(Minghui.org) I was very inspired after I read the article “A Letter The Police Photocopied and Passed Around (Part 1)” on the Chinese Minghui website. I wanted to clarify the truth to my school management and write a letter to them regarding my salary which was withheld due to my faith in Falun Dafa.
I spent ten days writing this letter and submitted a copy to my school management team and also its upper-level management. Thanks to Master Li’s (the founder of Falun Dafa) strengthening, I didn’t have fear. I only thought of other people.
The school accountant notified me over the phone on February 20 that they would pay back my salary of $3,000 each month starting from February.
The ice finally melted after 20 years. Sentient beings were awakened after they read my letter. The school management chose to be kind. They also helped the school staff members and even their family members choose a good future. This was finely arranged by our great Master who has infinite wisdom. I am very grateful to Master. Thank you, Master!
The following is part of my letter.
Regarding My 35 Months of Salary Withheld
Principal Zeng and leaders of the School Committee,
How are you?
My name is Xin Yulian (alias), a retired teacher. I am 69 years old. My salary was withheld for 35 months, from July 2000 to May 2003.
I didn’t break any law or regulations, but because I practice Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and didn’t give up my belief, I wasn’t paid my salary. I’d like to take this opportunity to talk to you and let you know why I haven’t given up cultivation in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Nobody can deny one question: “Why does Falun Dafa still stand firm despite the brutal persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for more than 20 years?” Don’t you want to know the reason why?
I really want your management team to calm down and listen to the words from my heart. I would like to tell you stories from my daily work and life since I took up Falun Dafa cultivation more than 20 years ago. I hope you will make a judgment without any prejudice as to what kind of person I became after I started to practice Falun Dafa and understand that Falun Dafa is good. Thus, I write this report.
I. Treat the Other Party Kindly
Humans are advanced beings. Though they live for personal interests, they have moral standards and decide what to take or give up. This is the foundation of social stability. If they cast away their moral restraints and only seek personal interests, that would be very dangerous to society, the nation, and its people. So we can see a person’s moral realm from how he or she treats personal interests.
Falun Dafa practitioners focus on adhering to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Falun Dafa’s principles are my guide for dealing with problems in my daily life. When I truly put them into practice, that is cultivation. I’d like to share with you two stories from my practice on how I gave up selfishness.
Lost Money on the Ground
I saw 10 yuan or 20 yuan on the ground many times and I never picked it up. I understand the principle of “no loss, no gain.” Since I didn’t work to get that money, I shouldn’t pick it up.
One day I saw a 10 yuan note on the street. One person behind me saw it and quickly went to put his foot on it in case I would pick it up before him. I was not moved by it. If I didn’t practice Falun Dafa, I would pick up even one yuan on the street and feel happy about it.
Garments Made
One day I had three garments made by a tailor. The tailor asked for 230 yuan; it was a bit expensive for me. I didn’t bargain with her. She measured me and I paid the deposit.
I went to pick them up several days later and found the skirt was not the style I wanted. The tailor saw that I didn’t like it and said she would reduce the fee for me. I told her that it was not a money issue, I just didn’t like how it looked. She knew it was her fault and said she would make it again for me.
The tailor always said she was too busy and dragged it on for a long time. I was not angry and didn’t reprimand her. Falun Dafa’s teachings focus on looking inwards when a problem comes up. I thought about it and found my problem. A cultivator must be considerate and think of other people, but I didn’t. If I didn’t take the one she already made, she would have lost 80 yuan and be at a loss.
I told her, “Ok, you don’t need to redo it. I will take the original one for the same price.” She didn’t charge me less. I didn’t reprimand her and left with the skirt.
II. Encounters with Neighbors
Plumbing Work
One day our neighbor downstairs told my husband, “Your toilet is leaking. The tube inside the wall is broken. You cannot see it from the surface.” My husband just ignored her. The neighbor told him again and my husband quarreled with her. He was busy playing mahjong and didn’t want to waste his time. He also didn’t want the trouble or to spend the money to fix it.
The neighbor then approached me and told me that the wall in her home was wet. I apologized to her and told her that I would find a repairman quickly. She said that she would pay for it. I told her that it was not reasonable. The water tube in my home leaked and it was my fault, so she shouldn’t pay for it.
The repairman came the next day and fixed the problem.
Cleaning Corridors
Most people didn’t clean the corridors in the building where I lived. Some people only cleaned the space in front of their door. I used to be like that. But after practicing Falun Dafa, I cleaned the corridors and stairs where I passed every day. I even cleaned all the corridors and stairs in the building. I felt it was my business. Every now and then I cleaned the corridors and stairs from the first floor to the sixth floor. Especially after the Chinese New Year, the corridors and stairs were full of firecracker debris and dust. I swept the floors level by level from the 6th floor to the 1st floor. It took me a lot of time.
The apartment opposite mine was rented out. The renters liked to put their trash in the 4th-floor stairwell. I threw away their trash bit by bit. Last year they had their toilet replaced. Bags of cement and sand were left in the stairwell; only a third was used, and each bag was 100 kilos. They were left there for a long time. Neither the landlord nor the workers took care of them. I asked my son to help me move them away. My son didn’t care and got angry, saying I was overstepping my reach. I took the bags down one by one, step by step all by myself. Because I practice Falun Dafa I could move them, though I am nearly 70 years old.
II. Ready to Help Others
On the Streets
One day I passed a stall where people queued to pay electronic fees. One man was eating a bun and all of a sudden fell down to the ground. I rushed to him and tried to help him stand up, but he couldn’t with his eyes closed. He went into a coma.
I used my own way to save him. I put up his upper body against me and said in his ear, “Sir, please recite ‘Falun Dafa is good' and ‘Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.’ You will be alright straight away.” I said this to him many times. Gradually he woke up and opened his eyes. Some people were amazed. Some people didn’t think I woke him up. Regardless of what people thought, he woke up while I was reciting the nine true words to him. Later the ambulance came and picked him up.
On another occasion, I saw a man lying on the ground when I was passing a regional hospital. I assumed that he fell down due to an illness. People were coming and going and were oblivious of the man. Nobody was concerned about him. I went to him and asked what was wrong, but got no reply. I held him up against my knees. I murmured near his ear, “Sir, please repeat after me, ‘Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.’ You will be fine.” I repeated it many times. He woke up. He panicked when he couldn’t find his cellphone. It was two meters away, so I went to pick it up for him.
As a Falun Dafa practitioner, I couldn’t be oblivious and not save him.
On the Bus
I offered my seat to those older than me, sick people or people who held babies on the bus. One day a young lady carrying a baby got on the bus and I offered her my seat. The young people around me were all seated; nobody gave up their seat for her.
Seeing the young people didn’t offer their seats while an elderly lady did, one standing passenger came to chat with me. She said, “You have a good temperament and dress nicely. You look very fit. You must’ve been beautiful when you were young.” I wore a mask and thought the person must be praising my kind deed because she couldn’t see my face. Kindness is most beautiful and achieved through cultivation.
IV. Be Sincere to People and Don’t Expect Returns
My Teaching Partner
I taught mathematics at my school. I used to seek fame and self-interest and tried to impress the students’ parents. I wanted parents to treat me as someone important and hoped they would give me some nice gifts. I tried not to be weak when I was with my colleagues. But after practicing Falun Dafa, I changed fundamentally. Falun Dafa requires practitioners to work hard and not fight for personal interests.
I worked with Teacher Wang (alias) in my last three years of teaching before I retired. She was a young head teacher. She had a young child and was pretty busy at home. I looked after her. I arrived at school early every day and cleaned the office and boiled water. I guided the students to clean the classroom and collect their schoolwork after school. I did whatever work was presented to me. When the school management team wanted to transfer me to another position, Wang didn’t agree. She told the management team that she would not be head teacher if I was transferred away. So I stayed and continued working with her. We got along very well.
Regarding Students as My Children
I used to be impatient with naughty students who didn’t get good grades and punished them physically, which hurt them. They became rebellious and didn’t want to study. After practicing Falun Dafa, I realized that I must educate the students rationally so that they would become good from deep down in their hearts. Though the students had problems, I was the root cause. I should look within when encountering issues and shouldn’t lose my temper with the students. I then reflected on my actions that did not line up with Falun Dafa’s principles and rectified them. The students then became good. The power of compassion was immense. When I was compassionate, the students listened to me. They became relaxed and had more wisdom. They easily accepted good values and became wiser.
When class started, my students immediately quieted down. They listened to me attentively and scored well in the final exams each semester and in competitive exams. My students were normally the highest scorers. I didn’t seek fame, but fame came to me when I worked hard. The students’ parents were very thankful to me when they saw their children become honest with good values and achieve good scores. They sent gifts to thank me, but I refused them all. I told their parents that my salary was my reward and it was my duty to educate the students well. Sometimes I was not able to refuse the gifts, so I gave gifts to students with similar values. The parents said that it was rare to have such a good teacher nowadays.
My students respected me yet were afraid of me. One day someone greeted me on the street. I asked him who he was. He said that he was the worst student in the class about eighteen years ago. We chatted warmly for a while. He got married and was a manager. It was comforting to know that he still remembered his primary school teacher after so many years.
……
Falun Dafa is the Buddha Fa and a superb cultivation practice in the Buddha School. As the ancient monks cultivated in the temples, they left their homes and practiced their cultivation in temples. However, Falun Dafa practitioners cultivate in society. If you treat Falun Dafa practitioners kindly, you will be blessed and will be safe and happy.
An old Chinese saying goes, “To give a monk a chance to survive is better than building a seven-story pagoda for God.”
Xin Yulian (alias)
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