(Minghui.org) Several practitioners in my area recently shared their thoughts on how to best handle Dafa project-related funds.

One practitioner said that money donated by fellow practitioners should be strictly used for truth clarifications projects, and carefully accounted for.

He uses his own money to fund different projects, such as installing satellite receivers for people who want to view NTDTV programs.

He buys the receivers then offers people free installation. He never charges any money for his services, as he feels it would be too hard to manage the funds if he did.

Another practitioner talked about the tribulations that she ran into after she had mishandled some project funds.

Several practitioners in her area thought that it would be more efficient to distribute Dafa-related materials if they had a car at their disposal.

So, she took 10,000 yuan (around US$1,500) out of the local production site's account and another 10,000 yuan donated by a fellow practitioner, together with various smaller donations from other practitioners. The group then acted together to buy a car and used it solely to distribute Dafa-related materials.

Even though the original purpose of purchasing the car was good, issues soon arose, such as: “Who is going to pay for the gasoline?” and “Who is going to maintain the car?”

Sometimes, the gasoline expenses were collected from local practitioners. It wasn't clear exactly how the money was being used, or if the driver ever used the car for personal or business reasons. If he did, the sole purpose of buying the car would've been changed.

Some practitioners ran into safety or security issues shortly after the car was purchased. The woman who originally proposed the idea finally realized that collecting funds to buy the car was wrong.

After studying Master's teaching on the correct way to handle Dafa project funds, everyone in her area enlightened to the fact that it was not right to collect funds to buy the car, nor was it right to use the car for personal or business reasons.

The woman then gave back the 10,000 yuan taken from the local production site funds and the more than 10,000 yuan collected from others.

She also shared that she mistakenly withdrawn 10,000 yuan from a savings account that was earmarked for Dafa-related projects, and transferred the funds to an account so that her family could buy a car.

Shortly after the car was purchased, one of her family members got into an accident. Although the car was completely totaled, the driver escaped injury. Finally, the family sold the car for a fraction of its original value.

She looked inward in an effort to discover why this had occurred. She understood that she had made a grave and costly mistake.

Master said,

“The reason is, as you Dafa disciples validate the Fa, or work on a project, you are in the process of Consummating yourselves and walking the path of cultivation, and so you have to resolve on your own whatever challenges you meet with for it to count as passing tests, right? When you pass it, that’s mighty virtue. If you use other people’s money, or embezzle others’ money or the funds for Shen Yun, then it’s different: no matter what you do for the project, there will be no mighty virtue. And the old forces will capitalize on your problem: “Are you helping your master rectify the Fa, or is it that your master is helping you?” Moreover, embezzling funds without other people knowing, or treating the money as one’s own, is really a major taboo in cultivation, an extremely serious problem. So, sometimes I’m thinking: be sure not to make any of these kinds of mistakes. Master isn’t going to overemphasize these things, and it’s not that important to me personally. But I’m truly worried that whoever makes such mistakes will have spent all those years cultivating in vain. The old forces don’t care whether you’re a veteran student, new student, or coordinator—they might just destroy you all the same.” (from “Fa Teaching at the 2013 Greater New York Fa Conference”)

As you can see, improperly using Dafa-project funds is a serious issue.

If you ever run into a tribulation and can't figure out why it showed up in your life, you need to ask yourself, “Have I ever used Dafa project funds inappropriately?”

If so, you need to do whatever it takes to set things right!