(Clearwisdom.net) I am the only Chinese person in my company. About a month ago, my colleagues told me that everyone was waiting for me to give a speech at the company Christmas Party. I later found out that it was a company tradition that goes back for decades that every year at the Christmas Party, the newcomers must say a few words. At first I did not think much of it. I thought I would just use a minute or so to thank them for the help they had given me. However, I then realized that this was not the case. Several other new employees joined the company when I did. However, nobody told them about the company tradition. On the contrary, everyone kept reminding me about the speech and told me that I should make it a big one. They told me I should make my speech at least one hour long and that they were all waiting for it. I often joke around with my colleagues, so naturally I thought they were joking with me so I paid them little attention.
Finally, the day before the Christmas party, a colleague told me that I was "not allowed to skip the speech tomorrow" and, "Remember! Be prepared." At that moment, I suddenly realized that my colleagues have a predestined relationship with me. They wanted to know the truth about Falun Gong.
Once I enlightened to this fact, I immediately started preparing for the company speech. I asked around for the details of the party, such as when the speech was and how long each person would have. After work, I started work on the script, and it quickly took shape. The next morning, when I sent forth righteous thoughts, I added an additional thought asking Teacher and the righteous gods to strengthen me and eliminate any interference that would keep me from clarifying the truth.
However, when I saw my colleagues greeting each other loudly and wishing each other a happy holiday right before the party started, my heart felt uneasy. Thoughts flashed into my mind thinking, "The Christmas Party is a happy time for them. Is it appropriate to bring up the brutal persecution at this time? Would my bosses and colleagues understand? Then again, I have already told some of my colleagues about the truth of Falun Gong, would it be okay not talking about it this time?"
Amidst these thoughts, I asked myself what "doing good deeds for people" really means. Why is it that I did not want to clarify the truth to them? Faced with my own questions, all my excuses appeared so weak. There is no question that all beings are here for Dafa. Every chance to hear the truth is an opportunity that is hard to come by. If one misses it, he/she may forever regret it. Perhaps my company's several-decade long tradition was arranged long ago for saving sentient beings. Moreover, when I clarified the truth about Falun Gong, it was often brief and not detailed. I did not go in depth about the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of Falun Dafa. There was no question that it was an opportunity for everyone to learn the truth about Falun Dafa and the brutal persecution of Dafa practitioners, thus giving these people a change to position themselves for the future. This was the greatest act of compassion towards them and was truly thinking of them.
The root of all my excuses for so-called conforming to everyday people's society was the attachment to self. I had been holding on to my personal interests in ordinary society, even becoming afraid of losing them. I was afraid that my colleagues wouldn't understand me. Didn't this fear originate from the thought that if they don't understand me they won't be nice to me anymore? When I became afraid that my boss would not understand, wasn't it because I was afraid of losing my job? When I felt that I'd clarified the truth to them and that I have no need for telling them again, wasn't it an excuse for not eliminating my own attachments?
Once I realize my attachments, I felt my heart lighten up. I said to the thoughts that prevented me from clarifying the truth, "You are not my righteous thoughts, not my own thoughts. Today, I am going to tell the whole company the truth and there is nothing that can stop me. No matter what, I must take the responsibility for those who have come to hear the truth."
I was the first new employee asked to speak. When I stood up, the noise suddenly died down and everyone was looking at me with anticipation. I took a deep breath and asked Teacher to give me strength so that I would not miss this opportunity. I calmly and firmly told my co-workers that at the same moment that we were celebrating the holiday, Falun Gong practitioners in China are being put in prison and mental hospitals for their beliefs. They are being persecuted in the most inhuman ways.
When I finished, I wondered how I could change the subject to the holiday celebration; there were two seconds where I didn't know what to say. A colleague next to me suddenly said loudly, "Let us treasure the freedom of this moment, the freedom so many do not have." It was a reminder for me, and I naturally transitioned into wishing everyone a merry Christmas.
After I sat down, everyone clapped. A colleague next to me gave me a hug and told me that my speech was, "the best speech I heard in the past 10 years I have been with the company." My two bosses were very happy and told me that they didn't know I would give such a good speech. One of them even told me that I should "invite all [my] Falun Gong friends to our party next year." Several managers came over and thanked me for the speech. One of them who always likes to joke around came over and shook my hand and said, "This is from the bottom of my heart and seriously, your speech was wonderful."
When I looked back, however, I realized that I did not cover all the aspects of Falun Gong. But at least I left a window open for people to learn more about it later. It also made it easier for me to clarify the truth in depth to my colleagues in the future.
More importantly, through this experience, I became more conscious of my attachments that I did not or would not pay attention to. If I had not written down this experience, I probably would not have such a clear realization of all my attachments. There is a little story about this article. After I came back from my party, I told a fellow practitioner about my speech (the day before, this practitioner had encouraged me to utilize the opportunity to clarify the truth). This practitioner asked me to write my experience down and I agreed to do so. But then I thought to myself, how come when I shared my past experiences in which I felt I did really well, no one told me to write it down, but this time, I said the result was not optimal, yet was asked to write it.
By the time I really tried to write it down, I was forced to face my true thoughts. I suddenly realized why the fellow practitioner reminded me to write my experience down. It was because I had not realized what lay hidden behind the thought of "not wanting to speak and not daring to speak," that was slackening my resolve to be diligent.
Thinking back to a few years ago when the persecution was at its peak, I would clarify the truth no matter where I was. When I walked past someone on the street, if I didn't have the chance to tell the person the truth, I would have the following thought: I hope that by walking by a Falun Dafa practitioner, any elements that kept the person from hearing the truth would be eliminated and the person would have a chance to meet a practitioner in the future who would bring the truth and save him/her.
But now as the environment became better, I started to think more about my personal gain and loss in society, instead of putting the responsibilities of Fa-rectification disciples in the first place. This is very dangerous. Just as Teacher said in the article, "The Closer to the End, the More Diligent You Should Be,"
"This phenomenon indicates that Fa-rectification and Dafa disciples' cultivation are in their final stages. And yet a small number of students--veteran students, even--have to differing degrees exhibited a despondent state and slackened in their resolve to be diligent. They haven't realized that this is an attachment to the duration of Fa-rectification, or is caused by interference from incorrect, acquired notions, which results in their gaps being exploited by interfering factors that the old forces left behind early on in the surface of the human dimension, wicked specters, or rotten demons--things that have magnified and strengthened those attachments and human notions--all of which has brought about this despondent state."
I had read this article, but I lied to myself, saying that it was not talking about me. I felt that I had worked hard and had done many things; but everyone knows that when Teacher publishes an article, everyone who reads it is affected somehow. Everyone should look within and examine him or herself. As long as Fa-rectification continues, as Dafa disciples, our historical mission continues. If we slack off now, the remaining evil spirits and rotten ghosts will not stop; they will still persecute Dafa practitioners and poison the world's people. At a time like this, if we relax and slacken off, we would be providing the evil a chance to breathe.
Finally I'd like to share with everyone: Teacher has immense mercy and does not want to give up on a single disciple. On the path of cultivation, we have our ups and downs, but we have always had Teacher's protection. What reason do we have not to be diligent and not do well at the things that we should?
December 24, 2005
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