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Doing the Three Things Well While Operating My Own Business

Aug. 5, 2007 |   By a Dafa practitioner in China

(Clearwisdom.net) During the past several years, I took advantage of the opportunity to contact more people while operating my own business. I clarified the facts about the persecution of Falun Dafa to many people and advised them to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. In the meantime, I arranged for Fa study and sending forth righteous thoughts during my hectic business hours. With Master's frequent hints and encouragement, I have been following Master's Fa-rectification process. Although I have had some ups and downs, my overall state has been fairly good.

Operating my own business is a very demanding endeavor. The competition is very intense. The work load is high, yet the profit margin is low. It has been hard to keep my state of mind balanced. I also often experienced the conflict as to whether I should aim toward personal gain or doing things according to the Fa. Through constant Fa study, I was able to get rid of more of my attachments. In the past, I was also selling small quantities of fake merchandise. Now, I am only selling authentic brand name products. Yet my business did not slow down, rather it became better and better. Other similar business owners were surprised and remarked that under the current slow business market, my business even increased. It's really hard to believe, they said. While watching my customers carrying away lots of merchandise and leaving me lots of money, I clearly knew in my mind that all these were short passing scenes. We cannot take anything with us. I am only seeking Dafa in my life.

Although I had some money and property, I was not attached to them and really took them very lightly. When fellow practitioners were making truth-clarification materials and other items, I gave them over ten thousand yuan to support their effort. I felt that this is what I should do.

I arranged my daily schedule fairly well. I get up at 4:00 a.m., do the meditation for 30 minutes to an hour, do the standing exercises and study the Fa. I send forth righteous thoughts at 6:00 a.m. and then continue studying the Fa. At 6:30 a.m. I send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate evil factors in the local area, and then continue to study the Fa. At 7:00 a.m. I again send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate local evil factors, and then do some housework before starting my work. From 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. I have breakfast and after breakfast, I send forth righteous thoughts again. Thus I send forth righteous thoughts about 10 times per day. After sending forth righteous thoughts at noon, I take a break from work to prepare lunch. After lunch, I take a 30 minute nap and then do the meditation for 30 minutes and go back to work around 2:30 p.m. After sending forth righteous thoughts at 6:00 p.m., I practice the second exercise for 30 minutes. After dinner I study the Fa and sometimes attend experience sharing with fellow practitioners. I go to bed around 10:00 p.m. I have two alarm clocks; one is set for midnight and the other one for 4:00 a.m.

I have followed this same schedule day after day, year after year no matter what. Along with the Fa study, Falun Gong exercises and constant xinxing improvement, I also formed my own management style to manage my staff. I didn't apply rigid rules or regulations as ordinary people do; I thought that those would not be around in the future anyway. That is just making rules based on surface phenomenon. As a Dafa practitioner operating a business, one must use Dafa to guide oneself and rectify everything. One must be clear that rectifying one's mind is the key for improvement. Therefore, I upheld the principles of: "Rectifying one's mind, treating others with compassion, and being tolerant and understanding." I often told my staff about the principles of Dafa, and having the mentality of being a good person. For instance, when one follows the standards of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, one can be considered a truly good person. One will be rewarded only when one is considerate of others. My staff were thus considerate of our customers and improved their own conduct. I felt that this Fa is really great; taking any little bit from the Fa to explain things could harmonize a layer of sentient beings with compassion. I never thought about myself as being above others. Every day I worked with my staff packaging and loading goods into vehicles and formed a cooperative team with my staff.

Master stated that Dafa disciples can break through a piece of sky anywhere. I felt that when one truly assimilates to the Fa, everything can be rectified. Unintentionally, I became the "flag ship" in this business. My entire staff was very respectful toward me because they clearly saw that I was always considering others. For instance, when customers came to buy some products, if I didn't have those items, I would introduce other shops to them. As time passed, I left a piece of graciousness for others to see. When I attended a trade show once, the organizer invited me to give a speech. My topic was "Only when one becomes a good person, can one do good business." I gave some explanation of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and combined my successful experience with examples in doing business. I let everyone know the pure and mighty wisdom of Dafa. I said, "When you treat your customers with sincerity, kindness and tolerance, their minds will be inclined towards you. When you can assimilate all things kindly, all things will reward you. Most people only talk about how to do business; I believe that when one becomes a good person, that's the only way to do business." My speech received a warm round of applause.

Master emphasizes that we must do the three things well. I thought about my one hundred-plus customers and that these people all have some predestined relationship with me. I know I ought to save them and fulfill my prehistoric great promise. Therefore, I set up a plan to systematically clarify the facts to them and persuaded them to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. I gave them informational materials about the CCP and the persecution of Falun Gong. Some of them quit immediately, but with some it took longer and I had to clarify the facts several times. I also told my competitors to quit the CCP as well. Every time I attended a trade show, I would run into lots of business competitors from many companies around the country. The first thing I did for them was to persuade them to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. Usually, regardless of whether the people came from a higher administration department or whether I entertained customers, I always made it a priority to clarify the facts and urge people to quit the CCP. When people understood the facts about Dafa and experienced my kind manner, they became even more supportive of my business. I realized that as long as we have the will to save people, Master will create situations for us all the time. When I hired new staff members, the first thing I did was to clarify the facts and persuade them to quit the CCP.

During these few years, whenever I took a trip, attended a conference, a party, or went shopping, I always made it my first priority to clarify the facts and tell people to quit the CCP. My family sometimes complains to me: "Why do you repeat that set of words all the time just like a copy machine? Even we can recite them now! Don't you feel bored?" I know that I ought to walk the path that Master arranged for me. I will diligently persist no matter how painstaking or difficult it may be. During these years, I have clarified the facts to over a thousand people and advised them to quit the CCP. Sometimes, I also experienced a notion of proving myself, having a great business, clarifying the facts a lot, and receiving praise from fellow practitioners, and other attachments, which gives me a sense of self-fulfillment. The notion of being delighted and showing off often appeared. Very quickly, I realized these notions through raising my understanding of the Fa and got rid of these human notions. Without the magnificence of the Fa-rectification, what could I do based on just my own abilities? Without Master and Dafa, we would not be worth anything. Only by cultivating and purifying ourselves well can we do better in doing the three things, attain enlightenment and follow Master to return to our true selves.