(Minghui.org) I started practicing Falun Dafa in 1998. My husband and I run an electric bicycle store. In our daily lives and while doing business, we remind each other to cultivate ourselves well and awaken people. Our store has become a platform for us to clarify the truth to help people understand Dafa.
Treating Daily Affairs with Righteous Thoughts
Most customers don't know much about electric bicycles and don't know how to choose a good bike, so many corrupt factories take advantage of this. They make the bikes look good superficially, but inside they use cheap or secondhand parts. They also make up the product specifications to deceive people. These issues make our jobs difficult, because we try to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
We have to measure the specifications for ourselves, and report accurate specifications to customers. Sometimes we also have to open up the bikes, show customers the parts, and explain to them why a particular bike is better than ones that only look good on the surface. Even if they don't buy from us, at least they learn something from us.
We also ask them what they need the bike for so that we can recommend something that best fits their needs. We never give customers trouble when they want to return a bike, because we know the most important thing is that they have learned the truth about Dafa from us through the purchasing process.
An elderly couple and their five-year-old granddaughter came to our store. They chose a bike. I clarified the truth to them while assembling the bike for them. When the older woman heard the words “Falun Dafa,” her body shook, and she started to criticize the bike with a very picky tone. She then asked me to assemble a different model for her. Her husband felt bad about her behavior and scolded her. They started to argue with each other. I tried to stop them from arguing and responded to her criticism. I asked a staff member to show the woman more models. Meanwhile I had to comfort their granddaughter, who kept asking me to play with her. During the whole process, I kept sending forth righteous thoughts, eliminating the evil that was trying to interfere with me to awaken the older couple.
Another time, a customer wanted a special model, but we only had one in stock. The factory had already stopped producing this model, so there was no post-purchase service. We usually wouldn't sell the bike in such a case. But driven by the attachment to gain, I sold it to him. Six months later, the customer called us and said the frame had broken. Before we could send our technician to fix it, he welded it himself. He is not a professional, so the frame broke again.
The customer was angry. The 70-year old guy had been a businessman before retiring. He was stubborn. He rejected our offer of compensation and insisted on suing the factory. I was busy helping to rescue a local practitioner who had been illegally arrested. I knew that the evil was taking advantage of my loopholes to give me trouble.
We apologized and offered him compensation on the phone again and again. But he rejected our suggestions. The factory that manufactured the bike was actually about to go out of business. They didn't even answer our calls.
I decided to talk to the customer face-to-face. Meanwhile I acknowledged my misbehavior and that I needed to get rid of the attachment to gain and saving face, and to take responsibility. I also sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil behind this situation.
The older guy's family member had purchased the bike for him, so I hadn't had the chance to clarify the truth about Dafa to him personally. I told myself to use this chance to help him learn the truth.
My husband and I visited him. He was a very talkative and a dominating guy. He kept insisting on suing the factory, and didn't give us a chance to talk.
Looking at this angry man arguing, I felt sad. I tried to connect with his main consciousness in another dimension: “I don't mind how you want to deal with this issue, but you probably only have one chance to hear me tell you the truth about Dafa. This is the most important because it determines your future. Why don't you stop talking and listen to me?” When I developed such a thought, his body shook, and he quieted down all of sudden.
“Uncle, don't be mad.” I said. “I will take responsibility for this. I am a Falun Dafa practitioner. I promise you that I will make you satisfied. Everything you have heard from the media about Falun Dafa is wrong.” I told him more about Falun Dafa. Finally, I sincerely told him that the courts nowadays are corrupt. If he files a lawsuit, he may lose more than he would gain. “It is not worth it,” I told him, “If you want a new bike, I can order you one right away.”
A few days later, he called and asked us to fix his bike. We sent our best technician with some parts as bonus gifts. He was very happy with the repair, and thanked our technician three times. Later on, he came to our store and made some purchases.
Every time I sell a bike, I talk to the bike: “You were produced during the Fa-rectification period. No matter whether you are a human or a bike, you have gone through many reincarnations, and you have been waiting to be saved now. So, you must help Dafa disciples validate the Fa and save people. You must position yourself correctly.”
I once had a bike that had many malfunctions after being sold. I asked it not to cause trouble to the owner and to Dafa practitioners. A message came to me from the bike: “The troubles I made were to help you to get rid of your attachments and to help you to improve. If I don't make this trouble, you won't have these chances.” I clearly understood that the Fa-rectification must succeed, and Dafa disciples must reach consummation, as Master has told us. My attachments are to be eliminated within Master's arrangements. “But, you are positioning yourself,” I warned the bike. After I told it all of this, it had no more problems.
Our business ranks the top in the whole province.
Improve As a Whole Body in the Process of Rescuing a Local Practitioner
A local practitioner was arrested, and her family hired a lawyer who is well-known for helping practitioners, but things didn't go smoothly initially. The lawyer was not in a good state, and there were some misunderstandings between the lawyer and the practitioner's family. The family even thought the lawyer was a scammer trying to make money from practitioners. After learning about this, I reached out to the family members and shared my thoughts and understandings on the Fa. I encouraged the family not to treat the rescue with human notions. After sharing, the family developed righteous thoughts.
Before the trial all of the practitioner's family members had positive and righteous attitudes. We then talked to the lawyer. He was encouraged by the big changes in the family members' attitudes, and he gained some additional confidence. We got rid of our sentimentality and rationally helped the arrested practitioner find her attachments. We sent forth righteous thoughts, and then mailed a lot of material to different law enforcement departments.
We asked the lawyer to tell the arrested practitioner the outcomes of our discussions when he met with her. The practitioner calmly listened to him, and changed her notions about simply acknowledging the persecution. Local practitioners formed a whole body, and very soon the practitioner was released.
Treat Personal Conflicts and Debts from the Viewpoint of Fa-rectification
Both my mother-in-law and I are practitioners, but we have always had conflicts. I knew it was wrong and told myself to let it go numerous times, and tried to correct myself, but all of my efforts were in vain. I could not hold my anger back once I saw her in person. Not only did I find it painful, but our whole family was uncomfortable.
I often bought gifts for my mother-in-law on important holidays. My heart was sincere when I purchased them for her, but when I visited her with the gifts, I would become cold, and giving them to her became a mere formality.
A practitioner whom I know very well passed away due to sickness karma. Her death shocked me. I later learned that her death was partially related to her daughter. She had raised her daughter by herself and had immense hopes for her. But her daughter didn't do well and caused her a lot of trouble. She passed away feeling angry and disappointed. She had told me once that she was a cultivator in history, and she dropped in level due to sentiment. This time she dropped again for the same reason.
She failed to deny the old forces' arrangements. This woke me up. In my dreams I learned that my mother-in-law and I have owed each other debts for three generations. In one generation, she bullied me and I killed myself by jumping into a river.
I came to the understanding that in this life we don't have any real conflicts, but we just cannot tolerate each other. This was because of our karmic relationship in history. When I looked at this issue from a higher level, my thoughts broadened. I didn't just look at a certain specific thing.
I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil in other dimensions that tried to put up barriers between us. My heart opened up and I felt much better.
