(Clearwisdom.net)
Greetings to merciful Master!
Greetings to fellow practitioners!
I joined the Global RTC Platform team in February to help people in China quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and it's affiliated organizations. This platform has provided an excellent environment for me to improve Fa study and cultivation. Our team studies the Fa and shares our experiences together daily. We call people every day and encourage them to withdraw from the wicked party, and the results have been exceptionally good. The number of people quitting the CCP is rapidly increasing. I truly feel that my personal cultivation has been greatly uplifted through the mission of helping Master rectify the Fa and saving sentient beings. Below are some of my experiences.
Cultivating as Well as When We First Started
I obtained Dafa in Canada in 2004. I was very excited when I first learned of the Great Law of the Universe. In the beginning, I was diligent with my cultivation. As time went by, I became lazy and neglected doing the three things well. I was not steadfast in studying the Fa; I would even skip it when I was busy. I became aware of my deteriorating state of cultivation, and it worried me. I am thankful that our merciful Master gave me a chance, just when I needed it, to join the Platform team. As a result, the frequency of my Fa study has increased.
Master said,
“As a Dafa disciple, in order to do Fa-rectification things well and to consummate everything of yours well, you need to study the Fa a lot. No matter how busy you are, you cannot skip Fa-study. This is what can best ensure your reaching Consummation.” (“A Message” from Essentials for Further Advancement II).
Master reminds us to study the Fa frequently. The Platform team organizes many opportunities for small group Fa study every day. After intensive Fa study, righteous thoughts naturally come flowing out, and I can feel all the cells of my body becoming purified. I remain jovial, peaceful, and fluent when I call people in China to clarify the truth.
Master said in Zhuan Falun, “We stress holistic improvement and holistic upgrade.” Studying the Fa well can not only intensify our righteous thoughts, but it can also eliminate attachments to comfort, fear, fighting, and self-indulgence. Listening to phone calls of fellow practitioners on the RTC Platform team helps me to identify my communication weaknesses and gradually improve those skills. My wisdom has thus improved with the strengthening of my righteous thoughts. More importantly, I feel that I am now able to keep up with the group in cultivation due to getting up early for exercises and staying up late to make phone calls. Since participating in the Platform activities, I have indeed gained back my original cultivation enthusiasm.
When I told of the changes and improvements of my cultivation to the fellow practitioner who introduced me to the RTC Platform years ago, she was moved. She told me that she had been in the Platform team once, but that she herself did not stay long. At my encouragement, she rejoined the team and has now become a mentor for a section of the Platform, in which she leads fellow practitioners in making phone calls regularly.
The Platform offers fellow practitioners an opportunity to improve in cultivation, thereby encouraging other practitioners to better clarify the truth. From the Platform, I have improved a lot within a short period of time. Every time I study the Fa and practice the exercises, I can feel a strong energy field pushing me forward. Many thanks to Master and to the selfless RTC Platform team practitioners!
Strengthening Righteous Thoughts and Mindset
I was enlightened by the phone calls I made through the Platform that only by doing the three things well, as required by Master, can we have a good foundation for successful phone calls and righteous thoughts. Righteous thoughts and mindset are especially important in dealing with the people who believe strongly in the ruptured culture of the CCP.
One day, I called a person in China who was deeply ingrained with the notions of the CCP. This individual strongly defended the wicked party when I clarified the truth to him. I immediately sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil that manipulated his thinking behind the scenes. As a result, he suddenly sighed, “Even though you are right, what can we insignificant citizens do?” I sincerely replied, “You are a person of value. We were all born by our parents, and our lives are bestowed from the heavens. Since the CCP does not care for your life, you must cherish yourself.” He finally knew that my call was for his own good, and he eventually agreed to quit the CCP in the course of our conversation.
Although some people seem stubborn, their thoughts are mutable and as weak as a layer of thin paper. Dafa disciples can easily communicate with and save those intrinsically kind people as long as we hold strong our righteous thoughts.
Making Phone Calls to Save People
I used to make truth-clarification phone calls at home before I owned a shop a few years ago. I had temporarily suspended the phone calls for 6 months when my business got too busy. However, I realized later that the suspension was due to my attachment to comfort. I felt regretful every time I thought of it and was thus determined to resume making phone calls. I made calls from home at night or from the shop during business hours whenever I had a chance.
Although my eagerness was at once diminished, when I finally picked up the phone again I knew I would no longer put it down. Of course, it was only after I joined the RTC Platform team that I could make phone calls every day. I now persistently call people through the Platform every day, even when I travel.
Master said,
“As I have shared with you before, you are not in fact saving those people for Master’s sake, and neither is it done for others. You are saving them for yourselves, for very possibly those are to be the future sentient beings of your paradises, or are to belong to your expanse. You can’t let it become that when you return to your rightful place, you are like a commander-in-chief without an army, with it completely empty there, just one lone figure occupying that massive cosmic body. Buddhas aren’t supposed to be impoverished; they should be wealthy. The lives there are your riches, and only with them will your paradise be able to thrive. They all count as riches—every life counts as riches.” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa”)
From this lecture, I enlightened that cherishing people is to cherish myself. Master has told us to urgently save people. We are actually saving ourselves when we save other people.
It is not easy to make phone calls while traveling, but I have persisted to do it through the Platform for one reason: if I don't, it will be a big loss to sentient beings. Fortunately, the strong energy field of the Platform makes the job easier and more effective. Before the Platform was established, it would not be possible to make calls when I was traveling. I am really thankful to those fellow practitioners who set up this Platform.
Master said,
“Man is really insignificant before the forces of nature. If the cosmic catastrophe were to truly arrive, he would be finished. Moreover, if man’s science and technology were to lose its energy source, today’s society would immediately be paralyzed, and modern science and technology would promptly collapse.” (“What is a Dafa Disciple”)
Prior to the arrival of Hurricane Irene, the media continuously speculated about the potential damage from the hurricane to New York City. Many people were afraid. Residents living in low-lying areas were evacuated and mass transit systems were shut down. I was not afraid of disaster itself. Instead, I suddenly realized that it would be too late if we waited until the moment of “People will feel close to whomever they come across.” (“What is a Dafa Disciple”) occurred. I now make phone calls twice-daily, in the morning and evening. Whenever I do not feel like picking up the phone, a sad scene of “feeling close to survivors in a catastrophe” will automatically pop into my head to remind me of the importance of seizing time to save more sentient beings.
Because of Hurricane Irene, the traffic on the always-busy highway to New York City was unusually light. Driving on the highway, I felt that a big responsibility had fallen upon my shoulders and that there was nothing more urgent than saving sentient beings from the vicious old forces. After checking into the hotel room, I immediately got on the Platform to make phone calls, and it did not take long before four people quit the wicked party. Some practitioners who came into the room were moved and said, “Wow, it is actually not so hard to make phone calls on the Platform at all. We would like to make calls as well.” Indeed, it is easy to make phone calls on the Platform. I hope more and more practitioners will participate in this project.
Sure enough. I found the attachment to comfort still existing in me during the process. One example is, instead of making phone calls in the morning, which is the prime time to call China, I wasted time chatting and procrastinating until bedtime. As Master said in his lecture, I should be more strict with myself and not be lazy or slack off at this important moment. I am now very aware that delays in saving sentient beings actually postpone our own time to go back home.
Master said,
“But the path will be very narrow—narrow to the extent that only if you are extremely righteous will things work out and will you manage to save people. Only if you can go about things in an extremely righteous manner will there be no problems.” (“What is a Dafa Disciple”)
Improving as One Body
After studying Master's new lecture “Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa,” I couldn't help but think that those fellow practitioners in the RTC Platform team basically follow Master's requirements to walk on their righteous paths. They consider the Platform team to be a unified body. They remind each other to firmly study the Fa, to send forth righteous thoughts, and to save more sentient beings. The enormous energy generated and the favorable environment for Fa study and cultivation will encourage other practitioners to become more diligent. The goal of the Platform is becoming more clear, and it will awaken fellow practitioners who are still lagging behind. Today, I am writing my cultivation experiences with a sincere hope that my fellow practitioners can also quickly improve their cultivation and live up to Master's expectations and the title of Dafa disciples.
Master said,
“My hope is that Dafa disciples can all be like how they were with each other in the old times, and as diligent as before when you first obtained the Fa. There used to be a Buddhist saying, the idea of which was: If you can be like you have just begun, all the way from the beginning to the end, you will surely achieve Consummation.” (“What is a Dafa Disciple”)
Fa-rectification period disciples bear the responsibilities of cultivating themselves well as well as saving sentient beings. The last stage of time is quickly coming to an end. Let's keep our enthusiasm up as if we just started cultivating in order to fulfill our prehistoric vows. Please pick up the phone and call to save more predestined beings.
The above is my personal understanding. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
Thanks Master! Thanks fellow practitioners!
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