(Minghui.org) I have practiced Falun Dafa cultivation for 21 years. Under the benevolent guidance and protection of Dafa’s founder, Master Li Hongzhi, I have been able to clarify the facts about Falun Dafa to people I work with. I’d like to share some of my cultivation experiences with fellow practitioners.
My Work Performance Validated the Beauty of Dafa
Referred by a friend, I began to work for a Telecom company and was responsible for managing the kitchen, including buying groceries and cooking for employees. I also took care of cleaning for the company. Before I started working, I said to my friend, “Can you please let the manager know that I practice Falun Dafa? If the manager doesn’t allow me to practice, then I can’t work there.” The next day, my friend told me that the manager had confirmed my employment at the company.
Before beginning work I met with the manager in his office. After he took a look at me, he said, “You look very bright and energetic. That gives me a good feeling. You do look like someone who practices Falun Dafa. That’s great!” I asked him if he knew much about Falun Dafa?” He smiled, then said, “I don’t know much about Falun Dafa, but after meeting you, I can tell it’s good.”
The following day, even before I finished the kitchen clean-up, my manager bought a lot of vegetables himself and asked me to cook for all the employees. When I finished cooking, all the staff rushed into the kitchen for their lunch. Right away, they exclaimed, “Wow, the kitchen is so clean, so bright now!” They helped me move the dishes from the kitchen to the big table in the dining hall. Then they sat around the table and began to have lunch. After they ate, everyone praised me for my cooking. My manager said, “It’s very delicious! You have already passed the employee probation!”
My company is a small company with only over 20 employees. Most of them were young people. Probably informed by the manager, they all knew that I practiced Falun Dafa. While they were eating lunch, they said, “We finally have such delicious food for our lunch. People who practice Dafa are truly great, so capable! There is no way that what’s shown on TV to defame Falun Dafa is true. The propaganda on TV is truly deceiving!”
So that is how I became a full-time cook for this company. The budget for me was 90 yuan per meal, which covered eight dishes and one soup. Every day I went to the accounting department to get my daily allowance to buy groceries. I made use of the shopping trip to tell people about Falun Dafa face-to-face. I helped those I met to renounce their memberships from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
During this period of time, the Telecom System and the Public Security System managers came for meetings at my company. All their meals were served in the cafeteria. Whenever that occurred, I had to do a lot of extra work and always ended up working overtime. However, I had no complaints but rather did my best to prepare meals and clean up the kitchen and dining hall.
I treated the managers with the utmost courtesy. The meetings presented me with an opportunity to talk to them about Falun Dafa and expose the brutality of the CCP’s persecution of practitioners. We discussed how the CCP has harmed its own people, Most of the manager’s clients believed that Falun Dafa was good, so they were open to the truth. Some of them decided to quit the CCP. They also praised my work performance.
Soon enough, I quickly became acquainted with all the staff. They all respected me and enjoyed listening to the truth of Dafa. Every time they came for lunch, they greeted me by calling me, “Aunty!”
One time, during lunch, my manager said to all the staff, “It was me who found this wonderful Aunty for you. Before that, I found a few of them, but none made you happy. Now, this Aunty who practices Dafa is great, isn’t she? Are you happy now?” Everyone in the room smiled cheerfully. They all said, “Thank you, Aunty!” I replied, “Please thank Dafa instead!”
Earning an Honor for My Company
In the spring of the following year, my company went through a restructuring process. A new manager was coming on board.
As soon as this new manager met me, he said, “I heard you practiced Dafa and did a great job. I trust you. From now on, you don’t have to go to the accounting department every day to claim the allowance for buying groceries, I’ll just give it to you at the beginning of each month. You can just follow your principles of Dafa to do your work.”
After that, there were more managers and builders coming to my company to discuss restructuring plans, they also had their meals at the cafeteria. Therefore, I had more chances to let people know the truth of Falun Dafa. I selected ingredients more carefully when I shopped and tried to match up main and side dishes as appropriately as possible. I cooked with traditional spices, but without losing freshness. The dishes turned out to be colorful and delicious. Out of the eight dishes and one soup I made daily, I changed the menu every day so that everyone would be satisfied.
The employees not only praised my character in front of visiting managers but also complimented my cooking skills. I always responded, “First of all, I’d like to thank Li Hongzhi, our Falun Dafa Teacher, for guiding me in my work, followed by everyone’s encouragement. I only did what I’m supposed to do.”
One day, the manager brought the Director of the “Integrated Governance Office” to the dining hall for dinner. I served both of them warmly. The Director praised me by saying, “I heard your cooking skills are the best. How is it that you are able to cook so well?” I said, “Thank you for your compliments. I practice Falun Dafa. It’s my Master who taught me to follow “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance”, be a good person, do my work well, and be considerate of others. I want managers and staff to eat good food, so they will be healthy and do their work well.” He said, “Oh, I see.” My manager said, “She does so well that no other cooks from other companies can compare.”
I then said to him, “Director, do you know about Falun Dafa?” He said, “Not really. I don’t have time to read about it.” I then said, “My Director, when you hold a managerial position, you should be a clear-minded official. Please remember to understand the true situation of Falun Dafa, as opposed to blindly carrying out the illegal orders of the CCP leader Jiang Zemin. Persecuting good people assists the evil! That should never have been done!” He agreed, “True, true.”
One day, at lunch, my manager said, “After a review was done by leaders at all levels in our city, they finally announced our cook Aunty was rated No.1 in the city’s communication system!” Then he said to me, “Aunty, you have earned an honor for our company. Later on, if we request some new equipment in our cafeteria, municipal level leaders will give us the okay, for sure.” Indeed, after the office building was renovated, our company’s cafeteria was set up as a model for the city.
Looking Inward Amid Unfair Treatment
While everyone in our company praised me, the female deputy manager kept making trouble for me for no reason. She complained about me to my manager and staff behind my back. She said I used too much cooking oil which was wasteful, she didn’t like the vegetables I picked, and meals did not provide enough food for everyone. Whatever I did she’d complain about it.
One employee told me in secret: The reason why she did that was she wanted to have her relative work here as a cook to replace me. Thus, she had picked on me nonstop, with the intention of kicking me out. But none of the staff members liked her. They said, “We only want you to cook for us, we don’t want anyone else.” They cautioned me to watch out for her and not to let her cause trouble for me.
One time, because some guests were invited over for meals, I received 500 yuan from the accounting department to cover the expenses. I asked the deputy manager’s nephew to give me a ride for grocery shopping. I also left the money with him. I was only responsible for buying the groceries, he was responsible for all receipts and made the payments. After that, I made a big dinner. My manager, staff, and guests were all very satisfied with the meal.
However, the next day, the deputy manager vented anger at me, saying, “How could you spend that much money for only this much food?” I quickly went to get her nephew to show her his bookkeeping. He took his notebook out and showed her what I bought item by item. In the end, he said, “I paid for everything. We almost ran out of money.” Then she said, “But normally it doesn’t cost that much.” Her nephew replied, “Prices have gone up. Especially goose, it’s very expensive now.”
After seeing this scene, the staff was so upset and noted, “Luckily, you went with her nephew and had him as your witness. Otherwise, how could you prove your innocence?”
Though I didn’t say anything during the process, I still felt wronged. I had thought to myself: I worked so hard, but I was suspected of embezzling the staff’s food expenses!
When my husband heard about my experience, he asked me to quit the job and find something else. I also had the same idea. However, after thinking this over, I realized that if I were to quit, I would miss the opportunity to inform so many people of the beauty of Falun Dafa.
Soon enough, the manager was transferred out and the deputy manager got promoted to be the manager. After the Chinese New Year, there was a big celebration dinner held at my company. Usually, managers from all levels would come for the celebration, so that I had to prepare a big dinner for them. The manager told me to cook the best dishes for the guests. I did so. But afterward, she began to make trouble for me again.
My husband became so upset after he heard about it. He asked me to quit the job again. I calmly thought about it, “How come I always ran into this kind of situation? I’m so dedicated to my work, yet I was often wronged.” I then remembered that since I was a practitioner, nothing happened by accident, and I should look inward.
I discovered my greediness. For instance, my manager told me to report the grocery expenses based on the market prices. What I’d done was to pay based on the lower prices offered by the vendors, but still reported market prices for everything I bought. That way I got to keep the difference. For all these years, I’d been persecuted by the evil Party, and my financial situation has been tough. My pay was not very high. But still, I had to cover my child’s tuition fees. The differences I took advantage of definitely helped me make ends meet.
I had thought I didn’t overcharge my company, nor harmed the interest of those vendors. Nowadays, whoever does the grocery shopping on behalf of their companies would do it the same way. Thus, I never thought it was wrong. In addition, there were leftovers at the cafeteria from time to time. I felt it’s a pity to waste them. So I took them home and felt it was a good thing to do.
In addition, I also became aware of my resentment and looking down on others, which came down to discrimination and jealousy, as well as vanity for liking to hear praise. I looked down on the manager for her indecent behavior and having affairs with men. I also disliked her poor manners. She spit and tossed garbage everywhere. For example, on the floor that I just finished cleaning she would easily mess it up. I did not like her arrogance and looking down on others. All of these behaviors came down to the influence of the corrupt bureaucratic style of the evil CCP.
After locating these many attachments, I felt much better. Actually, that thought didn’t comply with the requirements of the Fa.
Cooking well was something I was supposed to strive for, yet I felt pleased when I was praised and unhappy when I was criticized. I only wanted to hear good words--wasn’t this an attachment to fame? I ended up confusing myself with ordinary people.
When I thought about her again, I suddenly felt she was so pitiful. She was like some Chinese people today who have grown up in a country ruled by the CCP system and poisoned by that evil culture. Their morality is now at a very low level. They lack a correct view of life and, as a result, have trouble telling right from wrong. Thus, she was also a victim. As a practitioner, how could I look down on her? I even questioned why she could be chosen to be a leader. Wasn’t this jealousy? It all came down to my own issue of not cultivating myself well.
Through Fa-study and looking inward, I have rectified myself with the Fa principles. I stopped hating this woman but rather treated her more nicely. When she came to the cafeteria after work, I greeted her and then offered her some food. As a result, she stopped treating me so badly.
With the onset of the CCP virus, there were many confirmed cases in our area. As a result, supermarkets and entrances to the village were closed under the lockdown. At that time, when I heard her health wasn’t good, I began to talk to her about Falun Dafa, helped her with quitting the CCP, and asked her to recite “Falun Dafa is wonderful! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is wonderful!”
Helping People During the Pandemic
During the onset of the CCP virus, my company still operated as normal. I also wanted to take this opportunity to tell people about Dafa. The village officer delivered the entrance pass to me and said with a smile, “This is your special pass, to help Falun Dafa practitioners come in and out freely.”
I awoke people’s consciences among employees and people in the supermarkets. I talked about the fact that Falun Dafa is a Buddha Law cultivation which teaches people to follow “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance”.
People asked, “What should we do during this pandemic?” I said, “There is a way.” Then I told them about the nine-word phrase [Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good]. Only by sincerely reciting it, and quitting the CCP and its affiliated organizations, can one get through this pandemic safe and sound. They all believed what I said. They also agreed to share this information with their family. Some of them decided to quit the CCP right away.
At the end of April 2020, the pandemic subsided, and we got another new manager. As soon as he came on board, when he saw me, he said, “I heard you practiced Falun Dafa, I want to learn it from you.”
A Director said, “Hey! Falun Dafa is truly great! People who practice Falun Dafa are very clear-headed, have wisdom and kindness. No matter what they do, they do it wholeheartedly with a pure mind.”
Going forward, I’ll do my best to clarify the facts to people and help them to choose the best future for themselves.
The above-mentioned is my cultivation experience, please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
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