December 20, 2001á
I joined the practice sites in Battery Park and later in front of the Chinese Consulate. Cultivation of the last six months has made me deeply feel that the process of clarifying the truth is a process in which our xinxing gets improved, karma eliminated and our human notions abandoned.á
The Buddha's grace is immense. The infinite merciful Master has given us the best there is and let us bear the minimal so we can reach Consummation quickly in just a few years without much suffering. This is because we've made vows before Master to assist Him in rectifying the Fa. Master values our vows, and has said, "Dafa disciples are magnificent because you are here at the same time as the period of Master's Fa-rectification and are able to safeguard Dafa." [Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciples] Fa-rectification is a great responsibility history has bestowed upon you. We must give it our best. I was determined to give it my best. But sometimes the deviated human notions formed over a long period of time would expose themselves without being recognized. However, if I look inside when a problem occurs, I am able to catch them and eliminate them by taking the Fa as the Teacher and improving myself from within the Fa.á
Everyday, many tourists come to Battery Park including delegations from China. It is a good place for Fa-rectification activities and clarifying the truth. It is often quite easy to distribute flyers to westerners. Even when they refused to take the flyers, they would politely say "Thank you." Yet, handing out flyers to Chinese can be a tough thing to do. Most of them refused to accept. Moreover, they would look cold with hostility. At those moments, I would immediately think of those officials in China who like to flatter their superiors to achieve their pursue one way or another. I thought, "These Chinese have managed to come to the United States for a visit. They must either be rich people or officials." So I had the mentality of "I will hand out these to you, but it's your own problem if you don't want to read them." So, I had a hard time passing the flyers into the hands of the Chinese tourists for a period of time. Everyday, all of the English flyers would be gone, but the Chinese flyers would be left to take home. Master wants to save every savable being, including those people. My mentality and facial expression didn't meet what Master required. Thinking back, many of those Chinese people were afraid yet wanted to accept the materials. They were all deceived and faced suppression. They are so pitiful. Master said, "Validate the Fa with reason, clarify the truth with wisdom, spread the Fa and offer people salvation with benevolence [Rationality]. I must come up with a way to let them read the flyers containing the truth. One time, four Chinese returned to the park from their visit at the Statue of Liberty. Three of them seemed to want to take the flyers but were afraid. They were all looking at one person -- that person must be their boss. This person went the rest room. I told the three people remaining, "If you don't want to bring these back, you can read them here." They took the materials, sat down and started reading. I then went to the boss to tell him the truth outside the restroom, he looked very serious but didn't say anything. I kept talking for about ten minutes, and his facial expression relaxed somewhat. Even though he didn't say a word, I knew he heard what I said. In the end, these three people left with the materials. After this experience, I found that people were braver in accepting the flyers at the end of the group tour when wandering around the park on their own. So I decided to keep handing out flyers until 3 o'clock in the afternoon. I figured even if there is one Chinese who accepted the flyers, it would make these three hours of standing worthwhile. Most of the time, the flyers ran out before 3 pm in the afternoon. There was one set of flyers left in my hand when I was on my way out one time, I said to myself, "a person with a predestined relationship will for sure get this." Later, when I arrived in Chinatown, an older woman came up and said she wanted the flyers.
I stay in the park and pass out flyers everyday until 3 pm in the afternoon. Two Caucasian elderly men are also there every afternoon. One man is physically disabled and the other man begs for food by playing music from a boombox. I gave the disabled man some flyers. After reading them, he said, "I can't practice. I don't walk very well." I said, "I couldn't walk before either. After I learned Falun Dafa, I became so healthy. I am 74 years old now. It's so good." He said, "OK" and took the materials. The other elderly man said, "It is Jiang..." I said, "No, it's Beijing." After that, as soon as I arrive at the park, he switches to Chinese music, turns up his thumb and smiles, silently expressing his understanding and support for Dafa every time.
Because I am old and dressed like a Mainlander [a person from Mainland China], some people asked how much I get paid for doing this. Some even give me a dirty look. At the beginning, I felt quite uncomfortable. But then I remembered I was doing the most righteous thing -- I was spreading the Fa of the cosmos. I cannot let people think that I am trying to sell something. So I said out very loudly: "Please take a look at the truth of Falun Gong!" I also said in English, Spanish and Korean "Falun Dafa is good!" continuously. I felt big and tall.á
I used to bring lunch to Battery Park everyday. During the summer season, the lunch would spoil. So I brought crackers instead. "Do I have to have lunch?" I asked myself. Master said, "Because of this body, everyday people will encounter this problem: They cannot stand being cold, hot, thirsty, hungry, or tired..." [Zhuan Falun, Internet Version] Isn't this an ingrained human behavior? Break through it. Now after finishing a little breakfast after 6am at home, I will have my next meal when I return home after 5pm in the afternoon. It no longer matters to me whether the food tastes good or bad, or even if I skip meals.á
The people whom we clarify the truth to in front of the Chinese Consulate are different from those I encounter in Battery Park. Here, we face the evil directly as well as overseas Chinese who go there for various matters. Although these people are in the United States, they all have relatives in Mainland. Their opinions on Dafa have a direct impact on their relatives living in Mainland. Around the Spring Festival season, many people make plans to spend their time there. Everyday, we take turns to practice, send forth righteous thoughts and distribute flyers from 9 am to 1 pm in the afternoon. There are two practitioners who stay to continue handing out flyers until 3 pm when the Consulate closes for business. We don't want to leave behind even a single precious Chinese who can be saved.á
Everyday, rain or shine, we play Dafa exercise music before them. The powerful righteous field for sure frightens the evil, and the light of truth they emanate makes the unrighteous elements in all being's thoughts disintegrate.á
We improve our xinxing and our way of clarifying the truth when we encountered different people so we can validate Dafa with rationality, clarify the truth with wisdom and spread the Fa and save world's people with benevolence. The urgent task we have in the current phase of Fa-rectification is to let more precious yet deceived Chinese get to know the truth about Dafa. From the bottom of my heart, I want every kind-hearted person to be saved. When I distribute flyers, my heart is filled up with compassion. I patiently greet the passersby with a smile in an unhurried manner. Regardless how bad the Consulate staff treat us, I again and again urged them to find out what Dafa is all about. From the way they look and talk to us, we sensed their changes. Initially they told us, "You can't distribute flyers in front of our building," "You can't use our restroom," or "How much do you get paid for doing this everyday?" Now they've stopped saying that and don't argue any more. Everyday, we stand right in front of their gate handing out flyers, they leave us alone when they go in and out. They no longer look at us with hostility. One time, someone even patted my shoulder and said, "You've been working hard for your age." On another occasion, I ran into a Consulate staff elsewhere. He said, "I am off work. Are you cold?". People start forming a line at 9 am at the Consulate every morning to wait when it opens at 10am for business. At 9am, we start practicing the standing exercises. Everyday, we are watched by many people. The powerful energy field can help bring out the benevolent thought of a being. Some people have refused twice when we hand them the materials but on the third try, they took them. There are also people who come to ask for the flyers. They said that they didn't want to know about Dafa before, but now they changed their minds. They asked for two copies of every flyer available. Some people also asked us what to do if they wanted to take these with them to Mainland. One person held my hand after accepting the flyer and said, "You must persevere." Quite a few people lowered their heads and tried to sneak by, but as soon as they heard, "Please come to learn the truth about Falun Dafa," they immediately turned around and accepted the flyers. Although some people are deeply deceived, from explaining the truth with patience, it is still possible for them to turn around.á
I regret that I've not seized every opportunity and haven't done enough at all.á
I have come to the realization that individual cultivation is integrated in our participation of Fa-rectification. á
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