(Clearwisdom.net) After I began practicing Falun Dafa, I cultivated by myself for a long time. My cultivation practice is like a winding stream, often intertwined with some difficulties, but with Master's mercy and fellow practitioners' help, I was able to make it to today and walk in the torrent of the Fa-rectification.
I. Clarifying the truth with a peaceful mindset to all kinds of people
I began to participate in projects aiming to clarify the truth to the influential sector of society in 2003. At that time, I was only a student and had no specific experience in working in political circles. Initially, I was assigned to clarify the truth to those government officials that nobody else was taking care of. I tried to visit a few representatives in the suburbs, but felt that my efforts did not have much effect and became disheartened. Then I noticed that there was an active social network within each political party, and I began to clarify the truth to each person in that the social group instead of just aiming to reach the politicians. I understood that we should not differentiate between who should be saved and thought that maybe the people within the network would influence each other and indirectly spread the truth. I noticed that these social networks were quite effective, and people there were easy to get in touch with and become friends with. Some of these people held even more importance within the social network than some of the politicians.
At first, I felt very confused about how we could effectively clarify the truth to these influential Westerners and reach more people. Since they are part of an elected government, to some extent, their attitude represents that of the governed people, and therefore, they have a great impact on mainstream society. So, we have to use different tactics when clarifying the truth to them, as opposed to when we do so to the people on the street. We must clarify the truth to them in depth and establish and maintain long-term contacts with them over time.
I noticed that many people in this social group were changing from the impact of learning the truth. In fact, it is Dafa's power and our compassion that has won respect from these people, not our skills. Fellow practitioners' unconditional cooperation and support also made me feel that we could do anything we set our minds to with regard to saving sentient beings.
My progress in clarifying the truth within the social network improved little by little. Initially, after getting to know more and more people, I began to classify them: this person was important or that person was not important, this person's attitude was very good or that person's was not that good, maybe I should not talk to that person any more, my time is wasted when I talk to this person because I have to choose some ordinary people's topics when talking with him, etc. I was also often fascinated by the superficial social phenomenon. Once, after repeatedly contacting one person with no results, I made up my mind to reduce my contacts with him, but then suddenly this person was appointed to a very important position and played a good role for us. I then realized that I did not truly save this person with compassion. It was Master's hint to me to put saving people in first place.
Later, I tried my best to keep in regular contact with these people, just like friends would do, whether they could help us spread the truth or not, and I would periodically extend my greetings to them, introduce the contacts I made to each other and get introduced to their friends. As I made more contacts, I eventually became part of their social group. At that point, I was able to gather more pertinent information, which greatly facilitated further truth-clarification within the government. Meanwhile, since I developed a broad range of contacts, I was able to handle things easily. I felt that Master was helping me to use these contacts to save more people in that social group.
II. Getting rid of the attachment to fame while clarifying the truth
After clarifying the truth to the influential sector of the society for a while, I felt that what I was doing was very important. Looking at other fellow practitioners who were trying to clarify the truth to the Chinese people, I thought that nobody knew what each of them did even when they might have persuaded 10,000 people to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. However, when I invited some important individuals to our truth-clarification events, media immediately reported on that. Although I did not say anything, I felt very proud of what I did deep in my heart. During some events, while other people were holding banners, I ran back and forth wearing a suit.
Sometimes I became complacent when I was able to invite congressmen or other very important people. I could feel the expansion of my personal fame. I often compared myself with fellow practitioners in other regions and felt that I was capable of doing so much. However, as I got in touch with more and more people, I found myself to be very small.
Once, a secretary who wrote a congratulatory letter for us said that when he worked in the local government, every time he walked past the Chinese Embassy, he would see practitioners there--whether it was winter or summer, very dark at night or during the holidays, our practitioners were there. He said he was very touched, and therefore, he would try his best to help us. On other occasions, people would tell me: "I decided to help you because I have been observing you guys (practitioners) for the past few years. I realized that you are very good people. I admire you very much because you could greatly change people's impression toward your group." One such person also influenced many of her friends to help us. These so-called accomplishments might make others feel that I had done a lot, but I understood that they contained all of our fellow practitioners' efforts and hard work.
A congressman who is in charge of agriculture told me: "I should try my best to get to know you more. This is the first time you guys have sat down with me and talked to me about Falun Gong." I could sense his respect and admiration toward Falun Dafa. Another congressman told me when we first met and before I even said anything: "I already talked to you guys several times on the street. We must do something for you."
During these years, more and more people are waiting for us to save them. The most difficult time of clarifying the truth has passed. We now have more and more cooperation among different regions. I feel that my experience of clarifying the truth to the mainstream society has helped me to get rid of my attachments.
III. Shen Yun Performing Arts shows open more opportunities to clarify the truth
After clarifying the truth to government officials for a long time, I noticed that they are only a small social group in society at large. There are so many other social groups. The Shen Yun Performing Arts shows have elevated our truth-clarification efforts to a very high level, as all social groups are now open to us. We began to invite VIPs from various social groups. Those VIPs who we had never thought of before would suddenly call us and tell us that they wanted to watch the Shen Yun Performing Arts show. This has had a huge impact on mainstream society.
Sometimes if there was a VIP coming, I would immediately have thoughts of: if this person does well, our news report will be very nice, or I had not seen such people in other regions, etc. In this case, the result was very bad. Some people even canceled their earlier arrangements, saying that they could not come, some also experienced interference, and sometimes the interview did not go well. This process reminded me repeatedly to let go of my attachments and put saving people as the first priority.
We realized that not only should we invite these people to come and watch Shen Yun Performing Arts, we should also try our best to get to know them. Therefore, just as we did when clarifying the truth to politicians, we began to get in touch with people from these various social groups, establishing long-term contacts and clarifying the truth to them. At first, we encountered some difficulties, and we hardly knew anybody. I was often bothered by people's arrogance and my own non-professionalism. Every time I came across a new face, I would force myself to clarify the facts to them, telling myself that I should open my mouth and talk. With Master's help, people came to me one after another, and slowly I got to know more and more people within these social groups. With Master's help, we compiled a network of people to clarify the facts to. Other fellow practitioners also shared their VIP contacts with us, so that we could save more sentient beings on a larger scale.
IV. Improving professional appearance while interacting with society
Compared to some of my classmates, my spoken English was just so-so. My wife often laughed at my strange pronunciations. She also found it unbelievable that someone like me, with such poor English, could successfully clarify the truth to mainstream society. Looking back, it was actually a manifestation of the power of Dafa. I only had to have a pure mind and not let myself be interfered with.
While growing up in China, I noticed that some people would spend a lot of time and money on dressing smartly and coming up with a perfect hairstyle, and in the western society as well, people around me were very particular about that. However, I was a very busy person, how could I take the time to worry about those things? Occasionally, I met some people from mainland China who did not pay attention to what they wore. I often saw that they tended to do things that did not follow social norms and did not receive any respect from others as a result. I began to think about the deeper meaning of this and realized that in an orthodox human culture, a person is noble being and his (or her) words and appearance should reflect that. People often judge others' professional quality and conduct based on appearance. Therefore, I realized that I should not allow my appearance to interfere with my efforts to save sentient beings and began to take more care with dressing properly.
At the beginning, I found it difficult to clarify the truth when frequently getting in touch with people at social events. Sometimes I felt uncomfortable when I was new in various social groups. Therefore, I would ask them about various topics, as people like to talk about things that interest them. I listened more and spoke less, and our conversations were conducted in a very pleasant atmosphere. Then I started to learn some local history and information about various events, and this helped me to improve my standing in the community. Slowly, many people were interested in listening to my views. I also hired an English teacher to improve my language skills. As my social skills improved, I realized that it became easier for people, especially some Chinese people, to accept the truth and respect me. I was also able to resolve various complicated situations more smoothly.
V. Letting go of attachments and using the Fa's power to save people
As I began to take on more projects, I began to notice more attachments. I had some objection toward fellow practitioners' methods of doing things. Sometimes I even had some very bad thoughts, which then formed a field. Although I was thinking that way in my heart, I was very good at covering it up when I was working with fellow practitioners. However, when I was at home with my wife, I exposed my way of thinking in a very obvious way. My wife (also a practitioner) did not talk very much, and I often complained that she did not help me at critical moments, and we even had some intense conflicts due to my bad temper. Later I realized that even though my wife was not very talkative, she also played a role in clarifying the truth and validating the Fa. Sometimes VIPs would walk up and talk to her, and she made a very good impression on people.
I also gradually realized that I was greatly influenced by science and atheism. I over-emphasized the ability of individual performance and forgot that it was Master who is actually helping us to validate the Fa. My way of thinking was that I did things in a certain way and that was why I got a certain result. In fact, I could not see the true relationship in other dimensions.
At this year's Falun Dafa Day, I requested a congratulatory letter from one of the elected government officials with whom I had a good relationship. I was very courteous, and it was not out of the ordinary to make such a request, so I felt that I would definitely get it. With a conceited attitude, I also told this to a fellow practitioner working in the media. As a result, I did not hear anything from the official's office, and nobody answered my phone calls. Then I became angry and thought that I would complain to them. I also thought that the official probably got some pressure from the CCP, and I should explain the truth to him again. Inadvertently, I mentioned my discontent to a new practitioner, who responded, "Aren't we supposed to look inward?" My first reaction in my heart was, "How would you know?" and I continued to think in a negative way. At the time, I did not think that the reason I did not receive the congratulatory letter was because of my mind nature. Later, however, I really thought about how to best continue to clarify the truth to this official and his staff. As a result, on the second day, his office contacted me and asked me whether there was something wrong with my e-mail address, as they had been trying to send me the congratulatory letter. I suddenly realized that I had only been trying to accomplish an ordinary people's task, as I did not put saving people as my first priority. In my heart, I actually had the thought of using them.
VI. Paying more attention to clarifying the truth to overseas Chinese
After being in contact with Westerners for some time, I noticed that I seemed to always find some barriers in my communication with them, as many of them view all Chinese as one group and have formed certain view points in this regard.
I felt that if officials in the government did not understand something about China, they would likely ask some of their Chinese colleagues. So the internal voice within the government offices is very important. When I first saw a government official of the Chinese origin, I had a lot of hesitation and felt that every Chinese who held an important position in the western government would be badly influenced by the evil. However, I knew that it was my responsibility as a Dafa practitioner to clarify the truth no matter what. In the process, I found that the majority of these people did not have a bias against Falun Gong and some even admired practitioners. The key was that we had to clarify the truth to them. A person who had worked for a political party for several decades told me that sometimes when he would get asked about Falun Gong, he became worried because he did not know how to answer. From this, I understood the importance of clarifying the truth to overseas Chinese.
In 2004, I clarified the truth to a government official candidate. In 2005, I had another opportunity to meet with him. He told me that we should pay more attention to clarifying the truth to the Chinese population because the elected officials would ask their Chinese colleagues and friends if they know about Falun Gong after speaking with practitioners. For instance, after our initial conversation, this representative asked one of his Chinese friends about Falun Gong, and that Chinese person replied that he did not know much about it.
In another situation, a Chinese person who did not yet directly support Falun Gong attended several of practitioners' events. As a result, the Chinese Embassy would not allow him to participate in their event, saying that he supported Falun Gong. He got very angry and said that the Chinese Embassy was trying to cause trouble for him. He added: "This is our country, and I have no reason to talk to them (Chinese Embassy)." I felt very happy because the evil of the Chinese Embassy was exposed as a result. As long as there are Dafa practitioners clarifying the truth, the evil will have no influence. Once we establish our position in a social group, the evil would no longer be able to block us.
Later, I joined one of the Chinese Associations, where some members have been in political parties for several decades. I tried to clarifying the truth to them all year long. Some of them said some strange things in our face-to-face conversations, but later I found out that they really admired practitioners and tried to help us behind the scenes. As soon as fellow practitioners entered that social group, the entire field began to change further, so the evil could not have any impact.
VII. Getting positive results through forbearance
I didn't use to be a person who could endure. After making contacts with people for some time, I noticed they inevitably had some bad habits. But I knew that cultivators have energy and should endure tribulations. Sometimes I forced myself to endure, even though I felt resentment. For example, if I had different opinions with fellow practitioners, I would think too much about it. I know that I am still far behind what Master requires of us, which is to endure with no anger or resentment. Slowly, as I endured, I won many people's respect and trust. I found out that if I could endure a little bit, then there was no delay in getting things done, and I was successful in doing things. I truly felt that what I could actually let go of in the process of enduring was my attachment to self, whereas when I did not endure, I was in fact insisting on holding on to my attachments. I began to treasure these special experiences.
We are cultivators and our realm is far beyond that of ordinary people. We do not compete with people and are selfless, so people actually like to talk with practitioners. In this world, it is not really power and money that can win people's respect. I found that it was our Dafa cultivators' spirit of Truth-Compassion-Forbearance that has impressed the people and truly won their respect and admiration toward Falun Dafa.
Of course, I feel that my efforts in clarifying the truth to society up to this point are far from what they could be, and I should do even better. Last year, I tried to actively coordinate some projects related to clarifying the truth in mainstream society. However, since I was previously only involved as an individual contributor, I felt that I was not used to being in a coordinating role. I do not like to feel restrained, and I started to worry too much. Previously, when I had been criticized for being too unrestrained, I was not convinced, but this time I realized this issue. At first, I only introduced some ordinary people's skills to new practitioners, but I felt that it was not enough. Every practitioner did things very actively, the result was very good, and I felt very happy. However, I often got feedback that we still did not do well enough in some areas. Since this feedback came from new practitioners, I did not pay too much attention to this, but through some observation, I found that although those fellow practitioners did very well, they still had a lot of confusion in understanding the Fa when clarifying the truth to society. Moreover, we did not have enough communication, and thus everyone seemed a bit isolated.
I finally understood that we came here to cultivate. Among fellow practitioners, encouragement and communication has been a big help. We should not be trapped in the form of work and results. When we look back on our path of cultivation, the happiest thing for practitioners is to improve together on our cultivation journey. Once we established a clear understanding about that, I felt that our energy field changed greatly and even became more peaceful.
In this immense Fa rectification period, I deeply feel that Master has already paved the road and endured enormously for us. Our fellow practitioners' efforts also greatly changed the situation. With only a tiny bit left for me to do, I need to do it well according to the Fa's requirements. If I cannot use this opportunity, or if I insist on holding onto my attachment to self, it amounts to my being irresponsible to all the sentient beings and being unworthy of our Master.
I began to write this experience sharing article in 2005. I finally finished writing it and can now share it with everyone. In fact, I think my cultivation experiences are very ordinary. I did not have any extraordinary experiences. I can only say that I feel tremendous honor to be able to cultivate in Dafa.
