(Minghui.org) The year 2020 was a special year for me because I began practicing Falun Dafa and embarked on a new life. I changed from being a crooked millennial to a Falun Dafa practitioner who follows the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
Losing My Nature and Wasting Time
I grew up in my maternal grandmother’s home feeling inferior because the other children in the village told me that I was an unwanted child and often bullied me.
My parents lived in Liaoning Province, and my grandmother lived hundreds of miles away in Heilongjiang Province. So why did I grow up at my grandmother’s home?
It all began with my father’s practice of Falun Dafa. He used to work at a construction site. He was a heavy drinker and had a violent temper. However, when he began practicing Dafa he gave up alcohol and improved his temper.
Despite Falun Dafa being such a good practice that teaches people to improve their character and conduct, Jiang Zemin, the former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader, launched the persecution of Falun Dafa in 1999. My father was taken to forced labor camps multiple times for being steadfast in his belief, and my mother, out of helplessness, sent me to live with my grandmother.
My father was released years later, and I was finally able to live with my parents again, but had to cope with new surroundings.
Many things in my school changed me, and my classmates influenced me. I became addicted to video games and often spent entire days in the arcade. I couldn’t keep up with schoolwork, and my academic record plummeted.
My teacher kept talking to me, and my classmates teased me. I broke down amid the pressure. I wanted to escape the terrifying and boring world and took a lot of drugs. I tried to end my life, but was unsuccessful.
I started to make money after I left school. I lived like an empty shell every day, and life was meaningless. My days just consisted of going to work, and staying up late playing video games. I also found myself watching pornography.
To avoid work, I often hid in the bathroom to play video games and didn’t come out until a couple of hours later.
I became extremely irritable. I often yelled at my parents and had conflicts with my coworkers. Under the influence of the communist regime, many people were like that. Some coworkers even bragged about how they threatened their parents, and about going to nightclubs. In today’s China, fighting for personal gain is the norm. People have been accustomed to street fighting, drugs, and prostitution.
Cleansed and Reborn
Amid such a dull and boring life, I often wondered what was the point of living. I yearned for a cultivator’s life, which I had heard about as a child. I began to read Buddhist scriptures, Taoist classics, and the Bible, which all talked about how great and powerful gods and Buddhas are, but none of them mentioned how to become one.
My mother noticed that I was reading religious books and gave me some Falun Dafa truth-clarification newsletters to read, which I had to accept. My mother played Minghui radio broadcasts for me and recommended some cultivation experience sharing articles, which convinced me even further that gods and Buddhas exist.
I was deeply touched watching the video of western Falun Dafa practitioners going to Tiananmen Square and putting themselves on the line to stand up for their faith. I felt that every practitioner who went to Tiananmen Square to speak out for Dafa was like the Christians in ancient Rome. The images shook my soul and shattered the CCP’s lies and propaganda.
I began to read Zhuan Falun, the main book of Falun Dafa. The book helped me realize the true meaning of life, what we live for, where we come from, and where we are going. My lifelong questions were answered one by one.
Master Li Hongzhi (Dafa’s founder) also talked about space and time, and the formation and existence of the universe. I was blown away by the magnitude of the great Fa. What I learned from Zhuan Falun completely overturned what I had read in other books. I made up my mind to practice Falun Dafa.
I looked lifeless before practicing. My parents often said to me, “You don’t look like a 22-year-old. You look like 42.” Today, comparing myself with my ID picture, I was amazed to see that features of my face have changed. I now look glowing and easygoing.
This confirmed what Master said:
“Once you upgrade your xinxing, your body will undergo a great change. Upon xinxing improvement, the matter in your body is guaranteed to transform.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
Happy to Lose
Master taught us to follow the Dafa principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, take fame and personal gain lightly, and consider others first when doing anything. I strove to follow this.
At my work, as a driver, a supplier once told me, “All you need to do is drive the truck. There will be someone at the other end to unload it.” But when I got to my destination no one was around. I unloaded the majority of the cargo myself, until the workers showed up half an hour later.
Instead of unloading the rest of the cargo, they started moving what I had unloaded upstairs. It would take them several hours to complete unloading my truck. They told me, “You can unload it yourself if you can’t wait.”
In the past, I would have charged the buyer extra for my services. But I could not do it, because I was a practitioner and must follow Master’s teachings. I quietly unloaded the rest of the cargo myself and left. This was the first time I felt happy after suffering a loss, and I truly felt the joy of considering the needs of others first.
Giving up Personal Gain
Businesses in China nowadays tend to print at the bottom of their business cards, “Honesty-based,” but I rarely see anyone adhering to this principle. Everyone is working hard to earn money, so who cares about integrity and conscience?!
I took an order where I was provided with a list of goods and delivery costs. I had met the buyer previously when he was negotiating delivery costs with the supplier.
When I arrived with the goods and began checking the inventory to collect payment, the buyer claimed that the price was wrong. I said, “I’ll call the supplier. You can talk with him.” They ended up arguing over the phone.
The buyer said to the seller, “You have no integrity in doing business. You’re trying to hoodwink me by raising the price. I won’t have it!” He started shouting and cursing hysterically.
I had never seen such a scene before. I tried to comfort him and said, “Take it easy and calm down. It’s not worth being so angry over a small amount of money.”
He said, “I’m not targeting you. I just can’t stomach such cheating! I remember the price was written on the order form.” I checked, but it wasn’t there.
The supplier called me and said, “If he doesn't want them, then bring everything back.”
I replied, “I’m here already! Let’s sell it to him at his price.”
The supplier responded, “Then you can make up the difference. You can charge him what you want, but I won't take a penny less than the price I said. It’s up to you how much loss you are willing to take.” I accepted the buyer’s payment and left.
Throughout the process, I kept thinking, “I am a practitioner and cannot conduct myself as an everyday person.” I let go of my attachment and resolved a conflict.
The supplier later called the buyer and chastised him for taking money off me.
I didn’t feel much in my heart when he told me about this. However, I was quite upset when I thought about it afterward. If it were in the past, I would have made the buyer pay several times more or beat him up in a rage of anger.
Master said,
“Why do you encounter these problems? They are all caused by your own karma. We have already eliminated for you many, numerous pieces of it, leaving only that tiny bit which is divided into tribulations at different levels for upgrading your xinxing, tempering your mind, and removing your different attachments. These are all your own tribulations that we use to improve your xinxing, and you will be able to overcome them. As long as you upgrade your xinxing, you can overcome them. Unless you, yourself do not want to do so, you can make it, provided you want to overcome them. Therefore, from now on when you come across a conflict you should not consider it a coincidence. This is because when a conflict occurs, it will take place unexpectedly. But that is not a coincidence—it is for improving your xinxing. As long as you treat yourself as a practitioner, you can handle it properly.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
I felt relieved after reading this and marveled at the wonders of Dafa. This paragraph spoke to me as if it were written for me.
When I first began practicing Dafa, in order to boost my confidence, Master let me feel the Falun turning, see wonderful things through my third eye, and hear music in other dimensions.
Epilogue
It has been 30 years since Falun Dafa was introduced to the public, and many people have been changed by practicing it. I am but one particle in this ocean of practitioners. I have changed from the “Ingrate” in my family’s eyes into a responsible person, thanks to the power of Falun Dafa.
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