(Minghui.org) From the time I was a child, I asked: “Where did I come from? How should I live? What is my destiny?” When I discovered Falun Gong, I realized that I had found the meaning of my life: to return to my true self.
As corrupt as society is today, it is also a furnace that can temper gold. After law school, I was hired to work for a newly established company. The firm’s accountant suddenly left the company without any explanation. The CEO trusted me and wanted me to manage the finances. Even though I took finance classes in school, I did not know how hard it was in practice. There is a big difference between book knowledge and real-life experience. But as a cultivator, no matter how difficult it was, I knew that I had to do well.
Master told us:
“Practitioners should be good people in every situation, and when we are working, we should do it well, for this is not an attachment. Why do I say this? Because you are contributing to the benefit of others and creating value for more people in society. At the very least you are doing it for your workplace, not for yourself. This is something you should do in ordinary society.” (“Teaching the Fa and Answering Questions in Yanji” from Zhuan Falun Fajie)
When I first started to manage the finances, there was close to 6,000 yuan floating around that did not belong to any account, so I turned it in to the CEO. He was not surprised and commented that it was the normal thing for a cultivator to do.
It was the middle of a hot summer, where the temperature was over 30 degrees Celsius every day, and I worked in a small room without air conditioning. The job required my complete attention, and I had to be very patient and detail oriented. It was unfamiliar territory, and nobody was available to show me the way. It was also a busy time of the month for filling orders and balancing the books.
I felt that I couldn’t handle it anymore, mentally or physically. I wanted to escape. But I knew it would be a big blow to the company if I left. If nobody managed the finances, the company would stop running. I was a cultivator, so I couldn’t do that. I had to be considerate of others.
Some of our clients heard about the sudden departure of our former accountant, and they attempted to give me false information in order to benefit themselves. They thought it was a complex, huge database and that a newcomer wouldn’t be able to check everything. It required someone with great patience and ability to pay close attention to detail to find mistakes. It was quite a test for me, since I lacked in both patience and endurance. But I am a cultivator. No matter how tedious or hard, I checked and double checked each entry carefully and prevented financial losses for the company.
I kept adjusting my mental state as I worked, and I finally finished. I felt pretty good. After all, it was not my specialty, and I was hoping that the CEO would recognize my achievement. But he never said a word, as if I should have gotten it done and there was nothing to be proud of.
When I felt hurt and complained a little, he reprimanded me. I was so upset that I almost quit there and then. Later I realized that it was all arranged to help me improve.
Master said:
“A wicked person is born of jealousy.Out of selfishness and anger he complains about unfairness towards himself.A benevolent person always has a heart of compassion.With no discontentment or hatred, he takes hardship as joy.An enlightened person has no attachments at all.He quietly observes the people of the world deluded by illusions.”(“Realms” in Essentials for Further Advancement)
I learned the Fa teachings by heart and acted accordingly. It was hard and difficult at times, but I cherished the environment and solidly improved my xinxing. Exercising my willpower also seemed to enlarge the capacity of my heart.
I view others as a mirror, realizing that their shortcomings could be my problems, that their good points are what I need to learn. When others fight for benefits, I see selfishness in myself that I have not totally relinquished; when others play mind games, I examine myself for any deviant notions. I’ve also sensed in myself impatience, greed, the pursuit of comfort and leisure, and the attachments to lust and sentiment.
Now when others point out my shortcomings, I can calmly face it and look within. Those tests of my xinxing showed me the wonder of cultivation.
Since I was hired at a new company, there was no training manual, and I was learning on the job. I also had to finish all the training courses and classes and was responsible for training others.
I experienced the wonder of Falun Gong during that process. The training included subjects unfamiliar to me, such as biology and other specialties. Reference materials were also very limited.
Master taught us:
“So in other words, whichever field you might be in, when you are able to improve your skills, that is a reflection of your having continually risen in realm. And people can see that you are a good person and someone who cultivates his or her heart and mind. From the vantage point of human beings, you are becoming a good person. As a result of studying the Fa and cultivating your inner self, you do better and better, and gods give you the wisdom you deserve and give you inspiration so that you can come to realize a lot of things while you study, create better things, improve your technique, and reach beyond.” (Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles)
Through studying the Fa teachings, cultivating, and improving my xinxing, it was easy to learn the other specialties. It only took me a few days to finish the classes, and when I gave lectures, everyone else thought I was the expert in those areas.
Cultivation is sacred and serious, it surpasses everything in the human world, it is the elevation of one's realm, and the process of returning to one's original self.