(Minghui.org) Greetings Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
I would like to tell you about my amazing experiences while clarifying the truth in Chinatown these past two years. Many of my attachments were pointed out and I eliminated them.
Distributing materials is one of the main Fa-validation activities I’ve participated in since I moved to Australia. As I increasingly assimilate into the cultivation environment outside China, I have become more aware of Master’s compassionate arrangements for my cultivation. Because Melbourne has had several lockdowns due to the coronavirus, I feel that every opportunity to go to Chinatown is precious.
When I was a child, my family emphasized having a good name and a good reputation. I was concerned about what others thought of me. In China people routinely comment on each other, so my attachment to ego and reputation became deeply ingrained. I was afraid of being criticized or misunderstood.
One weekend in October 2019, I planned to go to a park to do the exercises and distribute truth clarification materials. Another practitioner suddenly said they would take me to Chinatown. I had only recently resumed practicing, so I felt that I was not in a good enough cultivation state to go to Chinatown and talk to people.
I also had a feeling that I would run into my boss, who I worked for at a Chinese medical clinic in Melbourne. I hadn’t told him about Falun Dafa yet, so I was worried about what he would say if he saw me. I quickly refused and said, “No! No! No! I’m not going to Chinatown. I’m going to the park.” The other practitioner said, “How can you validate the Fa?” I had no choice but to go with her.
When I arrived at the truth clarification site, I felt so uncomfortable that I couldn’t even hold the materials properly. Many pedestrians passed by, and people of different ethnicities walked fast, so I needed to continually switch between the Chinese and English versions of leaflets and newspapers.
After two or three hours, I had only given out a few copies. From time to time, strangers would stare at me. When I tried to give the materials to Chinese people, they didn’t seem to see me. Some even said, “Why are you doing this at such a young age?” The good thing was that Westerners were polite.
Towards the end of the day, Dr. Qin appeared just as I expected. When he saw me, he shouted loudly, “You practice Falun Dafa!?” All the other practitioners turned to look, and I just wanted to hide in the ground. I quickly smiled and said, “Falun Dafa is very good. I learned it when I was ten years old. Do you want a newspaper?” He waved his hand and refused. At least he did not say anything negative—he just seemed surprised that I practiced Falun Dafa.
For the next month I stood in Chinatown like a wooden doll. My back and legs ached and after a few hours I was exhausted. Out of fear and pursuit I urged myself to improve my cultivation state. I was very worried that I would not be able to handle unexpected situations and that I would discredit Dafa. One time when I was on my way to Chinatown, I thought, “Will someone yell at me today? Can I find an excuse not to go?” But I knew it was really hard for the elderly practitioners to put up the boards, carry boxes and set up the stall by themselves. Gradually, I stopped thinking about running away. I knew that I was needed, even if I played a very small role.
A practitioner told me that this truth clarification site was established at the very beginning of the persecution, and she clarified the truth here for nearly 20 years. Some practitioners have been there for more than 10 years. I thought this was really admirable.
One day, when an elderly practitioner tried to give materials to a Chinese from the mainland, the man said some very rude words. She just smiled and asked him to read the newspaper. I was deeply touched by her kindness, thinking that they have been doing this for so many years, while I just stood there and was too embarrassed to talk much. Feelings of envy and inferiority hit me at the same time. At that moment, a tall Western man passed by. I greeted him politely and handed him a leaflet. He said, “I see you standing here every time. You are doing a good job!” His words gave me great encouragement. I knew it was Master who was encouraging me to carry on. From then on, I put aside my attachment to ego and kept clarifying the truth in Chinatown.
During these past two years I’ve increasingly felt that the requirements for practitioners on the front-line truth clarification sites are very high. When there are no distractions in your mind, you can give out more materials. But the effect of saving people is greatly reduced when your thoughts are not pure or when you’re in a poor cultivation state. It may seem easy to hand out flyers on the street, but sometimes it feels like there is a lot of resistance and hardship. My back and leg pain lasted for about a year, and sometimes it felt like every cell in my body hurt.
When my body and mind were uncomfortable, when passers-by treated me badly, when no one took the materials, and even when the words and actions of other practitioners touched on my attachments, I really felt that it was awfully hard. However, I thought of what Master said,
“Back in my days of practice, more than once a teacher told me, “Nothing is truly unbearable or impossible.”” (The Ninth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
My roommate, who is also a practitioner, took me to Chinatown regardless, so I finally made it past that unstable period when my righteous thoughts were not strong enough.
After watching the movie: “Origin Bound,” I was really impressed with the way the practitioner handed out truth clarification materials with a smile on her face and an expression of kindness and purity. I immediately realized that this is what a practitioner should be like: Calm, compassionate, kind and beautiful. So, I decided to change my facial expression from a poker face to a smile... from keeping my mouth shut to greeting people. I know other practitioners can do this naturally, but for me, with my strong attachment to saving face, this was a significant breakthrough.
I kept reminding myself: All the people in the world were once Master’s relatives, and all living beings were arranged by Master to learn the truth and be saved. Gradually, I found that when I treated passers-by as friends and relatives I knew in previous lifetimes, I could smile at them. My words were friendly and not stiff. They also smiled back, and many Chinese people said, “Thank you,” politely even if they did not take the materials.
One Sunday, I went to a suburb with a large Chinese population to put up posters. An elderly man came up and asked for directions. Since I was not familiar with the area, I apologized and said I didn’t know. Another practitioner helped him. A week later, I came back to Chinatown and this same elderly man happened to come by. I smiled and handed him a newspaper. The man said, “I saw you last week in the suburbs.” I said, “You have a good memory!” He said cheerfully, “I recognized you when you smiled!”
From then on, I tried to keep smiling and maintained a good posture, hoping to pass on the beauty of Dafa to people.
Of course, sometimes it’s not easy to keep smiling when you are not feeling well, or when you are in the middle of overcoming xinxing tests. I remember once I handed the newspaper to a Chinese student, and she glared at me and scolded me for being stupid, which triggered a small wave of emotion in my heart. But I remembered what Master said.
Master said,
“Remember that a holy being would never let anything affect him or her emotionally; worldly things simply don’t occupy a holy person’s mind. They will always be pleasant and upbeat, however badly they might be treated. If you can genuinely be like that, then you have already achieved a basic level of divinity, known as arhat.” (The Ninth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
I realized that this was the state I should be in, and I immediately adjusted myself. I kept smiling, and handed a flyer to the next person.
This year, due to the psychological impact of the pandemic on the general public, it was harder than ever to collect signatures and distribute truth clarification materials in Chinatown. When the weather was bad and the streets were wet and cold, I saw other practitioners were even more positive than before and enthusiastically handed the petition boards to people walking past. I noticed many people were happy to sign and were supportive. This made me see the gap between myself and the veteran practitioners who have been practicing solidly for many years. The righteous thoughts they developed in their cultivation dissolved people's concerns and gave more people the chance to choose a bright future for themselves. Seeing this, I was even more motivated to practice diligently.
During the Hong Kong anti-extradition protests, I handed a copy of the special edition of The Epoch Times to a Chinese lady, and she happily said, “I am from Hong Kong, I will just take the newspaper in Hong Kong. Thank you.”
One old man was from northeast China. Although other practitioners helped him quit the CCP, when I tried to give him a newspaper, he didn’t accept it, saying he couldn’t read. I gave him a Minghui brochure instead, but he didn’t want that either. For the next three months, he came to Chinatown every week when I was there. Every time he would say something to me like, “You’re here promoting this again? You give people flyers but they don’t want them! You ask people to sign, but they do not sign. I don’t know how to read, yet you give me the newspaper...”
On and on he went. He seemed to say those words deliberately to annoy me, but I just replied to him kindly every time, “Yes, I’m here every weekend, and the leaflets and newspapers have truthful information, so people are willing to read them. Many people have signed the petition. I can read the newspaper to you, if you don’t know how to read.”
I didn’t feel a tiny bit of impatience or frustration with him the entire three months. Sometimes, even though I knew he was saying those things on purpose, I still greeted him kindly and responded politely.
One day, as soon as a Western man signed the petition, I turned around and saw this old man standing there. I smiled and greeted him again. He held out his hand, looked at the newspaper in my hand and said, “Give me a copy.” I asked him, “Haven’t you taken one before?” He said, “I never asked for it before.” I asked, “Do you want me to read it to you?” He seriously replied, “No need for you to read to me, I can read to you.” We both laughed. Strangely, he never came back after that.
I met Dr. Qin again a few days before the lockdown in Melbourne. I had seen him many times in the past two years, but he never wanted any truth clarification materials. This time he came with an old couple. When I handed the newspaper to the lady, she refused. Dr. Qin took the newspaper and said to me, “You can come back to my clinic to do part-time work. You can work whatever days you prefer to fit your schedule. If you can distribute the newspaper in my clinic, how good that would be!” I was very surprised and said, “Will you allow me to do that?” He said, “Of course! It’s good that you can accumulate virtue while working at the same time!” I was so happy that he, a Chinese boss, was able to say this, and I was so happy that he understood the truth.
I also realized how important it is for practitioners to do what needs to be done righteously without being distracted. Perseverance is the most powerful validation of the truth without words.
Some weekends, the boss at my cleaning job wanted me to temporarily help her with extra shifts, because weekend shifts are usually urgent for regular customers, and the pay rate is higher than usual. But I would always refuse her and told her I needed to volunteer in Chinatown. Although she looked a little disappointed after being refused a few times, it was good to see that my colleagues were very supportive of me and didn’t mind working overtime. When I left that job, my boss texted me and said, “In the past two years, I have learned how sincere you are about your faith. I will read Zhuan Falun carefully and learn why you and many others are so devoted to Falun Dafa.”
Although my boss might have thought less of me for refusing to work on weekends, it was wonderful that she eventually understood practitioners and gave herself a great opportunity to obtain Dafa in the future. Thank you, Master, for your compassionate blessing!
Throughout the past two years, although I have not done enough in so many aspects, I am grateful to cultivate myself. I’ve been able to remove many stubborn concepts and attachments with Master’s help. I am grateful to my fellow practitioners at the Chinatown truth clarification site as well, for their silent support and tolerance of my shortcomings. Seeing the joy of all the living beings knowing the truth of Dafa, seeing the transformation of Chinese people after they understand the truth, and seeing Westerners, Vietnamese and Chinese overseas students ask how they can attend the Nine Day Lecture classes and where to buy Dafa books, I feel so happy.
Through reading the teachings, I’ve identified so many hidden attachments—some which I overlooked but held as the ultimate truth in the past. I identified some of the attachments during conflicts with other practitioners. I would like to thank Master and fellow practitioners for helping me!
This is my cultivation experience sharing. I sincerely ask fellow practitioners to kindly correct me for anything wrong or inappropriate.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the 2021 Australia Online Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference)