(Minghui.org) Before I began practicing Falun Dafa in 2005, my husband suffered from an incurable illness. Western medicine did not help, so we went to a Chinese medicine clinic. When we walked in, I saw a man practicing exercises. The director of the clinic told me that even though the man looked middle-aged, he was in his seventies. He was doing the Falun Dafa exercises.
I was so amazed that I started reading Zhuan Falun that night. A good friend had given me the book two years before. I'd flipped through it at the time, didn't understand what it was about, so I put it away. It might not have been time for me to practice yet.
The second time I read Zhuan Falun, I found answers to questions I'd had for years. I suddenly realized that Falun Dafa was what I had been searching for! I began practicing. Soon afterward, my husband recovered.
One day when I practiced the third exercise I received a hint about advertising contracts for the Shen Yun tour in Taiwan. I’ve felt a force pushing me forward in every project I've participated in.
I signed my first contract for NTD with a flyer which introduced our media. A second and third contract soon followed.
Because I knew about television media sales, I devoted all my energies to it. Another practitioner and I visited a business owner. He signed the contract soon after our meeting, which not only encouraged us but also showed us a broader vision of our media.
I’ve been doing sales since I began working. I had extensive sales experience and I was considered a top seller. I’m the Sales Director at NTD. Over time, there were numerous conflicts and cultivation tests. I was shocked when the General Manager told me that many colleagues were unhappy with me. I felt sad and wronged. I worked conscientiously and devoted myself entirely to the project. Was I really that bad?
I remembered that practitioners should look inward whenever conflicts surface. When I examined myself I felt ashamed! I’ve been a top salesperson for years. But it didn’t mean that I met the standards for a cultivator.
I often received compliments and thought I was doing well, but my team members thought otherwise. After I examined myself with the Fa's standards I realized that I wasn't cultivating as well as I thought. For years, I'd acquired notions and was influenced by everyday society. I became bossy and overbearing. I also asserted my authority over others, which was a manifestation of Party culture. When I talked about my success in signing contracts, my hidden attachment to showing off surfaced.
Whenever I heard that my coworker signed a contract, I just thought he was lucky. I didn't realize that my attachments to jealousy and looking down on him were exposed.
It was no wonder that even though my colleagues seemed to appreciate my talent, they pointed out that they wouldn’t use the same approach I did. My human notions had widened the gaps between us. I felt deeply sorry that I failed the General Manager who entrusted the sales team to me. Instead of leading the sales team with compassion, I was competitive. I felt that I had let Master down.
I tearfully stood in front of Master’s portrait. I knew I hadn't treated fellow practitioners with compassion. Not only did I dishonor Master, but I was a drag on the team. Master seemed to look at me with benevolence as if He were telling me that I could make it right when I truly searched within and corrected myself. I vowed to never let Master down again. At that moment I felt that the Buddha-light illuminated everywhere and rectified all abnormalities! I promised myself that I would cultivate more diligently.
As my cultivation state improved, I set an annual sales goal of NT$15 million at the start of 2017. By the end of November I was barely achieving it. Could I meet my goal? An advertiser and I visited a VIP at the beginning of December. Since we arrived early, we went to a nearby famous attraction, the Tai-ping Elementary School. A stone tablet at the entrance was inscribed with the words, “Making the impossible possible.” I knew it was Master’s encouragement that I could make it if I believed in Master and the Fa.
My colleague couldn’t sign a contract with an organic food manufacturer after several visits. Master arranged for him to meet us. We expressed our interest in visiting his company. He welcomed us. When we phoned, however, we received a frosty reception. He said, "You don’t have to make a special visit.” He then hung up the phone.
I wasn’t upset. I was determined to sign the contract with him. At the second briefing, he came and happily greeted us. When we phoned the next day he refused our visit again. We finally succeeded the third time we called. We drove 2 hours to his company only to find out that he had another appointment. I remembered a paragraph of Master's Fa,
“The Fa is merciful to all beings, but at the same time it's solemn and dignified.”(“Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Lantern Festival”)
I phoned him and said, “If you don’t want to sign with us, you don’t have to hang up the phone and break our appointments.” He immediately apologized and made another appointment with us.
The next time we met he said that he allocated an annual budget to other advertising agencies and so refused us repeatedly. Then he said, “Never have I met such a conscientious sales rep as you. Your company will be successful if it has employees like you.”
I told him why NTD was founded and its contribution to society. I talked about the persecution of Falun Dafa in China. Having understood the truth, he signed contracts that were worth millions. By advertising with NTD, his brand awareness increased, generating new business opportunities. He told us, “Thank you for not giving up on me.”
Some potential clients hadn’t heard of NTD, but decided to support us after understanding the truth. Some of them were heavily pressured and harassed by the CCP after they signed contracts with us.
By treating our clients with compassion and placing their needs first I gained their trust. They considered Dafa practitioners a clean stream in a competitive society. Master brought us predestined sentient beings. They admired our team’s professionalism. I explained, “We are Dafa practitioners who follow the principles of Zhen-Shen-Ren [Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance] as our business guideline.” Many of them started practicing Falun Dafa.
“Cultivation depends on the efforts of the individual while transforming gong is done by the master.” (Lecture Eight, Zhuan Falun)
I held a nine-day workshop for advertisers during our summer break. On the last day, more than ten new practitioners shouted altogether, “Falun Dafa is good. Zhen-Shen-Ren is good,” which touched me deeply. Thank you revered Master for your compassion!
To have more time for my heavy workload at NTD, I usually did the exercises at home. A few months ago, sickness karma manifested. I felt unbearable pain in my joints. I thought, “Why did this happen since I’ve been doing the three things? How can I do sales like this?” I had no idea what went wrong.
One night, I was on the brink of a breakdown and asked for Master’s help. A practitioner from China whose state was similar to mine shared her experience on the Minghui Podcast. Master gave her a hint to go to the group practice site. She had to coordinate some projects until 2 a.m. She thought she couldn’t make it but the pain made her determined to go to the practice site. That day the pain ended and she broke through her human notions.
I decided to break through my human notions. An amazing thing happened after I had that thought. My pain lessened and two clients contacted me about contracts.
I was determined to go back to the exercise site so I called the assistant. She told me that very few practitioners exercised there now. It was heart-wrenching to learn that the practice site which had been established 20 years before was nearly abandoned. She said that if I came she'd be there.
A few days later, other practitioners began coming to the exercise site. The assistant told me that she had no excuse for not going there to do the morning exercises. Master said,
“Learn Fa, obtain FaCompare with one another in study, in cultivationExamine how each and every thing measures up—Achieving these is cultivation.”(“Solid Cultivation,” Hong Yin)
I became a full-time NTD sales rep in August 2013. I have not given up, no matter how trying the circumstances. I've driven endless miles between Northern and Southern Taiwan. There were days that I drove around the clock to sign contracts. In the face of economic difficulties, xinxing tests, colleagues’ misunderstanding, clients’ indecision, and interference in the process of signing contracts, I steadily persisted. I know these opportunities were granted by revered Master for Dafa disciples to save people.
I came for the Fa. I am a Dafa disciple walking a divine path. I will elevate my cultivation and not let the length of time wear me down. I will not slack off or forget my mission. Dafa disciples have to live up to revered Master’s expectation, for we are people's hope for salvation.
As Master stated,
“You have gone through so many long and grueling years to make it to this day, and it really hasn’t been easy! Do you not know to value and cherish yourselves? I certainly cherish you! And divine beings do too! (Applause.) So all the more so should you value and cherish yourselves.” (“2018 Fa Teaching Given in Washington, D.C.”)
Thank you revered Master for your compassionate salvation. Thank you fellow practitioners.
If there’s anything not on the Fa please kindly point it out.
(Presented at the 2019 Taiwan Fa Conference)