(Minghui.org) A few months after my mother began practicing Falun Dafa in 1998, I noticed a dramatic improvement in her. She'd always had a hot temper, but she became considerate and her outlook on life became positive. She had been tormented by illnesses for years, but she became healthy and even her complexion glowed.
I also wanted to learn such a wonderful practice. I was still in college, but when I came home on summer break I learned the five exercises. I went from being closed-minded and introverted to open-minded, optimistic, and tolerant.
My Deepest Attachments Are Exposed
After I graduated in 1999, I started to work at my current company. In 2011, our deputy director was transferred to our parent company. All my coworkers had more seniority than I and stronger backgrounds. The management team, however, considered me an exceptional employee. When the deputy director was transferred, they promoted me to fill the vacancy.
Our director resigned around Chinese New Year in 2014. Everyone knew that I was a practitioner, and soon, the management teams in both our parent company and the local company received anonymous letters reporting me. However, nothing was done since the letters were anonymous.
When other anonymous letters were received in August 2014, the parent company's management team decided to carry out an investigation. The person in charge of the Discipline Committee came to talk to me. He said that the letters covered several topics: One was my belief in Falun Dafa and the rest were all work-related.
I was in shock. Everyone knew that corrupt Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials were reported on and then investigated, but I never dreamed that I would have been reported on in the same way!
I started to reflect on myself. Although I didn't have a high management position, I still had a lot of power. For example, it’s possible to stay in luxurious hotels and take bribes while on business trips or to be given large amounts of cash when it is time for work-related exams. My job would have been most people's dream job. Those who didn't know me would automatically think that I had used my position to make a lot of money under the table.
The reality was, of course, that I was devoted to my work. I always contributed more than anyone else on every group project and never complained. For instance, I never asked to be paid for the overtime hours I put in, I always just submitted the same amount of hours as the others. I was honest and responsible at work because I was a Falun Dafa practitioner.
I felt that I was wronged and slandered. I couldn't understand how, for the sake of satisfying their self-interest, someone used such an underhanded way to slander a good person! My hatred and resentment grew, and I just couldn't get over it.
Master said:
“Yet true progress comes by looking at yourself and focusing on your mind. It is the only way to make true progress and experience serenity in meditation.” (The Ninth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
Looking Inward
I kept pondering Master's words about looking inward. Because it was such a huge tribulation, it obviously had to be related to a loophole in my cultivation.
Since the first thing mentioned in the anonymous letter was that I practiced Falun Dafa, I felt that my attachment to fear was being hit upon. At work, I hardly dared to bring up the topic of Falun Dafa because I was afraid I'd be reported and then persecuted. I was also afraid that my family would be impacted.
On the surface at work, I always looked very calm and didn't fight over fame or profit. Yet, deep down I harbored strong attachments, such as showing off, a competitive mentality, jealousy, an attachment to doing things, and vanity. I especially liked to show off and strove to do better than everyone else. Even when I had to deliver a public speech, I wanted to show how eloquent I was.
Even though I was not corrupt, when I thought about it, I realized that my husband had used my work network to help his friends. When his friends sold materials to the vendors, he got kickbacks. I later managed to persuade my husband to return all the money he been given.
Master said:
“The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts.” (“Drive out Interference,” Essentials For Further Advancement II)
I realized that only by studying the teachings and aligning my behavior to the requirements of the Fa could I eliminate all my attachments. I adjusted myself and my heart was no longer full of hatred or resentment.
I was investigated for more than six months, and many business partners were involved. I was finally proven innocent. My reputation was restored and my colleagues learned more about Falun Dafa through this incident.
Without Master's benevolent protection I wouldn't have been able to make a breakthrough in this tribulation. During the most difficult time, Master's teachings guided me to look inward and helped me eliminate many attachments. I truly felt my level elevating. It was just as Master said: “I believe that if you can do that, you will always find that there is light at the end of the tunnel.” (The Ninth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
A Promotion Tests My Cultivation
A new company president was appointed in early 2018. As soon as he came in, he began reorganizing the staff. Four candidates including myself were being considered for three middle management positions.
I had been a deputy director for seven years, and my performance was always outstanding. I was also very humble and honest. Of the four candidates, I was ranked first. While the others were busy networking or bribing people, I remembered that I was a practitioner and that I shouldn't act that way.
When the new president came to talk to me, he said that he had traveled overseas and learned many things about Falun Dafa. He said that he was not against my belief and praised my work. But he was concerned that he and the company might be implicated if someone was against Falun Dafa. I said that, since he already knew the truth about Dafa, I hoped that he wouldn't be against it. I told him that I had no intention of fighting with anyone over this promotion, nor did I want to give management a hard time.
I told Master that I would unconditionally follow His arrangements. However, my heart kept going up and down and I wondered why I still felt the situation was a bit unfair.
Through Fa-study, I realized that I still had an attachment I'd been nurturing for many years. I was still attached to feeling superior and being appreciated at work. There were so many attachments that I hadn't relinquished!
We voted on who should fill the positions just before the 2018 Chinese New Year. I decided to name the other three candidates and leave myself out. In the end, the other three were promoted to directors. I was extremely calm.
Some of my coworkers surprised me by speaking up for me. They complained about the election, saying that it wasn't fair. Many of them comforted me by sending me text messages and hoped that I would still continue to work hard.
The president said, “More than one third voted for you. If you didn't practice Falun Dafa, you'd have been promoted! I am so sorry.” I was happy that so many of my colleagues supported a Falun Dafa practitioner.
In my complex work and social environment, I have held myself to the principles of, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and I have experienced the wisdom, confidence, and happiness of a Falun Dafa cultivator.
Category: Improving Oneself
