(Minghui.org) I would like to share with fellow practitioners some of my experiences in face-to-face truth clarification in the last year.
Fa Study Is Essential
Studying the Fa, doing the exercises and sending righteous thoughts every day are fundamental to our cultivation and also to doing well in clarifying the truth to save sentient beings.
It does not matter how we study the Fa, either by reading the book or reciting the Fa, by hand-copying the Fa or listening to the recordings, it is all for one purpose – to strengthen our righteous thoughts and elevate in cultivation.
It is important to participate in group Fa study, a form of Fa study acknowledged by Master. The reason is when one studies the Fa by oneself only, one tends to slack off a bit or even do it by fits and starts unless he/she has a very strong sense of self discipline.
Through Fa study, I realized that I must step out of my comfort zone to clarify the facts to people face to face, and only by maintaining a proper relationship with my sentient beings can I straighten out my own state of mind properly.
Master said,
“Actually, when Master wants something done a certain way, it’s not simply that he thought of something and then that’s it. I have to do a tremendous amount of preparation, which you cannot see, and all of those gods work on it too. Everything has been prepared, and all that’s missing is for you to carry it out. Yet you won’t take that step...” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa - Fa Teaching Given at the 2011 Washington DC Metro Area Fa Conference”)
Learning from Fellow Practitioners
Another invaluable tool we have at our disposal is the Minghui website, through which we can read fellow practitioners' sharing articles to see where we have fallen short and where we need to make more effort. It helps us avoid unnecessary stumbles and offers us a great opportunity to learn from each other in cultivation and to keep up with the Fa-rectification progress. We should make good use of our time by reading Minghui articles instead of wasting precious time browsing other sites or social media.
The Minghui website has played an irreplaceable role in encouraging practitioners to be diligent in cultivation, and we should try to read it no matter how busy we may be.
For years, with the Minghui website keeping me company, I have never felt lonely and it has become an inseparable aspect of our one body.
Many times, I was moved to tears while reading Minghui articles; I learned how to look within and how to be more diligent in comparison with others, and I have deep admiration for those fellow practitioners who were solid as a rock in the face of various tribulations, either in the form of sickness karma or in the face of severe persecution.
Reading Minghui articles every day has helped me see my shortcomings quickly so that I could catch up without holding others back.
Clarifying the Truth to People Face-to-Face Every Day
The following are some of my understandings with respect to face-to-face truth clarification.
Make a Good First Impression
Master told us,
“If all Chinese Dafa students can be more mindful of their conduct in daily life, be neater, and be considerate of others in everything they do, then that's the demeanor of Dafa disciples.” (The Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol. III)
Our speech and demeanor represent Dafa disciples and they also show our respect for others. We should therefore pay attention to this, as well as to seemingly minor details when it comes to our appearance.
We need to dress properly (not necessarily wear brand-name clothes, but appropriate clothes), maintain good personal hygiene, be benevolent and kind with a smile and talk in an upbeat and unhurriedly manner. These are the most basic requirements when we clarify the truth to people face to face.
Maintaining a Pure and Compassionate Heart
We are likely to encounter all kinds of people during face-to-face truth clarification. We still have many attachments to let go of and if we do not have tests in our cultivation, how could we possibly improve?
First, we must eliminate various hidden fears, such as fear of not being able to do it properly, fear of pressure, fear of being reported, fear of losing face, etc.
At the beginning, we may feel a bit nervous, but after we have clarified the facts to one person, we would become brave and feel more at ease when talking with people.
Sometimes, we might have “preferences” and choose those we find non-threatening, such as uneducated people or the elderly, who tend to be less skeptical. We might also prefer talking with people of the opposite sex, or to the same sex, due to attachments of fear, lust, jealousy, etc.
We might also choose situations based on our own notions and feelings, and tend to avoid situations where there are more people and choose those with less people. Sometimes, after I talked with one person, I did not want to talk to another one in the same area, fearing that the person might think I do this as a professional job. I have learned profound lessons from my mistakes that were caused by such notions.
After one year’s personal experience and reading Minghui articles every day, I was able to eliminate human nations and attachments as soon as I found them and the number of people I clarified the facts to also increased, from 2 to 3 a day to 8 or 9 a day.
However, I unwittingly also developed an attachment to quantity instead of quality and a competitive mindset. This has had a detrimental effect on my truth-clarification efforts. I dug out the human attachments and did my best to clarify the truth and save people with a pure heart every day.
I also found that if I failed to go out to clarify the truth for one day, my state of mind the next day would be affected. Many fellow practitioners also shared that they could feel the difference between clarifying the facts every day and doing it occasionally.
Stories from My Truth-clarification Efforts
Mr. Jiang is a well-known retired Party official who enjoys a lot of state benefits. His son is also a government official. I knew I needed to be patient with him.
I started with the historical facts in “Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party,” then the article “Two Traitors, Two Fakes” that exposes the true historical background of Jiang Zemin and the fact that those fallen corrupt officials all met their due for persecuting Falun Gong. I also told him about the “Hidden Character Stone” found in Guizhou Province, which said “The Chinese Communist Party Must Perish.”
I said to him, “You are an honest person, so why not be a clear-headed, decent Chinese?”
In the end, he was convinced and agreed to withdraw his membership in the evil Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Once I was clarifying the truth to a group of women. Suddenly one of them said, “We won’t quit.” With this, all the others went silent and they refused to listen to me any more.
Later, I happened to run into them again. I adjusted my state of mind first and did not hold any grudge against the woman who rejected me. I greeted them warmly and said, “I only want to tell you something beneficial to you, and it is entirely up to you whether you believe what I say or not. You are good friends like sisters, but each of you can only fend for yourself in the face of disasters.” They nodded and one of them said, “We can tell you are a kind person and that you really care. We understand.”
When I see a family going out together, I try talk to them individually. In a big family, the old couple usually listen to their son, and if it is the daughter’s family, the son-in-law often listens to the parents-in-law. If it is a couple, I usually talk to the woman first to avoid unnecessary jealousy.
Once I met an elderly couple. The wife was quite responsive to what I told her. When I turned to talk to her husband, he did not want to listen and walked away. I followed him and kept telling him the facts. He stopped and swore at me. I smiled and said, “I’m telling you all this for the sake of your safety. I don’t want a cent from you and truly care about your future and safety.” In the end, he smiled too and agreed to quit the CCP.
One evening I bumped into an elderly woman, who has a daughter that works in Hong Kong. She was doing some shopping as she was planning to go and visit her daughter the next day.
She listened first, but stopped me when I mentioned Falun Gong. She said she had suffered enough in the CCP's various political movements in the past and wanted to avoid any association which could put herself at risk of being persecuted.
I was not deterred and gently led her to think about things of concern in society. She asked me a lot of questions and I answered them patiently. This sparked her interest and we continued to have a lively conversation.
Two hours went by and her fear of discussing Falun Gong was gone. I told her about the staged “self-immolation” on Tiananmen Square and the atrocity of forced organ harvesting from imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners.
In the end, she agreed to quit the affiliated organizations of the CCP, and regretted that she had not learned about Falun Gong earlier.
“Such a good practice! When I recited ‘Falun Dafa is good’ with you just now I could feel that my whole body was filled with pure and peaceful energy. It’s such a good feeling,” she said.
There are still more sentient beings waiting for us to save them. I would like to call on fellow practitioners who have not yet stepped forward not to miss the precious opportunity to clarify the truth to people face-to-face.
These are my personal experiences and understandings. Please kindly point out anything here that does not meet the Fa's standard.
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Category: Clarifying the Truth
