(Minghui.org) I became a Falun Dafa practitioner in 1996. In this modern era where public morals are degenerating with each passing day, and people are craving for material desires, it is Falun Dafa that changed me. Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa, has rescued me from the clutches of illness and cleansed my soul and purified my body. Falun Dafa truly changed my perception of life and everyday values.
The laws of Dafa made me understand that the purpose of living on earth is not for fame, personal benefits or fortune. It is to return to one’s original, true self. At work, I expect myself to meet the standards of a cultivator, and put less emphasis on fame and personal benefits. This actually gave my employees righteous confidence in Dafa.
I started my career as a factory director of a small enterprise in 1982. I worked hard at building a successful business from an enterprise that was on the verge of closing down. I also settled many of the employment issues for the laid off employees. I came to be seen by authorities as someone of considerable influence in society.
Several months after the persecution of Falun Dafa began on July 20, 1999, I was visited by the police department officials. They considered me a person needing to be transformed. I refused their demand to write a guarantee statement promising not to practice Falun Dafa anymore. I also refused to write any essays to defame Master and the Fa. However, I did take this opportunity to tell the officials about my own experiences of cultivation in Falun Dafa, and how I followed Master’s teachings so I can be helpful to others and society.
I told them that without Falun Dafa, I would not have been able to endure the hardships encountered as I persisted in building my small enterprise. I let them know that it is Master Li who gave me this capability to develop a successful business. The officials acknowledged that my ethics and work quality were well known and recognized in the community. Therefore, they really had no reason to go forward with a case against me. Since Falun Dafa was so good, they suggested that I should just practice it quietly at home. They also said that they did not want to return to look for me again because of this matter.
Amongst the people that I discussed Falun Dafa with, I had to go through repeated times of patient kind advice and explanation before they could finally understand the truth. In this way, I passed through this tribulation. While I was writing this article, I truly realized that only when we clarified the truth to the standard of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance can Master help us pass a tribulation.
Every year July and August are the peak seasons for exports. Every enterprises’ products will go through sample tests and if the quality of their products does not meet the standards, the products will have to be returned back to the factory and be sent for re-testing. Some firms did not want to return their products, therefore they will give the test agency staff some benefits and use money to resolve this issue. My company’s deliveryman told me upon his return from the test agency that more than 10 companies resort to such methods to resolve this issue. Only our company does not do that. I know very well that if we were to do that, we would be harming both the welfare of our clients and our own reputation.
As a Dafa practitioner, all the problems that we face have the element for us to improve in our cultivation. Master told us,
“So, as Dafa disciples go about validating the Fa and saving sentient beings, their attitude, state of mind, and manner of doing things are all critical, for such things can determine what changes take place in this world.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. IX)
In order for the company to survive through the materialistic environment, I treated myself as a cultivator, requesting myself to behave as per the highest values of the universe, “Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance.”
In 2013, our company happened to also have a large number of products that did not pass the sample test and thus could not be sent for testing. This posed a problem for our deliveryman. The deliverymen from the other companies asked why our products were rejected this time. They wondered if this happened because our company did not send gifts to the test officials. Upset and anxious, my deliveryman did not call me as he knew that it is our company’s policy not to bribe the test officials.
Desperate, the deliveryman suddenly remembered that another deliveryman from our company had once told him, “From my years of delivery experience, the journey of sending the products to the test agency takes more than 10 hours and I often saw scary cases where the big container trucks met with accidents that claimed the lives of drivers. I remembered that our company’s boss cultivates Falun Dafa. All these years, when I board the truck, I recite ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,’ and everything goes well.”
In the midst of such a big problem, the new deliveryman started to sincerely recite “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” In a short time, the staff shouted the name of our company, informing the deliveryman that he could proceed to take his cargo in for the test. Hearing the notification, the deliveryman started to cry. The agency staff asked why he was crying, since he had already been allowed to bring his cargo in for the test. Honestly, being able to resolve such a big dilemma soon after reciting “Falun Dafa is good,” why would he not be touched?
In 1998, our factory wanted to build a 2,400 square meter framework structured workshop building. I let several building contractors know up front that I was a Falun Dafa practitioner and expected that their bids be fair and their work of high quality. A bid was accepted from a company that was the lowest construction cost on the market at that time, on the precondition that the building standards would not be compromised.
After the completion of the workshop building, everybody uniformly agreed that this construction quality was the best. The contractor often told others, “Falun Dafa’s people really are not greedy nor do they take advantage of opportunities to earn benefits for themselves. The factory director is also a good person, something I have seldom seen in my years of working in the construction industry.”
From 2007 to 2012, my company consecutively constructed three more buildings and I set out the same standards as before to contractors applying for the job. I do not accept any gifts or treats nor do I accept any fees for giving them leeway. After the completion of the project, the contractors all told me that they never met a leader who did not accept dinner invitations or other bribes for their own benefit. The leaders that they met are all thinking of ways to make money for themselves. Thus, working for my project allowed the contractors to testify that Falun Dafa practitioners are honest and upright people. They didn’t understand why the country banned its people from following such a good practice.
In 2005, my company’s cash flow met with some difficulties. When the first developer who collaborated with me knew about it, he offered to lend me more than 300,000 yuan. When my company paid back the loan after only four months, he only wanted to take back the original sum of the loan, with no interest. This is the result of doing business according to the principles of Dafa.
In 2002, I was facing financial difficulties so I borrowed 20,000 yuan from a friend. When I went to return the money, my friend did not want to take it. However, I told him that he must accept the money as we had already agreed that it was to be a loan. After accepting the money, my friend told me, “You have worked for more than a decade as a leader of an enterprise without any greed or taking advantage to earn benefits. Privately, we all think that you are too silly. Look at the other enterprises, although their firms do not earn money and have all closed down, their leaders are all richer than you. After the changing of the managing system of the enterprises throughout the nation, you are the only firm that is running production normally and managing in a very stable condition. But you are really losing too many opportunities to gain benefits for yourself. Sometimes, we really feel pity for you.”
At such times, I remember Master’s lecture,
“For we who practice, however, the rewards that we look to enjoy are of a completely different nature, and would be something regular people could never experience, even if they wanted to—unless they took up spiritual practice.” (The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
Those clients doing business with me all know that I practice Falun Dafa. Some of the clients will tell me that they have visited many factories but none of the firms have an atmosphere like mine. In my workshop procedures, they can see that the employees have a responsible attitude toward the quality of the products.
Master said,
“And actually, when you manage to, while in the various professions, do well all the things that you ought to do, you are then in fact cultivating. ” (“Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. VIII)
In the 20 years of my cultivation, various levels of the government awarded me and my firm with very high honors. I have also received acknowledgments and good comments from the community. This attracted the publicity department and the bosses of similar firms to come and interview me. They were curious about the ‘magic formula’ that I have to be able to manage my firm so well, and what forces made my employees have so much loyalty and a responsible attitude in their work. I always let them know that the reason for all that is due to my cultivation of Falun Dafa. I also tell them to remember that the best principles to live by are the universal characteristics of “Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance,” which guides people to be kind, keeps one healthy and is the key to resolving all types of conflicts.
It is indeed the ‘magic formula’ for the company’s healthy development. The business leaders told me that my past achievements were wonderful, but their news department has the rule that matters involving Falun Dafa cannot be reported. They expressed regret about this. Although they do not dare to report it officially, they tell me that they also have relatives and classmates who are practicing Falun Dafa and that these people are also telling them the same universal principles. Therefore, they know that the Falun Dafa practitioners are all very kind.
The other clients, friends, and colleagues who have heard about my experiences all say that they understand that Falun Dafa practitioners are all trying to be good people. In the past, they always thought that Falun Dafa was just a political group, but after understanding the truth, they know how evil and unjust the persecution of Falun Dafa is.
Amongst the people that I have a chance to talk with, are those who do not want to listen to or accept the truth. I honestly feel quite sad for them. No matter how much that I have to sacrifice, I do not feel that life is hard.
Master tells us,
“If you are without the Goodness (Shan) that a Dafa disciple has, then you are not a cultivator. If a Dafa disciple cannot validate the Fa, then he is not a Dafa disciple. ” (“On "The Dignity of Dafa,"” Essentials for Further Advancement II)