(Clearwisdom.net) This year, Mardi Gras fell on February 16, two days after the Chinese New Year. An American colleague who lives in the same small city as me invited me to a party at her home. I thought, "Perhaps it is Master's arrangement so a new arrival like me and the only Dafa practitioner in town can rescue predestined people." With that thought in mind, I prepared a platter of green tea cakes, osmanthus cakes, and other Chinese desserts, which received many favorable comments at the festive party. Many people asked me where they could buy them. I told them I planned to go see a Shen Yun performance at a nearby large city at the end of the year and visit Chinatown to sample their Chinese desserts. I invited them to go with me and treat their palates to a great feast. They wondered what Shen Yun and dim sum were. I described them in vivid detail. I kept talking until they had longing looks on their faces and eagerly asked me to remind them again before the show.
It surprised me that the desserts that took little time to make were so much more effective at promoting Shen Yun than everything else I had done thus far. To be honest, most people in my city are not enthusiastic about driving a long distance just to see Shen Yun, but they got excited about enjoying delicious Chinese food they had never tried before and shopping in Chinatown with a Chinese person. It gave me a deeper understanding of the importance of what Master has told us, "Whenever you encounter a problem, you should first consider whether others can put up with this matter or if it will hurt anyone." (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
As we happily chatted away at the party, a man flipped open his cell phone and showed me a list of his favorite websites. I instantly realized this was an excellent opportunity to introduce Dafa to him, an opportunity Master had arranged for me, so I entered Dafa's website. Out of curiosity he opened the web page and saw the first paragraph of Lunyu. He pored over it and grew more and more excited. He asked his wife to read it with him, and when he finished he said, "This is great! It's so right, that's exactly how it is!"
He then passed the website listing to a friend with a special interest in cultivation and spiritual beliefs. His friend came over to me. For the next few hours he and his wife joined me in an interesting discussion. It turned out that the elderly couple is forced to shell out large amounts of money to their daughter-in-law every month, an upsetting and frustrating situation they didn't know how to get out of.
I relayed some of Master's articles to them and advised them to change their perspective, to see it as a great opportunity to cultivate and improve themselves while repaying karma from previous lives. Also, they could try to solve the problem with compassion and forgiveness. I told them about the tremendous changes that I experienced after I began practicing Dafa and encouraged them to work on their xinxing. They were completely bowled over by Dafa's principles and couldn't wait to read Zhuan Falun. They also planned to introduce Dafa to their son and daughter-in-law.
I talked to another couple on my way home. We felt deeply sorry for the many people who are still struggling in this world and do not know the way to salvation. I told them that Dafa is the treasure that lifts people out of suffering and that I was able to become peaceful and optimistic after practicing Dafa. Cultivation has also made me very healthy. The couple became interested and asked to see a Dafa website. They planned to introduce Dafa to others.
My experience on Chinese New Year's Eve is Master's reminder that, in order to rescue people, we have to truly put ourselves into their shoes and introduce Dafa through a topic that is of interest to them. Explain to them the wonders of Dafa and principles that are pertinent to them so they will realize Dafa is exactly what they need. It is more effective if we tailor what we say to others' interests.
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Category: Clarifying the Truth
