(Clearwisdom.net)
Once I paid attention to the three things, my business continually improved. Many big troubles at work were either resolved by the time they got to me or became so small that they didn't bother me at all. As a cultivator, I knew that everything in the human world is made convenient for us to save people. However, we needed to cherish it. What skills we possess in the human world, how large our business is, and how important our official titles are—all this is for our cultivation. Maybe we should cultivate this out, but, more importantly, we should save people. Otherwise, we won't be capable of saving people and can get trapped in the human world.
- Excerpt from the author
Greetings, revered Teacher! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I am a veteran practitioner, who began cultivating Falun Dafa in 1996. I still have areas that I don't do well in. After my release from a forced labor camp in 2006, I struggled to make ends meet since I didn't have a job. There were times when I needed money to travel and food for Dafa activities. Fellow practitioners had donated funds to me for the production of truth-clarification materials, but I always felt that it was inappropriate for me to use it to pay for my travel. I wanted to cover the travel expenses with my own money, but my income was insufficient, so I struggled. I tried several jobs that other fellow practitioners told me about. A practitioner who ran a small business tried to hire me, though he didn't make much from his business. This bothered me.
At that time, many young practitioners like me, who had higher educations, mostly only wanted simple jobs in order to have time to practice cultivation. Many of them consequently held low-income jobs. I thought, “Why can't I make a living using my technical skills? Isn't a higher income a good thing?” Many fellow practitioners didn't want to learn everyday people's technologies and felt that it was a waste of time. I thought, “At the human level, better technical skills can earn a higher income. This concept also follows the law of the cosmos.” Therefore, I tried to choose technology-related jobs. I had done some computer graphic design at my previous job, so I studied further in this area.
In time, I got some work and an income. When my earnings reached my (then) current salary level, I quit my job and worked on my own business full-time. At first, I didn't generate much income, but as I gradually improved my technical skills, my income increased. However, this resulted in a negative effect on doing the three things well.
I had a strong attachment to qing. I would do whatever the customer asked. I accepted any work, profitable or not. Finally, I was too busy. Whenever I started to send righteous thoughts, a customer would call me. I couldn't concentrate and kept thinking about my business instead of studying the Fa. Without realizing it, I stopped explaining the truth about Falun Dafa to people and spent more time on business. I became an ordinary person, thinking only, “How much money did I make on this or that deal? My design is better than so and so's.” I would be unhappy if someone did better than me or made more money. This situation was completely different from the time when I went to Beijing to validate the Fa.
In the past, I thought that I regarded money and human affairs lightly. Actually, I was wrong. When I went to Beijing to validate the Fa, I gave up my job, left my family, separated Fa validation and my daily life, and acknowledged the old forces' arrangements. I was then put in a forced labor camp for a few years. When I returned to regular society, I realized that I hadn't eliminated this attachment at all.
After the first year of doing business, I reviewed my work. I thought, “I made money but haven't saved people. It's not worth it at all!”
In the second year, I tried to balance doing the three things well while taking care of my business. While sending righteous thoughts, I wouldn't answer the phone until I finished. Once, my phone rang right after I finished sending righteous thoughts. The customer said, “I kept calling you, but just couldn't get through.” Actually, the phone was right next to me and was turned on all that time. I understood that my righteous thoughts had adjusted everything around me. My heart needed to be righteous in the first place.
I couldn't concentrate on studying the Falun Dafa teachings. I looked within and found that I was attached to human fame, interests, and sentimentality. I then purified my heart, aligning with the Fa. I didn't have time to work on Dafa projects to save people, so I set up a schedule—a certain time was for regular work and a certain time for Dafa work. After awhile, I realized that this arrangement still wasn't working. Doing business was unlike a regular office job; customers called anytime. Sometimes, they called me when it was very late. I then rearranged my workload and gave some of it to other people. I made less money, but I had more time to do the three things well.
At the end of the second year, I reviewed everything again. I realized that I hadn't devoted my heart and full abilities to doing the three things. What should I do? Not run a business anymore? That couldn't be right. Later, I read “During the Fa-rectification each person is walking his own path” (“Touring North America to Teach the Fa”) multiple times, while studying Teacher's Fa lectures during the Fa-rectification period. What was my path? Through studying the Falun Dafa teachings, I realized that my path was to tell people the truth about Falun Dafa and save them in my work and living environments. Sometimes I did well: I distributed truth-clarification materials to my customers and in the residential neighborhood in the morning, and I clarified the facts to people on my cell phone in the afternoon. When I got home, I started studying the Fa and sending righteous thoughts. I felt that my day was fully utilized.
However, now I'm was working hard on the business. I asked myself, “Have I done the three things today? Why haven't I done them? I didn't want to endure hardship, so I got up late; I forgot to bring the truth-clarification materials with me when I left home. On my way home, I kept thinking about my business and forgot to call people to clarify the truth over my cell phone.” I found my loopholes regarding the three things.
Once I paid attention to the three things, my business continually improved. Many big troubles at work were either resolved by the time they got to me or became so small that they didn't bother me at all. As a cultivator, I knew that everything in the human world is made convenient for us to save people. However, we needed to cherish it. What skills we possess in the human world, how large our business is, and how important our official titles are—all this is for our cultivation. Maybe we should cultivate this out, but, more importantly, we should save people. Otherwise, we won't be capable of saving people and can get trapped in the human world.
The effort is not worth it if we only want to make money, rather than do the three things. We will also be powerless if we do the three things and ignore our own life completely, so I feel that we need to do both.
Teacher said,
“But the path will be very narrow – narrow to the extent that only if you are extremely righteous will things work out and will you manage to save people. Only if you can go about things in an extremely righteous manner will there be no problems.” (“What is a Dafa Disciple” from “Fa Teaching at the 2011 New York Fa Conference”)
My understanding of going about things in a righteous manner means that we should do well in every area.
I'm happy to participate in this Fa conference. Fellow practitioners, please point out anything inappropriate.
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