(Minghui.org) An incident about money taught me a lesson. After thinking it over, I decided to share my understandings with fellow practitioners.
Because my business always did well financially, I saved several hundred thousand yuan over the years which I planned to donate to Dafa projects. However, the fellow practitioners that I asked all said, “There's no need for money.” I thought that because I had little contact with other practitioners, I did not know which projects needed money.
So I gave the money to practitioner Mei who was in contact with the practitioners who operated the materials production site. Sometime later, I asked Mei, “Has the money been used?” She said, “No, the site isn't short of money.”
Mei and another practitioner later opened a shop and urgently needed money. Even though she didn't ask to borrow money from me, I knew she was in a difficult situation.
Borrowing money from everyday people was awkward, and only I could help her. So I said, “Use the money that I gave you.” Mei immediately said, “Isn't your money supposed to be for Dafa's use?” I said, “It's been quite a while and the money is still not needed. Your business needs it, so use it.” Mei said, “You have to be clear, what did you intend to use this money for?”
I was afraid she wouldn't accept it, so I simply told her, “This money is mine, so it's my decision how I want to use it. Initially I had two purposes: one for Dafa practitioners to use and second for Dafa projects to use. Since Dafa projects don't need it, why can't you use it?” Actually, what I said about the money for Dafa practitioners to use was just something I made up on the spot, because I was worried that Mei wouldn't approve. She was hesitant, but decided to accept my offer.
But trouble came quickly. After Mei used the money, her business became unsuccessful. First, the Trade and Commerce Office, the Tax Office and police station found fault with her. Then, the fellow practitioner who she cooperated with had a series of troubles. Everyone had different ideas on how to run the business. Mei was used to relying on others, but now she became the main business operator. She had to work from dawn to dusk every day, and had no time to even study the Fa or do the exercises.
The shop was located in a busy place, so there should have been plenty of customers, but for some unknown reasons, there just weren't many customers. Sometimes Mei wasn't even able to cover the costs. Then, the landlord raised the rent from 100,000 to 150,000 yuan. Although we went through a lot of trouble to get the rent lowered, it was still quite difficult to run the business.
Everyone searched within themselves, trying to find why the situation was like this. I thought, “Could it be because of the money I gave Mei, that the old forces took advantage of my gap?” But I quickly disregarded that thought, “The money was mine to decide how to use it, no being has the right to interfere, the problem shouldn't be because of this.”
When I went to Mei's shop, I saw how distressed she was. She had little business and no ability to repay debts, sometimes she was so worried, she nearly cried. I said, “If you can't repay me, then count the money I gave you as a gift. We've been practicing Dafa together for so long, we're a group now, why stress over these things?” I said this from the bottom of my heart. But Mei's attitude was resolute, “Even if I have to sell the shop, I will still repay you. Dafa practitioners cannot be in debt.”
Not long after, Mei did sell the shop. When she handed me several thousand yuan, she looked like a soldier from a lost battle: exhausted through great effort expended yet nothing was gained. Her only consolation was that she had repaid her debt. Regarding this situation, my heart had always been very heavy, feeling that I had something to do with the whole thing, but I didn't know where I went wrong.
After reading a fellow practitioner's article a few days ago titled: “My Observations of Prolonged Financial Loss and Management Issues in Practitioners' Businesses (Part 2)”, I suddenly understood what the problem was. There was a paragraph in the article: “If there is no Dafa project currently in need, the funds will be set aside for future use. No matter what, the funds should not be misappropriated, because once allocated, it does not belong to any individual anymore. If the money is reinvested, the old forces will generate tremendous interference, resulting in a loss.”
Even though what the fellow practitioner saw was only what was shown to him in his cultivation state and it might not have been exactly right, it was still very inspiring to me.
So the reason for Mei's failure could be because of the money I gave her. I once had this thought, “This money is for Dafa to use.” Although Mei had the money for quite some time and did not get to use it, still the money was for Dafa. The money had already been assigned.
Just like in ancient times, emperors stored rations for use in emergency situations, but even though there was no disaster, it doesn't mean that the officials could use it. Then the nature of the situation changes. The evil saw clearly: this money is for Dafa to use, how can you simply change that? It found an excuse to persecute and interfere with us, making us pay to the end.
I realized that, regarding Dafa resources, I had to be serious. Although the money looked like it was my personal asset, however, it was also a Dafa resource. “For Dafa to use” means that it doesn't belong to anyone, let alone use it for others.
To my fellow practitioners: please take the Fa as the Master and compassionately point out any of my mistakes.
Category: Improving Oneself
