(Clearwisdom.net)
Because of the evil force's persecution, I've been going from place to place for over six months. How to clarify the truth to strangers and save those sentient beings are tests I face every day. To take these steps well, I should uphold unshakable righteous thoughts and abandon ordinary people's emotions and desires.
I am an artist, and I often think about how I can use my paintings to clarify the truth to the rural population. The farmers in the mountains aren't very well educated, and they have no idea what Falun Gong is all about, so their minds are filled with the Jiang regime's deceitful propaganda. I felt very sorry for them, so in July I traveled into the mountains to clarify the truth. I didn't bring any truth-clarification literature besides Zhuan Falun and Teacher's new articles, so I planned to use my personal cultivation experiences to expose the evil, clarify the truth and save sentient beings.
In September, I arrived at a village. People asked me what my profession was. I said I was a portrait artist who didn't want any money as long as I was provided a place to eat and rest, so a family took me in. Since it was autumn and everyone was busy with the harvest, I also helped them reap the corn, hoe the soil, cut rice stalks, and make meals. After six to seven days of work my hands remained un-blistered, my knees didn't ache, and I could easily carry a bag of corn that weighed over 100 kilograms faster than anyone else could. They were all astonished and wondered, "You don't seem like someone who's never worked the fields before, not to mention someone over fifty years old!" After a few days they accepted me as a good person. I told them I practiced Falun Gong, and that I used to have numerous diseases. They were in disbelief at first, but the facts that confirmed Dafa's miraculous power were presented right in front of them, so they couldn't deny it. Afterwards they asked me many questions, including the Tiananmen incident and other questions, each one of which I used my own trip to Tiananmen and other first-hand experiences to explain. They all sincerely listened when I read to them "Lunyu" from Zhuan Falun. Some of their relatives had also heard about Falun Gong, and I patiently answered all of their questions as well. After our conversations, I always remembered to have them read or recite "Lunyu."
The local residents included illiterate farmers, teachers, students, officials, and people with different mentalities and views towards Dafa. Those who used to oppose Dafa gradually sympathized with Dafa, and they even held Zhuan Falun in their hands while asking, "Why am I so inclined to keep reading this book?" During these few months, I had a deeper understanding of Teacher's words, "Clarifying the truth isn't a simple matter -- it's not only a matter of exposing the evil. When we clarify the truth we are saving sentient beings..." (Lecture on the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Conference) It was at this time I realized that Dafa practitioners must be good people who always consider others and who constantly embody Dafa's mighty virtue under any circumstances and environments. When you genuinely consider others first, and when you're truly saving others (and not just going through the motions), people's true nature will emerge and be moved.
Once I arrived in a region in the mountains without any money on me. It was snowing severely, and I didn't have a winter coat. My shoes were wet, my socks were torn, and I was still 300 li (approx. 90 miles) away from the nearest town. I thought, "I'll arrive within two days without any food or drink." With this thought, immediately my entire body felt light, and someone seemed to push me as I walked. After walking 30 li, I felt uneasy in my heart. I came out in order to validate Dafa and clarify the truth, how could it have turned into just walking? When I wanted to go clarify the truth, voices in my mind tried to restrain me. I recognized that this was the evil interfering with me, and at once I rectified my thoughts.
The snow came down harder and harder, and I was bitterly cold. When I saw a bunch of young auto mechanics, my first thought was to clarify the truth to them. I approached them, but they weren't particularly kind and said, "If [your portraits] are free, then we'd let you draw." I didn't mind at all and created a few portrait sketches. The manager also came over to watch me sketch, and they couldn't believe that I charged no fees. Such a situation where a penniless person drew portraits for free was unheard of in everyday society. I only wanted to save them, and didn't want any food or harbor any notions of receiving money. My mind stood firm, and the manager was deeply moved. The young workers then got together and donated a dozen Yuan for my bus ticket, and the manager insisted on giving me 30 Yuan for emergency money in case I needed it. I never expected this kind of sudden turnaround in their attitudes, and I accepted only enough money for the bus ticket. Later when I delivered to them truth-clarifying materials, I returned the money. Through this incident I truly realized, "...the light of truth they emanate makes the unrighteous elements in all beings' thoughts disintegrate." (Also in a Few Words).
Like this, I walked through the mountains for three months and encountered people of different frames of mind who asked all sorts of questions. Many notions I had before as well as some well hidden attachments surfaced during this truth-clarification experience. How we normally study the Fa and how much of Teacher's Fa principles we comprehend are continuously being tested through clarifying the truth.
