(Clearwisdom.net) Through studying Master's latest lecture, "Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference," I understood more clearly about important factors such as why and how we should clarify the truth comprehensively, which is something Dafa practitioners have been doing. At the same time, I realize how urgent it is to clarify the truth to save sentient beings and how important the responsibility of Dafa practitioners is. Master said,
"Everything that Dafa disciples are doing today and everything in society you encounter, I can tell you, you are saving all beings. So no matter what kind of person you meet, what strata of society he's from, or what profession he's in, don't think that you're just going to him to explain the truth merely because evil is persecuting Dafa disciples. I'll tell you, saving all beings is first and foremost, and clarifying the truth is the way to save people. When people understand the facts and find out how wicked the persecution is, people will naturally know what to do. And if afterwards you ask him to lend support and do something about it, that's him choosing a future. So with those people who've been deceived in the persecution, all the more so, how could you not give them a chance? If you don't tell them the facts they will lose their futures forever."
"Also, with those people that you run into by chance, who you run into in daily life, and the people you run into at work, you should all clarify the truth to them. Even when in your daily life you pass by people so quickly that you don't have a chance to talk to them, you should still leave them with your compassion and kindness. Don't lose those who should be saved, especially those with predestined connections."
"Saving beings should permeate every single aspect of your daily lives at this time. If you can all understand and really see its importance, I think you'll probably save more beings."
"But, you have to clarify the truth rationally and in line with people's logic and ways of thinking." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference")
Recalling what I have done in clarifying the truth for the past several years and measuring it with Master's teaching, I deeply felt the distance between the two. I have been continually clarifying the truth with various methods and have done a lot. However, because I didn't understand its importance deeply and my mind was not pure while doing it -- it had all kinds of attachments such as a competitive mentality, anxiousness for success and so on - I often talked at too high a level, and consequently, even though I was clarifying the truth, the effect was not quite satisfactory. I only talked about the truth, but didn't make it clear enough to have the effect of saving sentient beings. Although I had already realized the issue, I didn't pay enough attention and didn't correct myself much, either. For a while, I thought that clarifying the truth had already gone on for so long and those who should be saved were probably already saved. I developed a wrong thought and I was not willing to clarify the truth any more. As a result, I became sluggish in clarifying the truth.
Recently, I encountered a few things that shook my heart and helped me change my incorrect state of mind. On January 20, 2004, I went to my mother-in-law's home to celebrate the Spring Festival. A fifteen year old teenage girl from one of my relatives' side came as well. The girl was a little mentally challenged, and because of this others didn't like to talk to her much. I thought, since she came to me, I should tell her about Dafa. At that time, my mind was not pure and I had a little doubt about whether she could understand what I was saying. I tried to ask her whether she had heard about Falun Gong. Her answer shocked me. She said she had heard about it. She told me how bad Falun Gong was in conducting the "self-immolation" and harming people. Her relatives and her teachers all told her not to practice Falun Gong and not to contact any Falun Gong practitioners. She also told me how scared she was when she heard the news about "practitioners" burning themselves with gasoline at Tiananmen Square. She was afraid to go out at night and often had nightmares. Every time Falun Gong was mentioned, she was scared. Her words were fluent and logical and seemed to be coming from a normal person, not from a mentally challenged person at all. At that time, I couldn't keep calm. The defamation and fabricated lies against Falun Dafa by Jiang's regime had poisoned so many innocent beings. Even a teenage girl who was regarded as retarded had been poisoned so deeply. Suddenly I realized how urgent it was to clarify the truth in a more intense way. At the same time, I felt ashamed of myself that I was classifying people by their appearance. I calmed myself down and started to clarify the truth to her with compassion. She sat down beside me without moving and listened to me carefully. Occasionally, she asked a few questions , and I answered her questions. We talked for almost half the morning. I could see that she was excited and happy. She told me she understood completely, and she would go to tell her classmates and relatives not to listen to what the TV programs said and to remember that Falun Dafa was good. Seeing the change in the young girl, I was very gratified. One more being had a hope of being saved. Maybe there would be more who would be saved through her.
Several days later, I met a relative of mine at my mother's home whom I hadn't seen for years. When I explained the facts about the persecution of Falun Dafa, she told me seriously that she had never heard about Falun Gong and did not know anything about it. I couldn't believe her and asked her how she could have not heard about Falun Gong at all, as it had been eleven or twelve years since Falun Gong began to spread on a large scale, and had been brutally persecuted for the last few years. She said she indeed didn't know. Everyday she was just busy working and doing household chores. She said that she did not socialize much with others and nobody had told her about it. I was really surprised to hear what she told me. Beings have come for Dafa, and yet they didn't know anything about it. My heart was shaken. I further realized how important it was to clarify the truth. I carefully told her about Dafa from different angles, using words that she could understand and accept. She listened to me carefully and was very interested in what I said. She was apparently very happy to know the truth. I told her that she should remember the words "Falun Dafa is good!" I gave her some truth-clarifying materials and CDs before she left and told her to pass them on to her friends and relatives after she finished reading and watching them. I also told her to tell her friends and relatives to remember, "Falun Dafa is good!" She was very happy and kept thanking me. I knew she was happy because she had learned the truth and she had a hope of being saved. I felt happy for her too.
I was very touched by these two incidents, although they seemed so small and ordinary. They illustrated a serious problem and helped me realize how harmful the lies and the defamation of Falun Dafa by Jiang's regime are to sentient beings. The range in which it has harmed people and the depth to which it has poisoned people are beyond my imagination. Although Dafa practitioners keep clarifying the truth, there are still many people who don't know the truth and are still poisoned by the propaganda. Their lives are in danger. In fact, it is a warning to us as well. Master has told us in many lectures that everything in the Three Realms is created by Dafa and has come for Dafa. Everyone in the world today has came for Dafa. I have only realized now that what I have done in clarifying the truth is far from Master's requirement and is far from truly clarifying the truth. Our duty is very significant. Furthermore, clarifying the truth is not just for others, but also includes the factor of personal cultivation. The process of clarifying the truth is also the process for practitioners to see their attachments, eliminate them and keep ascending.
Clarifying the truth should be based on saving all sentient beings. We should not be obstructed by people's social status, their professions, whether they are rich or poor, or by their age, nor should we judge people by their behavior, their reputation or how they perform in everyday people's society. We should break away from all these human notions. Our truth-clarification is for saving beings, beings who have come for Dafa. Master said,
"In the eyes of Gods, it's not that large beings are precious and small beings aren't. You know, there are Buddhas even in worlds that are so tiny that they're considerably microcosmic. A being's size doesn't matter--it makes no difference and there's no difference in structure. It's just that the particles that compose them determine the size of their bodies. Beings are equal."
("Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference")
I realized we should treat every being equally and with the same degree of compassion in clarifying the truth. Gain without pursuit, and regard clarifying the truth as our duty. This way, clarifying the truth would become our natural action, which runs through all aspects of our lives. By conducting ourselves this way, we can clarify the truth properly in a comprehensive manner and fulfill our great mission to save more sentient beings.
February 5, 2004
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