A Minor Test of Practitioner's Upright Conduct

Many of us, who had come to Rome for the Falun Gong rally, chose to have accommodation at the youth hostel, myself included. As I walked along the long youth hostel corridor one evening, I found a piece of paper money on the floor. Picking it up, I held a 50,000 Italian Lira note in my hand (represents a value of about US$ 12.50). I immediately went to the reception desk to hand it in, since the owner would have to be found. The clerk did not want to accept it saying that nobody would come and ask for it. He told me to keep it. But I thought that as a cultivator, I must act according to the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance, whether others recognize me as a practitioner or not, although it was tempting to have this extra money. Since this money did not belong to me I could not accept it. The clerk kept pressurizing me to keep the money, and I resisted him. I refused as before. He finally gave up in wonderment at my honesty and stored the money at the reception desk. I had resisted the temptation to keep the money and behaved as a true Falun Gong practitioner. My cultivation had put me into this testing situation and enabled me to stick to honesty and not give in to the misconception that one can blithely keep found objects. I had passed the test.

A Practitioner from Germany
October 26, 2001