(Minghui.org) Fourteen Falun Dafa practitioners held an experience sharing conference in Europe on October 26, 2012. After sharing their experiences on clarifying the truth and persuading people to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), they concluded that the most effective way to improve one's character is by clarifying the truth. They also noted that the practitioners who helped people withdraw from the CCP seemed to improve more quickly.
Clarifying the Truth Is a Good Way to Improve One's Character
Practitioners shared their personal stories of helping people withdraw from the CCP, and how each call helped them improve their character. Liu from Belgium, said, “I was sweating when I made my first call to China.” Wang from France explained, “I didn’t know what to say when I first spoke to Chinese tourists.” Gradually, the practitioners learned to let go of their various fears, in whatever settings they found themselves. They also realized that it is not always easy to identify one's attachments. For example, it’s very easy to develop the attachment of zealotry, such as by exclaiming, “Today I convinced ten people to withdraw from the CCP!” Sometimes, we are influenced by ordinary people’s attitudes and fail to pass the tests that are arranged for us. This can take place even when one is being praised.
A Swiss practitioner shared his thoughts on how to handle ourselves, “If sentient beings show their appreciation for our clarifying the truth to them, or if they shout ‘Falun Dafa is good!’ or ask us to send greetings to our Teacher, we should not form any thoughts of zealotry. Instead, we should remember the Fa and Teacher, measure everything according to Dafa, and improve our xinxing.
“There are also tests related to someone slandering us or acting violently towards us. We need to calm down and not be influenced by ordinary people. If we calm down, we will be able to be kind to them, which means that our compassion has emerged. I feel that ordinary Chinese people are very naive since they have been poisoned by the CCP and don’t know the truth.”
Another elderly practitioner shared her experience of talking to a family who visited a tourist site. The parents did not take the truth clarification materials that she offered them, but their son did. As soon as he glanced at the newspaper, he swung around and threw it at the practitioner’s face. Her face smarted from the blow, but the practitioner—who was old enough to be the boy's grandmother—did not get angry at him. She knew that the boy's actions were very pitiful.
With the thought of saving him, she told him sternly, “In Europe, people are protected by the law. You will be fined or imprisoned if you go around acting like that. You must apologize to me or I will report you to the police.” The other practitioner standing beside her believed that this was a good way to save the boy and perhaps his family, too. The first thing the boy needed to understand was that Europe was not Communist-run China.
The elderly practitioner patiently explained to the boy the principle that ‘good behavior is rewarded and bad behavior is punished’, and that the CCP virtually destroyed traditional Chinese culture. The parents came over next to the boy and watched without interrupting. The practitioner continued to explain that the CCP destroyed the moral values in China, and that gods want to eliminate the CCP. She told them that practitioners use their own resources and sacrifice their own time to clarify the truth to people because they want people to understand the true nature of the CCP, and thus have bright futures.
After a lengthy discussion, the boy understood and apologized to her. Before the family left, they praised the practitioners' efforts and said, “Falun Dafa is great!”
Studying the Fa and Sending Righteous Thoughts Is Key to the Three Withdrawals
In order to successfully save sentient beings, practitioners must study the Fa, do the five exercises, and send righteous thoughts.
A practitioner who regularly makes telephone calls to China to persuade people to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations said that she initially found it hard to get even ten tourists at a scenic site to withdraw from the CCP.
She explained, “I normally wake up around 4:00 a.m., do the exercises, then study one lecture of Zhuan Falun. In the afternoon, while in RTC, I study another lecture. Although I send righteous thoughts often, I feel that my power is not strong enough when I'm making calls to China. Thus, I study an additional lecture with my husband in the morning, and study other lectures for half an hour to one hour. Only then do I start making calls to China, because I know that my power is strong enough to get positive results.”
One practitioner who regularly clarifies the truth at tourist sites has persuaded many people to withdraw from the CCP. She attributes her success to her ongoing Fa study, sending righteous thoughts, and doing the exercises. She said, “It takes me about 90 minutes by train to get to the tourist site, so I normally use one hour of my time to send righteous thoughts to clear my own space and the tourist site. When I arrive at the site, I say to Teacher, “I will fulfill Teacher's wish to save more people. Teacher, please support me!”
Another practitioner, who regularly calls police officers who persecute Dafa practitioners, said that many of the officers that she spoke to had begun to protect Dafa practitioners after her call. In addition, they provided a lot of information to the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong. She said that she studies at least three lectures per day. The more she studies the Fa, the more she calms down, thus she is able to understand the Fa's deeper inner meanings.
While sharing, practitioners gave examples of how they had improved their xinxing. After the conference, they all said that they found additional loopholes in their cultivation and stated that they would cultivate more diligently and do even better.