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My Cultivation Experience Working in a Restaurant
(Clearwisdom.net)
I started working in a Chinese restaurant at the beginning of the year 2000.
There were all kinds of people with different backgrounds there. One of my
classmates, who was familiar with the people working in this restaurant, told me
in advance about who was a thief and who I needed to be wary of in this
restaurant and so forth. I thought this interference would be of no concern for
a genuine Falun Dafa practitioner who could easily handle it. What I could do was
to change the environment around me using my pure righteous thoughts. Workers in
the restaurant usually rest right after they finish their duties, never thinking
of helping others. After I worked there, I helped others every day. They asked
me why I did this. I told them that I practiced Falun Dafa and learned from Dafa
that I should consider others first in any situation. They were all stunned and
deeply moved. Since then, the practice of specifying duties to each helper in the
restaurant has stopped because of the harmonious relationship among helpers and
the fact that everybody is willing to help others. My colleagues were all
surprised to see that everybody in this restaurant has been so happy since I
started working there. The conflicts between co-workers disappeared after all.
Some Chinese workers in the restaurant who just came to America could not
drive. I drove them back and forth from home to the restaurant everyday. Some
colleagues persuaded me not to do such a "stupid" thing. I said,
"If they didn't have to do this to earn a living, nobody would come to the
restaurant to do these heavy and dirty jobs. We cannot only think of ourselves
all the time. We also need to consider others." After this conversation, my
co-workers kept silent.
A customer who frequently visited our restaurant never left tips after he
finished his meal. The manager and all of the employees in this restaurant did
not show any friendliness towards him. At that time, I recalled Teacher's Fa in Falun
Dafa (Lecture at the First Conference in North America) "In
regards to this point, I think Caucasian European businessmen have a very good
state of mind. A Caucasian businessman considers his business a profession and a
duty, and he does it whole-heartedly to the best of his ability. He doesn't mind
even if there's only one customer a day. He thinks that it's his job, it's part
of life, he's doing something, and it's fine as long as he can support himself
or his family and save a little. This is the state of being human." So I
treated him the same way as I treated other customers. Surprisingly, he gave me
a two-dollar tip. All of my colleagues were stunned. I told them, "Everyone
has a compassionate mind. If we did not think of earning as much money as
possible from the customer's pocket, the situation would change." My
colleagues' minds became less occupied with money since then and business in the
restaurant got much better. The manager said that I brought good fortune to the
restaurant.
Whenever I had a chance, I would introduce Dafa and clarify the truth of Dafa
to them. The conversation topic in the restaurant changed to how to be a good
person. A 40-year-old man who used to be a department director of a university
in Shanghai had to work in this restaurant because he could not find another job
due to his poor English. Nobody talked with him because they suspected that he
was not a good person. I thought I should be responsible for everybody around me
to know the truth of Dafa, so I introduced Dafa to him. To my surprise, he was
immediately interested in knowing the truth of Falun Dafa. His wife posted a
Dafa flyer on the wall. I gave him a Dafa book. Since then, I noticed that he
has turned out to be a generous person.
Three months later, my husband found a job with good pay, so I did not have to
work in that restaurant any more. Everybody was very sad when I left. They said
they would like to work with me if I could run a restaurant by myself someday.
The manager and his wife also told me that they would help me whenever I needed
it. The chef, whom I had barely talked with said, "I have worked here for
more than ten years, but I have never met such a kind and good person like
you." I told them that it was their good fortune that they hired a Falun
Dafa practitioner. All of the Falun Dafa practitioners are as good as I am or
even better.
I used to be very sensitive about my reputation. If I did not practice Falun
Dafa, I would not have accepted a waitress job in a restaurant without any
complaint. Because of Dafa, I did not feel any fatigue after arduously working
all day. It is Falun Dafa which generated my new life, gave me a strong will and
helped me to discard all kinds of bad notions that are part of everyday people's
lives. Tears rolled down my face because I felt Teacher's grand compassion. I
told Teacher in my heart: I am not afraid of suffering hardships, wherever I go,
I will keep up the good image of a Falun Dafa practitioner and will never do
anything to discredit Dafa.
A couple of days ago, the classmate of mine called me, "We had more
newcomers from China in the department after you moved out [Translator's note: this
classmate shared a room with the author]. I told them your stories; they
were all astonished. They could not believe that such a kind person exists in
the world." My classmate told them the reason why I could be so nice was
because I practiced Falun Gong. I am really glad that she can promote Falun
Dafa.
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