Since our teacher started teaching Dafa (the great Law) to the world eight years ago,
millions of people have been on their way back home with the protection of Masters mighty benevolence. However, many people still miss their chance to learn Dafa because they either are affected by the Chinese governments propaganda or stick to ordinary peoples concepts. At the last moment of rectifying Dafa, our Teacher still gives every life the chance to position themselves in the universe and to establish their relationship with the Fa in the future.
With benevolence and the promise to help our teacher in the world, Dafa practitioners have been trying to make the truth of Falun Gong known to everyday people and to bring out the compassionate nature of ordinary people.
In order to let more people know the truth, recently many practitioners have been going to local popular tourist spots, especially those with lots of Chinese tourists, to hongfa (promote Dafa) and distribute materials about the truth of Dafa. Many practitioners have been cultivating and improving themselves while promoting Dafa over the last few months.
Following is a young mother's story:
Everyday I take my 1-year-old child with me to the places that lots of Chinese visitors like to go. I distribute materials about the truth of Falun Gong and talk about what my family and I have gained from practicing Falun Gong. Most people know very little about Falun Gong. Some are suspicious, some are surprised, some taunt us, and some look down on me, but deep in my heart I feel that when people take the Falun Dafa newspaper from me, although they do not necessarily think that "Zhen, Shan, Ren" (Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance) still remains in the world, the seeds of "Zhen, Shan, Ren" have already been planted in their hearts. Someday the good part of their nature would make them search for "Zhen, Shan, Ren." One person came back after refusing to take the material I had handed to him and said: "This job isnt easy for you since you have to take care of your kid. Give me a copy." I know the great power of "Shan" can bring out people's true nature.
One day, I met a tour guide. After a brief talk he allowed me to hand out the materials on the tour bus. While sincerely giving every tourist the chance to know the truth, I heard the tour guides supportive and encouraging voice:"This young lady is a true believer of Falun Gong. She is now going to give us some materials regarding the truth of Falun Gong." I was very pleased and felt that lots of people still like to help others.
Another time, a tourist took all the materials left in my hand and said: "Let me distribute them on the bus for you." A just cause enjoys plenty of support while an unjust cause finds little support. I believe that eventually the Fa in the world will be rectified. One time a Chinese man asked me how those "ocean ghosts" (an insulting nickname used by Chinese to refer to Westerners) were doing in learning Falun Gong. I realized that it was time to use a Falun Gong practitioner's moral standard to rectify the environment around us. I then told him: "We Falun Gong practitioners follow the standard of 'Zhen, Shan, Ren'. One very basic principle for our behavior is not to use abusive language. I also hope that other people will not use abusive language when talking to me." He walked away silently. A few moments later he came back to me and said: "Why have you been giving everybody a newspaper but not me?" I gave him a set of newspapers gladly.
I feel that I am not alone when making the truth known to people. Our teacher is always with me. Once a six or seven year old American boy came towards me from a distance. Pointing to the Chinese newspapers in my hand, he said: "May I have one?" I hesitated and worried that he was going to play with them and then throw them away, but my second thought told me that I should cherish every opportunity. I then gave him a set of materials in English. About half an hour later the boy and his mother came back to me holding the materials in their hands. I could tell that she had already read them. This lady asked me if she could get some materials in Chinese just as the boy had asked. They walked away happily after their requests were satisfied. I was deeply moved and felt the strength of Dafa from the innocent boy. I knew that our teacher was with me, and I knew that I was doing a most sacred task. The newspapers which looked so ordinary actually had very deep implications. I stood much firmer amidst the moving crowds of everyday people.
These days I have been thinking about how to let people know the truth more effectively and I even ignored the fact that my child was able to sit in the stroller all day long and to be with me while I was looking for every person who should be awakened in the world. His quietness was also a hint to me: The task I was doing was so sacred, and I should try my best to provide every being a chance to position themselves in the universe.
One day, an American practitioner worked with me to distribute newspapers. She walked straight up to the Chinese tourists and said frankly: "Greetings, Falun Gong." The brief sentence was so strong that it could make its way into the hearts of all good people. Falun Dafa goes beyond the boundaries of all countries and races. It is indeed the Fa of all human beings and the whole world. It will exist forever. Protecting the Fa is the responsibility of every human being. At this historical moment, let all practitioners in the world bear this great and sacred duty together and reach the final consummation together.
The following story is from a practitioner who is a graduate student.
About three months ago, we found a resort area that attracts lots of Chinese tourists. The Chinese-speaking tourists were from Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and also western countries. The number of people in each group ranged from 5 or 6 to 30 or 40. At the beginning of our hongfa, most of the tourists who took materials from us and asked us questions were Westerners. Not many Chinese tourists stopped by or showed any interest, although from time to time we could hear somebody saying in a loud voice: "Oh, its Falun Gong," and "What a surprise to see Falun Gong in America." Influenced by old concepts and other factors, many Chinese tourists were hesitant to approach us. Some of them were interested in getting information from us but stepped back after being threatened by the "boss" in their group. One time, a practitioner from Taiwan was shocked when she saw one of the bosses yelling at the people in his group. Wherever she went, be it in the US or in Taiwan, she always saw people being nice to each other. That was the first time she had ever seen such a rude and unreasonable boss. What made us feel even worse was that the person being yelled at didn't even dare to stand up for his own rights.
Along with the progress of hongfa in the human society, the entire celestial climate has also changed dramatically. The evil has lost its foothold in all other dimensions. We ourselves have indeed felt it change when faced with Chinese tourist groups. After we realized that we should help all Chinese communities know the truth, especially after our teacher's new scriptures were published, we found that hongfa to Chinese tourist groups became much easier. More and more people began approaching us of their own accord to take the Chinese materials. Later, we didnt even have enough people to distribute the materials.
More and more Chinese tourists' attitudes have changed from being indifferent or in opposition to us, to being willing to find out the truth. Many people stop by and talk to us. They are all surprised when they find out that we are either graduate students working on our PhD and Masters degrees, or highly paid professionals who use our spare time to do volunteer work. They ask many questions such as: "What is Falun Gong really?" "How have you benefited from it?" "Why don't you people keep the truth for yourselves instead of spreading it around? We Chinese should protect the image of our own country." "Everything in the world has pros and cons. Why are you so sure that Falun Gong is perfect?" From all these questions we realized that they did not have much knowledge about Falun Gong. We still have a lot more work ahead of us. On the other hand, along with our unremitting efforts to help them understand Falun Gong, we will also improve ourselves.
More people now carefully listen to our stories and express their understanding and sympathy. Some say: "I have relatives practicing Falun Gong. It's good." And some say: "I did it for a while and felt good about it. I stopped doing it because its not allowed by the government. It must be a predestined relationship that makes me see you here in America. I think I will continue my cultivation after I go back to China."
Some people take materials from us and walk away without knowing what it is. Moments later they find out they are materials related to Falun Gong and exclaim: "Oh, Falun Gong." Then they come back and ask: "Would you give me one more for a friend of mine?" Discovering that the materials were about the truth of Falun Gong, one family became very excited and asked: "Please give us some more! Were really interested in it."
Tourist guides have made our practice site another point of interest: "Please pay attention. This is Falun Gong. You wont be able to see it in China any more. You can only see it outside of China." Some tourist guides even describe in detail how the Chinese government has brutally suppressed Falun Gong. One tourist guide said to his group: "Hey, everybody! Come here to get some materials about Falun Gong, something you may want to know about." Another guide brought a visitor back a while later: "Please give him some materials. He didn't get any." A guide told us: "There is Falun Gong everywhere. We have passed a number of cities with Falun Gong practitioners distributing materials. We have been getting Falun Gong materials all the way over here." He then smiled at us.
Of course, some of them have been misled by the fabrications of the Chinese government. These ones take practitioners' pictures and talk to practitioners with ulterior motives, but we still treat them nicely. The ridiculous thing is that someone even claimed: "I am a Falun Gong practitioner," but he did not know anything about Zhuan Falun. Their true motives were therefore clearly revealed.
After three months of hongfa, we all had a stronger awareness that the Fa is great and profound. Our teacher has offered every human being a chance to make a choice of being good or being bad. It is just as the teacher stated in his article "Towards Consummation:" Everyone's behavior----good or bad----fully reflects the outcome he or she will obtain. Sentient beings, your future positions are chosen by you, yourselves.
During the process of cultivation in hongfa, practitioners all improve their understanding of the Fa. One practitioner said after a few months of hongfa: "Seeing so many Chinese visitors popping up in these tourist spots, I have a strong impression that they are here for the truth. Nobody in the world is able to make this happen. This is a celestial phenomena."
Clarifying the truth is helping ordinary people clean out "bad thoughts" in their minds, and clean out the "bad matter" in their bodies. What would a person be if all the thoughts he received were bad ones? Bad and evil propaganda, deviated from the truth, can make a person give up being true and benevolent, thus making him turn in the opposite direction of the Fa. Matter and mind are a unified thing. If we can let ordinary people know the truth and help them have upright minds, then we are actually helping them clean out "bad matter" and we are actually helping our teacher rectify the Fa in the world.
During our hongfa activities, oftentimes we were concerned about: "How many materials did I hand out today?" and "What kind of people did I meet today?" or "What improvements have I made?" But we seldom cared about: "What reaction did they have after reading the material?" and "How can we break through the barriers in their minds?" If we could think more about "them" instead of "ourselves" during hongfa, wouldn't we get better results?
Explaining the truth and handing out materials is just like "yunyou" (wandering around begging for alms in the way ancient Buddhist monks did). You are telling people about the best thing in the world. Of course, most people still have the compassionate nature and they are willing to learn, but some will make fun of us in return. We should deal with all situations with calm and confidence. Pick up the newspapers they throw away and continue our work. Our teacher said in Zhuan Falun: "Wandering around in society is rather torturing. He will beg for food and run into different kinds of people who will scold him, insult him, or take advantage of him. He will encounter all kinds of things. He will treat himself as a practitioner and balance his relations with others while maintaining and upgrading his xinxing constantly. He will not be moved by the temptation of various interests among everyday people." Gradually you would be able to reach the state in which you want to do everything for others and nothing for yourself. Although you may not be understood by everyday people, you will take everything in your life naturally and lightly.
Another practitioner feels it is just like what our teacher said: "Up and down. That is cultivation."
Mainland China recently sponsored a massive series of "Approaching China" art performances in Washington, DC. The opening performance was held at the Kennedy Center. A couple of practitioners went there to hongfa with great enthusiasm but were asked to leave by the security guard after distributing only two copies of the newspaper. We realized that we lacked experience to hongfa to American mainstream society. It can be said that we had never broken through in this area. Later we realized that it was not right that we followed the same way to distribute newspapers outside the American National Art Center which requires an invitation. Our teacher said in Zhuan Falun: "When contemporary physics studies the particles of matter, it only studies a single particle by analyzing and fissioning it. It studies its component parts by means of nuclear fission. If we had such an instrument through which we could see the whole manifestation of all atoms or molecules existing in this plane, if we could see this picture, we would break through this space and see the true existence of other spaces (Lecture Two, the first section)." It seems that the work we did before was somehow focused on studying a single issue, such as solely working on human rights issues in the congress, or solely distributing newspapers to Chinese tourist groups, etc. We did not develop our work to the whole manifestation ... in this plane. We did not break through the surface, and did not dig deeper.
Although we failed to distribute newspapers at the Kennedy Center, we still think it is worth trying. The security person was surprised when we said "thank you" to him after he told us to leave. He may have a different attitude towards our Falun Dafa practitioners next time. The two people who got newspapers from us were so excited that they kept waving and saying "thank you" to us even after they had walked quite some distance away from us. My tears almost came out. How benevolent our teacher is. How can we do a better job next time?
Practitioner in Washington, DC.
August 30, 2000
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