(Minghui.org) Greetings benevolent Master, greetings fellow practitioners! As a child, I began practicing Falun Dafa with my parents before the persecution started. These past 24 years have gone by in the blink of an eye, and I have grown and matured. In high school I cultivated well with my parents, leading my life according to the Fa principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. After high school, I left my parents’ home to pursue higher education. For ten years until my postgraduate studies, I strayed further and further away from the Fa, eventually completely losing myself, pursuing fame and fortune.
I'm grateful for Master’s compassionate care and salvation and for not giving up on me, as he arranged for me to come to the United States where I met local practitioners. From the darkest time in my life, I was able to return to Dafa and again begin reading the treasured book Zhuan Falun. Slowly, I began to understand the purpose of cultivation and the responsibilities of a Dafa disciple. I want to take this opportunity of this experience sharing conference to recount my cultivation experiences in my work environment for the past year. Please compassionately point out if I've said anything inappropriate.
Clarifying the Truth At Work
Two years ago after I graduated from the university, Master compassionately arranged for my company to invite me to continue my projects as a contractor, and I later became an official employee. As I began to study the Fa more diligently, I began to use many different opportunities to clarify the truth within my company.
About six months after I started my job, I faced a trial of life and death. I had to take an entire week off of work. I was sent to the emergency room. However, the doctor said he could not find anything wrong with me. In the end, my righteous thoughts prevailed and everything was completely fine. When I returned to work my concerned boss asked me how I was.
I calmly told her what happened to me the week before and then I told her about Falun Dafa, and how amazing it is. I also told her how it's persecuted in China. Since my boss is from India she understands what cultivation is. She was also quite surprised to hear about the persecution. To her delight, I gave her a small lotus flower that read “Falun Dafa is Good” and “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance”. This is how I began clarifying the truth at work.
A few days later, the only other Chinese person in my workgroup suddenly told me that his father was sick, and that he was very worried. I thought of what Master said:
“From the day that a Dafa disciple takes up cultivation his whole life is rearranged. In other words, this life of yours is now the life of a cultivator. Nothing is by chance anymore, and nothing will happen just by chance. Everything on your life's journey is directly related to your improvement and cultivation.” (Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles)
I didn’t know this older Chinese colleague very well. In the past, I had always wanted to clarify the truth to him, but never had the chance. I realized that Master arranged this perfect opportunity for me to tell him. After I sent forth righteous thoughts to ask Master for help, I took a truth-clarification lotus flower from my backpack and walked to his desk. I said, “We are the only two Chinese people in this group, and I feel we were destined to meet. In the past, I always wanted to tell you this but I never had the opportunity. I practice Falun Dafa, and Master has taught me to treat people with compassion and to be a truthful, compassionate, and tolerant person. Because of my cultivation, my health is very good. My parents cultivate too, and for twenty years, they haven't had to take a single pill or go to the hospital. I heard that your father is not well, and I thought that I should tell you: “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness- Compassion- Forbearance is good.” Many people feel blessed after saying these words. Please ask him to sincerely say to them.”
My colleague smiled as he listened, and then said, “Falun Dafa practitioners don’t take medicine and don’t go to the hospital.” I then told him what happened to me the week before. I said, “There is no rule for practitioners that we cannot take medicine and cannot go to the hospital. For someone like me who hadn’t really cultivated seriously for ten years, last week I had to go to the emergency room for treatment. That was caused by my level at the time. I did not have a cultivator’s mindset, I had a health problem, and then went straight to the hospital. No practitioner reprimanded me.”
“What's amazing about Falun Dafa is that the doctor said he had no way to treat me, but it was through reciting those nine powerful words that I became better and was able to go home in just one day. Take my parents for example, their health has always been good, and they've never had any illnesses. For twenty years, they never had to go to the hospital or take any medications. You may have heard people say that practitioners don’t take medications and don’t see doctors. But if a person is completely fine and healthy, why would they need to see a doctor?”
After I finished speaking, he seemed to understand and thoughtfully nodded his head. Later, I helped him quit the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) and its youth organizations. I gave him a small lotus flower, and wished his father could also hear the truth and have a speedy recovery. He was very grateful. Through clarifying the truth to him, I broke through my fear of clarifying the truth to people from mainland China. Gradually, I was able to get to know more Chinese people, and I was also able to clarify the truth to them and help them quit the CCP. Thank you Master.
After experiencing this trial of life and death, I truly understood the solemnity of cultivation, and knew that I could not be how I was six months prior, treating cultivation as an everyday leisurely project. Cultivation is most serious and is of utmost importance. We need to proactively cultivate ourselves and truly walk on a divine path. I bought a small whiteboard to put on my desk and planned to write a few reminder phrases and Fa quotes on it.
Right after I bought the whiteboard, I wrote three phrases on it in Chinese: “Looking within is a magical tool; Always consider others first; He’s right, and I’m wrong, what’s to dispute?” As one of my coworkers walked past my desk, he curiously asked me what was written on my whiteboard. As I’d previously clarified to the truth to him, I told him that these were things Dafa disciples must do and told him what they meant in English. He was very excited after hearing this and asked me to email him the phrases. I carefully translated the phrases, emailed them to him, and didn’t think more about it. My coworker then forwarded my email to our entire workgroup, and in the subject line, put “Thoughtful Thought for the day – Courtesy of (my name)”. After seeing this, I was both shocked and happy. I immediately replied to the email and said that these phrases came from my faith in Falun Dafa, and I wrote a brief introduction to the practice. Thank you, Master, for arranging this.
After working at my job for a year, my company successfully applied for an H1B work visa for me, and I became an official employee. The day my visa became effective, I wanted to clarify the truth to every person I knew in our larger workgroup. I prepared almost one hundred little truth-clarification lotuses and made colorful printed cards. On the front, I wrote in large print: “Today is my first day working as an official employee of the company with an H1B visa”. On the back, I wrote the story of the lotus, and inside, I explained how Falun Dafa is practiced around the world; the Fa principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance; and about the persecution in China.
That night after work, I quietly put the lotus flowers and cards on each employees' desks. The next day as they arrived, they were all very excited to see the little gift I prepared for them. Almost every single person came by just to say thanks and to congratulate me on my H1B visa status. Then they hung the small lotus flower I gifted them on a very clean and visible place on their desks. Now, the little lotus flowers printed with “Falun Dafa is Good” and “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance” can be seen throughout my building.
Our company holds an official celebration for most major holidays like Christmas, and most employees attend these events. I thought about how I could help the employees who I didn’t yet know about Falun Dafa to hear about it.
I had an idea that I should perform during the open mic event at our Christmas party. My plan was to sing and have a conversation with a little puppet and convey the three words “Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance” to the audience. So I bought the puppet and named it “Little Lotus”. But for a variety of reasons, up until the day before the event, I still hadn’t prepared the song I wanted to sing. I really didn’t want to miss this opportunity to clarify the truth to my entire company. I asked Master for wisdom, and that night I was able to choose my background track, edit my music, write my song, learn how to talk and sing with a ventriloquism technique, and rehearse my performance and my opening remarks.
An hour before my performance, I sent forth righteous thoughts and asked for Master’s help to negate any interference. The performance went very well, and many of my colleagues were moved. Later as I watched a recording of the open mic entertainment, I found that the lively party quieted down as soon as I began to perform. Everyone listened intently, and all that could be heard were my lyrics and the music. After I finished singing, everyone clapped and cheered. I thanked Master for giving me wisdom and allowing me to convey the message of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance to my entire company.
Collecting Signatures At My Company to Stop Live Organ Harvesting
A week after I gave all my coworkers the little lotus flowers and cards, I began to talk to them about the forced organ harvesting. I also collected signatures on a petition to end forced organ harvesting.
When I began talking about Dafa and how the CCP harvests organs from practitioners, my colleague was sympathetic and outraged. However, when I brought up signing the petition, she said, “No, I won’t sign.” I was surprised. She's usually very easygoing and stands up for justice. We also have a good relationship, and I thought that it would be very easy to get her to sign. She was the first person to refuse, and it hit me like a bucket of cold water.
I immediately began to look within and found that in my mind, I presumed to know each person’s attitude to the truth according to how close our relationship was. How could I use such an ordinary standard to judge something as sacred as a person's stance on the truth?! I quickly straightened out my thinking, smiled, and told her it was no problem—choosing to sign or not was not that important, as I just wished for her to know the truth. I said that perhaps in the future she'd decide to support the petition. She eagerly agreed.
I knew this happened because my heart was not in the right place. I quickly changed my attitude and continued to ask other colleagues to sign the petition. After just one day, my entire workgroup signed the petition, and all that was left was her signature. I wanted to give her another chance, and sure enough that afternoon, I ran into her. This time, it was just the two of us. I casually asked, “Do you want to show your support by signing the petition?” This time without hesitation, she said yes. When I straightened out my thinking and looked within, the situation took a turn for the better!
A week into my signature collection, a colleague from Poland told me that he believed me and supported my efforts. He explained that after I gave him the small lotus flower he read the truth-clarification card I attached, and then did some research on the persecution. He said he was not only very moved by my compassion and determination but inspired that I took the initiative to clarify the truth to each and every person. He said many people want to do great things, but very few can really accomplish it. He said I was different because I wanted to tell people about the persecution of Falun Dafa and I had followed through. He said he supported me very much and told me that if I needed help on any other projects in the future, I could ask him. He then told me that he put the little lotus flower at a very clean place on his desk, he looks at it every day, and cherishes it very much. I was very moved that he had such a deep understanding of the truth. I felt that Master was encouraging me through him. Thank you Master.
Something else inspiring happened when I was nearly done collecting signatures. The only people left were some colleagues that I didn’t know too well. I had given them lotus flowers and truth-clarification cards. I didn't want to leave a single person out. I sent forth righteous thoughts, and then walked towards them. I began to talk to a younger male colleague who was about my age, but the other five also craned their necks to listen.
After I collected their signatures, one who seemed to be a manager pointed at a group of people not far from us and told me to go ask for their signatures too. I looked and I said that I didn’t know any of them. He immediately said, “No worries, I know them. Come with me.” When we reached the group, he said, “You should all sign this, my friend is collecting signatures.” When they asked what the petition was about, the manager said, “The petition is in hopes of the downfall of the Chinese Communist Party. The CCP is too evil, you should all sign this.”
I was surprised and excited to hear him say this. I quickly gave them the petition and told them how Falun Dafa is persecuted in China, and that the Chinese Communist Party was behind the forced organ harvesting. They all signed the petition. A few more of the manager’s friends came by, and the manager told them they should sign the petition, and they all did. Very quickly, every row on my petition was filled, and I even had to make two extra rows for all the signatures to fit. Thank you Master, for arranging this. I’m happy that I did not miss the chance to clarify the truth to these people just because I didn’t know them personally.
Conclusion
I've had many challenges while ridding myself of attachments this past year. Many times I could not set down my human notions. There were many rewarding moments, and many moments of regret where I missed out on opportunities to clarify the truth. But no matter what, I always remember what Master said:
“Don't dwell on your past mistakes--if you've made mistakes, then do well from now on. Don't think about the things that have happened. Think about how to do well from now on, and become truly responsible to yourself and to sentient beings.” (Touring North America to Teach the Fa)
I'm grateful that Master did not give up on me, and allowed me to come back into Dafa, forgiving my past mistakes, and allowing me the opportunity to do better. I can only repay Master by diligently making the most of my time to cultivate and doing the three things well! I should not waste Master’s boundless compassion and mercy. Thank you Master, thank you fellow practitioners.
(Presented at the 2020 International Falun Dafa Young Practitioners’ Online Fa Conference)
