(Minghui.org) I'm an architect and I started practicing Falun Dafa in 1999. A few years ago I opened my own architectural design firm. I could arrange my schedule and also be able to do the three things.
Our Workplace Is a Good Cultivation Environment
Working in architectural design is quite demanding—especially in small cities. Clients don't follow the timeline specified in the contract. They try to squeeze as much time out of the firm as possible. As soon as the contract is signed, the client begins pushing for the final design. Sometimes, the day after the specifications are provided they want to see a draft the following day. Due to the fierce competition among local design firms, you dare not argue or the deal may be called off.
To meet clients' needs and keep the cost low, we frequently finish the job well ahead of time. Yet in today's hustling business environment, clients continue to demand more, pressing for even tighter delivery schedules. In the beginning, I did not realize that this was meant to remove my attachments to being impatient and making money. I simply tried to keep up with all their unreasonable demands.
Things did not improve and even started to take a bad turn. For example, after we put in extra hours and delivered the design, some clients kept asking for revisions. After rounds and rounds of overtime, my employees became frustrated. From their discontent, I realized that something was wrong with me. It was time to remove my attachments to being impatient and making money. Sometimes the client would threaten, “If you don't hurry, I will go elsewhere.” I let go of my anxiety. After I let go of my attachments, the clients relaxed and the demands for repeated revisions stopped.
Before I started my own firm, some fellow practitioners tried to talk me out of it: “You can't start a company. That's an attachment to gain. Won't it hinder your cultivation?” But I felt that we should cultivate in everyday society. Although work is not cultivation, it does provide a cultivation environment and many attachments can be exposed and removed.
At the beginning, my attachment to making money was obvious. Clients are typically late in making payments and government agencies are notoriously slow. This became a burden, and I was always worried about being paid.
Once, a local government department told me to send them the invoice two days before a holiday and they promised to allocate some funds to pay us. I did not want to miss this rare event of clients paying us—so I hurriedly contacted our accountant who told me we were running out of invoices. The next day, when the accountant went to restock them, the person in charge was not in, and it could not be done that day. The holiday would start the following day, so we did not know when we would be paid. I got very upset. I complained and blamed the accountant.
Soon after, a similar situation happened and then I realized that these incidents were meant to remove my attachments. I decided to eliminate this attachment, and I stopped blaming the accountant. The following day the accountant told me the taxation department was ready to help us prepare the invoice.
Clarifying the Truth at the Workplace
After I opened the design firm I clarified the truth to nearly every client. When there was little time to talk I gave them truth-clarification materials and asked them to read them. I also placed truth-clarification materials in envelopes. When clients came to pick up their design diagrams, I would hand them everything in the same envelope. I also used every opportunity to help them quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its two affiliated youth organizations, the Communist Youth League, and the Young Pioneers.
As the years went by I helped several clients quit the CCP. I kept my truth-clarification materials updated and they were always on my desk.
One day, a friend brought two executives from his company to my firm for a tour, hoping to bring me some business. The conversation centered on design strategies and I did not get a chance to tell them about Dafa. When they stood up to leave, one of the executives noticed a painting on the side of the file cabinet, which read Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance. He was surprised, and said, “Isn't this something associated with Falun Gong!” I immediately said, “Yes! Falun Gong is great, and teaches people to be kind.” I kept talking as we walked to the elevator.
Later, my friend told one of my employees to tell me, “Tell your boss that she should not talk about Falun Gong when people come to discuss design. The discussion went well, but by the time our executive left your firm, he changed his mind.” I learned afterwards that the executive had just left his position as a government department chief to work for this company. He had long been brainwashed by the CCP propaganda and could not accept facts.
They decided to give their project to a different firm. I reminded myself that it was my responsibility and mission to clarify the truth. I could not stop for fear of losing a client. Assisting Master in Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings is the purpose of my coming to this world. I felt sad for the executive; he had missed an opportunity to be saved.
I had a few more tests like this one, but I never wavered. Most people appreciated learning the facts and I knew they would be blessed.
One chief executive of a real estate development company withdrew from the CCP and its affiliates with my help. I told him to remember and say the nine words – “Falun Dafa is great. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is great.” He was happy and told his driver, “Every morning when I get into the car, remind me to recite the nine words.” He was blessed and his business began expanding.
One of his subordinates was assigned to work with our firm. I told her the facts about Falun Dafa and the persecution, and she withdrew from the CCP. One day, she felt that something was wrong with her health. She went to the hospital and the examination showed that she had a malignant tumor in her womb. The tumor was at an advanced stage and it had already detached. She needed surgery or radiation treatment. After she took some medicine she was fine, and she's still healthy.
Besides being blessed after agreeing to withdraw from the CCP, many people I've clarified the truth to have reaped immediate benefits. A real estate developer once came to my office with his deputy to discuss a design plan. He had a cold and was feeling very sick. He kept slouching on the couch, leaning left and right, and kept sighing. Seeing that he was having a hard time even sitting up, I told him to sincerely say “Falun Dafa is great! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is great!” He did so and in a few minutes, he felt better and started participating in the discussion. By the time they left, he looked like a different person. He was energetic and anxious to see the new complex's sales office.
When I met with him the following day he had fully recovered from his cold. I asked him whether he thought saying the nine words helped. He said, “Yes, that made the difference! They are so effective!” When his business associates were sick, he would tell them, “Just say, 'Falun Dafa is great! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is great! It's so amazing and truly powerful!”
Resisting Interference on All Fronts
In the second half of 2015, a practitioner came to discuss producing self adhesive signs. The equipment to make the signs was bulky. He asked whether it was OK to set it up at my firm. I immediately agreed and he set it up. From that day on, I shouldered the responsibility of supplying self adhesive signs to local practitioners. Sometimes these signs were in huge demand, and they were urgently needed. I had to print them overnight so as not to delay practitioners' efforts to save people. If it wasn't convenient for him to pick them up, I delivered them.
In the beginning the ink jet printer usually blocked. I carefully read the user's manual and told the machine, “You are a being during the Fa-rectification period. It's your blessing to work with practitioners. Remember 'Falun Dafa is great!' Assimilate to Dafa and you will have a good future.” The machine was compliant. It worked hard, and never broke down. It was very busy during the Chinese New Year. It churned out New Year paintings, Chinese calligraphy with the character “Blessings,” and self adhesive signs non-stop.
I took great pleasure in helping deliver these messages to fellow practitioners, and through them, to tens of thousands of households. The paintings and calligraphy artworks became more elaborate and beautiful each year. Practitioners told me, “People love them. Some ask for several. Close to Chinese New Year people look for Dafa practitioners to get these artworks. Some walk around farmer's markets hoping to meet practitioners and get the latest paintings.”
Besides self adhesive signs, I also printed truth-clarification brochures for practitioners to distribute. At the beginning, when it was a CCP “sensitive date” i.e. around certain anniversaries when the CCP was especially worried about its grip on power, fellow practitioners asked me to be careful. Some warned me that certain CCP departments were tracking down the source of supplies. When I got a little disturbed, wondering whether I should ask practitioners out of town to help, I immediately realized that this thought was wrong. Wasn't this my attachment to fear?
Master said,
“... just by having your heart unaffected you will be able to handle all situations” (“Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s),” Essentials for Further Advancement II) and
“Calmly reflect on the attachments you haveRemove your human thoughts and evil will naturally die out” (“Don’t Be Sad,” Hongyin II)
I realized that these were cultivation tests. If I could avoid being disturbed, this false impression would disappear.
I ignored the CCP “trends”; I just kept doing what I should. Prominently displayed in my office was a painting with the message, “Falun Dafa is great” and Chinese calligraphy reading “Blessings”. Everyone who entered my office could see them. I felt the mighty power of the Fa emanating in golden rays from these artworks, disintegrating any ill thoughts. I also put up a Dafa couplet outside my door. When I was posting the couplet, I added a thought to stop anyone with evil intentions from doing harm. A few years ago, the local police launched a “door knocking” campaign. The main gate to our building was not locked. The officers rang the bell, and when no one answered, they simply left.
After filing lawsuits in 2015 against Jiang Zemin (the former CCP head who initiated the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999) some police officers came to my firm to harass me. After telling them the facts as I walked them out, they were still twisting the truth. They claimed that my ability to operate my business was all to the CCP's credit. I replied, “Both the size and success of my firm is due to all the hard work I put in. The CCP did not give me a penny. If you want design solutions, you are welcome to come here. If you're thinking about persecuting Dafa practitioners, no need to come back.” They did not return.
On another occasion, a staff member of the 610 Office and the head of an administration office came to register my information. I refused to comply. Instead, I told them the facts about Falun Dafa. They agreed to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations and they did not return.
Our Mindset Affects Our Surroundings
I enlightened lately that one's outlook is a reflection of one's inner world. Spirit and matter are the same. If we develop ill thoughts, we generate negativity, which in turn adversely impacts our surroundings. When we run into issues, we should evaluate things on the basis of the Fa.
A hotel close to our firm was being renovated. Debris and dust were everywhere. While standing next to the printer I sent righteous thoughts, “Listen wind and dust! You are all lives. You remember that 'Falun Dafa is great!' You want to assimilate to Dafa. This office is for producing truth-clarification materials and saving sentient beings—so you are going to cooperate. Don't blow into the room and stay off the materials.”
The next day, there was a sudden weather change. It began storming and the windows were pelted with heavy rain. I rushed to the printing room to close the windows. I was surprised to find that the raindrops did not enter the room; only the screens were wet. I marveled at the magnificence of Falun Dafa, and appreciated the multitude of sentient beings and myriad of things who'd assimilated themselves to Dafa.
I'm a professional in the technology field and bring in millions of yuan. I would like to tell others through my personal experience that as Falun Dafa practitioners, with the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance guiding our actions, with the wisdom and intelligence that Dafa bestows on us, and with our firm belief in placing others ahead of ourselves, not only can we do a good job at work, we can excel.
Thank you Master!
