(Clearwisdom.net) Master emphasizes in the article "Walk Straight Your Path:"
"Saving beings, improving yourself, and resisting the persecution are all acts that validate the Fa; only walking straight your path amounts to validating the Fa."
We are Fa-rectification era Dafa practitioners. Master has given us the responsibility to validate the Fa. Since we are cultivating in ordinary society among ordinary people, we should let people know the sacredness of Dafa, which is even more important during the Fa-rectification period. Since the onset of the persecution, Jiang's regime has done so many things to smear and slander Dafa and Master so that many people have been blinded to the truth. Many of those that have been deluded think that practitioners would do anything against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Besides truth clarification, we should be good members of our communities and let people see that practitioners are different from ordinary people, that practitioners have high moral standards, making it easier for people to accept Dafa and deny the fabrications. This will allow us to offer salvation to more sentient beings.
1. Validating the Fa in our daily lives
I work in an education office. I do whatever jobs are assigned to me and try to do them well with all my heart. No matter what kind of assignment, I treat every one the same and do them unconditionally. I have used many of my holidays or weekends to complete work that needed to be done. I also initiated work that was not assigned to me. My manager has acknowledged my contributions in front of my co-workers by saying, "The Falun Gong practitioner has high morals." When the upper-level manager of the education office asked my manager about my performance on the job, my manager said, "My work would be much easier if everyone would work like he does."
When I was affected by the persecution, my manager supported me by saying how good I was. Because of this, my manager was criticized as lacking CCP discipline. But my manger insisted, "He really is a good person." People can see the goodness of Dafa based on how we practitioners conduct ourselves.
I not only get the work done to my manager's satisfaction, but also get along well with my co-workers. I do things according to Dafa, help them, and do my best when there is a need. As a result I have a good reputation among my co-workers. I once explained the facts about Falun Gong to one of my co-workers. She said that she did not know too much about Falun Gong, but "I know it must be good because of you."
I have also kept a close relationship with my family, relatives, and my neighbors as another way for Fa-validation After the persecution began on July 20, 1999, because of the CCP's strategy of using slander and propaganda, my relatives did not understand why I insisted on practicing Falun Gong. They tried to avoid me. The relationships deteriorated, and I lost touch with them. I eventually realized I should not let this happen. I should do something about it. I approached them, helped them with chores, and bought gifts for them at holidays. Many of them have changed their attitudes and are willing to listen to the truth of the Fa.
I have old folks at home who need care. My brother doesn't want to contribute either money or effort toward their kind. As practitioners, my wife and I decided to take care of my parents, no matter how hard that might be. My father had bowel and bladder control problems and would sometimes soil his pants. My wife and I would clean it up right away and make him comfortable. My brother admired us and understood Dafa from his heart. My relatives and neighbors admired how we practitioners showed filial respect to our folks. Our relationships with our neighbors improved. Again, my actions have expressed the goodness of Dafa.
In my daily life I have used my conduct to illustrate the goodness of Dafa. Whenever I do a good thing, such as giving up a seat on a bus, returning extra change when shopping, or helping others, I use the opportunity to let people know that I am a Falun Dafa practitioner and explain the truth of Dafa. I am frugal about our daily living expenses and save money to make truth-clarification flyers. I also pay attention to my appearance and make sure my clothing is neat and clean.
I also write experience-sharing articles for the Minghui/Clearwisdom website. I realized that writing articles is not only to merely explain Dafa as related to the persecution, to offer people salvation, and to improve ourselves as a group, but writing is also a way to discover problems so that I can do better next time.
2. Truth clarification and withdrawals from the CCP
I am responsible for truth clarification material delivery, not only to my local area but also some places in the countryside, by either motorcycle or bus. When we started helping people to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations, the Fa-rectification had reached a new level. I know the importance and the urgency from reading Master's articles about asking people to withdraw from the CCP. People can be saved if they know the truth and withdraw from the CCP.
At the end of 2004 I started distributing copies of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. It was only a small quantity, but we needed huge courage to distribute them and even more courage to speak with people about this and ask them to withdraw from the CCP. I was a little nervous to begin with. The more I talked, the more courage I gained, and the wiser I became. I first focused on my good friends--the classmates and co-workers. I either spoke with them by phone or face-to- face. I went to their homes or wrote them a letter. My hometown is far away but many of my relatives still live there. I made a special trip back to my hometown and asked people to withdraw from the CCP.
In time, asking people to withdraw from the CCP has become a part of my life. I talk to people on my way to work or on the street, to the driver when I am in a car, to the people at a supermarket, a shop, a hair saloon, a party, or at weddings. If I fail to convince people to withdraw from the CCP, I talk to them again without hesitation. Once a certain division official wanted to demote me by two levels because I had spread Dafa and explained the real truth. I refused to accept this and pointed out that I had my constitutional right to choose cultivating "Truthfulness-Comparison-Tolerance," that there was nothing wrong with it, and that demotion would be considered persecuting a good person. Later on I wrote him a very compassionate letter to offer him salvation and explained to him the real truth of Dafa. As a result I was neither demoted nor persecuted.
It is tough to ask people to withdraw from the CCP, because the CCP has brainwashed so many for so long. Uncounted people are afraid of retaliation from the CCP and fear the many tribulations the CCP is capable of heaping onto people. Everything is linked with politics, so people cannot often accept the facts the first time around, which requires a lot of patience and righteous thoughts on my part. If I fail to convince people the first time I try a second, third, or even more times. I always have high hopes for everyone I talk with and never judge who may or may not be salvageable. If I do not help them to withdraw from the CCP, someone else may later.
I use difference approaches with different people. I talk to managers separately and in private, to protect their privacy or their jobs. Someone might consider withdrawing from the CCP but will not say so if there is a third party present. With more educated people I focus on scientific facts, prehistoric culture, authentic Chinese culture, and the prophecies from all over the world. With less educated people I talk about moral levels, the principle of "good will be rewarded with good, and evil will receive retribution," the CCP's corruption, the persecution of Dafa practitioners, and CCP-ordered harvesting of organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. I also choose the approach based on time. I provide more details when time permits or express the goodness of Dafa and the CCP's evil acts in several sentences when time is tight.
Nevertheless, to offer more people salvation, I use my whole heart and mind and passion to help them. I feel that as along as you have used all the goodness in your power to offer people salvation, Master will make arrangements for us. I sense more need for responsibility and urgency at present.
3. Cultivating yourself
I do Fa-validation while I improve my cultivation, because I often have human attachments. Sometimes those attachments emerge immediately, and sometimes after the fact, such as jealousy and boasting of my accomplishments. I realize now that Master has addressed these things in a special section of Zhuan Falun. Those two things seem to emerge together automatically. For example, when I had asked people to withdraw from the CCP and happened to convince more people, my ego showed--I was pleased when I did convince them and sad when I failed.
Why did I have those emotions? Thinking more about this, my motives were self-centered. I wanted to establish mighty virtue and to save more people into my world in other dimensions. Doing truth clarification and advising people to withdraw from the CCP will of course establish mighty virtue and provide more people with an opportunity to be saved, but I should not have the attachment of pursuit. Sometimes I focus on asking someone to withdraw from the CCP by giving a big lecture only to discover when I have finished that this person has neither participated in the CCP nor its affiliated organizations. I have felt I was wasting my time. Actually, this person was given a chance for salvation by listening to the real truth. Why did I focus on numbers of CCP withdrawals? Because I wanted to boast about the numbers of persons I had convinced. To speed things up I once asked people their CCP status before we began talking and refused to offer more information if they were not willing to divulge this information. Luckily I was able to find my problems and fix them right the way. I then devoted equal time to everyone, regardless of their CCP status.
When writing experience-sharing articles for Minghui/Clearwisdom, my jealousy and boasting take the upper hand. I was happy if my article was posted and told other practitioners about my article. Occasionally I was not in the mood to write an article. It required effort and time in addition to the other Dafa work. Writing an article would also use much of my time at night, meaning I would not get enough sleep, which is an attachment to comfort.
This attachment also emerged with other Fa-rectification activities. Distributing and posting truth clarification materials in the winter was hard. My hands were icy cold. During summer rains I walked on mud-and-rain-covered roads and felt impatience for those endless Dafa tasks. When the situation improved I often skipped sending righteous thoughts, skipped doing the exercises, would not want to walk too far for truth clarification materials distribution, and had less patience to help other practitioners.
Now there is a sense of urgency to save people. I want to do more but do not have time. Actually, my mind is not determined enough, but I know that I must validate Dafa, offer people salvation, and cultivate myself, so that I am worthy of Master's compassionate salvation.
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