(Clearwisdom.net)
I started practicing Falun Gong in July 2000 outside of China. After a while I told my mother about this wonderful news. I could sense that she did not quite understand my undertaking even though she did not say much. My thought at that moment was that no one could stop my cultivation in Dafa.
During later phone conversations with her, my mother started telling me her experiences in life. Worried I would put myself in danger by raising awareness about the persecution, she told me to just keep things to myself, don't worry about others' affairs, and "a small arm could never fight with a leg," etc. I felt I knew more than she did, and rebutted her comments one by one to the extent that I ignored the minimum etiquette in conversation. One day mother told me, "I feel sad that you have changed. You have become short-tempered." I was shocked, and earnestly sought what was wrong with me. I noticed that I had a strong attachment of arrogance--"I hold the truth, you are all wrong." My attitude was stern and without compassion. Since she was my mother, I was very emotionally charged and I often thought, "How could she ignore her son's words?"
After I had identified my shortcomings, gradually I changed my attitude to that of compassion and salvation when I called my mother again. I would listen quietly and attentively when my mother talked, and then slowly state my own opinion. I also made sure that I would first ask how she had been and how everything at her work was. I let go of my attachment that I wanted my mother to immediately understand what I said. From time to time my mother would tell me about her recent encounters around her, such as people getting ill, dying, and other personal hardships. I would discuss with her from the perspective of Dafa's all encompassing connotation. Little by little mother began to follow what I was saying.
Not long ago, I mailed truth clarifying VCDs back to China, as well as pictures of me after cultivation. My mother changed quite a bit afterwards. After seeing my pictures, mother told me, "You look more mature and kind, as though you could forgive and endure everything." I told her how I changed and improved for the better after cultivating in Dafa, and became more considerate and forgiving of others.
My mother later told me that she had her friends and relatives watch the VCDs that I sent her, and told them I was a Dafa practitioner. Some of her friends who did not concur in the beginning later would say after they saw my picture, "Ah, this young man looks great. Just look at his righteous countenance quite opposite from what the TV purported. Looks like Falun Gong is quite good." I was very happy to hear this.
I gradually told mother why we clarified the truth to people, and what the consequences would be if people did not learn the truth. My attitude was genuine, kind, and I could feel that I touched her heart. She started telling me some of her thoughts. For example, she mentioned that there were also some Falun Gong practitioners at the place where she worked. One of them tried to have a child after getting married but without success, and after practicing Falun Gong for some time she conceived, etc. She said practicing Falun Gong might be very beneficial. I told mother more about Falun Dafa, about how Dafa teaches people to follow "Truth, Compassion, Forbearance" and to strive to become a better person. I also told her why it was so important to clarify the truth, and how to clarify the truth rationally and intelligently.
Soon I called mother again, and she told me she had started clarifying the truth about Falun Dafa to others. My mother is a medical professional. She worked hard and fast, and never argued with others over personal gain. Someone asked mother, "How come you are so good?" Mother replied, "I don't want to mislead you, but I am influenced by Falun Gong." That person said, "Didn't the TV news say it was bad?" Mother replied, "Don't believe the nonsense stated on TV. If it is not good, why do so many people practice Dafa? What the TV news reported was all a bunch of lies." That person said to mother, "So that is the real truth. I would have never known it had I not run into you." Mother said to me, "Son, follow the path that you think is right. I will always stand up for you."
Mother raised me as a single parent since I was very young and she suffered a lot of hardship. I continued telling her more about Falun Dafa such as the principle of the transformation of Karma, the principle that good is rewarded with good and evils is met with retribution, etc. from the teachings in Falun Dafa books. When mother mentioned that sometimes she would get mad when relatives and friends did not accept it after she told them the truth, I would encourage her to speak with a kind heart, and never get upset. We are trying to save them.
I continued to share my thoughts and experiences with mother, and her thoughts were getting more and more righteous. Once she told me, "I feel like you (Dafa practitioners) are like an ocean that cannot be stopped by a small group of people. I know there were a lot of people who continued to practice Falun Gong." I told mother, "That's right. Perhaps today the persecution continues, but maybe by tomorrow morning, you may see Dafa practitioners doing the exercises everywhere." Mother agreed.
Mother told me that nowadays she clarifies the truth to everyone she meets. She said "Nothing can stop the truth from spreading." Lately, mother also started reading Dafa books. Even though she has not formally started cultivating in Dafa, I believe she will in the future.
Fellow practitioners, let us be more compassionate and intelligently clarify the truth to our friends and relatives, let our friends and relatives spread the truth far and wide, and be unstoppable, just like my mother.
July 7 2005
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Category: Clarifying the Truth
