How Learning to Treat My Colleagues with Compassion Changed Everything

(Minghui.org) There are over a dozen employees in my office. Most of them are in their 30s. Recently, they mentioned that our office was a pure land when they were talking about the affairs of other departments. I understand that only Falun Dafa is a pure land in this chaotic world. The wonderfulness of Falun Dafa has made my colleagues realize that our team is a pure land.

I’d like to share some stories of how our team became sincere towards each other to validate the beauty of Falun Dafa. Thank you, Master, for your compassionate salvation! I hope everyone can find a true, pure land.

Conflicts Among Colleagues

We work in a state-run enterprise, and I am the manager of a business department. The situation in my office was completely different six months ago. A man named Xiao Wang sat with his back towards me. He played games on his cell phone with his legs squirming all the time. I felt very frustrated when I saw him, but I couldn’t do anything about it. When I asked him to do something, he had 100 excuses to refuse me. If he couldn’t find any excuse, he just ignored me. If I arranged 10 things for him to do, I would be very thankful if he could complete one thing. He played games on his cell phone all the time. Sometimes he brought his laptop to the office and played games on it, too.

One female colleague in her late 20s flat-out refused me when I asked her to make a schedule for a project she was in charge of. I told her that my manager wanted to see the plan, but she said she had something else to do. I asked her to prioritize making the schedule. She argued with me and said that she had to finish the work at hand first. I knew she didn’t have anything to do, and I got so angry with her that I cried.

I organized a project with a client and asked a male colleague who was 30 years old to prepare the contract, which was his responsibility. He refused me and said that it was not his business. He didn’t give any reason for his refusal. I couldn’t think of any reason for him to act that way.

I asked another female colleague to join me in a meeting with another department, but she picked up her bag and left. She said that she would ask for annual leave if I asked her to attend a meeting.

As time went on, I felt that I couldn’t work in the company. All the team members seemed to be lifeless corpses, even my manager. When I reported my work to him, he said something else, as if he had nothing to do with the work. I would be very surprised if an employee got one thing done on time. The work would normally take less than 20 minutes to do, but the employee would drag it out for several days.

I couldn’t understand the situation at work for a long time. Why didn’t the employees take their work seriously? I felt uneasy when I needed to arrange work for my colleagues. I was afraid of their refusal. I didn’t know what to do if they confronted me with bad words.

I used to be a strong woman before practicing Falun Dafa. My colleagues didn’t dare to treat me like they did then. When my colleagues didn’t listen to me, I would rebut them on the spot or later on in a meeting in an indirect way so that they would never dare to confront me again. If the employees or managers in other departments wronged me, I would remember it and hit back hard as soon as I had the opportunity. But now that I am a Falun Dafa practitioner, I cannot deal with things by fighting evil with evil anymore.

Rectifying Myself in the Fa

I understand from the Fa that as a practitioner, I should deal with everyone with compassion. Facing any issue, I should first look within. I couldn’t find any fault with myself when conflict arose and focused on other people’s problems. I forced myself not to look outwardly but look within to find out where I fell short. My conclusion was that I should behave according to the Fa and continue to be a good person no matter how my colleagues acted. Though I didn’t identify my fundamental attachment, I believed in my heart that Falun Dafa’s principles reach the most microscopic particles and that I must improve myself no matter where I am. I rejected my thought of “fighting evil with evil” because it didn’t comply with Falun Dafa’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.

One day, when I was studying Zhuan Falun, a thought flashed through my mind: my competitiveness made me feel enraged, and I wanted to argue who was right and who was wrong. I realized that if my heart was compassionate and kind, I wouldn’t have complained or tried to tolerate it with tears in my eyes.

When looking back at the conflicts, I realized that if I put myself in others’ shoes, there were reasons that they behaved the way they did. I didn’t consider their feelings. I only gave them work to do. I realized that I should make some adjustments.

When I gave my colleagues work, I always approached them as a manager and gave orders. Though I talked to them politely, I didn’t respect them from the bottom of my heart. Actually, it is predestined that we are working together. My colleagues are precious. I should respect them and cherish them from the bottom of my heart.

Most of my colleagues are in their 30s and are the only children in their families. I am almost 50 years old. It is not appropriate to demand that they do their work according to my standard. They have been indulged by their parents since they were born. They have less of a sense of responsibility. I used a one-size-fits-all approach and felt frustrated when they couldn’t meet my standard. This revealed the Party culture that I was clinging to. Every individual has his or her own characteristics. I didn’t think from their perspectives.

For example, the colleague who didn’t want to go to the meeting had told me several times that she didn’t want to see a particular manager who would be in the meeting. My colleague said she would do anything I wanted, but pleaded with me not to attend the meeting. I didn’t listen to her and ordered her to attend the meeting, so she left the office.

A lot of my notions that were formed at work were reflections of Party culture. For example, if the work unit required employees to work overtime or whatever the manager said to do, we must do it. I didn’t think about whether what the manager said was correct or not, or whether working overtime would affect other things. Nowadays, most young people have their own opinions; this is normal behavior. When I felt frustrated and helpless when they didn’t listen to me, my notions that were formed in Party culture were hit upon squarely. I must get rid of those notions.

I didn’t discern my bad feelings from my true self when I was involved in a conflict. Instead, I reinforced this bad feeling; I was afraid of being refused when I assigned my colleagues' work. I was not righteous and didn’t regard myself as a cultivator. I was afraid of conflicts and wanted everyone to listen to me. I didn’t face the problems with a positive mindset. I missed many opportunities to improve myself. My colleagues behaved the way they did so that they could keep giving me opportunities to improve myself.

I also realized that I had the mindset of looking down on other people. I felt very good about myself and thought other people were not as capable as me. When I did it right and my colleagues were wrong, I would show off in front of my manager. When I heard my colleagues had family conflicts, I felt complacent that I had a good family environment. I was happy that my husband and I respect each other and live harmoniously, thanks to Falun Dafa. I felt good because I had things that other people didn’t have. I didn’t cultivate my speech. When my colleagues were gossiping, I would join them, which is contrary to Dafa’s requirements.

Change

I decided to get rid of these human attachments and notions that were not line with the Fa. First and foremost, I should respect my colleagues from the bottom of my heart. I shouldn’t think that they were stiff corpses. I should get rid of my combative mentality and the desire to argue over who’s right and who’s wrong.

When I tried to change myself, it seemed that I had gained the wisdom to do so. I realized that my colleagues didn’t refuse to do the work without reason, but rather, they felt it was difficult to do. They felt that they were not able to complete the job. I met with them first and explained the work to them, and went through the process with them. When the time was up, I approached them and saw how much they had completed and whether they needed any help from me. If the work was complicated, I worked out the details with them. I worked out a plan for them first and then discussed with them how we could complete it. I was no longer like I was before.

I no longer reported them to my manager if they didn’t do a good job because I realized that I’d be putting my manager in a difficult position. My manager was a good-tempered person; it was not his style to reprimand his employees. First, I told myself that I shouldn’t be moved by the issue. If the matter was not critical or urgent, I calmed myself down first and then went through the work with my colleagues to see where they got stuck. If the work was urgent, I worked out a plan and asked them to fill in the details. It would be easier for them to complete the job.

This might be an opportunity for me to let go of impatience and my attachment to seeking personal fame and self-interest because I would face criticism from my manager or lose business. I understand from the Fa that everything is arranged by higher beings, not our human minds. These circumstances were good opportunities for me to let go of my attachments.

When I chatted with my colleague, I reminded myself that I was a practitioner and shouldn’t tell tall tales or make emotional statements. I should show them the wonderfulness of Falun Dafa and talk about traditional values. I should let them know the facts of Falun Dafa so they would have a good future.

One colleague in charge of a project discussed it with her team and changed some aspects of the project in the hope that they could get a bonus for their team. But their project was rejected by the manager in charge for no reason. They told me the truth about the case. I didn’t blame them this time. I said that we should do things according to the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and that we failed because we were not truthful. I told them that we should do the righteous thing even if it seemed that we couldn’t get any benefit. They smiled. I told them to redo the project.

Now in our office, our colleagues cooperate well when completing jobs. We got awards for several of our projects and got more than a hundred thousand yuan bonus. Their incomes were also increased. When I gave out the bonuses, I remembered Master’s Fa where he says that being a leader is about benefiting other people. I allocated the bonuses to my colleagues and allocated a small one for myself. I wouldn’t have done this if I didn’t practice Falun Dafa.

When we had lunch together, my manager said that everyone was blessed to work with me. One colleague who refused to sign a contract before apologized to me for his wrongdoing. The colleague who played games all the time has now become the backbone of our team.

Full of Gratitude

I recovered from my terminal illness after I started practicing Falun Dafa and became illness-free. I have gradually gotten rid of aggressiveness in my character and have become a traditional woman. I used to order my husband around, blame him, make demands on him, and disagree with him, and was all high and mighty. Now I discuss things with him quietly and respectfully. If I get home late, I apologize. When my husband has a different opinion, I no longer insist on mine. I consider his feelings first and respect him. My colleagues admire us and our family environment.

I am so lucky that I practice Falun Dafa, a pure land in this world. I hope that people will read the book Zhuan Falun and no longer be misled by the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) lies. I hope that they will take control of their own lives in this chaotic world and find their pure land and their purpose in life in this world.