(Minghui.org) When I ran a small business selling noodles, I worked about 14 hours per day, and thus struggled to find time to clarify the truth, study the Fa, and send righteous thoughts. I debated about changing my profession, so that I could better do the three things.
Master granted my wish. I quit my job and stayed at home to care for my elderly mother. I was very excited, as this appeared to be easy, and it would give me plenty of time to do the three things well. However, I developed an attachment to comfort. To my surprise, instead of working 14 hours per day, I was working 24 hours per day, and had even less time to do the three things.
I lived in a friendly neighborhood, and neighbors often stopped by to chat. Also, taking my mother on outings to enjoy the scenery distracted me and diluted my focus on validating the Fa. My mother was very dependent on me and needed me to be around all the time. I barely had time to get to the computer to clarify the truth.
One day I had the idea to cultivate alone away from the secular world. I talked to a practitioner, who told me what Master said,
“Because Dafa disciples are not the monks of the past, who only sought personal Consummation. Dafa disciples have a mission, and that is why you are called ‘Dafa disciples.’ Your goal is not your personal Consummation. It is to lead a large group of lives to Consummation. So you must go and do that.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2013 Greater New York Fa Conference”)
This was an awakening. Master said,
“From now on, whatever you do, you should consider others first, so as to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism.” (“Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
I realized that I was still being selfish. I had left the job so that I would have more time to study the Fa. Yet, it turned out different. I now barely had time to do the three things, and consequently deviated from the Fa.
I became determined to study the Fa more diligently. After a while, the interference from my mother and others quickly lessened, and I had more time on my hands. I wanted to continue calling people in China to clarify the truth. After I had this thought, a practitioner came to help me set up my cell phone so that I could make calls from the phone instead of having to sit by a computer.
Before I made calls I told my mother that I was calling China. When she asked why, I told her that I wanted to tell people the truth about Falun Dafa. While I was calling, she frequently wanted me to do things for her, or complained. I knew that this was the old forces interfering, trying to prevent me from clarifying the truth. I told myself that nothing could interfere with a Dafa practitioner’s determination to talk about Dafa, and I continued making calls.
One day my mother saw me picking up my cell phone and asked what I was doing. When I told her that I was calling China, she casually said, “You are telling the truth!” I was shocked. From that point on she almost never interrupted me when I was making phone calls.
When no one answered a call, I called back at least five times. If I still did not get through, I called at another time. I didn’t want to miss anyone, or any opportunity to clarify the truth.
I used to feel anxious and impatient when the phone rang for a long time and no one picked up. Fellow practitioners suggested that I read Master’s two articles: “Stay Clearheaded” and “The Ultimate Goal of Clarifying the Truth” from The Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol. III before making calls. After carefully reading the articles, I had a deeper understanding of a phrase by Master I used to see on a poster, “We don’t believe consciences can’t be brought back” (“To Save the World,” Hong Yin III)
Given Master’s teachings, I was able to keep calling when a number was not answered, turned off, or someone hung up on me. Sometimes even after I spoke to a person, I would call him back to thank him for listening and/or being kind. I no longer felt anxious when I waited for a call to be picked up. As I waited calmly, I had one thought, “To fundamentally eliminate the evil elements that interfere with Dafa practitioners making calls and to clarify the truth!” This incredible change in me came from the mighty power of the Fa.
One time a person cursed at me as soon as he picked up the phone, and hung up. I called back and he did the same. I called again, and when he picked up, I spoke slowly and in a very soft tone, “Good day, we are both Chinese who are from a country with 5,000 years of culture. We are a nation of courtesy, and our culture teaches us various virtues. Communism isn’t Chinese culture. It promotes atheism and worships phoniness, evilness, and fighting. It degenerates the society and makes people curse and take advantage of others. You are an official and you especially shouldn’t curse at people you don’t know.”
I had never spoken in such a slow and soft tone in my life. He listened quietly and hung up. After a few failed attempts to call back, I felt terribly sorry for him and cried. The Chinese people have been so deceived by atheism and communism. I could understand better why Master repeatedly mentioned the importance and urgency of clarifying the truth. All beings eagerly await learning the truth.
There was another time when I called a police unit. The person answered with a loud disrespectful voice, “Why do you keep harassing me and taking up the crime reporting line? Are you sure that you (Falun Gong practitioners) practice 'Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance?” He cursed and hung up the phone. I was scared and couldn’t say a word.
Master said,
“You should be very clear in your mind about what you're doing: you are saving people, you are doing the most righteous and most magnificent thing!” (Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York)
Exactly! I shouldn’t be scared when what I did was the most righteous thing in the universe! I therefore readjusted my mind and continued making phone calls.
As I kept making calls and shared my experience with other practitioners who were facing the same situations, I became able to let go of anything that affected my ability to be kind and peaceful.
I said, “It is precisely because I practice Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance that I keep calling you. I cherish your life, and if I didn’t tell you the truth today, I would have failed you. I don’t want you to persecute Falun Gong because you were lied to and would be eliminated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) when it loses power. I am therefore not discouraged by your bad attitude and am determined to keep calling you.”
I once called seven numbers listed in a persecution case. After more than 50 calls, I still hadn’t talked to anyone. In the end a person picked up and said, “It was you who called all morning!” He asked me what I did for a living and thought that I must have a lot of money to make so many calls. I told him that I was barely making do, but I didn’t mind spending money to call him. We talked briefly and I told him what he needed to know. In the end he told me not to call again. I could feel that he was scared but at the same time yearning to know the truth.
The most recent call I made was to a police station in Changchun, Jilin. After dialing seven numbers and not getting through, I had a mixed feeling of impatience, negativity, and wanting to quit. Then something I read on the Minghui website suddenly came into my mind, “Waiting for calls to get through is a test, although it seems to be a waste of time. When one lets go of one’s attachment, one would be looking at it from a different angle. In the midst of a severe persecution, what would it be like without our calls? The numerous ringing phones are intimidating the persecutors, waking up their conscience, and offering salvation.”
I called again after adjusting myself, and a girl picked up. She hung up immediately. I called again and she said angrily, “I am taking a break!” before she hung up. I called and she yelled, “I told you that I am taking a break. Stop calling!” I remembered what other practitioners said to do in situations like this, and called again. She picked up again and before she said anything I told her, “I know that you are taking a break but the persecution isn’t! When the persecution is on a break, I will take one too, and you won’t get calls from me.”
She listened quietly. I said, “Working in a police station, you should know that during the past 19 years the Chinese regime has brutally persecuted and harvested organs from a group of kind people who practice Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. There are consequences for everything people do. They are just as precious as you are, so you should stop persecuting and arresting them.” Her voice softened and said, “Stop calling.” After she hung up, the rest of the calls went smoothly because I had rectified my mind and had pure thoughts.
Making calls to clarify the truth requires persistence and patience. When facing various problems, we must have a clear understanding that we are Dafa practitioners assisting Master in rectifying the Fa and saving people. I only become anxious if the beings didn’t know the truth. All I hope for is that they pick up the phone and hear the truth, even only one phrase, or just “Falun Dafa is good.”
Every call eliminates a little bit of the attachment to fear. Master arranged it so that the process can help me eliminate my attachments. When we rectify our thoughts, the phone is neither heavy nor difficult to pick up.