(Clearwisdom.net) On March 9, 2006, when I heard about the CCP's organ harvesting from living Falun Dafa practitioners, I was really shocked and saddened. Later I heard that practitioners in the South had started organizing car tours to clarify the truth and had covered seven states. I felt that it was my immediate responsibility to ask the media in every city and town to spread this shocking news to every corner of the United States to awaken people's consciousness and give them an opportunity to position themselves righteously.
Locally, we didn't have enough resources, so organizing car tours to clarify the truth was not easy. Fortunately, with fellow practitioners' help and encouragement, we were able to go to 16 cities in four days. I would like to share my experience of how this activity helped me advance on my cultivation path.
Clarifying the Truth and Eliminating Human Notions
Attachment to Fear
I'm not an outgoing person. Two years ago, when I first went to Washington, D.C. to clarify the truth, I was very nervous. Excuses always followed the fear. When one has fear, one likes to make excuses. I often thought: "When my English improves, I won't be this hesitant." In fact, not being proficient in English doesn't prevent one from clarifying the truth. Even a few Western practitioners who were very good at English still weren't able to make good progress in clarifying the truth. I finally made up my mind and went to D.C. and clarified the truth for a week. I was able to overcome my fear of talking to strangers that way. The attachment to fear is like wearing shackles on your feet. They restrict you from moving forward.
Organizing a car tour to clarify the truth is a huge task. I started being afraid again. Then I went to other states and worked with fellow practitioners there on car tours for seven days. My fear of not knowing how to do it disappeared gradually.
Attachment to Depending on Others
We wanted to donate copies of Zhuan Falun and the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party to libraries along the way. Since I was busy, I gave the task of buying the books to another practitioner. I specifically asked her to order by phone. After two weeks, I checked with her. She said she was too busy and hadn't called yet. When I said I would do it instead, the books were out of stock already. This experience made me realize my attachment to depending on others.
Competitive Mentality
From working with practitioners in other states, I've gained experiences. Sometimes I thought we could do it better. Otherwise, we wouldn't look good. Actually, if we just focus on saving sentient beings and don't think too much of anything else and walk every step steadily, the effect will naturally be great. Once our thoughts were corrected, the effect of the four-day truth clarification effort was better than we had expected. This is "gaining without pursuit."
Attachment to Zealotry
In one city we were able to connect with every media outlet--newspaper, radio station, and TV station. I was very happy. After being reminded by fellow practitioners, this attachment to zealotry was eliminated.
Attachment to Reputation and Fame
Every evening while I was on the tour, I called a practitioner to inform her of our progress so she could pass the message on to other practitioners. On the phone, other than thanking us for our effort, she also complimented me. I immediately noticed my feelings towards compliments. The allure of compliments is significant. I started examining my own attachment to reputation and fame and not letting it affect me. After paying attention to it a couple of times, my heart became calm again.
Laziness
When we were collecting the materials, I didn't try my best to do it. I thought the work could wait and also underestimated the time and effort needed. The work I thought would only take one day took me four days to finish. I remember when I was growing up, in order to get an education, I developed perseverance, determination, and enthusiasm. But after having lived in the better living conditions of the United States for a long time, my perseverance and determination gradually faded away. A comfortable environment and life are hotbeds of laziness.
The difficulties of truth clarification on a car tour alarmed me. The faster the Fa-rectification advances, the less the time we have. I should take full advantage of the time we have and focus on the work I should be doing.
Righteous Thoughts and Righteous Actions
Having righteous thoughts are very important, especially when validating Dafa. During the car tour, the practitioners in the back seats often sent forth righteous thoughts. One afternoon, the reporters for a local newspaper had all gone out. The receptionist told us, "If you can come back before 5 p.m., I can ask the reporters to wait here for you." I said okay. As we were returning, I realized that it was impossible for us to get by 5 p.m, so I made a phone call to the reporter and told him our situation. I said that, although we truly hoped they could write a report on our story, we didn't want to keep them waiting in the office. I said that we might be able to get to their office by 6 p.m. He thought about it and said, "I usually stay in my office and continue to work. I will wait for you. Come on over!" The report turned out to be very successful.
The first morning in the first city, a lady at the city hall said, "After a city council member listened to the report about you on a radio station, he came to a clear understanding of the CCP's organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners. He told us all about it during the city council meeting last night. He insisted on recognizing you. Unfortunately other city council members didn't know much about this matter, so it didn't go through." She encouraged us, "Now we all know the truth. Next year, when you come again, you will succeed." Isn't letting everybody know the truth the purpose of why we were conducting the tour?
While I was collecting materials and contacting the media, we were also trying to sell our house. Whenever there were showings in my house, I had to leave. I was thinking of ways to get my work done. At last I thought: "Nothing is more important than clarifying the truth. This work has to be done during weekdays when everybody is working, so I have to continue to finish the work." Surprisingly, during the following two weeks, nobody came to visit my house on the weekdays. Only on the weekends did people come. Therefore, all the material collection and media work was done smoothly and successfully. The sale of my house was not delayed either.
In the past three years, I've participated in many other activities validating Falun Dafa, but the car tour deeply touched me. In short three short weeks, I could clearly see many of my human notions. What I was able to eliminate has been eliminated. The ones I haven't been able to eliminate, I've been looking at them so they wouldn't show up easily.
A challenging task creates more cultivation opportunities for us. It made us mature gradually so that we could learn to cooperate with each other better and eliminate misunderstandings and distance. Eventually, we were be able to understand and communicate well with each other.
The above is a little bit of my understanding, and I hope that my fellow practitioners will point out anything that is improper.
