(Minghui.org) I am a practitioner who just obtained the Fa two years ago. I would like to share my experiences in cultivation while assisting Master to rectify the Fa.
When I first obtained the Fa I could not move beyond self-cultivation due to fear and my inability to understand the Fa principles. One year ago however, I realized that my mission in this world was not to solely reach consummation, but to assist Master to rectify the Fa, to assimilate the Fa principles of the new universe, to emerge from the old Fa principles, and save sentient beings. Since then I have started to do well with the three things. Although I was impoverished, I felt satisfied, and my life was filled with joy. I realized that a new practitioner's self-cultivation, and cultivation within Fa-rectification period are combined together. During the process of saving sentient beings I constantly give up all kinds of attachments, desires, and selfishness. I let go of my old self, assimilating myself to Dafa. Now when I clarify the truth about Falun Gong, I feel that Master has arranged everything for me, and I only need to open my mouth to clarify the truth.
In everyday society a Falun Dafa practitioner is a representative of Dafa. Others will know what kind of people we are by watching our words and actions. If we can always follow the standard of the Fa, others will have very good impression of us. They will feel Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance from us. They will understand the facts about Falun Gong, and that the persecution is wrong, without much explanation.
I sometimes get very nervous when clarifying the truth to friends and family. They either don't accept my explanation, or do not want to quit the CCP. This can make me very upset. Looking inward when this happened, I found out that I had a strong attachment to sentimentality, and deep in my mind I was hoping to obtain approval from them, and their admiration. I tend to care what people think of me. I also hoped that my friends could be saved, and feel very bad if they can't. But I don't have this feeling towards strangers. I realized that this was not compassion but sentimentality! Sometimes I try to please others when clarifying the truth, and hope that they will like me, as if though liking me would enable them to accept the truth. I don't use righteous thoughts to save sentient beings. This does not have the power of the Fa and I cannot eliminate the evil factors behind sentient beings. Sometimes this approach also backfires.
I remember one time when I clarified the truth to two good friends. I was not very serious, and made a little joke. I thought it would be easier for them to accept it if I talked to them casually. Unexpectedly, my two friends had a strange reaction and said some bad things. No matter what I said they were against it. In the end they did not quit the CCP. I realized that although we were good friends, they had been badly poisoned by the CCP. The evil factors behind them were acting up when I clarified the truth to them. The evil factors don't care whether we are good friends or not. Our personal relationships will not help. I need to treat every person equally as a sentient being. No matter how close we are, I need to save them as sentient beings. When I clarify the truth using righteous thoughts and compassion, sometimes people are moved to tears.
I know all these attachments are not myself. They have been accumulated over my many lives. With strong thoughts I will cleanse myself, and melt the attachments away. Also, the awakened side of a person is waiting for us to save them, no matter how we treat them in this life. Maybe they have been through many hardships in various lives in order to be saved by us. We are carrying out this mission. How can we let down sentient beings and let down Master because of our dirty attachments?
On one occasion, a close friend advised me, "If you tell more people this information, everyone will look down on you. Don't you feel sad?" Actually I had been through this test many times. So I said to him, “They look down on me because they think Falun Gong is not good. But Falun Gong is not like that. I know what Falun Gong is about because I practice it. I work on becoming a better person every day. Why shouldn't I let them know that openly? Moreover, I can help them to get past the lies, truly understand Falun Gong, and have them experience the beauty of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The CCP defames Falun Gong, but everyone has a right to judge it for him or herself. "
For a long time I didn't understand well the meaning of persuading people to quit the CCP. Upon learning Master's new articles, I gained a new understanding of its importance. Many Chinese people have not been saved. In the past, I was one of them, as I too had been badly poisoned. I understand how much they are poisoned, and also understand the feelings of young people the same age as me. People change after quitting the CCP. The following is the example.
On one occasion, an atheist friend of mine was arguing with me. He said he could not understand some of the content of Dafa, so he felt very hostile towards Dafa. But at the same time, he really did not like the CCP. I spent two hours explaining to him what Dafa is, and how Dafa is more scientific than modern science. He did not change however, and held strong to his own ideas. I then started to persuade him to quit the CCP to have a safe future, but he didn't believe that either. So I said,"Are you a sincere person? You don't like the CCP, but you joined the CCP. Shouldn't you quit? You should quit it out of your conscience. I can help you to quit the CCP. Maybe one day you will understand why quitting the CCP will keep you safe. This is a small gift from me as a friend. “He hesitated, but agreed. I helped him to send out the quitting statement, and he was touched. Before that day, he doubted whether it was necessary to quit. When he realized that he had indeed quit the CCP, I felt that his knowing side was touched, and knew that his life had been changed.
Later, when I talked to him about Dafa, his attitude was relaxed. I told him, "You don't have any faith and you don't think Christianity or Buddhism are scientific. But you still respect them, you respect the believers. I hope you can pay the same respect to Falun Gong. If everyone agreed with Falun Gong, wouldn't everyone become a practitioner? There will always be people who do not understand, or do not believe. That's normal. But the persecution is a different matter. This regime has persecuted many good people who are defenseless. Many of them are normal people just like you and me. Just because of their belief and wanting to be good people following Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, they are being persecuted. Their families have been torn apart, and some have even lost their lives. Shouldn’t we have sympathy for them? Persecutions of righteous beliefs have failed throughout history. We should calm down, treat this belief rationally, and understand it more. Think about it. Why is this happening in China?” His attitude then changed a lot. He didn't argue this time and said he would sympathize with Falun Gong practitioners if this was all true.
Two months ago, I joined a global RTC phone platform team [A project to make phone calls to clarify the truth to people in China]. My cultivation took a sudden leap. We can feel the urgency of saving lives while working on this platform. The compassion of fellow practitioners has awakened one sentient being after another. During our sharing we look inward to eliminate our attachments when we have problems. We encourage each other and improve together.
It took me a month to join the RTC platform after I became aware of the project. I had encountered heavy interference and difficulties, but I was determined to join the team. I was very excited when I finally began working on the platform. I was wondering whether my eloquence or the quality of my voice was good enough, what I should do when people I call curse at me, how to make them quit the CCP, etc. I started to use my ordinary human mindset when saving sentient beings. In the beginning people would just hang up on me. With continuous improvement in eliminating attachments and looking inward, my righteous thoughts are getting stronger. I can help one person to quit CCP and its affiliated organizations every two or three calls. Fewer people hang up on me now, many listen carefully, and some even listen until I have finished talking.
Through our sharing I have come to understand that we should not become attached to how many people quit via our calls. As long as I can let people hear the truth, it is eliminating evil and saving sentient beings. Even a ring of the phone will eliminate evil factors in that environment. If a person picks up the phone, they will feel the compassion of Dafa practitioners. If they do not hang up, we will clarify the truth of Falun Gong and persuade them to quit the CCP. If they don't quit right away, this could be a start. The person might start to consider whether the persecution is right or wrong, and whether they should quit the CCP. Maybe they will have the chance to know more when they meet another practitioner, and choose a better future. We can also give them software to break through the Internet blockade, so that they can find out the truth themselves. Of course, we will be very happy when they are saved, have quit the CCP, and sincerely believe that Falun Dafa is good.
I was very attached to my ability to persuade others at one point. People thought my words were very reasonable, and correct. But few people would quit the CCP, and many people hung up the phone when I called. I looked inward, and found that I was doing it as ordinary person, as though showing off my capability of convincing others. Master said in “Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa,”
“As for you, disciples of Dafa, the closer it gets to the end the better you should walk your paths, seizing the day to cultivate yourselves well. After doing a whole slew of things, you might find, if you look back upon them, that all of it was done with a human mindset. When it is a human being doing human things, and things are not being done with righteous thoughts, there won’t be any Dafa-disciple mighty virtue in those things. In other words, as gods see it, that’s just fooling around—not mighty virtue, or cultivation—even though you did do it. Then wouldn’t you say it was done in vain? You must study the Fa well, for that is the fundamental guarantee that you return to your position.”
I was not using righteous thoughts so I could not awaken the knowing side of sentient beings. I was an everyday person doing human things.
There is a Japanese practitioner in our team whose mother tongue is not Chinese. But she overcame her difficulties, and touched people with her compassion. I often hear others who cannot talk well, but they communicate using very simple language and a pure state of mind. Just a few sentences, like, "Hello, quitting the CCP and its affiliated organizations will keep you safe. It’s for your own good. Falun Dafa is good." People hear it, and they often don't dispute it, and become silent or change their attitudes. They are touched by compassion, and agree to quit. I feel the tremendous power of our righteous thoughts. The truth explained by us using righteous thoughts can awaken sentient beings. They know how to choose. Calling Chinese people inside China is an effective way to save sentient beings. It does not matter much whether your eloquence, language skills, or experience are good or not. As long as we do it using righteous thoughts with a pure heart for all beings, we can save sentient beings.
Sometimes we encounter people who are very stubborn or people who curse us during the phone call. Our hearts cannot move even a bit. At that time I will think they have been poisoned, because the old forces poisoned them in order to test Dafa disciples. They became like this because of us. No matter what, we are walking a path to godhood. How about them? Shouldn’t we save them? We need to save them no matter what. We shouldn't get stuck in an argument or try to convince them in human ways.
One time, a person on the other end cursed me badly. I called back again and said, "We don't know each other. I am calling you for your own good. Why do you want to curse at me? Because you are a CCP member, I am telling you that the CCP is not good. Why don’t you quit? Are you not allowed to oppose the government? When you joined the CCP, you swore that you would give your life for the CCP. When the CCP meets with disaster, you will also be involved. I can help you eliminate that vow. You can continue to be a good person at work to contribute to the country." Although he did not quit, his attitude changed. I realized that we must be dedicated in studying the Fa. We cannot save people with a human heart. We need to use practitioners' righteous thoughts. We should treat every unhappy event as a good opportunity to improve. No matter how sentient beings treat us, our compassion must remain unchanged. We want to “...attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism.” (from “Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature” from Essentials for Further Advancement)
As a new practitioner, I would like to thank Master for allowing me to quickly begin participating in doing the three things to assist Master to rectify the Fa. It is a great honor. The new universe is selfless, and Dafa practitioners should also be like this. We cannot be attached to our own consummation. We should think of sentient beings, and give up ourselves for the new universe. Doing the three things is not for our own consummation. It is to fulfill our vows, and to save more lives. We were all gods from high levels before coming to this world. The old forces are gods too. Self-consummation cannot be the reason we have come to this world. Then why can't we eliminate our selfishness? Sometimes I think I want to eliminate all the selfish factors in my mind right now because I don't have time to do it slowly. It’s very effective. But the attachments will resurface after a while. That selfishness is from the old universe. It’s trash to the new universe and must be cleaned out. We are gradually getting rid of selfishness, emerging out of the old universe, and assimilating to the new universe. We awaken sentient beings with compassion and allow them to enter the incomparably beautiful new universe.
