(Clearwisdom.net)
Greetings, respected Master!
Greetings, fellow practitioners!
In the past, I used to give Dafa information and VCDs in English to my business partners. However, English is not their native language. I only can visit some of them once a year. For new partners, I need to wait until business between us is solid enough. Only then can I plan to visit them. As for the potential partners who have contacted me, I always seek an opportunity to provide them with Dafa information in this business relationship.
When I start thinking about this, I try to keep some things in mind.
1. They are all new customers to me.
2. How should I connect the subject? From culture, events, friendship or
personal interest?
3. They can hardly understand English.
4. They do not quite know the Chinese culture.
Then I considered using taking opportunities to send them different information with a link to their local Dafa web site. It might be a better way for them.
There are some examples below of what I have tried.
1. Before our company's 2003 business conference in China, I sent out the following information
"Dear Partner:
I am just letting you know that I will not be in China this time because I am a Falun Gong practitioner. For the following reason, the company has advised me not to go China to avoid unexpected detention. The company can not guarantee my safety in China..."
Then I got some responses from my business partners.
From Israel:
I was astounded to hear about Falun Gong. I have to say that this is the first time I heard about this organization, and the way it is treated in China is so pitiful. I've looked at my local web site and found it very interesting. I wish you all the best."
From Norway:
I am very sorry to hear that you are not coming to China. In fact, I feel quite strange going there myself, now that I've learned some facts about China.
I understand your decision, and nothing is worth the chance of running into some of the things you have described below.
I hope we will have a chance to meet again at a later stage. Good luck with you future practice of Falun Gong!
From Holland:
If you visit Holland, you are safe, my friend.
2. I sent mail to some partners when there were local Dafa activities in their country. For example, in Ukraine:
I wrote: "Attached are some pictures from the web to share with you. I found the web site for Falun Gong in Ukraine. I found it very interesting since it was in your country. ..."
Here is some feedback I received.
"Thank you for your non-business information. It is very important to find even a little time for mind and body. You should believe that it is really difficult now in Ukraine, especially for those people who create their own business. I try to not forget about mind and body, but it is often not possible.
Thank you again."
"It is very interesting, but I didn't know anything about Falun Gong and had never heard about it before.
It looks like body exercises...."
3. Sometimes, I sent information with season greetings (such as New Year, Chinese New Year, etc.), I wrote: "I received your greeting card today. It is very nice card. Do you see Falun Gong in your country as shown at the following web site? I have been a practitioner for more than four years. It is very popular in Taiwan and is in 60 other countries now. It helps both my mind and body. I wish you happy holidays and a happy New Year."
Response from Russia:
I have never heard anything about Falun Gong. It could be very interesting for my friend. She has been practicing Qigong for several years. Thank you for the information.
From Israel:
I'm fine, thank you, and I hope to see you soon. I just learned that Falun Gong has presence in Israel, something that I wasn't aware of until now. Happy New Year.
Whenever I want to send out mail, my head fills with thoughts. I fear that they will feel strange, and I expect a great deal of feedback. When I am deciding which Dafa website to use, I often picked the official Dafa web site without considering which site would be suitable for them.
For each different person or group, I try to use a different content. However, I found that I tried to use content that I felt they should know rather than things that they could more easily understand.
Whenever I receive feedback, I am happy for myself first, not for them. These are some thoughts I became aware of during all of this, so as you can see, I found this to be an opportunity for me to remove my attachments.
I see that when ordinary people receive an e-mail from us, there are many things and efforts behind it, such as the practitioners who organize the activity, take photographs, write reports, translate them into different languages and publish them on websites. We could all do a small part every day. We might wonder what we can contribute to Dafa. Looking at all this mail, I really feel the power of one body.
I thought there must be many local practitioners in my partners' own countries. Surely they must have heard about Falun Dafa already. But from above feedback e-mail, I found that many people were hearing about Falun Dafa for the first time from me. I realize that people whom I know in different countries all have different opportunities to find out about Dafa. They may find out through people they know, even it they are far from them. So now, I am using every opportunity with my business partners, whether they do business with me or not.
In the past, it has been hard for me to explain the big picture regarding Falun Dafa to different people in different countries with different languages. Now, I find that their local country's Falun Dafa website can be a powerful key. It has really reached their hearts and opened their minds.
Thank you, everyone!
01/19/2004
