(Minghui.org) I am a Falun Dafa practitioner, and I also own a store. I have been holding myself to the standards of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” while minding my store. Thus, my customers have witnessed the goodness of Dafa.
Master said:
“...what kind of private enterprise or company you run, it makes no difference, as you should trade fairly and maintain a righteous mind.” (Zhuan Falun)
“...all of which can be properly dealt with. In any social class, one can be a good person and care less for different desires or attachments. One can be a good person at different strata, and one can practice cultivation at one’s own social level.” (Zhuan Falun)
While doing business, I have been cultivating myself and looking within when I have encountered conflicts. Because I was among the earliest people to start practicing Falun Dafa in my village, my home became a practice site.
After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started persecuting Falun Dafa in July 1999, I did not renounce my faith and went to Beijing to appeal for justice. I was persecuted., and my home was ransacked many times. I was illegally held twice at a detention center, once at a forced labor camp, and another time at a brainwashing center.
I have been running my store, and I gained a good reputation because of my conduct. Many of my customers were referred to me by other customers. For instance, one of my loyal customers said to a friend: “If you want to buy hardware or home products, don't go anywhere else but this practitioner's store. The owner is a Falun Dafa practitioner, and she is honest. The products she carries are of good quality, and she sells them at a fair price.”
Hearing that, I realized that I was an element of Falun Dafa. I showed people the truth about Dafa through my daily interactions. Subsequently, I became even more diligent, and I paid attention to my every word and action.
When customers come to my store, I tell them, “It is Falun Dafa's Teacher who taught me to be a good person. Only because I practice Falun Dafa, I have been subjected to the severe persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).” I also explain how the “self-immolation” incident was a hoax.”
After many customers learned the truth, they quit the CCP. When I found out that some of them came from a long distance to buy from me, I felt the great responsibility that practitioners are shouldering. Therefore, cultivating myself is of the utmost importance.
I own an open area outside of my store, which was approved by the administration committee and local community management committee. Thus, I was responsible for the maintenance costs of the area. Yet another merchant has been occupying this space without my permission, and she has not paid for any of the maintenance.
From time to time, she mistreated me, but I did not argue with her. We did not have any conflicts for a long time.
When I returned to the store one day, she hit the building with a shovel, and also destroyed some of my goods. A witness asked what was going on, and I said that I was at a loss. So, I asked the merchant. She pointed at a big stone outside my store, and claimed that it interfered with her doing business, and she suspected that I had put it there. While we were talking, two men arrived to move the stone.
When others asked me why I did not fight, knowing that she was using my property without permission, I told them that I practiced Falun Dafa and “My Teacher told us to not fight back when being beaten, not to talk back when being sworn at.”
As a practitioner, we need to keep improving ourselves. This occurrence helped me to cultivate. I then looked inward and found that I had a competitive mentality, an attachment to self-interest and jealousy. I eliminated them. Deep down, I appreciated that this merchant had helped me to improve my moral character and think from my heart.
For a while, an employee at my store kept checking her smartphone, including when she was talking to a customer. She ignored that the shelves were a mess, and she came to work late. When my temper got the best of me, I chastised her. She became upset, had a temper tantrum, threw things and refused to talk to me.
I was in a shock because we had been getting along very well. I had trusted her and left everything in her hands. She had been doing a good job in return. I was baffled by her behavior. I looked inward. Suddenly, I realized that I recently slacked off in my cultivation. I studied less, slacked on sending forth righteous thoughts and doing the exercises in the morning.
I found other attachments, including looking outward, resentment, relying on others, pursuit of leisure, and not wanting to be criticized, but I readily criticized others. I realized that I was also attached to watching a Chinese social media site on my phone and shopping online.
After letting go of these attachments, the situation turned around. My employee put away her cell phone and began tidying up the shelves with me. Through this incident, my understanding of the importance of looking inward became even deeper.