Being a Good Person According to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance

I began practicing Falun Dafa in May 1997. Before that I often smoked, drank alcohol, and gambled, and when I was young I had many illnesses, including chronic gastritis and ulcers.

When I returned home one day from work, I noticed a book on the table entitled Zhuan Falun. I picked it up and read several pages but didn't quite understand its content. The next day, when I returned from work, I saw three video tapes, so I started to play one of them. It was a recording of the seventh day of Master Li's lecture series in Guangzhou. I listened to Master's teachings on the issue of smoking, and it really shocked me. I had been smoking for twenty years and really suffered a lot from it, but I just couldn't get rid of the habit. As I continued watching the video, I felt a warm current going through my whole body. I had never experienced that kind of feeling before. About an hour and a half after watching the video, I realized that I hadn't had a smoke for a while, so I promptly lit up a cigarette and took a puff from it. I immediately felt like throwing up. I couldn't understand why it suddenly tasted different. I snuffed the cigarette out in an ash tray, and that was it! I gave up smoking.

Another one of my bad habits was playing Mahjong, but when some friends invited me to play, I just didn't feel like it. They tried to persuade me, but I was adamant, I was not going to play. This had never happened before, since I was well known at my workplace for playing Mahjong.

I came to realize that Falun Dafa was miraculous, as I had stopped smoking and playing Mahjong after only listening to one of the Fa teachings. I then wanted to learn more of the teachings and exercises. When I asked my neighbour to teach me the exercises, he told me that I needed to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. He asked me if I was able to do that. I immediately answered, "How wonderful! I am able to do that." When I started learning the exercises, on the fourth exercise, "Falun Heavenly Circuit," although I felt no discomfort, I suddenly had loose bowels, and had the urge to throw up. I quickly rushed home and used the bathroom. My body suddenly felt very good, and my whole body was relaxed. I felt that many of the bad substances in my body had been removed.

The next morning, at 6:00 a.m., I was awoken by the phone ringing, but no one was on the other end. Instead of going back to sleep, I decided to go out to do the exercises with other practitioners. After walking around for a while trying to find where the practice site was, I eventually saw a dozen or so people doing the exercises, so I joined them.

The first time I studied the Fa, I was moved by Master's words, and had no problem accepting the teachings. I remained diligent in studying the Fa and began to understand more things, as Master continued to help cleanse my body. After several months of cultivation, I had improved my mind and gained a new understanding of the things around me. I felt so fortunate to cultivate in Dafa.

I knew that over the years, as I pursued my attachments to fame and wealth, I had made my body really dirty inside and was always ill. I also knew that all the suffering in my life was due to the bad things that I had done. During the process of cleansing my body, I experienced several amazing things. Some of these are listed below.

When I was at work during the daytime, I felt just fine and my work wasn't affected, but the moment I got back home, I needed to use the toilet to rid myself of the bad things I carried inside. At night, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, and felt like there were countless electric currents going through my body.

I once went to a party with my boss, and most of the people there were old acquaintances. Just when I was about to sit down, I remembered that drinking alcohol was not good for a cultivator's body. Then everyone started exchanging greetings and toasting each other, so I quickly removed myself and went and hid in the bathroom. I didn't return until the greetings and toasts were over. I was embarrassed about telling people my situation. But while a practitioner is cultivating, tests and tribulations will always arise to help us eliminate our attachments. So, as soon as I sat down, someone saw me and shouted, "The section chief left and we didn't give him a toast. Come on!" Then they came over and began exchanging toasts. I told them that I was a Falun Dafa practitioner and that I didn't drink. They understood and went back to their seats.

I was the chief of the dietary section in the company where I worked, so it was necessary for me to befriend other people in the business. I had received many gift of various types of food, but I always experienced problems in digesting the food. When I started cultivating, I understood Master's teaching about "no loss, no gain." From then on, I declined the gifts offered to me, and told them that I was a practitioner, and my Master told me to conduct business honestly and according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

I had a very good relationship with the owner of a privately-run factory, and I once lent him tens of thousand of yuan when he didn't have enough money to import materials. Two days later, he said, "If you can fund another twenty thousand yuan, you can have a share in the company. I can give you much more in dividends every year." I was really shocked and refused, "How can I take that much in benefits from you?" He said, "That's all right. We are good friends and should take care of each other. Just take it easy. I'll write a contract and make a formal agreement with you." I initially kept quiet and took a year's worth of payments from him. But when I began cultivating, I thought about the situation according to the Fa's standards, and realized that I should not take advantage of the situation. If I continued to benefit from this relationship with him, he may expect me to do improper things at my work to help him in the future. I told my friend that as a practitioner, I only wished to be a good person, and spoke to him about the Fa principles of loss and gain. He was moved by my integrity and said, "Wow, there are still some good people like you in the world!" I knew that I had conducted myself as a practitioner, and afterward my whole body felt very comfortable.

After one year's cultivation, I resigned my job as chief of the dietary section, and moved to the administrative section as a deputy chief.

During the rainy season, the sewer would flood and waste water would cover the streets. It was really disgusting. My boss asked me to find out the cost of having the sewer repaired. When I asked someone for an estimate, they came and showed me the cost totaling 70,000 yuan. I was shocked. When I read it over carefully, I found some errors and asked him to do it again. When I saw him the next day, he suddenly put something into my hands. To my surprise, I found a lot of money there, easily 3,000 yuan. I told him that I could not take the money and gave it back to him. I said, very seriously, "I'm a practitioner and can't take other people's things. I won't take your money, nor will I get you in trouble. But you must guarantee a quality job." He looked upset because I had refused the bribe. I calmly said to him, "Take it easy. Just do well in what you should do and you won't lose what you should rightfully earn." The final cost of repairs to the sewer came to only 40,000 yuan. There hasn't been any problems for ten years, and it is still in good working order.

From these experiences, I realized that cultivation is really serious and everything in a practitioner's life and workplace may be used to improve our xinxing (character, heart and mind nature).

Throughout my years of cultivation, I have remembered Dafa's requirements, tried to be a good person, and always conducted myself in accordance with Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.