(Minghui.org) Esteemed Master and fellow practitioners!
Master said,
“Cultivation is the cornerstone of what we do, and saving people is our responsibility. Both of these things need to be done well.”(“Fa Teaching Given at the 2015 New York Fa Conference”)
Regretfully, I have not been a diligent cultivator and have not done what a practitioner is supposed to do well. Yet, I feel that I should still write an experience-sharing article. Apart from this being a cultivation form left by Master, I came to realize that the more I hadn’t done well, the more I should write this once-a-year sharing.
On the one hand, since it is a process of self-reflection, it would help me improve in my cultivation. On the other hand, even if I had achieved very few breakthroughs, if I can pass them on to fellow practitioners and enable them to gain new insight, wouldn't this make up for what I hadn't done well? The sharing among us would only enhance the power and wisdom of our whole body in this course.
Targeting Fundamental Misunderstandings
Over the past year, I mostly clarified the facts about Falun Dafa at my work, because I am an interpreter between English-speaking health-care professionals and Chinese patients. Since these Chinese patients often come for check-ups or minor surgeries, it is very easy for me to direct the conversations toward Falun Dafa and its health benefits.
These Chinese patients have different kinds of understandings about Falun Dafa. Thus, I begin to speak without letting on that I am a practitioner, then slowly lead to things I want them to understand. This enables me to do my truth clarification based on their background, attachments, and obstacles, and thus resolve their fundamental misunderstandings.
I start in general terms about health services in Western society and then lead into qigong practices. I tell them that I heard that Falun Dafa is particularly good in improving one's health, although it is banned in China, but not in Australia.When they tell me that Falun Dafa has gotten involved in politics with the publication of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and is against the government, I say that Dafa was forced into this situation. In a democratic country, there are checks and balances in government power, as well as independent media. Therefore, the public would not allow a government to ban a cultivation practice.
In China, the judiciary and media act as the government’s mouthpiece. People in a free country do not understand this type of governance. Therefore, practitioners realized that to say ‘Falun Dafa is good’ is not good enough. They must clarify what the nature of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) really is, and how many Chinese people it has killed. Only by clarifying this first, can people pay attention to what Dafa is going through in China, and ultimately help stop the persecution.
Importance of Objectivity
Some people were deeply poisoned by the CCP's propaganda and need more hand-holding. I share with them that I was taught by a teacher to be objective and not hold any prejudices. For example, if someone tells me that Falun Dafa is reactionary, I tell them to look at it from different angles. I ask them to read the Dafa books and only then come to an opinion about the practice.
At other times, I talk about China's polluted environment, fake consumer products, corruption, and so on. Then, I will say that I heard about the forced organ harvesting from living practitioners in China. I tell them that human rights lawyers from outside of China undertook an independent investigation and concluded that the forced organ harvesting in China is truly happening.
I ask these people how many Chinese are willing to donate their organs. Some say the organs are from executed prisoners, but that would make up only several thousand people. After I had gone into greater detail, almost everyone would say that the crime is truly inhumane.
Taking Every Opportunity
I can always feel Master’s compassionate help while clarifying the truth to others. Once, a lady came for a health exam before her eye operation, and somehow I felt that I had to talk to her. I saw only a few scattered seats left in the waiting room, and realized that I wouldn't be able to sit with the patient I was about to help.
As I continued filling in my paperwork, I thought that perhaps Master is waiting for me to clarify the facts to them. So I approached them and that discovered the lady next to her was her sister, who is from China. She told me that she was a surgeon. I asked her if she knew about the forced organ harvesting from living practitioners, and she said that she had never heard of it. I took her aside, and it took quite a while to explain; in the end, she believed that organ harvesting is happening in China.
I understand that it was Master who arranged and perfected everything. But due to my negligence, I had almost caused this precious Chinese person to lose her opportunity to understand the truth. I reminded myself that I must pay close attention to this in the future. From that time onward, I would try my best to not to let any opportunities slip by. Thus, even with patients who had a very short consultation, I would still clarify the facts to them in the short while I had while waiting for their next appointment time, or while saying goodbye outside the clinic.
What We Say Sinks in Although We Do Not See It
Once, I met an elderly man who brought his wife to see a doctor. He told me that he could not understand practitioners chooses not to read the Epoch Times. It turns out that he had witnessed an individual who went to extremes and deviated from the principles of Dafa. I explained many things about Dafa and used simple and understandable stories. I also introduced them to the Epoch Times. Although his wife kept nodding, he remained silent. After they left, I hoped that we would meet again, so I could help him understand the facts about Dafa.
I never expected that three months later, I would be his interpreter. He was very excited to see me. He told me that he had read the Epoch Times. I suddenly noticed a huge change in him, and he repeated many things I had told him during his last visit.
Through this experience, Master revealed that all we need to do is to try our best in doing what we should do. Sometimes, we may not see any change, but it doesn't mean that what we said did not sink in. Therefore, we should not slack off or lose confidence because we can't read their reaction to what we say.
Persuading People to Quit CCP is a Challenge
There is a tourist attraction near the hospitals where I work, and practitioners clarify the facts there all year round. I wanted to join them, but found that persuading people to quit the CCP in a few words is challenging.
I remembered that I had some cardboard signs that I had made with a fellow practitioner. They had words that could break through some notions the mainland Chinese may have, open their minds, and help them accept the facts about Dafa more easily. So sometimes when I have only 15 or 30 minutes, I would hold up my cardboard signs, and sometimes it would help clear up some misunderstandings that practitioners encountered.
Once, a Western tour bus driver told us that he heard that the tourists lost interest in sightseeing after seeing Dafa practitioners. I explained that these tourists are from totalitarian China, and that this could be their once in a lifetime opportunity in a free country. We did not want them to miss witnessing Australia's free society, and help them understand that Falun Dafa can be practiced all over the world, contrary to the CCP's propaganda.
I told him that we want the Chinese people and their future generations to one day have the same freedom we enjoy in Australia. Our task is not easy, because these Chinese were deeply brainwashed. In the end, he understood and realized why some some of them spread misinformation.
Dafa Restores Divine Nature
Recently, I joined a Shen Yun presentation team. During the process of preparing the speech, I came to a deeper understanding of the essence of traditional Chinese culture, and why the CCP persecutes Falun Dafa. The old forces arranged for the CCP to destroy sentient beings through the destruction of people's moral conscience, and the destruction of their divine nature.
Therefore,the CCP launched various campaigns to damage traditional culture and destroy orthodox beliefs. The spread of Falun Dafa enables people to reconnect with a traditional cultivation culture, restores their divine side, and awakens their conscience; that's why the CCP persecutes Falun Dafa.
Thus, when some patients ask me why the CCP doesn't suppress other qigong practices, I said that apart from the huge number of practitioners, the most fundamental reason is because other qigong practices never talk about the cultivation of one's nature. Falun Dafa restores one's divine nature, and this divine nature is the very thing that the CCP aims to destroy; this is why the CCP has exhausted every possible means to eradicate Falun Dafa.
Following Dafa Principles is Essential
I always follow the Dafa principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I'm kind to all patients and provide extra help when needed. As a result, many elderly people are grateful.
I know that I am able to help the patients only because I am a Dafa disciple. It is Falun Dafa that makes us noble and teaches us to cherish other lives and pay attention to the needs of others. I can feel that when I am not diligent in my Fa study or when my cultivation state isn’t well, the words I speak become powerless and less effective. Thus, I must pay close attention to do all that Master asks of us; otherwise, I will be an everyday person doing Dafa work.
I can really feel the change in my surrounding environment as Dafa disciples continue to clarify the truth. Fellow practitioners, let's help one another, be diligent in our cultivation, and pay close attention to saving people.
Thank you, Master. Thank you, fellow practitioners.
(Presented at the 2015 Australia Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference)
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