(Minghui.org) I started to practice Falun Dafa in 2010. Since then, I have encountered some people who were deeply deceived by the Communist Party's falsehoods. They would often turn a cold shoulder as soon as I mentioned Falun Dafa.
It is not easy to talk to these people, but there was at least one time when I was successful by first talking about things of interest to that person.
One of my friends is a lay Buddhist. She has a Buddhist teacher and often reads Buddhist scriptures. I knew that it would be a hard sell for her to understand the facts about Dafa.
My initial goal was to help her quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. But, she became interested in learning Dafa after our conversation. She did tell me that she would have stopped me if I had not addressed the issue from a different angle.
I invited her to listen to Buddhist music with positive energy, because I knew she was interested in this topic. I prepared well before her arrival and arranged everything in sequence on a play list. I told her that only music and energy were our topics for today.
I showed her the five minutes of the video “Astounding the World - Shen Yun Performing Arts.” Then, I explained that it was highly praised by people from different professions, including musicians, dancers, professors, business owners, and so on. My friend concentrated on the video pretty well.
Next, I played the complete video of “The Music of Shen Yun.” It was not until the end of the 18-minute video when she realized the connection between the Shen Yun music and Falun Dafa. She told me later that she thought of stopping the video for a second, but continued out of courtesy.
The next video on the play list was a two-minute video from a Falun Dafa experience sharing conference. It was a conference attended by 8,000 practitioners of different races from all over the world. She was surprised by the large scale of the conference.
It was followed by a special 25-minute-long program about World Falun Dafa Day. She was even more surprised to see the Swedish King issue an award to a business owner who is a Falun Dafa practitioner. She knew that Nobel Prizes are handed to the recipients by the Swedish King.
Then, I told her that about 70% of those who practice Falun Dafa overseas had at least a Master's degree and that practitioners are well respected overseas.
My friend looked shocked and confused. She asked many questions, including about the “besieged Zhongnanhai Compound” and other lies published by the CCP. She asked why the government would suppress this cultivation practice it if it was good.
Therefore, I told her how Emperor Nero started a fire, and used it as an excuse to launch the persecution of Christians. Dictators abhor good and faithful people. This history repeated itself in China when Jiang Zemin launched the persecution of Falun Dafa and ordered the staged self-immolation incident on Tiananmen Square.
I also told her the legend of the Red-Eyed Lion. It said that when the stone lion's eyes turn red it warns people of disaster. This story can be found in the book “Seven Taoist Masters.”
Then, I asked her if an enlightened being came to the world to save people, could he send his disciples, like Falun Dafa disciples, to warn people? She agreed it could happen.
To emphasize my intention, I told her one story about the ancient legendary doctor Bian Que. Bian Que repeatedly warned Emperor Cai Huan Gong that his illness would get worse unless he would take certain remedies. But, the emperor refused to listen. He eventually died from the illness.
I stressed that anyone's knowledge is limited to what they had been exposed to in the past. Therefore, she should not be too stubborn and look further into anything before discarding it.
It was time to talk about the thousands of people who quit the CCP. She said she had quit the Youth League, but didn't think it meant anything. I advised her not to be like Emperor Cai Huan Gong. She seemed to have better understanding about the significance of quitting the CCP.
Eventually she became interested in learning Dafa after I told her about theEnd-time prophesy in the Bible and the Udumbara flower discussed in the Buddhist scripture.
An article on the Minghui website said, “According to Buddhist scriptures, 'Udumbara' is a Sanskrit word, meaning 'an auspicious flower from heaven.' Volume 8 of the Huilin Phonetics and Interpretation, a Buddhist scripture, says: 'Udumbara is the product of ominous and supernatural phenomena; it is a celestial flower and does not exist in the mundane world. If a Tathagata or King of the Golden Wheel appears in the human world, this flower will manifest due to their great virtue and blessings.” (“Udumbara Flowers Found in California”)