Greetings, Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
Last year, during the Australian FaHui, I was talking to a fellow practitioner from Queensland and she asked me if I was planning to go to the international DC FaHui in 2018. I replied YES, even though I was not very sure I would be able to do it because of finances, time away from work etc. I voiced this insecurity to her and she replied – if you decide to go, it will happen!
When the call was announced for Washington FaHui, that fellow practitioner called me to see if I was planning to go. She said that she had already booked a room we could share with other people, so the price was affordable. After a short conversation I told her: “Well, I think that now we both know I WILL be attending the FaHui, and that we WILL be sharing the room.” We both laughed! All of my doubts about costs, fear of flying and time away from work were dissolved in our “simple” exchange.
Three weeks before departure, I started having bad thoughts about flying, and they mostly manifested as intense fear. I tried fighting them off, but I was still not calm inside. I called that fellow practitioner and shared what I was going through. She told me to try and fight off those thoughts and read the Fa. Very soon after our conversation, though, she called me back and said that she and another practitioner had changed their booking to take an early morning flight from Brisbane to Sydney. They had decided to come meet me on my flight from Sydney to the USA, saying it would be better to strengthen everyone’s righteous thoughts. She said: “Yes, let’s do this the right way. The old forces are just trying to interfere with you, but we can’t have that, can we?”
I was so moved by their actions. My fear immediately subsided, and in that moment I learned a very important lesson in cultivation – so many times I had offered suggestions and my opinions to fellow practitioners, but I would leave it at that. This practitioner did not just “advise” me but showed her support by actively doing something compassionate. I realised this was a lesson for me – to do more and to talk less.
Actually, on the day of the flight, there were some delays in their flight from Brisbane so in the end I was flying alone. However, I was calmer than on any other flight I had taken in my life. I read the Fa, sent righteous thoughts, and I saw a few other local practitioners on the flight meditating. I was very thankful to Master who looked after us, and at the same time arranged for opportunities for deeper insights and improvements in Xinxing.
Cherishing my cultivation environment at work
Master has arranged for me to work in an environment with many groups of Chinese people, many of whom have just recently arrived from China.
On the first day at that job, it was hard for me to contain my tears. The whole day I felt so honoured because in the core of my being I knew sentient beings were waiting to hear the truth, so Master placed me in that job. I felt that it was no coincidence to start working there.
It was the hardest to clarify the truth to them the first time, and that was only because of the notions in my mind. Different thoughts would appear, such as – “Should I talk about Falun Gong at work? What if this is “too sensitive” and they become upset and complain to my boss? What if I lose my job? What if my boss loses the contract and everyone else loses their job because of my actions?” These were only some of the thoughts rushing through my mind, but I kept rejecting them. I studied the Fa and I sent righteous thoughts because I knew that I should be in a better state when clarifying the truth.
Master strengthened my righteous thoughts and, while reading, I was directed to certain passages in the Fa that directly addressed the topics of saving sentient beings, and especially how beings in China had been duped by the evil regime. My compassion for them intensified after reading the Fa, and this compassion in my heart was crucial in dissolving the overanalysing thoughts.
Master said:
“When I was born, many Gods came down with me. From then on, this happened every year and Gods have been coming down. By the time I started to teach the Fa, those Gods came down like snowflakes—it was just that many. I calculated their ages now, and from when I started to spread the Fa till now, they would be young people around twenty-five years old, many of whom really have not been saved. They were all Gods, coming down to Earth, and they scattered to all areas of the world.“ (Fa Teaching at the 2016 New York Fa Conference)
The first truth clarifying conversation with a group of nearly 20 Chinese was longer than one hour and many people in the group had so many questions. Firstly, they were surprised I even brought up the topic and some laughed at me, but that didn’t bother me. Because I had been reading a lot of articles on Minghui, I was armed with a lot of concrete information and statistics about the situation in China which helped me tremendously in answering their questions. During the conversations I had a strange feeling – I was looking at every individual’s eyes and felt that each and every one of them was as a child I once had. Of course, I do not know if this is true, but the association in my heart really strengthened my resolve to help save them. The whole process turned out to be so wonderful! After a long, detailed discussion you could almost sense a change in the atmosphere around us. On the way home, I was so energised and kept thanking Master for all of his arrangements. All I had to do was to perform the action.
On another occasion, I decided that it was finally time to clarify the truth to another group I had been working with, but in my heart I was a little bit worried that I left loopholes because I had neglected to cultivate my xinxing on a few recent occasions. Nevertheless, I asked Master for help and for the strength and the wisdom to help clarify the truth. I “spoke” to those negative thoughts in my mind and said “It is not of ultimate importance whether or not I am always in a perfect state. These beings were put in front of me now, who knows how long and far they had travelled. Their salvation is the absolute priority, everything else is irrelevant and should not stand in the way!”
Then my mind became quiet and I started talking. I asked them if it is ok to speak about a topic I am personally very much interested in. Then I asked them about Falun Gong, but I immediately made it clear that I had a positive outlook. I didn’t want to leave it open for anyone with negative views to take centre stage. Some people just looked at me with eyes wide open, and some said: “Actually, nobody even talks about that anymore” ….“You know, it is not a good thing”. Then I commented that the main qualities of well-educated individuals involve critical analyses and being able to deeply analyse both sides of any story before making an informed decision. I said I realised that there had been no positive reporting about Falun Gong in China for the last 20 years, so that it is understandable that they have a certain perspective, but I encouraged them to revisit the issue. To give them a specific reference point, I talked about the “self-immolation” case and talked about the detailed facts we, of course, know as practitioners. Telling them the facts here was crucial – about the whole area being on lockdown as if they had prepared for something, about all the CCTV cameras pointing in one direction, about the self-immolator not even sitting in the right position etc, etc. I did not leave time for anyone to comment but wanted to continue with more facts to strengthen the point.
I went on to say that, before the persecution, even high-ranking officials had practiced and that I have seen footage from live TV shows from China before 1999 which showed overwhelming support for Falun Gong. I encouraged them to find those online as well.
One person then raised his voice and said “if my government tells me not to do something, it is my duty not to do it! Falun Gong should obey the government!” I told him – “Well, that is your opinion…. But consider this – who is the government, actually? They are also just a group people who happen to have a job which is, don’t forget, to serve their nation’s people. The government at first supported Falun Gong very much, and then it suddenly changed its mind. Why don’t you dig a little deeper?” He then said: “You don’t know how things work in China. This is how we have been functioning for thousands of years.” At that point I told him that I was born in a socialist country and that I am very well aware, in fact. I went on to talk about the fact that the CCP has been in China for only 60 years, whereas China has such a rich history of 5 thousand years, and that communism is something imported into China, not originally Chinese. He was surprised I had a comeback, he was red in the face and then smashed his fist on the desk.
Then, it was like time stopped and I looked inside at myself and at the people around me. All I could feel inside me was that I was getting ready to get into a fight with that one individual, my argumentative mentality was surfacing. In that split-second I also looked at all the other people there and realised I had a duty to treat them with compassion. I called Master in my mind and asked Him: “Please, Master, I will get rid of this fighting mentality. This person is not allowed to take centre stage. This is an opportunity for all these people, him included, to be saved. Please, help me calm him down.” Then, I suddenly had an urge to go sit next to him, and to touch him on his shoulder. When I did that, he jumped in his seat a little, and then looked straight in my eyes. Then I spoke from the heart: “I am really sorry if I have upset you. I respect you, each one of you, and I respect your country. All I wish to do is have a peaceful, open conversation. You don’t have to believe anything I say, but please, there is no need to be upset. We don’t have to talk anymore about this.” At that point, a few other people decided to help diffuse the situation. They said that it is an interesting conversation and that they had already heard bits and pieces of this information even in China. They asked him to calm down and to give me a chance to speak. We continued talking for at least another half an hour and in the end he even came and apologised to me. The next day he looked me up and said: “You know, the Falun Gong topic, I had actually asked my father about it a long time ago, and he told me to stay away from it all. Maybe now I will look for some more information.” I was very moved.
The subsequent conversations with different groups were very similar, and I have observed some patterns. I have observed that firstly I really need to consciously express the wish to help the sentient beings put in front of me, to acknowledge in my heart that this is THE ONLY reason for our existence and ask Master for opportunities and the strength to clarify the truth well and rationally.
When opportunities do arise, it is like Master presses a bell that rings inside me, and says – now is the time, you have more than an hour to do it, so do it! Every time I respond to that bell, it is really miraculous because I can feel the entire situation had been carefully orchestrated. It usually happens in a similar pattern like the situation I described above – first, everyone is surprised to hear that I know about the practice. Then, they listen attentively for about 20 or 30 minutes. Many then start nodding their heads in approval, but some bow down their heads, consumed in thoughts. Then, two or three people reject the things I said and start questioning by repeating the Party propaganda… Then, Master flashes information in my mind from the Minghui reports I had read throughout the years that perfectly relates to their question.
They do not give up and keep asking questions, but Master always provides adequate answers in my mind – I feel that he lets me see the “knot” inside their minds which I need to target with words. While that is happening, one or two other people from the group usually decide it is time to join in and they start openly supporting the true facts. Then, at least two or three people finally admit that someone in their family or close friends had practiced or still practices Falun Dafa. They then take over the conversation and start telling the others that the practice is very good, and that it should not be banned… Really, it looks like a wonderfully rehearsed play. Some people use this opportunity to stand up for Dafa, and in doing so they provide help in the process of my truth clarification. I feel so happy for them! Those few people who reject the information then continue to ask questions, but it is obvious at that time that the barrier had already been broken through and that now they genuinely wish to solve the confusion in their minds, rather than purely attack or slander.
In such moments I acknowledge this confusion and even apologise if the discussion is making them uncomfortable, because really – we cannot blame them. They had been exposed to so much negative propaganda for so long, it is understandable that it requires some time for the new facts to be processed. When they hear my apology, the situation softens. I think we should not harbour any negative thoughts if Chinese people show rejection to our truth clarification because this is possibly just an initial reflex after so many years of negative conditioning.
Master said:
“The people in Western society or those in societies not ruled by the wicked communist party live in a human way that is natural, with the differences among peoples just being cultural. In a natural society such as that, people share a common way of life that values keeping calm, being kind and open-minded, and not putting up your guard around people. That’s normal, and before the wicked Party came along, Chinese people used to be that way too. But in today’s Chinese society, the wicked CCP constantly uses lies, hatred, and ‘struggle’ to educate people from birth to adulthood. It unfailingly uses false principles to educate people, and always does so based on its needs, resulting in people’s behaviour becoming more and more in line with what it wants as their daily conduct sinks further.“ (Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference)
I do have to share that I am very sorry for the missed opportunities and the times I did not respond to the “bell” I heard inside. Unfortunately, this has happened a few times. Every time that it happened, I was not in a good cultivation state, and I now truly regret it!
Actually, Master placed certain individuals in front of me even two or three more times after I had missed the first opportunity, but those times were very short and awkward in terms of situations to start clarifying the truth, so I missed them again. Because of this, I have understood that I should really seize the first opportunity arranged and have faith that it will be done well immediately! Otherwise, subsequent times just become harder and opportunities can even be completely missed. I sincerely hope that those sentient beings I had missed will get a chance to meet other fellow practitioners who will respond to their “bell”!!
I also hope that this experience will help other practitioners, especially other Westerners, to clarify the truth more proactively to Chinese people. Master has already arranged everything, and all we need to do is play our part. I feel that because we have incarnated as Westerners in this Fa rectification period it is actually a great asset in truth clarification to Chinese people, and not at all a difficulty!
Master said:
“Cultivation is not something done for Dafa’s sake, and nor is saving lives. Rather, cultivation ensures that a being is progressing toward spiritual perfection, while saving lives comes from a cultivator’s compassion and his or her responsibility when sentient beings are in peril.“ (A Congratulatory Letter to the Fa Conference of Europe)
Thank you, Master!
Thank you, fellow practitioners!