Falun Dafa Minghui.org www.minghui.org PRINT

Cultivation Experience of Going on a Trip to the Far East of Russia

January 13, 2007 |   By a Falun Dafa practitioner from Kotlas, Russia

(Clearwisdom.net)

Three of us—all female practitioners from Kotlas Town in the Arkhangelsk Region—went to the Far East of Russia in July of this year to clarify the truth to Chinese people working on construction sites in Irkutsk and Chita, as well as to Chinese tourists in those areas.

This was our first experience of clarifying the truth to Chinese people and the first considerable and independent trip. At first everything was unclear. We did not know which city to go to, and we had financial difficulties. But all three of us were very sure of the necessity and importance of this trip. Every one of us understood the big responsibility for the mission we had to accomplish. I personally was hindered by the human habit of tending to follow a leader and did not have full confidence in my own abilities. I had to remove this particular attachment during our trip. In many situations I had to make my own decisions based on my own understandings.

From the very beginning I had to overcome uncultivated things, such as my attachments to comfort, sentimentality, my own opinion, a show off mentality, poor cooperation, fear of officials, attachment to results, etc. Each one of us understood that if we did not make an effort to eliminate these attachments, then they would serve as serious obstacles to our mission.

We were inspired and encouraged by the importance of the trip. All the way we felt Teacher’s support, protection, and compassion. On the train we met very interesting travelers with whom we discussed morality and righteous belief, and when we clarified the truth about the persecution to them, they understood and supported us in our wish to help stop the persecution in China. One of them offered to help and protect us when he found out the mission we were going to carry out was at the China-Russia border. We understood that the field of Dafa was having an effect. At the end of the trip that person took copies of the Nine Commentaries in Russian and Chinese from us, as he was going to China.

In Irkutsk we distributed The Epoch Times and the Nine Commentaries in Chinese in the markets and construction sites of the city. We noticed the Chinese people's different attitudes towards us. Most construction workers were open-minded and friendly Chinese who had come to Russia to make money. They worked very hard in difficult conditions to earn their living because back home they were deprived of the opportunity to work. Of course, we received many stares as a group like our was an usual sight there. More often, however, I saw excited faces, sincere interest, and even joy. When they were taking our newspapers, many of them started reading them right away. Remembering that they had had to leave their home country to make a living and that the Chinese Communist Party was destroying them, I gained a deep understanding of why it was necessary to save the Chinese people here in Russia and in Mainland China. Compassion emerged in my heart and helped me overcome my insecurity, fatigue, and the language barrier. Many Chinese people asked questions, which we could not answer, unfortunately, because we did not know the language.

While distributing newspapers in the markets, the attitude was different, and we understood that those people were badly poisoned, greatly influenced by the CCP and fear. Some of them refused to take it because they felt they weren't allowed to. Others made accusations that we were doing this for money, that we had been hired, that Falun Gong is bad, that we would be arrested and put in jail, etc.

From Irkutsk, together with the local practitioners, we went to the border with China to the City of Zabaikalsk. Practitioners from Irkutsk supplied us with various materials in both Russian and Chinese, about 4,000 copies in total. On the train we occupied the whole compartment. We felt very encouraged and realized our mission was to save people. We hung up a big poster with information about Falun Dafa and exercise pictures on our window. In the morning we visited each car on the train to distribute newspapers and the Nine Commentaries. There were many Chinese people on that train, and almost all of them took the newspapers, including the train personnel. There was a feeling that the train was like an arrow—carrying information about Falun Dafa through Russia.

In the train car we sent forth righteous thoughts, and at major stops we also did the exercises outside. Our exercise demonstration interested and piqued the curiosity of many Russians, and we were even photographed. It also caused agitation among Chinese people. Those that stood close to us waved their hands, while a few people intended to insult us. We could feel a very strong field protecting us and purifying the surrounding area. After we did the exercises, some people came up to us and asked questions about the practice. When they learned about the persecution in China and our mission, they expressed their support and wished us success. We were planning to spend one day in Zabaikalsk and then three days in Chita.

Apparently, our activity on the train had caused quite a stir, as when we arrived at Zabaikalsk, there were eight railroad police officers waiting for us on the platform. In the police station they asked us about the purpose of our visit. We told them about our practice, the persecution in China, and that we had come to spread the truth among Chinese people in the markets and at customs at the official border crossing. They listened to us very attentively and in a friendly manner and then asked us for copies of the information we had.

After learning of our mission, our taxi driver offered to join us in our activity. He drove us though to all markets and to the customs locations. At a big wholesale market our newspapers were very welcome, while at customs many were afraid to take them home. They would just read them and throw them out of the window of the minibus. We managed to leave some materials at the customs site. In the end, in four hours we covered almost the entire Chinese population of Zabaikalsk. At the exit of the last market police and security service agents were waiting for us again. They inquired persistently about the details of our trip. One of the security service people that was talking to us and studied our materials said that she actually understood very well the true reasons of the persecution in China—it was the different fundamental principles of Communist ideology and Falun Gong.

Unfortunately, in such a short time, we failed to completely dispel the fears of the law enforcement services, and we were asked to leave the city due to the strict restrictions in the border area.

The next morning we went to Chita. Having settled in a small hotel on the outskirts of the city, two of us went to the nearby Chinese construction sites, and the other two went to the city administration with The Epoch Times newspaper. We took out a pass and gave out a few newspapers, when security services people interfered with us again. As we understood from the words of one of them, their "warning" to us was due to the upcoming summit. For the remaining time of our stay, our every step was accompanied by a security person, up until we got on the train.

We understood that the evil created a serious obstacle for us because of our loopholes. Although on the surface I did not feel any fear while talking to the security service people and had an open and honest conversation with them, deep inside this fear was in me, manifesting in feeling insecure about my own abilities, my legal ignorance, my trust in officials, and my fear of punishment. All those fears were rooted in the Party ideology that I was brought up in.

I also understood that the key to our success in clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings was in firm belief in Teacher and Dafa. Any hesitation or doubts will not do. Although a righteous state and righteous thoughts come first, we cannot overlook legal knowledge. We are particles of the Great Law and should calmly and with confidence save people, rather than prove to the officials who we are and what we are doing. For that we should still be knowledgeable, not giving the evil any loopholes. As for the rest, we should comply to society's norms as much as possible.

I understand that if our righteous thoughts are very strong, then no evil can interfere with us. But there are too many uncultivated attachments in us, and each of us treats them differently. Many of them were revealed in me during coordination with other practitioners. My own attachments and everyone else's attachments that seemed not to affect our trip at first contributed to many loopholes that emerged in the process.

All the way through the trip I saw different feelings of mine manifest. I looked within and eliminated them. However, because of my selfishness, I failed to point these things out to a practitioner who had similar attachments. Now, three months later, I have come to understand that we cannot waste a minute, and that evil is always watching for an opportunity to create serious interference for our most active practitioners.

We are one body, and each cell in it is precious. We should cherish every practitioner and be compassionate to each other, which means that we should let go of all pursuits of ordinary people.

Going back to our trip, I wanted to mention that when we returned home, we were called in to the security service and police. They already had information about our trip to the Far East, although a distorted version. As a result, we had a lengthy discussion with our local law enforcement services, which gave us a chance to tell them everything about Dafa and the persecution, and leave them detailed materials. When we waved good-bye, we heard their words: "If you have problems in the future, let us know, we will help you."

Thank you, Master! Thank you everyone!