(Minghui.org) Dear Master and fellow practitioners:
I began practicing Falun Dafa in 2003, and I'm now 15 years old.
I attended the Young Practitioners Experience Sharing Camp a few years ago. A college age practitioner mentioned the importance of clarifying the truth at tourist attractions but said that they were shorthanded. He then said something that left a huge impression on me. He said that when he went to Taroko Gorge to clarify the truth, an elderly practitioner said, “Some people, even the tour guides, laugh and say that only old people practice Falun Gong. The elderly practitioners felt very sad when they heard this and hoped that more young practitioners would come to the tourist attractions.”
I knew it was not an accident that I heard this, because my home is near the Shihzuwan, a popular tourist destination. I realized Master was reminding me that I should go out and talk to people about the persecution! That night before I went to sleep, I kept telling myself I had go to the tourist site to clarify the truth.
Eliminating My Fear
I was scared the first time I went to Shihzuwan, and I was also afraid of losing face. While one practitioner sat there sending righteous thoughts, I just walked around. A young man came up to us and asked what we were doing. My sister told him about the beauty of Falun Dafa and the truth of the persecution. I stood next to her and tried to add something.
I thought later that Master had wanted to help us eliminate our fear, so He arranged for that man to come up and speak to us.
One day when I was holding a banner, a college student greeted me. It turned out that he was a part-time worker in our neighborhood. I’ve realized that even when you see someone you know, as long as you aren't worried about being embarrassed or losing face, others won't think you are doing something strange. Thank you, Master, for enlightening me.
Developing Compassion
While I was there, I strongly felt that we needed more young practitioners at the site. When I was sending righteous thoughts, I knew many tourists were taking photos of me. After sending righteous thoughts, the other practitioners told me that many Chinese tourists had stopped to look at me. This was an indication that they seldom saw young practitioners. Many times I heard people say, “Look! There are young people,” or they would say, “Wow, Little Girl, you are so young.”
Some would say negative things like, “Why do they teach children to do this,” or “Alas, this child is lost.” When I heard that, I couldn’t stay calm. I wanted to tell them, “Actually, you are the one who is lost.” But I remembered that they were poisoned by the propaganda and are waiting for us to clarify the truth to them.
When I realized that this person might stand in direct opposition to Dafa, my anger turned to pity. Participating in clarifying the truth at tourist sites taught me that I should have compassion. When faced with people who don’t understand or agree with us, we should clarify the truth instead of thinking about them with our human notions.
Making the Commitment
I arranged one afternoon every week to go to the tourist destination. At first I just went for two hours. Once a coordinator asked if anyone could take the 2:00 p.m. slot, and I immediately said that I could do it. After that, I usually would stay there until global sending righteous thoughts at 6:00 p.m., so I needed to stand for four hours. It was really difficult at the beginning, because I was used to sitting down in the classroom for a long time. But I recalled what Master said: “When it’s impossible to do, you can do it." (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun). This kept me going.
I later realized something was wrong. Going to the tourist site every week became more like a routine than my initial purpose - to save people. As Master mentioned in “Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa:”
“After doing a whole slew of things, you might find, if you look back upon them, that all of it was done with a human mindset. When it is a human being doing human things, and things are not being done with righteous thoughts, there won’t be any Dafa-disciple mighty virtue in those things.”
Thus, I changed my attitude. I focused on why I was there and smiled at people. I no longer felt uncomfortable after standing for a long time.
When you go out with the intention to clarify the truth, people will come up to you and ask you for the facts. I used to think that just standing there holding the display board was good enough and that I didn’t need to speak. I just had a rough idea about the persecution, but didn’t have a deeper understanding of why it was happening. Many times, people asked me questions instead of the other practitioners.
After this happened a few times, a practitioner earnestly shared with me that I should always keep the facts in mind and read more about it at home. I think Master used that practitioner to tell me how to do a good job. When I went home I did read up on the persecution. Now when I interact with people, I can tell them the facts and help them understand.
After sharing with practitioners, I felt I should have some breakthroughs. I started to call out, “Welcome to Shihzuwan! Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!” Because people looked at me strangely and I also felt scared, so I didn’t continue. After a few weeks, I went there with three practitioners who all greeted people loudly. I felt I was given a stick warning and saw my shortcomings.
Overcoming Myself and Getting Rid of Attachments
I intuitively felt that it was Master who told me not to be afraid and just to do it. Therefore, I overcame my fear. I saw many people standing in front of the displays and studying the information. I was very moved and grateful. Sometimes some Taiwanese would give me a thumbs-up and tell me, “You are all great. It’s not easy.” Some tour guides said, “You’ve all worked hard.”
I knew in my heart that Master was encouraging me. The process of clarifying the truth at tourist attractions helped me eliminate many attachments. Master, thank you for giving me more righteous thoughts to walk solidly to clarify the truth.
Although I can’t see many miraculous things, I think that, whether my celestial eye is open or not, Master has arranged everything for me. After thousands of years we reincarnated and became human beings so that we could obtain this Dafa. Master already arranged everything long ago. Remembering what Master has borne for us, we must do the three things more diligently.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the 2013 Taiwan Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference)
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