(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
I began practicing Falun Dafa in May 2007 after having only read Zhuan Falun one time. Although I had not learned the Falun Dafa exercises yet, the asthma and allergies I had suffered from for many years were cured after I read the last page of the book.
Shortly after I began practicing, I wanted to participate in a Falun Dafa parade, but my husband became worried and fearful. He was afraid that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would find out that I practice Falun Gong and when we go back to China to visit family, I may be persecuted. He said, “Taking a stand with Falun Gong [by] holding banners [in a parade] is equal to exposing oneself as a target and telling the (CCP) to shoot at you.” After hearing what he said, I was a little afraid and questioned if I should or shouldn't go? However, I decided to participate in the parade even though I might not be able to go back to China afterwards. Yet the thought of not being able to go back to China to visit relatives and friends made me feel sad. As a result of not completely letting go of this attachment, my husband still didn’t agree to my going to the parade. However, when the day of the parade arrived, my mind was very clear and I was determined to participate. I was also ready to completely let go of my attachment to sentimentality and going back to China. As a result, my husband's attitude also changed, and he didn't object to my participating in the parade. I realized that the outcome of a situation is related to one’s own heart. It was the 2007 Columbus Day Parade in San Francisco. It was my first time standing on a float in a parade and it was such a beautiful way to clarify the truth to people. My feeling at that time was that Falun Gong is really beautiful, even clarifying the truth is so beautiful!
Before I became a practitioner, I read the Epoch Times newspaper. I decided to join the Epoch Times' sales team in hopes that more people would be able to read it, and learn and understand the truth. After only one training session, I took a price list and went out to get advertisements. I started talking to people around me and visited my children's school and doctors, and the car dealerships where I had bought my cars. Afterwards I went to talk to people who I didn’t know.
At that time, I didn’t know how to clarify the truth, so I didn’t go to any Chinese businesses to sell advertisements. My child was still young and sometimes I had to go out pushing a baby stroller. Dafa is truly amazing because I'm normally an introverted person and am not good at speaking, especially to strangers. However, when going out to sell ads, I was a different person—I became more active, positive and confident. I met with potential clients one after another and told them the positive value of the newspaper and its significance with the Bay Area Chinese community.
A fellow practitioner joked that I was in a "supernormal ability state" when going out to sell ads. I then understood it was because of Dafa and having a pure heart without many notions. As a result, I sold several ads that month. Looking back now, I don't know how I made any sales because I wasn’t familiar with the advertising prices or the newspaper’s layout, and I'm not fluent in English. The only thing I had was faith in the Epoch Times because it can save beings. When my mind was on the Fa and I took action, Master paved the way for me.
"Cultivation depends on the efforts of the individual while transforming gong is done by the master." (Zhuan Falun) quote verified
At that time, I studied the Fa on my own and didn't participate in group Fa-study. However, I didn't study the Fa well on my own and I took selling ads as cultivation. After some time, I became unhappy and agitated. I thought it was because I didn’t study the Fa well, so I felt anxious and restless. As a result, I stopped selling ads and delivered the newspapers instead. When delivering newspapers, it is a good opportunity to clarify the truth. I began to persuade Chinese people to do the three withdrawals since I thought they had been reading the Epoch Times for a few years now and may be aware of the CCP’s crimes.
Like when I was selling ads, when I told people the truth, my nervousness disappeared and I talked to everyone I met. I usually take the initiative say hello to people and let them know that the newspaper is available. Then, I distribute the newspapers to people and ask, “Do you often read the Epoch Times?” I would then point to the information about quitting the CCP and its affiliated organizations and ask them if they have seen this important information. I would follow up by saying, “The number of people doing the three withdrawals is so high, do you know why you need to quit the CCP? Have you quit the CCP?” If there are people who do not understand or know about it, I will tell them about it to help them withdraw from the CCP. Those who take the newspaper already know some truth, so quitting the CCP is not difficult for them to do. It only takes a few words to get people to do the withdrawal, sometimes I just need to mention it or someone just walks by, and they would quit the CCP. During this process, I realized the importance of studying the Fa. Sometimes when I didn’t study the Fa enough, I couldn't even meet one person at the five locations where I delivered the newspapers.
Once I had just delivered the newspaper at a grocery store and some people came to get the newspaper. Three people were waiting nearby, so I approached them. However, they tried to leave and refused to listen to me. I used a few words to help them become clear on quitting the CCP. I pointed to them and said: “If you understand, I will use Blessing, Fortune, and Longevity as your names to quit the CCP for you.” When they heard that, they were happy and laughed out loud. They agreed to quit the CCP and continuously thanked me.
One of the biggest problems that I noticed with delivering the newspapers is that they often got stolen. In less than a month, I caught different people stealing the newspapers. It’s obvious the CCP is afraid of what the Epoch Times reports on. I reported the incidents to the Epoch Times office several times, but with lack of manpower, no one was able to take care of it immediately. I later realized that it is in fact a cultivation issue for me. Everyone is very busy and who should I wait for? Who should I rely on? Since I saw it, I should do something about it. To be able to catch the culprits in the act and expose them, I decided to learn more about the relevant laws and was more prepared when I went out. I parked across from the Epoch Times newspaper racks and quietly waited in the car. Soon someone came and stole all the newspaper from the rack. As he was about to leave, I approached him and took out my cell phone. I said, “Do not leave, I’m going to call the police.” I didn't listen to his so-called “explanation”, and told him to explain it to the police instead. When I called 911, I told the operator that this was not a simple case of someone stealing newspapers, but was actually a political incident. I then took a picture of the license plate of the thief's car. The police quickly arrived and arrested the person who could actually speak English. We put his picture on the Epoch Times to expose him and to warn other people who also stole the newspapers.
After Master came to San Francisco to teach the Fa this year, we began a new project to save sentient beings. However, I didn't participate in the project for awhile because it was difficult for me to go to San Francisco. It takes more than three hours to get to San Francisco and back home, and I needed to pick up my child from school after 2:00 p.m. After studying the Fa and sharing with practitioners, I realized that clarifying the truth in San Francisco is an important and urgent matter. Master has clearly told us to save beings in San Francisco, so I should be able to go. I calculated the time it would take for me to take my child to school to going back home to eat breakfast and tidying up before I could take the subway to San Francisco. If I was able to get there before 12 noon and leave at 1:30 p.m., I should have one to two hours to clarify the truth to people. I then began going to San Francisco's Chinatown. It felt like being back in China. There are so many precious Chinese people to clarify the truth to. We went to every business to talk to people, answer any of their questions and brought informational materials with us, including the newspaper. I found after so many years, there were many people who still didn't know or understand Falun Gong. Some people refused to talk to us out of fear, some had negative thoughts and some even refused to read the Epoch Times. Without Master mercifully telling us to clarify the truth to people, it would have been really difficult for them to learn the truth. Even though they are living abroad, some Chinese people still believe in the CCP's lies and propaganda. With compassion, we were very patient and gradually told them the truth to untie the knots in their mind. For those who hadn't read the Epoch Times before, we handed them the newspaper and showed them the contents they were interested in. We also introduced them to the Shen Yun show, the Fei Tian school and the radio and television stations operated by practitioners. Whatever they were interested in, we would introduce them to it.
Through our persistent truth-clarification efforts, several people quickly understood the truth, some began to look at the materials while others expressed interest in Shen Yun, the Fei Tian school, listening to Sound of Hope and watching NTDTV. Seeing sentient beings gradually understand the truth, we felt more energized when talking to them. We didn't feel tired when running back and forth. To save time, we didn't stop to eat or drink, but we were still full of energy. When it was time to leave, we didn't want to leave, but always talked a little more. I treasured every opportunity to go out to clarify the truth. I am usually a slow person, but when going out to validate Dafa, I did things very fast, even faster than average people.
Once I went to deliver the Epoch Times newspaper, and I went to the shops one by one to clarify the truth and ask them to quit the CCP. When it was almost time to leave, I went to the subway station. On my way there, I gave the last truth material to a lady in a gold shop and asked her to quit the CCP. It was going smoothly and while waiting for her reply, I had a thought in my mind, “If she agrees, then I would have eight people who've quit the CCP today.” Immediately, I saw a change in her attitude and she didn’t agree to quit. Since I had to catch the subway, I didn't have more time to talk to her and had to leave disappointed. Looking inward, I knew it was my attachment to zealotry and validating myself that blocked her. Master is saving all beings in the universe, and I only saved a few predestinated people. What was I so attached to? Master wants us to cultivate ourselves while saving sentient beings, but sometimes I was too busy doing things and forgot to cultivate myself, thus delaying saving sentient beings.
Soon it was summer break and my kids would be home, so I wouldn't be able to go to San Francisco for two months. I was anxious and didn’t know what to do. Perhaps Master saw my heart because one day my husband came home and said his company was shutting down for a week. I was very happy. My husband watched our kids while I went to San Francisco every day. At Portsmouth Square, I saw sentient beings change every day. On the last night after I returned home from San Francisco, my child saw thousands of sparkling Falun rotating in his room in the middle of the night and I knew that Master was encouraging me. Thank you Master!
I am still learning how to manage my time wisely. I’m a mother of two energetic children. I am trying to balance taking care of the family, studying the Fa, doing the exercises and doing the three things well. How do I balance everything well? My experience is that when I study the Fa well, things go smoothly. However, when I don't study the Fa well or study enough, there is a lot of interference, and I feel tired and am very passive. Fa-study is the most important.
Looking back on the four years of my cultivation, I feel bittersweet. While immersed in everyday people’s things, I came upon Dafa and it purified me. Now I know the meaning of life is to return to your true self and our responsibility is to save sentient beings. Master told us,
“Through the ages to the present
Just for this one time”
( “Plum Blossoms” in Hong Yin II ).
Let’s use our righteous thoughts cultivated from the Fa and our compassion to save more sentient beings, to complete our mission and be worthy of Master's merciful salvation.