(Minghui.org) Greetings, Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I apologize for not being able to attend the upcoming 2014 UK Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference. The support I can provide is to share my experience of reaching out to people in China to help them quit the communist organizations. Please help point out anything inappropriate.
Maintaining My Xinxing at All Times
I often finished calling all the numbers in an entire assignment without getting one person to renounce the Party when I first started the project. I was frustrated. If I helped one person to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on the list, I would be overzealous, hoping to repeat that success over and over.
I vacillated between excitement and frustration. Although I reminded myself not to be attached to the outcome, from time to time I would get anxious for more people to quit the CCP.
I once called three lists of phone numbers in a row, but no one agreed to quit the CCP. Few even finished listening to me. After I let the last number ring for several minutes and nobody answered, I stopped: Was I doing something wrong? Why could some practitioners convince people to quit the CCP in a few sentences, but my efforts were so futile?
I looked inward, because I knew that something regarding my cultivation was involved. Why was the number of people who quit the CCP so important to me? Was it for fame, for vanity, to show off?
It appeared that human notions were making me unsettled. When those attachments were out in the open, whenever someone I talked with quit the CCP, I often reminded myself: "That person quit because of the power of Master and Dafa--why else would he/she trust a stranger like me?" With that thought, zealotry faded instantly.
When the person I talked to refused to listen and even swore at me, I was often very sad. I then recalled a practitioner's sharing: "Telling someone the facts about Falun Gong to neutralize the hate propaganda instilled in the person by the CCP is like feeding him cookies. That person may still be hungry even after the eighth cookie, but the ninth cookie might fill him up.
That reminded me how people learn the facts and understand the truth little by little. My frustration was much less in such situations after this realization.
Compassion, Not Victory
When talking with those who had been brainwashed by the CCP, I found myself sometimes very aggressive. A person once shouted and blustered, unwilling to listen to me. I calmed down and, as I listened to him, tried to identify the root of his confusion.
After the person stopped talking, I began to refute his points one by one. I explained to him that we practitioners loved China, but not the CCP; that what the Chinese people earned came from their hard work, not CCP’s philanthropy; that it is widely believed that good behaviors will be rewarded, and so on.
He was speechless and hung up each time I answered a question. I'd call him again, we'd talk for a while, and then he'd hang up again. We talked five times for more than 20 minutes each time, but he still would not quit the CCP. He then stopped answering the phone.
I reflected on this. He had no reply--my talking points had cornered him. Why wouldn’t he agree to quit the CCP then?
I recalled the following two sentences in Master’s poem in “The Fa Rectifies the Cosmos” from Hong Yin Vol. II:
“Compassion can harmonize Heaven and Earth, ushering in springRighteous thoughts can save the people in this world ”
I was not compassionate enough during our phone conversations. I did not realize my own aggressiveness and ego, but thought that he was stubborn. From this I learned to let go of the notion of hastiness and the attachment to self.
Even if these notions were not eliminated at one time, as long as I suppress them, the situation would improve.
Pure Heart
I stabilized at helping four or five people quit the CCP organization every day, and I was happy with it. Then another problem arose—even if I made more phone calls, the number of people who quit the CCP did not increase. Very often I had to call over 100 numbers a day, so that at least four or five people would quit the CCP.
One day when I called more than 50 numbers straight, no one agreed to quit the CCP. I was at the end of my patience: I had been working so hard to let people know the facts, but the reality that none had quit the CCP really made me feel numb.
Many of those I called actually listened to all I had to say, but then hung up without making a decision. Even using the theory of nine cookies, at least some of them should have quit, because of those 50 phone numbers, 20 were follow-up calls. I knew I had encountered a roadblock, but how to resolve it?
I decided to study the Fa more, and I discovered a deeply-rooted attachment—selfishness. I clarified the truth to Chinese to avoid falling behind on my cultivation path: I wanted more people to quit the CCP to acquire more mighty virtue for myself; my reason for letting go of human notions was to prevent others from interfering with me.
On the surface I have done all the three things, but my starting point was wrong.
Once I realized that, I said to Master in my heart, “Master, I want to rectify myself in cultivation. Instead of following selfishness in the old cosmos, I will return to my origin and assimilate to the Fa principles in the new cosmos.”
Probably because my mind was righteous, fewer people hung up the phone during a conversation and more people were willing to quit the CCP, from four or five to eight or nine a day. Once, 14 people quit the CCP in a single day.
Dynamic Exchanges, Not Just Lecturing
I used to read my prepared script on every call. A recipient once tried to cut me off when I was reading. I paused and asked if he had a question. He said yes and asked if it was a real person or a robo-call.
I told him I was a real person and continued chatting with him. He quit the Young Pioneers.
This experience reminded me to think further, that is, I had to change the way I talked with people. I am a little introverted, and it is a challenge for me to talk casually with strangers. But if I wanted to help more people understand the truth, I had no choice. So I began to pay attention to how other practitioners used colloquial expressions when they talked. Little by little, I made progress.
I tried to include as much as information as possible when I spoke. But then I discovered that did not work well because some recipients hung up before I was finished. When discussing this with other practitioners, they told me some people in China already knew some facts about Falun Gong.
Because people nowadays tended to be hasty and impatient, we have to be clear and to the point. Other practitioners' conversations were brief and very effective. I decided to change my style. By reviewing my own words and others' recordings, I also made progress on this.
Tailoring My Approach for Different People
Another thing I've learned is to use different approaches depending on who I am talking to.
If the person sounds mature and rational, I let them know that the phone call will provide information not accessible in China, then move on to debunk the staged self-immolation, followed by asking them to quit the CCP for a better future.
If the person sounds young, I talk about the mysterious rock in Guizhou Province with the words “The Chinese Communist Party is doomed.” Then I mention that quitting the CCP is a great trend and that we need to seize this opportunity, not miss it. After that I clarify the facts about Dafa.
When I speak to peasants or housewives, I often start with the ancient Chinese saying: “Good is rewarded with good, and evil meets evil.” "Because many people have followed the CCP to do bad things," I explain, "they could face serious consequences."
I let them know that one way to ensure blessings for themselves as well as their families is to support what is right and quit the CCP. If people start to hang up in the middle of a conversation, I often slow down and say, “Friend, if we look back in history, there's always a warning before major catastrophes. Please think it over and cherish your life—and not just yours, but also the lives of those in your family. I believe that if you make the right decision today, you will feel fortunate and relieved.”
Most people calm down, take it seriously, and quit the CCP. If that is not enough, I would also mention the staged Tiananmen Square self-immolation and the persecution, including live organ harvesting.
After hearing me make phone calls many times, my daughter once asked me, “Mom, why is it so difficult for a person to understand this and be saved?” I told her it was because my heart was not pure or compassionate enough; otherwise, my words would be able to penetrate more microscopic levels and that person could be saved in a shorter time.
I was enlightened by the impeccable Shen Yun performances that, for any Dafa projects we are involved in, we need to be up to par and really do them well. For example, I can still improve what I have to say, the format, and my tone of voice.
When I hear other practitioners clarifying the truth, they present the facts so naturally, and their compassion often touches me. I think I can do better.
I would like to thank Master and all fellow practitioners for their encouragement and help.
(Shared at 2014 UK Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference)
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