(Clearwisdom.net) We would like to take this opportunity to report our experiences of enlightenment, as we have clarified the truth over recent years, to Master, and share our experiences with fellow practitioners.
Cultivating well is fundamental to saving sentient beings
The people who know practitioners the most are their family members and those who work alongside them. How practitioners perform in their jobs can sometimes reflect the teachings of Dafa. We came to understand that when we, as practitioners, cultivate ourselves and act in accordance with the Fa, it is the best and most convincing way to save sentient beings. In our workplaces, we should discipline our xinxing according to the standard for a practitioner, and we must work very hard to do our jobs well.
A practitioner was once clarifying the truth to a government official, and asked him not to persecute Falun Gong. The official said, "Don't worry about it. I know the practitioners very well. I know you are all very good people." Because he knows the truth, he hasn't participated in the persecution in recent years.
My friend's son is a high school student, and he has been deceived by the slanderous reporting from the news on TV. When he saw truth-clarification posters on the street, he tore them down, and also told his brother not to listen to practitioners when they tried to talk to him about Falun Gong. As his parents are busy doing business, and don't have enough time to take care of him, he often has dinner with other people. When we have time, we go to their house to cook dinner for him so that he can have fresh and healthy meals. From this personal experience he eventually realized that practitioners truly care about him, and so he changed his attitude towards Dafa. His academic scores also significantly improved after that. When we clarified the truth to him and his parents again, they were much more accepting to what we had to say.
By observing the positive changes in our health, a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official gradually understood the truth. He said, "Jiang Zemin was demonizing Falun Gong. He ruined such a good practice. He is our national sinner, and he will be condemned by history. The disaster he brought to this country was even worse than the Cultural Revolution that was started by Mao Zedong."
We enlightened to the fact that when we clarify the truth, it's really important whether the other person agrees with us or not. If they agree with us, they will listen and believe what is said. As a result, only after we cultivate ourselves well, can we really take on the responsibility of assisting Master in Fa-rectification and fulfill our historic vows.
When clarifying the truth we need to correct people's misunderstandings
When we first started clarifying the truth, we would just say what we had prepared beforehand, and when we finished, we may have felt happy if the other person accepted what we said. But, if they didn't agree with us, we may have complained and thought that they couldn't be saved. Sometimes when we tell people the facts about Falun Gong, we may unconsciously say something that is too difficult for a non-practitioner to understand, and may feel proud of ourselves at the same time. We may even have conflicts with other people. However, through continuous Fa-study we realized that truth-clarification is just a process; our goal is to save people. After I understood this point, when I clarified the truth from then on, I always sought to discover where the person's problems lie with accepting the facts about Falun Gong, and then I would talk about these issues with them to help rectify their misunderstandings. In this way, the effect became much better.
There was a government official of a town who was greatly affected by the communist party culture. He said that by distributing the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and asking people to quit the CCP, practitioners were "getting political." We spoke to him with a compassionate heart, and told him about the giant stone that displays the Chinese characters, "The Chinese Communist Party collapses." Geologists did investigations on the stone and concluded that the stone was formed naturally. Then is the stone "getting political?" It just simply reveals a heavenly secret. We told him about the The Book of Revelations, where it talks about the mark of the beast, and how people have to wipe off the stain to escape disaster. By explaining the importance of quitting the Party to him, we finally dissolved all the misunderstandings he had, and after that he understood the truth, and was saved.
Chinese people today have been exposed to the regime's education for a long time, and no longer know the traditional culture and moral standards of the ancient Chinese people. If we want to talk to them about these facts, we should make our point very clear and explain things thoroughly to them. Otherwise, they may not be able to understand, even after we have talked for a long time.
Clarifying the truth using issues that concern people most
Modern people's moral standards are very low, and everything seems to revolve around money. For many people, when you clarify the truth to them, they think you are trying to take advantage of them, and they may be afraid that if they believe and trust you, their personal benefits may be affected in the future. Another important aspect is that they may think that the issue of Falun Gong has nothing to do with them. When we spoke to people about Falun Gong, we focused our attention on such issues that related to them, and things that they struggled to understand.
As a lot of people care about their health and that of their family members, when we clarified the truth to them, we showed them articles from the Clearwisdom website that talked about the miraculous changes in people after reciting "Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good." We compiled these articles into a booklet and distributed it to people. We also asked them to recite, "Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good." Most people have accepted it very well. When people recite these words in their hearts, their bodies will experience some changes. Then because of their own experiences, they will come to truly believe it and would quit the Party. Many people who used to be against Dafa, and people who had incurable diseases, have changed their attitudes after we spoke to them in this way.
Seizing every opportunity to clarify the truth
I once met a young man who asked me to help him with directions. Then I realized that he had actually come to me to listen to the truth. I told him that we were going in the same direction, so we could walk together. As we walked, he told me that he had failed the college entrance exam this year and that the financial status of his family wasn't very good, so he had to look for a job. I asked him directly, "Have you heard about quitting the CCP?" Then I told him the facts about the self-immolation incident on Tiananmen Square. The young man agreed with what I was said and agreed to quit the Party. He enthusiastically said, "Can you tell me more about it? I want to help."
I received a phone call one day from a coworker that I hadn't seen for more than twenty years. I understood that he might be another person who was waiting to listen to the facts. When I visited him he told me that after practitioners distributed the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, he would go to each household to collect them back. I told him not to do such things again, and that it wasn't good for him. I also told him that practitioners were saving people by distributing the Nine Commentaries. His wife understood and asked me to help all her family members quit the Party. I told her that it wouldn't count if the people themselves didn't agree to it. She said she would explain the facts to them.
In recent years, we not only clarified the truth to the local communities, but also went to another 12 cities to speak to people about Falun Gong and help them quit the CCP.
Helping former practitioners come back to Dafa
Before July 20, 1999, people started to practice Falun Gong of their own free will, with the heart of wanting to do so. But after July 20, many practitioners gave up their cultivation because of the brutal persecution.
Master has said:
"With human beings... when a being can obtain the Fa today in history, it's no ordinary thing--he's so fortunate! But as soon as he loses the Fa, do you know what he faces? It's really horrific, because when he fails to fulfill the major responsibilities and the huge missions that were bestowed upon him, then, accordingly, that's like the inverse of a being's Consummation, and he will truly have to enter the gate of no-life. You folks can't just go and abandon a person without trying hard enough. No matter what kind of mistakes someone has made, or what kind of a person he is, I still want to give him a chance." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference")
Once a former practitioner returns to cultivation, he isn't the only being to be saved; those in his realm are also saved. The practitioner can also fulfill his mission and save more sentient beings.
When we visit former practitioners, and share our experiences with them, we try to help them strengthen their belief in Master and Dafa, and continually send them copies of Master's lectures or articles published on the Clearwisdom website. There are now several people who have started to practice Falun Gong again.
As we helped practitioners return to Dafa, we paid attention to strengthening their righteous energy. When we sent forth righteous thoughts, we included the thought to strengthen their belief in Master and Dafa.
If we can be persistent in clarifying the truth to an ordinary person, then we should do even better when trying to help practitioners return to Dafa.
Saving sentient beings during the Fa-rectification period is a practitioner's responsibility and mission. Fa-study is the basis from which we can fulfill such a great responsibility.
"The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts." ("Drive Out Interference" from Essentials for Further Advancement II)
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