(Minghui.org)
Greetings, Revered Master!
Greetings, Fellow Practitioners!
I'm a practitioner from the U.S. I began to cultivate in Falun Dafa in 2006. I felt that I was protected by a master since I was young. In 1993, someone told me she saw a halo on my head, and that a god was protecting me. I knew that I came here for Falun Dafa when I first learned about the practice. I'd like to share my most recent cultivation experience with everyone.
Answering the Shen Yun Ticket Hotline
I participated in Falun Dafa projects as soon as I became a practitioner. I distributed fliers and clarified the truth about Falun Dafa to people, hoping they would understand the truth and help stop the persecution. Later I answered the ticket hotline for the “Chinese New Year Spectacular” and “Shen Yun Performing Arts.” There were only a few phone calls daily, so I thought it was a waste of manpower.
Since Dafa projects lacked manpower and resources, I thought it would be more efficient if we could consolidate the phone calls from various cities, especially the smaller cities where there aren't many volunteers. Very soon, practitioners in other cities asked us for help. Since I didn't have children or a job, and had only a little housework, I gladly took the calls from other cities. During the past few years, I have helped more than 20 cities with their ticket hotline, and I often answered calls from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Master said,
“As many as that may be, after watching the performance over ninety percent who attend have a change of attitude toward Dafa, and they become clear about what that evil Party is; the people become completely positive.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference”)
I knew that Shen Yun was an important project for saving sentient beings. Therefore, I thought it was worth it no matter how hard it was.
When the Shen Yun website established the ticket sales hotline, I joined the team and continued to answer calls from all the cities in Northern America. Because I was constantly on the phone, my husband, who is not a practitioner, prepared all the meals and brought them to me. I didn't think it was a big deal for me to do this, because Shen Yun is here to save sentient beings.
Each phone call was precious, it contained the hard work practitioners put into to promoting Shen Yun. And more importantly, it is an important link to save sentient beings. Since I was not able to do other Falun Dafa projects due to my limited abilities, I thought answering phone calls was something I could do. Therefore, I poured my heart and soul into it.
Occasionally, when a phone call came in and I was having a meal, I would spit out the food in my mouth and answer the call because I didn't want to miss any opportunity to save sentient beings. If I didn't answer the call, many times, I couldn't find the caller after I called back. Some people called from work, and if I didn't know their extension number, or their names, I wasn't able to find them.
During the period of answering the hotline, I would get up early in the morning to study the Fa. I often introduced Shen Yun and clarified the truth to the callers. If I didn't study the Fa well, it would negatively affect my efforts. Master said,
“For a Dafa disciple, cultivation is first priority. That’s because if you fail to cultivate well, you will not be able to accomplish what you are to do; and if you fail to cultivate well, your power to save sentient beings will not be that great.” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa”)
Participating in the Global Manual Broadcasting Platform Team
This March, a practitioner in our area joined the Global Manual Broadcasting Platform Team. Because she has children and has little time to participate in other Dafa projects, we were happy that she found a project. I later thought I could participate in this project too.
Even though I answered the hotline, I still wanted to clarify the truth to the people in China. I felt this was a good opportunity to improve where I was lacking. I have previously tried to call the people in China to clarify the truth, but because of my attachment to fear, I was not very successful and gave up on it. Now that there is a Manual Broadcasting Platform, clarifying the truth to the Chinese people seems more feasible. I think Master gave me another opportunity to save sentient beings in China.
Master said,
“And that especially holds true for the Chinese people. I have spoken about this before, as you know. A lot of kings from the heavens, kings of different nationalities, and kings from different eras of history have reincarnated in that place. They are enduring the largest ordeals and pressure, because what they are achieving is not just completing themselves; rather, what they are achieving, shouldering, and putting in is in fact for the sake of their multitude of sentient beings. That is why they have such tremendous ordeals. What they choose amounts to the shared choice of sentient beings in enormous cosmic systems, and it is for this reason that their ordeals are so huge.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the NTDTV Meeting”)
The mission of the team is to clarify the truth to those who are involved in the organ harvesting and persecution of practitioners. We broadcast truth clarification recordings to the hospital staff and public security officers over the phone. Many of the police officers, physicians, judges, and prosecutors became afraid after listening to the recordings and would hang up the phone. Some listen to it quietly, and others discussed what they heard during the broadcast. We continue to call those who hang up the phone. This project has been effective in deterring and suppressing the evil specter in other dimensions, clarifying the truth to those who are helping the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with the persecution, and urging them to stop persecuting Dafa practitioners so that they can be saved.
Master said,
“Don't underestimate your sending even one flyer or one booklet to China, making one phone call there, or sending one fax there or sending all sorts of information--the effect is quite significant, and its effect in frightening and eliminating the evil is huge, truly huge. It's because of the evil's slanderous propaganda that people have bad thoughts in their minds. When people become clearheaded, that's when those evil things are eliminated and disintegrate. If a person really represents a gigantic cosmic body, his turning-around means that numerous sentient beings are saved--the impact is enormous!” (Touring North America to Teach the Fa)
“Never mind that the evil beings are so rampant, they're all quaking with fear and trepidation, they're afraid. Of course, before being completely cleaned out the wicked beings will still direct evil people to do bad things. The evil people lose all rationality when they're being controlled by the evil, but once they calm down they're afraid.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Midwest-U.S. Fa Conference” from Teaching the Fa at the Conference III)
Practitioners who live outside of China are in a safer environment, and should bear the responsibility of clarifying the truth to the government agencies that are involved in the persecution. Whenever I have time, I would deliver the pre-recorded message to China, and can usually make about 40 to 50 phone calls per day.
Letting Go of the Attachment to Sleep
I used to sleep four to five hours a day. After attending the New York Fa conference this year, I realized that the principles for a cultivator are the opposite of the ordinary people. Ordinary people need at least four to five hours of sleep each day, but a cultivator does not need that many hours. Therefore, I decided to sleep less. I used to go to bed around midnight and would often miss sending forth righteous thoughts at 3:00 a.m.
After returning from New York's Experience Sharing Conference, I set up the alarm to send forth righteous thoughts at 3:00 a.m. And instead of going back to sleep, I studied the Fa and made phone calls. After a few days, I had more energy and felt very light. I sensed the difference between practitioners and ordinary people. I felt I broke through a shell and discarded the concept of needing four to five hours of sleep.
I felt lazy one day and went back to sleep after sending forth righteous thoughts. I woke up at 6:00 a.m. and thought I had plenty of rest that night. On the contrary, I felt tired and sleepy for the rest of the day. I couldn't keep my eyes open and kept yawning. I realized the more I sleep the more tired I am, and the less I sleep the more energy I have. Since then, I have not gone back to bed after sending forth righteous thoughts at 3:00 a.m. Every day and evening, I make phone calls, study the Fa, share with practitioners involved in the project, and continue to cultivate diligently.
Clarifying the Truth at Chinatown in San Francisco
In May of this year, I temporarily left the Shen Yun hotline project to take care of some personal things. However, I thought I could go to Chinatown to clarify the truth afterward. Master said,
“Take San Francisco, for example. I've found that the environment of the downtown area and that of the whole Bay Area still isn't up to par; the evil factors here are still abundant. The fact is, you should make these places the focus. You should go where there are a lot of Chinese people and clarify the truth, and save those badly-poisoned Chinese communities,” “But I have noticed that the Chinatown area is a blank spot in your efforts to clarify the truth and validate the Fa. And yet that is the most, most important place in your region out West. For the most part you haven't paid much attention to it.” (Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005)
The situation in San Francisco's Chinatown had not been rectified. Although I thought about going there, I didn't commit to going on a certain day. Around mid-May, my husband, who was not a practitioner at the time, asked me to buy the monthly bus ticket for June, and suggested that I go to Chinatown to clarify the truth. I realized Master was using my husband to point things out to me. Because I was busy answering the hotline, I rarely talked to my husband. Now that I wanted to take it easy, he urged me to clarify the truth. I was procrastinating and my husband offered to help. He even said that as soon as I took care of things, I could go to Chinatown to clarify the truth. Saving sentient beings is truly a pressing issue, and Master has been pushing me forward.
I went to Chinatown on June 11. Instead of going to the most important location the first day, I went to the practice site, where practitioners do the exercises and clarify the truth. Because I was busy with the hotline, I didn't do the exercises as often as I should have. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for me to practice the exercises and clarify the truth. I was happy about it and decided to go there from then on. On the next day, a practitioner asked me to go to another location to clarify the truth. She didn't ask anyone else but me. She said two women have been screaming and yelling at practitioners and they needed more people there. There are so many practitioners and she only asked me to help. Master must be pointing things out to me again.
I went to that location the third day. Two women claiming to be Falun Gong practitioners had been hurling insults at Falun Dafa practitioners. Practitioners had been sharing and sending forth righteous thoughts without any result, and had different opinions on how to handle the issue. Some suggested that we leave as soon as they get there, since they are only there for two to three hours at a time. I thought, “We should do things openly, and not be moved no matter what they do. Practitioners in China would not stop clarifying the truth because of the persecution, so why should we leave? I would definitely stay when they arrive.”
The two women arrived shortly after I got there. I had never met them, but they called out my name and claimed that I was a CCP spy. They each held two signs, one said “CCP Spy” and the other said “Evil CCP.” But they came here to attack practitioners. One of them stood in front of me and the other stood behind me. They held the signs about three to four inches from my face. Their faces were twisted from screaming so loud. I was scared at first and didn't know what to do. Then I calmed down and thought of Master's words, “Just by staying unaffected you will be able to handle all situations.” (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in the Midwest-U.S.)
I was not moved and clarified the truth to passerby. Practitioners urged me to leave the area, but I was not moved. The more practitioners urged me, the louder the women screamed. When practitioners saw that I was determined to stay, they stopped pressuring me to leave. I calmly distributed truth clarification material while the women screamed and yelled.
Many passerby stopped to see what was happening and began to criticize the two women. Some westerners came over to protect me. They stood in front and behind me to shield me from the two women. People took the fliers from me and read them, including children and elderly who usually didn't take fliers. Some westerners helped me hand out fliers and told others that I was the good person and the two women were the bad people. Although we don't ask people to clarify the truth for us, the situation provided an opportunity for sentient beings to position themselves. Practitioners continued to replenish the fliers in my hand, and some sent forth righteous thoughts.
We continued to clarify the truth like this at the location for several days. One day, a young practitioner saw a very large Falun in the sky and didn't go away for a long time. Many people, including ordinary people, saw the Falun symbol. We saw it twice. I think Master was encouraging us for doing the right thing.
One day, someone called the police. The police asked the two women for their identification. They refused to show their ID and the police took them away. Since then, they stopped verbally attacking us.
There was also an old man in a red outfit at the location. For the past few decades, he used to curse the President of the Republic of China in Taiwan and democracy activists. Later he slandered Falun Gong. After we continuously sent forth righteous thoughts and clarified the truth, the old man in the red outfit left. The environment in Chinatown now has improved greatly.
Master said,
“Everyone, keep up your diligent efforts! Human history does not exist for [people] to take being human as its final goal, nor is human history a recreation ground created for the evil to display its viciousness. Mankind's history was established for the Fa-rectification, and only Dafa disciples are worthy of displaying their glory here.” (“To the 2005 European Experience Sharing Conference”)
I think we should do better, thoroughly eliminate the evil elements in San Francisco's Chinatown and elsewhere, and save sentient beings.
My Husband Became a Practitioner
My husband expressed disapproval when I began to practice Falun Gong. I had tried all kinds of religions but gave up on all of them, because I kept hearing a voice telling me I didn't belong there. My husband thought my enthusiasm for Falun Gong was going to be brief and I would leave the practice eventually. He realized this time was different when he saw me being so involved in clarifying the truth. Then, he and his family were against me practicing in Dafa. One time, my husband and his father forced me to choose between our marriage and Dafa. I replied, “I'm not going to choose one over the other. I want both the marriage and the practice. But if you want me to choose, I will choose to cultivate.” They didn't say any more after that.
On another occasion, before I left to attend a Fa conference, my husband told me not to come back. I didn't say anything and wrote him a note before I left. I said in the note: “I won't leave Dafa, and I don't have any objection if you want a divorce. You don't need to hire an attorney. You can just give me whatever you think I deserve. And I don't care if you don't leave me anything.” After I came home, he acted as if nothing had happened.
My husband's attitude changed tremendously in the past year. He has become more and more supportive. Not only has he shouldered the responsibilities at home, he has been taking care of me. A few months ago, he began to do the exercises with me, and attended the nine-day Falun Gong lecture seminar in July. I'm grateful that Master saved me and my husband.
Compared to other practitioners, I feel that I have not done enough. Shen Yun will arrive very soon. I want to do better, do more, save more sentient beings, not disappoint Master, and live up to the mission of a Dafa disciple.
Thank you Master! Thank you fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the 2013 U.S. Western Fa Conference)
