(Minghui.org) My husband is a chef. After we got married, we opened a small restaurant in the town where we lived in Sichuan to make a living.
I'm 56 years old now, still in good health and able to keep up in the kitchen. I owe it all to Falun Dafa.
After I took up the practice in February of 1998, all of the ailments that had plagued me disappeared within two weeks. I was turned into a new person by Dafa, which had helped me become a person who is joyful, open-minded, and considerate of others in my daily life.
In 2015, a private dental clinic with 12 staff members moved near our restaurant. The clinic provides lunch for its staff, but the chef resigned at the end of 2016 due to a family commitment, which left the issue of the clinic's staff lunch in limbo.
The clinic's boss came to ask me for help, but I declined at first since I was already very busy in our own restaurant. But the boss begged me to help out, even if just temporarily, until he found a new chef. Seeing the desperate situation he was facing, I agreed to lend a hand.
“As a Dafa practitioner, I should do my best wherever I am,” I thought to myself, “I'll always remember my mission to clarify the truth and save people.”
I started working in their canteen the next day, and I'm still here.
Always Putting Others First
In my cooking, I always make sure that the taste of my dishes is well-balanced. I'm very frugal with expenses and careful not to waste any ingredients that can still be used. I do this by separating my vegetables by use – for instance, I stir-fry the fresh parts, pickle the parts that have gone slightly stale, and turn some parts into soups.
The staff is very happy to have a tasty lunch every day, which always includes three dishes and soup.
Because the employees eat at different times between 11:30 and 2:00, the dishes would get cold towards the end of the lunch break. I would reheat the dishes to make sure that everybody can enjoy a nice warm meal any time they come in for lunch. The workers tell me that the canteen feels like home.
One day in December 2017, Dr. Tang was very late for lunch due to a dental procedure. As soon as the procedure was done, I rushed back to the kitchen to warm his lunch.
“I'm sorry to have kept you waiting,” Dr. Tang said as he walked into the canteen.
“No problem,” I said, “Our Master told us to always consider others first. You have been working hard treating a patient, so now it's time for you to enjoy your lunch.”
Dr. Tang was very touched when I presented him with his food.
“I have been away from home for over ten years,” he said, “first studying abroad and then searching for a job. This is the first time I've felt a mother's love in a long time.”
I am always the last to have lunch. On occasions when family members would come visit a staff member, I would give my share of lunch to our visitors. When there wasn't enough food to go around, I would go home to fetch food for them.
“You People Are So Kind, So Great!”
One day in September of 2018, as I came out of the canteen after preparing lunch, I saw three relatives of Dr. Liu walk into the clinic. So I went up to greet them.
They told me that they needed to discuss some family affairs with Dr. Liu and would wait till she finished her morning shift. I settled them in the canteen and started clarifying the truth to them.
Dr. Liu's cousin had already quit the communist Youth League when I talked with her the last time we met. She urged Dr. Liu's two nephews to quit as well, “I've already quit. You'd better quit too.”
Happy with the proposition, the two youngsters agreed.
The staff members began coming in for lunch. I quickly arranged everything for them and told them I needed to duck out for a little while.
I rushed home and brought back some food for the visitors so that they could have lunch with Dr. Liu.
Dr. Liu was really touched and insisted on paying me for the food I brought them, but I refused.
“Don't worry about it,” I said to Dr. Liu. “We Dafa cultivators always consider the needs of others. Your relatives have come a long way, so of course we can't let them go hungry!”
“You people are so kind, so great!” Dr. Liu said.
“I Wish You and Your Fellow Practitioners Great Success in Your Cultivation!”
The day before Mid-Autumn Festival in 2018, the boss of the clinic told me to wait a moment for him after the lunch break.
When he came back, he was holding two big moon cakes and a box of top-grade apples and said they were all for me. I declined his kind gesture, but he insisted and told me why he offered me the presents.
“You have been with us for some time and I have been observing you. And I've found that you deserve my highest trust and respect for four reasons.”
“First, since you came to cook for us, you have always been very careful about expenses and never waste anything; you always put our staff first and put your heart into your cooking; you are always the last one to eat, and when we have visitors, you always give them your lunch. You always made sure that everyone had warm food no matter when they came to eat.
“Second, when we had unexpected visitors around lunchtime, you always brought them food from home and never accepted money for what you did. Other chefs would try to take ingredients home, but you always bring things to our canteen to help out. You're really on another level!
“Third, your honesty has had a positive impact on our staff, who no longer waste food or medical equipment as they used to; they have become more dedicated to their work and our clinic is becoming more and more prosperous.”
“Fourth, I used to have biased views about Falun Gong due to the false propaganda from the CCP media. I've now completely changed my mind thanks to you. You have proved that Falun Gong is good through your conduct, and I can see now that the CCP propaganda has twisted the facts and turned things upside down. I will never believe their lies again. So, will you accept this small token of gratitude from me?”
Finally, he added: “The Mid-Autumn Festival is a day for family reunions in Chinese culture. So I wish you and your fellow practitioners the best, and I hope you all have great success in your cultivation!”
Fulfilling My Mission in Everyday Life
Over the past three years, I've built trust among the staff in the dental clinic; they treat me as their family. They'd talk to me about anything from their thoughts, to their work, to their family affairs, friends, relationships, and so on.
I always try to help them with the Fa principles I have enlightened to in my cultivation. Using the Fa principles, I encourage them to be honest and upright, as well as kind and patient.
I tell them that “there are divine beings three feet above one's head” and that people should refrain from doing bad deeds. We should try to be understanding towards others when conflicts arise and always try to put ourselves into the other person's shoes when dealing with problems.
I also advised them to let things take their own course and not to get too attached to their own personal interest. They value my opinion greatly; I have also seen big changes in the way they deal with conflict.
I clarified the truth to everyone about Falun Gong. I also helped them and their family members quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. Some have also benefited from taking their own righteous actions.
A Blessed Intern
A college graduate surnamed Zhang came to work in our clinic as an intern in June of 2017.
She told me that her uncle is the CCP secretary in their village and that he wanted her to go back home after her internship so that he could help her join the CCP. Then she would try to become a public servant and apply for a position in a public hospital. Her uncle told her that a CCP membership would give her an advantage over others for a position.
Zhang didn't know what to do and asked me for advice.
“You must never join the CCP,” I said to her, “It has done so many bad things and has spread much evil to the world. You shouldn’t join it and become complicit in its crimes. If I were you, I would quit all of its organizations; I believe you’ll have a brighter future without a CCP membership.”
Zhang trusted me and declined her uncle's suggestion. She also quit the communist Youth League and Young Pioneers.
I told her to keep reciting “Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” from her heart and wished her the very best.
She listened to my advice, and at the end of her internship, the clinic decided to take her on as a trainee dentist.
She worked very hard and always strived to learn more knowledge and experience from other colleagues; she always kept reciting the two phrases I told her in her heart.
At the end of 2017, Zhang passed the Medical Licensing Examination and was awarded a Medical Doctor Qualification Certificate. The clinic formally hired her as a dentist.
Zhang wasted no time in telling me the good news. I felt very happy for her.
“Maybe I will also start practicing Falun Dafa when the time is right for me,” she said.
“I can't wait for that day to come,” I replied.
She is very lucky, compared to some of her peers. One of them tried very hard to get into a public hospital but was rejected due to the hospital's stringent requirements. Another one has been trying to become a public servant for three years with no luck.
Dr. Tang's Brother's Rhinitis Disappeared
Dr. Tang's older brother had suffered from serious rhinitis for many years, and could not find a cure from Chinese medicine or Western medicine. Any dust, pollen, or colds would lead to a rhinitis attack for him. The associated symptoms were a real pain and a source of embarrassment, especially when he was socializing with friends.
Dr. Tang told her brother to sincerely recite “Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” Sure enough, his condition saw dramatic improvement after he started to recite the two phrases.
Amazed by the miraculous healing power of Dafa, he kept reciting the two phrases, and has not suffered any relapse of rhinitis for over a year since.
The Miraculous Recovery of Dr. Mou's Mom
One day in 2018, Dr. Mou rushed to the kitchen just after 9:00 a.m. and told me not to prepare lunch for her, as she needed to bring her mom to town for treatment.
“What's happened to your mom?” I asked.
“I don't know. I got a phone call from home last night. She told me she was very sick and asked me to help get her to a hospital in town for treatment,” Dr. Mou told me, obviously very worried.
“Don't forget the two phrases I told you before. Tell your mom to recite them in her heart. She will be fine,” I told Dr. Mou.
While I was cleaning up the kitchen after 1:00 p.m., Dr. Mou suddenly reappeared.
She grabbed my hands and said excitedly, “The two phrases are truly magical! My mom and I recited them for half an hour, and she was completely well again, with no trace of any sickness. Mom also cooked us lunch, and my driver friend and I came straight back after lunch. Mom asked me to give you a big 'Thank You' from her.”
“Don't thank me. It's Dafa's Master that saved your mom's life. You should all thank Master Li!”
She then told me the details of what had happened.
“I got back home around 10:30 a.m. and saw my mom moaning in pain in bed. By the looks of it, I knew that she was suffering from acute appendicitis, so I tried to arrange transport to bring her in town for treatment. But due to the bad road conditions, average-sized vehicles could not get to my mom's house, so I contacted a high school classmate who has a minicar. But he was away and could not get back for at least an hour,” Dr. Mou told me.
“Suddenly, I remembered what you said to me, so I helped my mom sit up a bit against her pillows and we started reciting 'Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good' together. She was still a moaning a bit at the beginning, but her voice became stronger and clearer as she recited it.”
“We recited for about half an hour, and mom gradually became very quiet, and fell asleep. She looked normal, and there was no sign that she was in pain.”
“I woke her up later. She sat up straight away. She was surprised that she had fallen asleep during the day; then she felt like going to the restroom.”
“When she came back, she looked very relaxed and happy, and all her pain was gone! She said to me, 'I'm better now, we don't need the hospital anymore! There's no pain, and I actually feel like eating!'”
“She went to the kitchen and started cooking. It was about 11:20. Just then, my former classmate arrived in his minicar. Seeing my mom in the kitchen, he was surprised and asked if we still needed to go to the hospital.”
“I explained to him what had happened. He told me he had heard about these magic words, but never took it seriously. Now he truly believed it. He said he would tell all his colleagues to remember these two phrases so that they can stay safe when driving.”
“Mom invited him to have lunch with us, and he drove me back to work afterwards, so here I am.”
I was really happy for her mom and for her former classmate.
“These days people often talk about things like humankind encountering catastrophes. It sounds really scary. Is there any way to avoid such disasters?” asked Dr. Mou.
“Disasters strike when human beings no longer have a sense of their own morality and have accumulated a lot of bad karma. It is how Heaven weeds out the bad factors in mankind. The CCP promotes atheism and has done all sorts of evil things, not to mention the persecution of Falun Dafa,” I explained to her.
“It has completely destroyed the moral foundation of Chinese society and I believe that these earthquakes or pandemics are all warnings from the divine. But at the same time, people with good hearts would be protected from the danger.”
Reunion Feast
The boss of the clinic booked a feast for the staff around New Year's in 2019 and invited me to join them. I went to the restaurant, where I was escorted to a private dining room.
Everyone was there, happily chatting away around the table. They all stood up to welcome me as I entered the room. The chair at the head of the table was empty. In China, the chair in that position is referred to as the “top seat,” usually reserved for the most important person dining at the table.
The boss pointed to the chair and said, “We've saved this chair for a saint.”
Not paying much attention to what he was saying, I grabbed a chair and tried to sit between Dr. Zhang and Dr. Mou.
The two of them stood up, each holding one of my arms, and pulled me to the “top seat.”
“I can't sit here, you've left this for a saint,” I protested.
“Precisely, the seat's for you,” replied the boss.
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Category: Improving Oneself
