(Minghui.org) I recently sold my store after a five-year run. The buyer had agreed on a price, which included all the equipment and merchandise. However, when he asked for a price list my attachment to self-interest flared up, and I inflated the figures.
After increasing the prices, I felt a bit uneasy. As a Dafa practitioner, I knew I should hold myself to the standard of truthfulness. However, driven by self-interest, I still did the wrong thing.
That afternoon, a police officer called me and asked: “Are you xx?” I said: “Yes.”
“Did you write a letter and mail it to Beijing?” He seemed hesitant to ask if I filed a lawsuit against Jiang Zemin, the former head of Chinese Communist Party, for initiating the persecution of Falun Gong.
I told him: “Are you asking if I sued Jiang Zemin? Yes, I did.”
He asked: “Where are you? I want to see you.”
“But I don't need to see you,” I replied, “You can't help me. My not wanting to see you is for your benefit. Please keep in mind that if one persecutes a Falun Dafa practitioner, it is a sin. If I were to see you, it would harm you.”
At that time, I didn't have any fear; I only thought about what would benefit him.
He countered: “Other practitioners have allowed me to see them. Why don't you? I work for the police station, and I am a police officer; how can I not be allowed to see you?”
I didn't want to follow his logic, so I changed the topic: “Since you have seen many practitioners, I assume that you already know a lot about the truth of Falun Dafa. For Jiang Zemin to have persecuted so many practitioners, shouldn't we sue him?”
Then I added: “You are a police officer. My understanding is that a police officer is responsible for catching bad people. I didn't do anything illegal. It is for your own good that I don’t see you.”
He quietly listened. So I told him more about Falun Gong and the history of the persecution. In the end, he said: “You can save some of what you have to say and tell me in person.” Then he hung it up.
I realized that it was my attachment to self-interest that caused this tribulation. I quickly changed the prices on the list back to the original level. When finalizing everything with the buyer, I also reduced the total price by 1,000 yuan.
The police officer never called back.
After the New Year, I convinced myself that I wanted to find an easy job. I didn't care how much money I made, as long as I could make ends meet so that I could have time for the three things asked of practitioners. However, due to my attachment to leisure, it took me quite a long time to get an interview.
After I realized this, I got rid of that attachment. Because I hadn't worked for someone else in a long time, I was a bit anxious at the interview. Then I realized my mentality of saving face was too strong.
In the end, I found a job at a construction company.
My boss was a heavy smoker; he also liked to curse. So I couldn't stand him. But I thought that finding another job would not be easy so I stayed on. However, I still harbored a lot of resentment towards him.
My colleagues would placate him to his face, then curse him behind his back. I looked down on them and thought their morality was too low: They only thought about playing mind games!
I always felt uneasy and couldn't take the teachings of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance to heart.
The boss then fired me after two weeks.
After I returned home, I began to look inward and found my attachment to self-interest, fear, a mentality of showing-off, lust, and the pursuit of leisure.
In the evening, I began to read articles on the Minghui website. Then I came across one about the experiences of two practitioners looking for a job. They were looking for a security position and both got interviews.
After the interview, the first practitioner said that he really didn't like the security uniform, whereas the second one treated it as simple as a job. Then the first practitioner was not hired, while the other one was.
The rejected practitioner enlightened to the fact that this had to do with him not liking the job from the beginning.
From this sharing, I came to understand: When I accepted that position, I didn't really like that company, nor its employees. So they didn't accept me either.
Therefore, when I tried to clarify the facts to one colleague, he didn't really like listening to me. It was only out of politeness that he didn't give me a cold shoulder.
In addition, I realized that since I went back to work, I had taken work too seriously. When I tried studying the Fa and doing the exercises, I couldn't calm down. My mind was filled with thoughts about work.
As a practitioner, I completely forgot about my mission of saving sentient beings. I lacked compassion. I always focused on ordinary people's shortcomings and looked down on them. How could I possibly help them?
Then I asked myself: As a practitioner, if I lack compassion, how could I possibly finish my mission entrusted by Teacher? I also experienced interference from the old forces. So I kept sending forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the financial persecution I was facing.
Two days later, I applied for another job with a completely different mindset. The owner of that company asked only a few simple questions; then he told me to come in the next day.
I liked the people and enjoyed the work. The owner was a nice person as well. Though he behaved as an ordinary person, I could tolerate his shortcomings and kept a compassionate heart. In the end, I could manage not only to handle my work well, but also find opportunities to clarify the facts to my coworkers.
It all comes down to the fact that, as a practitioner, whatever one encounters is a good thing. I came to understand that when one's mind is righteous, everything goes smoothly.
I must treasure the cultivation environment that Teacher has set up for me, truly elevate myself, and return to my true home.
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Category: Improving Oneself
