(Minghui.org) I moved to a new apartment recently and noticed there was a Chinese restaurant close by. The owner of the restaurant was in her sixties and I thought that I should clarify the truth and help her quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its youth organizations. I knew it was no coincidence that we met.
When I entered the restaurant and heard her speak in a Northeastern dialect like mine, I felt very close to her. We started to chat and I debated whether to tell her about Falun Dafa. In the end, I thought that the timing wasn’t right and that I would bring some materials to clarify the truth to her.
I procrastinated for many weeks and looked for excuses. For example, I would tell myself to come back the next day if I saw the Chinese restaurant was closed after I got off of work. Or I would tell myself that I was too tired from work and that it wasn’t an effective way to save people. When I noticed the restaurant was temporarily closed I was glad that I was able to find another excuse for myself. Other times I told myself that I should practice the exercises and study the Fa before talking to her. It was not until one night when I saw how exhausted and strained the elderly lady looked did I realize that it was time for her to understand the true meaning of life and to know the truth about Falun Dafa before it was too late.
Overcoming My Attachments
The next morning on my way to work, I thought about how I should clarify the truth to the elderly lady. I suddenly realized that I switched my purse—the purse with all the truth-clarification materials was left at home. Just then something miraculous happened—I saw another practitioner who was on her way to clarify the truth so I asked her for some truth-clarification materials. I was extremely grateful to Master Li (Dafa’s founder) for arranging everything for me.
While exiting the bus station that night, I started to get very nervous. I began to look for excuses to not walk past the Chinese restaurant. I realized that I needed to look inward instead of just blindly following the standards of Dafa and never putting them into practice.
I asked myself: “I have many experiences in clarifying the truth. Why am I avoiding this? What attachment do I have that’s hindering me from moving forward? It’s the attachment of fear. What am I afraid of?” I realized that I was afraid that she would refuse to quit the CCP and its youth organizations. So if I was truly afraid that a sentient being wouldn’t be saved, shouldn’t I be even more determined to clarify the truth? We should never slow our footsteps in saving sentient beings.
The reason I was afraid was that I have a loophole in my cultivation. I was afraid of feeling defeated and depressed. If I were to successfully help her quit the Party, then I’d feel happy and my self-esteem would also rise. Wasn’t this a manifestation of showing off my capabilities? Wasn’t this being “selfish”?
I often quarreled with other practitioners and wanted to save face. Even if I knew I was at fault, I still wanted to maintain a dignified and upright manner in front of other people. This attachment hindered me in doing the three things. By studying the Fa, I know that my human emotions are nothing.
Master said,
“ In this world a person merely goes about enjoying the course of life. I have said in the past that people are pitiable, for all that a person is doing in this world is merely enjoying the feelings and sensations that are brought to him by living the course of his life. My putting it this way is quite accurate. And why do I say so? Though people think that they are in charge of themselves, deciding what they want to do, the truth is, they are merely pursuing certain feelings as a result of postnatally formed habits and attachments that stem from their likings. And that’s all it is. Whereas what’s really at work, leading that person to want to do something, are factors behind the scenes, which are utilizing the person’s habits, attachments, notions, desires, and such things. Such is the true state of the human body, with the person merely enjoying those feelings and sensations that come about as a result of the life process: when you are given something sweet, you experience the sweetness; given something bitter, you feel the bitterness; given something spicy, you taste the spiciness; you feel awful when suffering befalls you; and you know joy when you are blessed with happiness.” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XI)
When I identified my attachments, I sent very strong righteous thoughts and asked Master for help. I said, “I am a Dafa disciple, I do not want to have an attachment to fear. I do not want to be selfish and I do not want to have negative substances and thoughts. I need to save sentient beings and accomplish what Master asks us to do. I am merely moving my lips and it is Master actually saving sentient beings. Please help me, Master!" I felt my righteous thoughts were very strong at that moment, and my only thought was to save the elderly lady.
I continued sending righteous thoughts until I arrived at the Chinese restaurant. I ordered a bowl of noodles and started chatting with her. To my surprise, the lady said, “China is not a free country. We don’t have freedom of speech...” I smiled and realized that she was waiting for me. I helped her quit the CCP and its youth organizations with a pseudonym and gave her a truth-clarification flyer.
I was truly happy from the bottom of my heart knowing that she was saved. I was very grateful that Master kept giving me chances. I remembered what Master said.
Master said,
“Clarifying the facts and saving sentient beings are what you need to accomplish. There is nothing else for you to accomplish. There is nothing else in this world that you need to accomplish.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2015 New York Fa Conference”)
We have many opportunities to save sentient beings and I recalled a conversation I had with another practitioner a while ago. “We can save sentient beings almost anywhere and at any time. If we meet a Chinese person at a supermarket, shouldn’t we clarify the truth to him? I started to reflect on myself: I always felt doing Dafa projects and attending Dafa events was saving sentient beings. While taking trains, or buses, or even queuing up in line at a grocery store, I never thought about clarifying the truth to people. Perhaps I wanted to save face or be polite and not bother anyone. However, these excuses resulted in me missing many opportunities to save sentient beings.
When I thought about Falun Dafa practitioners in China who clarify the truth under great pressure, I felt deeply remorseful.
Regardless of where I am in this world, I need to be worthy of being called a Dafa disciple by clarifying the truth. In order to achieve this state, I needed to study the Fa more and strengthen my righteous thoughts. In addition, I also need to put Master’s teachings into practice and cultivate solidly. Only then can I get rid of my human notions and have an optimum state in saving sentient beings.
That night, I had a vivid dream. I wasn’t sure if I was in Japan or in China. I only knew that my surroundings were not safe. When I walked up to an intersection, a lady ran up to me. She looked very fierce. She stood in front of me, pointed at me, and yelled, “You are a Falun Dafa practitioner! I will call the police right now and they’ll arrest you!”
I was very scared but I managed to gather all my energy and cry out: “Falun Dafa is good! Falun Dafa is good!” At this moment, a magnificent scene appeared. A large Falun Dafa parade was marching towards me and practitioners wearing yellow clothing held up a huge poster board. A marching band also started to come from behind me and I thought it might be the Tian Guo Marching Band. The band members were wearing beautiful blue ethnic costumes. Parades were coming from all four directions. They gathered at the intersection and it seemed like they just finished marching from all regions of the world.
I saw the fierce lady again, but this time she changed from being in rage to being surprised and laughing. She was laughing with happiness. I was shocked by this sudden change.
I woke up from my dream and knew that Master was encouraging me. Master helped me eliminate the bad substances. I was so touched—no matter how evil a person maybe be, under strong righteous thoughts, those negative substances and evil factors are disintegrated and their good side surfaces.
I once read another practitioner’s experience-sharing article. That practitioner was sending righteous thoughts and he saw in other dimensions that Master had already arranged and placed all the truth-clarification flyers for practitioners in front of their doorsteps. Master is patiently waiting for us to use them. What reason do we still have to not go out and clarify the truth? We should not let the attachment to comfort hinder us from cultivating diligently. We shouldn’t make Master wait for us.
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