Dafa, I would never give in, because this promotion would directly affect my future pension. But now I’m different. I have been practicing Falun Dafa for so many years. Master taught us to put others first when encountering things, and to be selfless. If I did what the leader said and asked my colleague to yield the position to me, I would feel uneasy, because if he didn’t give it to me, the matter would be even more complicated and the impact would be even worse. I knew that their fighting over it thus far had already made the leader very dissatisfied and very troubled.

After leaving the leader’s office, I called my husband and told him what had just happened. Because I have been practicing Dafa for so many years, my husband has also been influenced by Falun Dafa and knows that Dafa is good. He also understands the relationship between gain and loss, so he supported my giving up the promotion and giving it to the colleague. After talking to my husband, I called the leader back and told him that I would give the promotion opportunity to that colleague. The leader was moved upon hearing this; he was very happy and said that my attitude was really good.

Later, another colleague called me, “The leader said you gave up your opportunity to be promoted to the next level. Your cultivation realm is really high. We couldn’t do that.” I knew that Falun Dafa had completely changed me. If this situation took place before I cultivated Dafa, I also would never have been able to do it.

Now, I am retired. Although my pension is a little less, I feel good knowing that my concession saved a lot of trouble for many people involved in that process. It also allowed my colleagues to see the high moral character and high realm Dafa practitioners maintain, and witness the beauty of Falun Dafa.