(Clearwisdom.net)
Greetings, Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I emigrated to Canada a few years ago and I have been living with my children, helping to take care of their kids and doing housework. The only chance for me to participate in group study of the Fa and take part in Fa validation activities is on the weekends. I really wished I could have my own place and the freedom to choose to do things that assist Master in rectifying the Fa. Last October, my wish finally came true. With Master's strengthening, it only took me 52 days to apply and get a senior's apartment. With this apartment, I now have many chances to clarify the truth about the goodness of Dafa to the Chinese community.
There are close to 30 Chinese people living in my apartment building. They are from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, with cultural and educational backgrounds that vary greatly. Some have a Bachelor's degree, some are illiterate, some believe in Buddhism, some are devoted to Christianity, and others only believe in themselves. My first step was to get along with everyone. After a person accepted me, I would then "clarify the truth" step by step according to their various situations.
I noticed that my neighbors have one thing in common--they all want to be healthy. Unfortunately, most of them are not in good shape. When I get to know what their problems are, I always offer to help in some way. I tell them, "I'm very healthy, let me do it for you." People ask why I look younger and am so healthy, and they are curious about how I keep so fit. I use this chance to tell them how I benefited both physically and mentally from practicing Falun Gong, how I became easygoing and open, and that with a positive attitude I will stay young. I also tell them that Jiang Zemin and his gang are not open, but rather are very jealous. They are envious of Master Li having so many disciples, and that the number of Dafa disciples even exceeds the number of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members. That's what started the overall persecution. And then I tell people that the CCP even takes organs from Falun Gong practitioners and sells them for exorbitant amounts.
A friend of mine, who was over 60 and an engineer, was abducted from her home, taken to a brainwashing center, and beaten to death just because she wouldn't give up cultivation practice. Because I practice Falun Gong I haven't been able to return to my home in China for the last seven years. This information gives people a basic understanding about Falun Gong. When people hear the facts, they are sympathetic and show understanding towards Falun Gong practitioners. People often say that the CCP is very evil and that it is better not to go to China now--just go home after the CCP collapses.
Previously, I thought that taking part in community activities was a waste of time. Now, I realize that it is a good chance for me to meet others in the community, and I try to show up more frequently to birthday parties, or participate in doing crafts, playing games to keep fit, and to attending daily English lessons, etc.
When I am with ordinary people, I try very hard to meet the Dafa requirements set forth for practitioners, and to think and act in accordance with Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. I try to be especially helpful to those older people who find it difficult to walk or move around. Each time there is a birthday party, I make delicate lotus flower bookmarks with "Falun Dafa is good" on them. Also, fellow practitioners regularly deliver Chinese and English Epoch Times to the residents of the building. It helps people to learn more about Dafa. When we introduced the NTDTV New Year Spectacular, people accepted it without any difficulty. Some watched the gala this year, and their responses were positive. People said they want to watch it again next year. One woman missed the gala because she had returned to China for a family reunion. When she learned how the others felt after seeing the gala she felt very regretful and said she must watch it next year.
I still remember the first time I volunteered to help a woman who is over 90. I lined up to get a box of rice and three different soft drinks for her. But by the time I got to the front of the line there were only two kinds of soft drinks left. The old lady became quite rude to me. She nagged and criticized me all the way back to her apartment, and even refused to listen to my explanation. I asked the staff working for this community to explain to her what had happened and to give her another soda to make up for what I couldn't get for her.
Once, when I was teaching the older ladies to make paper lotus flowers, I showed them a picture album of the Divine Performing Arts. They were very excited and appreciated the beauty of the performances. A person in charge of the community center then came over. I introduced the New Tang Dynasty Global Chinese New Year's Spectacular to her. She responded coldly, "I've got a friend who practices Falun Gong, I know about everything, but I am simply not interested at all." Then she looked at me in a strange way, "I did not expect you to become a Falun Gong practitioner." I did not care for her rude attitude. While sending forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil factors behind her, I smiled and said, "Were it not for Falun Gong, I would not be standing before you as energetic as I am right now." She left without replying, but her impact remained as the other ladies got up and followed her and left me standing there. So I said loudly, "Please don't go. We were having a great time, weren't we? You were all saying the album and lotus flowers are terrific, weren't you? So why all of a sudden have you lost interest? See? These lotus flowers are glittering. By putting them in your homes, no evil dares to enter the room, it can protect you." After I spoke, they all returned, each of them with a small lotus flower in her hand, and chanted the words on the bookmark - "Falun Dafa is good." It seemed a great scene, and I felt truly happy for them.
Some people had a deep misunderstanding about us, and they thought that Falun Gong had become political. They presumed that we are paid to distribute truth clarifying materials, otherwise we wouldn't be so attentive and diligent. After they learned the facts, they were no longer deceived by evil propaganda. If I am engaged in Dafa activities and can't participate in the community activities, they mention that practitioners are kind-hearted, always think of others first, and so we are kept busy every day, and this is why we couldn't join them. If there is anything being given to us, they will voluntarily help me to get my share. Their negative attitudes towards Falun Gong have been totally changed.
I am usually very careful to maintain relationships with neighbors and friends. I often send greetings to them, call on them, and help the older people solve urgent problems, like shopping for them when they run out of something. I also share the food I make, including porridge, meals, cookies, and cakes, just so they will know that Dafa disciples are not like the descriptions they read in the CCP propaganda, but rather friends who are trustworthy and easy going. During my contact with people, I think that it is important to always regard myself as a true cultivator, cherish the great ambition in my heart while being concerned with details, treating people courteously, acting strongly and righteously, and being well-disciplined. It will be easier for people to accept that Dafa is good if we maintain a nice and patient attitude, and if we clarify the truth naturally and don't brag or go to extremes. When I act righteously and gain the approval of others, then I clear up their resistance and they accept the facts without any difficulty.
The activity sponsor who lives in our apartment building is a Christian. She had some negative opinions about Dafa due to her own beliefs, which was evident in her words. But I never fussed or argued with her. Instead, I sent forth righteous thoughts to dissolve all evil elements behind her, and tried to take part in the activities that she organizes. I did well what I was supposed to do. Within a few months of getting along with her, her attitude changed, and she became friendlier. She is willing to let me do more volunteer work during the activities she provides.
There are also older Chinese people who settled in Canada after they retired from mainland China. With decades of being deceived and poisoned by the evil culture of the CCP, they still hold misconceptions about Dafa and refuse to read The Epoch Times, believing it is too political. They are even afraid that by associating with us they will be put on a blacklist and be implicated. With these people, we need to be more patient and take time and effort to clarify the facts about Dafa thoroughly and wisely so that the evil spirits will no longer control them and they can quickly return to normal human ways of thinking.
The other way for me to meet Chinese people is to participate in the English classes in the community center. When fellow practitioners send The Epoch Times to everyone in the class, the papers provide topics for us to chat about, and I get to learn about people's motives and thinking, so that I can talk with them according to each person's situation. If I meet people with a relatively higher education level I tell them my own story in cultivation practice to eliminate their notions and misconceptions about Dafa. I say, "Regarding age, I am over 60, regarding education, I have a university degree, regarding the title of a technical position, I worked as an advanced engineer, regarding practicing qigong, I tried several other kinds but picked Falun Dafa, and this is the true pursuit of my life. You know, long ago my understanding of the universe, qigong, and everything else was like that of an elementary school student. I longed to go to high school and even university to receive a higher education, but there was no way for me to do it. But when I read the book Zhuan Falun (Turning the Law Wheel), I felt so happy from the bottom of my heart, for I had finally found the greatest book that could give me "university" level information. Once, after talking with a lady on the phone for an hour and a half, a lot of her doubts and suspicions were gone. And even when her dinner was ready she was unwilling to hang up the phone. She said, "Your words are more enlightening than anything I have read in ten years."
Our English tutor is a westerner, and a fellow practitioner delivers the English Epoch Times newspaper to her. She thinks highly of Falun Dafa and often uses articles in the paper to teach our class, and to help us to learn new words. I never miss a chance to promote Dafa. Once the instructor asked, "What kind of sports do you Chinese enjoy?" A woman beside me answered, "Taichi qigong" and then the tutor asked her to do some of the moves in front of the class. I thought it was a great chance for me to present Dafa to class, so after the woman finished demonstrating Taichi, I went to the front myself and told everyone that I enjoy practicing Falun Dafa. Then I demonstrated the first, third, and fourth exercises. Our tutor showed great interest when I performed the first exercise and she followed along and tried to do it with me. When the other students saw the tutor was doing it with me, they took off their coats and followed along too. I used my broken English to tell the class about the benefits I experienced from practicing the exercises. When I failed to fully express myself with words, I drew on the blackboard. I told the class about being thrown off my son-in-law's motorcycle and landing in a muddy pit. I landed so hard that the wind was knocked out of me and I couldn't speak. My son-in-law was very scared, and asked a stranger to drive me to the hospital. I could not speak, so I gestured to him, trying to tell him that I was OK. I am a practitioner, and Master has told us very clearly in the Fa what I should do when encountering something like this. This accident occurred to take away my life. But I have Master and Dafa protecting me, so what was there to worry about or be afraid of? Indeed I felt so thankful towards Master. A few minutes later, the air returned to one lung, but the other lung was still blocked. However, I could speak even though I felt suffocated and was in pain. I suffered through a month of pain before I fully recovered. During that time, I didn't miss a single day's work. Using a combination of gesturing, drawing, and speaking, even students from other countries understood what I was saying. They said, "Good!" Ultimately, this half hour of the class turned into a class about Falun Dafa. From then on, our tutor never said my name, she just called me, "Falun Gong."
I wanted to take part in the Los Angeles Fa conference held last March, so I had to ask my tutor for permission to miss the class. But I did not know how to say it in English. I held a globe in one hand and told my tutor that practitioners from every part of the world, except those in China, would attend the conference. My tutor responded "China is persecuting you (practitioners). Please do not return to China, or you will be killed." The tutor also taught me some words, including "meeting/conference." When I came back she asked for information about the conference. I told her that there were a lot of people, parading, quitting (the CCP), and meeting each other. She was very pleased. Later, when I asked for permission to miss a class so I could participate in the Dafa activities in Ottawa, she said, "Falun Dafa is good."
Each time a newcomer joins our class, the instructor asks us to talk about the things we like. Each time I tell the class, "I like Falun Dafa! Falun Dafa is good!"
Chatting with people who are visiting with relatives in Canada is also a good way to tell people the facts about the persecution. Once, during our "conversational English" class, which is held weekly, the tutor's mother showed up. So I talked to her mom actively and told her about the great tide of Fa-rectification in Canada, and about how the book, Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party has spread through China, and of the tidal wave of people quitting the CCP and its affiliated organizations. Being a person with a predestined relationship, she accepted everything that I said. She followed me to my room and quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations using the website. She also quit for her dead husband. I then let her read the "Stories of Cultivation" book. After reading it, she wanted to read Zhuan Falun, for she knew that the book had led Li Qihua, former president of 301 Hospital, to start cultivation practice. She is reading it for the third time, and sometimes participates in our group study. While her daughter does not allow her to read the book, in fear of her being persecuted when she goes back to China, the older lady said, "I do not fear the wicked CCP," and she carries on with her reading. I have also lent Essentials for Further Advancement and Hong Yin to her. She is very happy that she had the chance to read those books. She is now helping me to distribute the English Epoch Times in her apartment building. When I expressed my gratitude, she replied that it was something that she should do. I felt so happy for another life awakening.
The mission of Dafa disciples during the Fa-rectification period is to assist Master in Fa-rectification and to save sentient beings. As a veteran disciple, I feel ashamed and regretful that we are still far below Master's requirements. The three things (to study the Fa, send forth righteous thoughts, and to clarify the truth) are not always performed well enough, and there are still a lot of people in delusion who are desperately waiting for us to save them. We still have a long way to go. I have to study the Fa more diligently and study it well, and I will do what Master requires, as stated in the article "Rationality:"
"Validate the Fa with rationality, clarify the truth with wisdom, spread the Fa and save people with mercy--this is establishing the mighty virtue of an Enlightened Being." ("Rationality" from Essentials for Further Advancement II)
If there is anything not righteous, please be kind enough to point it out for me.
Thank you all!
