(Minghui.org) The Minghui website recently called for papers to celebrate the 2014 World Falun Dafa Day. The window of opportunity for writing a paper is only a little more than a month, with it ending April 18.
Fellow practitioners, have you started writing your articles? To do my part I shall discuss why these papers are so important.
Actions vs. Words
The Chinese phrase, “Listen to what he says, and watch what he does,” refers to how people should evaluate others. In short, it is not good enough to just listen to what he says, but one also needs to see how he conducts himself, much like the English phrase, “Actions speak louder than words.”
As an example of this, I'll share the following story: It took more than one year to convince my mother that practicing Falun Dafa is good. One day we went for a walk and she accidentally threw a popsicle stick next to the garbage can. I didn't say a word, but picked it up and took it home where I put it into our trash can. At that moment she said, “I now know that Falun Dafa is good.” I was surprised to hear her say that, because I had spent a lot of time explaining to her why Falun Dafa was special.
I have read many articles by practitioners which gave concrete examples about noble deeds they performed, how their health improved dramatically and their experiences in validating the Fa. I think that people that have a predestined relationship with Falun Dafa will change their thinking and views about Dafa after reading these articles. I believe that their contribution is of major importance.
Outstanding Kindness
Articles that talk about how someone changed their attitude about Falun Dafa as a result of interaction with practitioners are very effective in clarifying the truth.
For example, the article, “How I Became a Dafa Practitioner,” describes the experience of the author traveling with a two-year-old child on a train. They had the upper berth and it was difficult to use with a child. When asking their fellow travelers if they were willing to change from the lower to the upper berth, no one seemed to be interested. Their excuses included that it was too hot in that upper berth or it was too close to the ceiling. Finally, a woman in her sixties agreed to trade. The author was moved by the lady's kindness and expressed her concern for the elderly woman's safety if she were to climb up to that berth. The lady said not to worry because she was a Falun Dafa practitioner and was in good health. This impressed the author so much that she later became a practitioner.
The above was a simple story without any fancy words. When you read the story you can imagine the difficulty of a mother taking a two-year-old child on a trip. It stands out to people when someone offers help and kindness in one's time of need.
Another article that impressed me was “A Farmer Exemplifies Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.” The author is a farmer who sells vegetables in the Jilin City area. The main topic in the article was about how their behavior stood out during the flooding in 2010, a flood that had not been seen during the last one hundred years. All of the other vendors in the market raised their prices while the author and his wife said, “Our price will not change from what it used to be, because a practitioner does not take advantage of people, especially during a disaster.” Customers who purchased their vegetables said, “Those who criticized Falun Dafa are telling lies. We see how good practitioners are.”
In the communist world, materialistic thinking is justified. Practically no one will think and act like the author did. This being the case, people notice the difference easily.
Growing Support for Falun Dafa
The situation in China now is very different from before. More federal and local government officials don't want to participate in the persecution. Many incidents like this have been reported on the Minghui website. It is just as Teacher said:
“Lives are rescued, minds gradually awakened Waking, police and citizens cease to obstruct” (“Glimpses of Goodness” in “Hong Yin III” )
For example in the article, “Chinese People's Attitudes about Falun Dafa Are Changing,” it says, “Police no longer stop practitioners from talking to people about Falun Dafa.”
I think it is very important for practitioners to report these type of incidents. Reporting these incidents gives other government officials the impetus to stop supporting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Over the years many people, including those in high level positions, have moved away from persecuting Falun Dafa. In my opinion, it would be of great merit to interview such people and report their stories.
There was another article, “Recalling an Elderly Couple's Predestination with Falun Dafa,” where the author reported the entire sequence of events about how she met the couple, how they became practitioners and what happened to them after the persecution started.
Articles like this can go a long way in enriching people's understanding of Falun Dafa and practitioners.
Effective Communication
The spreading of Falun Dafa is for saving sentient beings, thus it is important to communicate well the benefits of the practice. Practitioners' stories can help people to gain a more thorough understanding of Falun Dafa.
In today's fast-paced society, articles should be considerate of the reader both in length and content. Stories should not drag on and should focus on topics that others can relate to. One also needs to have a clear purpose, be accurate, objective, straight-forward and simple.
I hope fellow practitioners will write their stories and publish them, so that they are available to the general public and become another method for saving sentient beings.
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