(Minghui.org) I joined a new private enterprise. The owner hired a human resources manager, but let her go after a few days. That left three of us to manage the company: the owner was the general manager in charge of sales and marketing, his wife served as the executive assistant in charge of planning and procurement, and I was the deputy responsible for research and development, production, quality control, and human resources.
The general manager told me that an employee might be taking bribes and be involved in industrial espionage. He asked me to terminate her contract at the end of the month. I had thought about helping her quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but I hadn't had an opportunity to approach her.
Helping someone quit the Party while discussing terminating her employment? I wasn't so sure it would work. I thought about it further, and decided it would work as long as I was aligned with the Fa.
I called her to my office at the end of the month and told her calmly, “The company is going to let you go. What do you think?” She asked why she was being fired. I told her I didn't want to go into detail, but their were concerns about her work.
I told her about work ethics. I explained that people should adhere to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. In particular, those doing procurement should keep clear records. They can build a good career path if they resist bribery and don't disclose confidential business information.
“In China, people have come to rely on 'grey income' (income from illegitimate sources). Why is our society so chaotic? Because the CCP has sabotaged our traditional values and culture. We have lost the fundamental concepts of right and wrong. Have you seen the words printed on our money: 'Heaven mandates the end of the CCP. Quit the CCP organizations for your own safety'?” I said.
The woman replied, “Yes, I have seen those. Are those words true?” I told her, “Yes.” I suggested that she quit any CCP organizations she had joined. She agreed. I told her, “No matter where your next job takes you, remember that Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are the principles that should guide you. I wish you well.”
She thanked me.
My boss had been out of the office on business that day. He called me around noon and asked if the procurement staff member had been let go. I told him that we were completing the paperwork; it would be done in the afternoon.
He told me to stop processing her termination. “It was a misunderstanding,” he said. He asked me to find a way to keep her.
I was stunned. I understood according to the Fa principles Master taught us, “This is because everything in human society exists for Dafa and for Dafa disciples’ cultivation.” (“Comment on a Student’s Article” from The Essentials of Diligent Progress, Vol. III)
It was so true!
From then on, after I completed the normal exit interview, I would talk to the employee about quitting the Party. We normally had already made a personal connection during the interview, because I listened and spoke with them with sincerity and tried to empathize. Many chose to renounce their communist organization memberships.
My boss had won over a research and development engineer by offering him a hefty salary raise. His project took eight months and he was about to finish. My boss looked for a reason to end the engineer's contract.
Around this time, a customer complained that our prototype didn't work. But after we brought it back and tested it, everything was fine. My boss asked the engineer to communicate with the customer, but we couldn't pinpoint the problem.
This engineer hoped to visit the customer onsite to solve the issue, but my boss wanted to keep the client's information confidential, and he didn't approve of the onsite visit.
Two weeks later my boss decided to terminate the engineer's employment because of significant design flaws. He asked me to execute the termination, but I didn't think it was fair. I didn't want to do it, and I took a day off.
My boss was angry and deducted a day's pay from my salary. He then ordered that all research and development staff work one extra day for free. I finally calmed down after a week of Fa study. I realized that I was too emotional. I wasn't able to discern the issue of work and cultivation.
People have to resolve their karmic debts and I need to evaluate issues from the perspective of Fa principles. We shouldn't be affected by human emotions. I decided to follow the instructions from my boss and terminate the engineer's employment.
I called the engineer to my office and told him that the company had decided to let him go because of design flaws in his work. He didn't take it well and asked, “Do you think it's a problem of design?”
I analyzed the situation for him and said, “We tested it here and found no problems. However, the customer said it was flawed. If we can find the customer to conduct an onsite analysis, we may be able to draw a final conclusion.”
My words were relatively objective. The engineer calmed down. I took the opportunity to help him quit the CCP organizations.
There were many complaints about unfair labor practices, and I was required to deal with them. I tried to talk sincerely with the people who complained, instead of deceiving them like the owner wanted me to. I also took the opportunity to tell them the truth about Falun Gong.
My company rented a factory to open a new production line. I was charged with interviewing job candidates and signing employment contracts. My boss' wife drafted the labor contracts, which contained parts that didn't align with the labor laws. For example, the contracts didn't provide any social security benefits. The overtime pay rates on Saturdays and Sundays were also not paid at 1.5 or 2 times the regular hourly rate as required by law.
I thought this was because she didn't know the law. So I spoke with her about modifying the contracts. She said, “How can we make money if we follow the law completely?”
I realized the challenge. I recalled overhearing her telling our accountants: “What do we need accountants for if you don't make false accounts? Accounting is so simple, even three-year-olds can do it!”
I remembered that I was a Dafa disciple adhering to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I was confused. Did Master want me to quit this job? I had been out of work for three years before this job. I really needed to be working.
I recalled Master's Fa in “Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.” from Teaching the Fa at the Conference II:
“In human society nowadays there are a lot of bad phenomena, bad people, and bad behavior, which completely depart from what is human, even to the point that some people not only have warped mentalities, but also enormous demon nature. So what should we do about this situation? I'll tell you: nothing. Why? Dafa disciples' magnificence is connected to the Fa-rectification of the cosmos, and your greatest mission is to safeguard the Fa. Let those that don't damage Dafa just be. If someone damages Dafa, you should clarify the truth to him, restrain the evil, eliminate the evil, and save people.”
My stress was alleviated a little bit. I thought, “There must be a way.” Moreover, I could still use the interviews to save more people. My wisdom grew.
I interviewed a college graduate. She was rather disappointed when I told her the contract terms. She didn't want to say it, but she was looking for an excuse to end the interview and leave.
“No rush. Let's talk about something else. Did you learn how to 'climb over the wall' (circumvent the Internet firewall) when you surfed the Internet at school?” I asked.
She answered, “'Climb over the wall?' I don't know how.”
“'Climbing over the wall can enable you to gain access to uncensored information. Do you know about quitting the CCP?”
She said she hadn't heard about quitting the CCP. At the end of the interview, she quit. She looked happy, “Thank you,” she said. “I have had an interesting day!”
Another candidate sharply pointed out flaws in the labor contract, “Why don't you provide any social security benefits? And also the overtime pay is not legal.” He directed his outrage at me because he thought that I represented the company.
I remained calm and said, “I know the contract is illegal. However, many enterprises, including a very famous state-owned enterprise, follow the same illegal practices. The law in China is just a piece of paper. However, I encourage my company to conduct all aspects of business legally.
“As for the social security, have you heard of the Shanghai social security case? The social security money was taken by corrupt CCP officials. Social security may not necessarily provide protection or insurance for ordinary citizens. The CCP is the source of the problems in Chinese society. You have traveled to a lot of places. Have you heard about quitting the CCP?”
He wasn't hostile anymore and quickly agreed to quit the CCP.
I said in the end, “This business belongs to my boss. I cannot change the contract. However, you have freedom of choice. The chaos in China's society won't last long.”
He thanked me for telling him the truth.
I met all kinds of candidates: business managers, retired military staff, farmers, laid off state-owned enterprise employees, and even human rights activists. I helped almost all of them quit the CCP.
Our production manager resigned because he thought the production quotas were too demanding. In order to save money, my boss decided to leave the position vacant and asked me to take charge of production.
I had to work on Saturdays and Sundays and I couldn't guarantee time to study the Fa. It was hard to maintain the state of a cultivator, let alone save people. I laid out my conditions when joining the company, and having Saturdays and Sundays off was one of the agreed-upon terms. I was the only one in my company who got both days off.
I was frustrated. I experienced the difficulty of cultivation. I recalled Master's words in “Fa Teaching at the 2008 New York Conference” after I calmed down:
“Could anything that happens in Dafa cultivation, in Fa-rectification, or in validating the Fa be simply by chance?”
How should I walk my path well? I decided to take the opportunity to help the production employees quit the Party.
After I assigned the production tasks at the daily morning meeting, I treated myself as another team member. I worked side-by-side with the employees and clarified the truth as we worked together. I uploaded informational materials to USB flash drives for others. For those who didn't have a computer, I loaded copies of the materials onto their mobile phones.
When we had a lot of orders the work was very busy. I would set up automatic dialing software to call people and play truth-clarification recordings. I let the software run in my office. Saving people is my mission. As a Dafa disciple, saving people is not something I can ignore. I raised the issue of hiring a new production manager two months later. My boss agreed, and we got a new manager.
The company once had a fairly big order, but we missed the delivery deadline because we didn't purchase all the necessary supplies on time. We had to pay a late delivery penalty of tens of thousands of yuan.
At this time the company's quality control staff issued a report. They found that a supplier's product had some quality issues. The big order used some of the materials. My boss wanted to use this as an excuse to get money out of the supplier to recover some of our losses from the penalty payment.
Such matters are usually handled by my boss' wife. However, this time my boss wanted me to do it. He said, “You are the best person to do this.”
How could I be the best person? I cultivate Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance! I felt very stressed out and lost sleep several nights in a row. I wanted to resign, but I didn't feel that would be quite right.
At my previous job, after learning the principles cultivators must follow, my boss never asked me to do anything against my principles. The management even hid their bad behavior from me. This boss has learned the truth and quit the CCP, but he specifically designated me to carry out unethical practices!
I knew that only Dafa could help me. I spent more time studying the Fa.
Master said in “Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa - Fa Teaching Given at the 2011 Washington DC Metro Area Fa Conference:”
“But conversely, isn’t the fact that the world’s people have slid down as far as they have, and the terrible adversity that this brings you, providing you with precisely opportunities to cultivate?”
I told myself to treat this as an opportunity to cultivate. I should search inward for my own problems. I found quite a few:
First, I had emotions. I hated what I considered bad. I once thought of my boss wanting to blackmail others, and became angry and lost rationality.
Two, I wasn't compassionate. When I saw others planning to do bad deeds, I didn't think of how to help them, and I looked down upon others. I even despised them. My ego, though disguised, was at play.
I made up my mind to do this task well. I completed a thorough investigation of the process of procurement and production. I found insufficient evidence to prove any problems with the quality of the supplier's product. The accident might have been caused by user errors on our part. The quality of the product from that supplier might have been just a small part of a big problem.
I then calculated the claim amount. It was just 10 percent of what the boss wanted.
My boss was angry. He demanded that I should increase the claim amount and “look at this from the perspective of our company.”
I told myself, “I'm a Dafa disciple. I can only look at this from the perspective of what is right.”
I told him, “I can only act based on facts. I cannot falsify numbers and accounts.”
My boss was furious. I could tell that he was thinking about kicking me out of the company. I firmed up my thoughts, “Dafa disciples are genuine practitioners. I cannot just pay lip service to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I have to put it into practice in my actions. My boss is also observing me to see whether my practice of Falun Gong is real.”
A month passed. The supplier notified us that we should prepare evidence, which their lawyer would cross-examine. My boss was afraid. If the issue went to litigation, we might not get any money. We might even pay litigation fees if we lose.
He abandoned his plan and said to me, “Let's take your approach.”
We handled the issue well. My boss then left all similar issues to me and trusted my work.
Master said in “Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference” from Guiding the Voyage:
“The state, the mercy, the kindness, the purity, the righteousness, and the great forbearance displayed by Dafa disciples during the Fa-rectification period is helping to shape the future society.”
I have just stepped into management after focusing on research for more than a decade. Many of my colleagues and friends are intellectuals. They have heard the truth. Many have quit the CCP organizations.
Some quit the party the first time they heard the truth about the persecution. Some refused to do so no matter how much I tried to tell them.
I see two major obstacles. One is atheism. They don't know the “formation-stasis-degeneration-destruction” cycle of the universe, and therefore don't sense the danger. The other is the harm done from their being indoctrinated with Party culture. They evaluate everything against potential personal gains. They don't judge based on what's right or wrong–they consider this unimportant. The above is my analysis about the difficulties ordinary people face trying to understand the truth.
From the perspective of a cultivator, I see a lot of room for improvement. My various human attachments affect the result of saving people. For example, fear and going through the motions rather than doing things with a pure heart.
Master said in “Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference” from Teaching the Fa at the Conference IV:
“Also, with those people that you run into by chance, who you run into in daily life, and the people you run into at work, you should all clarify the truth to them. Even when in your daily life you pass by people so quickly that you don't have a chance to talk to them, you should still leave them with your compassion and kindness. Don't lose those who should be saved, especially those with predestined connections. Actually, a lot of Dafa disciples say when they're clarifying the truth, "I'm going to go clarify the truth now," as if at that moment they're going to clarify the truth, but they don't clarify the truth normally. Saving beings should permeate every single aspect of your daily lives at this time. If you can all understand and really see its importance, I think you'll probably save more beings.”
I don't dare to slack off because time is running out. I have to also be more diligent with my own cultivation to fulfill my mission as a Fa-rectification Period Dafa Disciple.
Thank you Master!Thank you fellow practitioners!