(Minghui.org) Greetings benevolent Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
Upon returning from the Los Angeles Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference last year, local practitioners expressed their wishes to clarify the facts about Falun Dafa at tourist sites in Toronto.
Two practitioners and I coincidentally went to City Hall, a major tourist site in Toronto, at the same time one day last October. In two hours, three buses full of Chinese tourists arrived. The three of us ran back and forth and talked to dozens of them. We informed them facts about the persecution in China and the beauty of Falun Dafa.
At the end of the day, the other two practitioners decided they would gather a few more practitioners and maintain a presence at City Hall every Sunday. “That is wonderful,” I thought.
Another five practitioners came to City Hall the next day and said that a carload of practitioners would come every weekday, from Monday to Friday.
It has now been more than nine months since the first day we started going to City Hall. More and more practitioners have joined the effort.
This past winter was long and tough, and it gave us an opportunity to better cooperate together and improve in our cultivation.
Many tourists from Mainland China initially gave us a cold shoulder. But now, more and more began to understand that the persecution is wrong and have chosen to renounce their memberships in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations.
Chinese tourists have very busy schedules and don't spend more than 15 minutes at City Hall. We try to make the best use of their time by interacting with them.
While helping them to take pictures and introducing Toronto to them, we also talked about Falun Dafa and the persecution, as well as asking them to withdraw from the CCP.
In other words, we naturally incorporated the topic of Falun Dafa as part of the local culture and history. Most were very accepting and quit the CCP.
When a bus of Chinese tourists arrives, practitioners disperse and talk to them separately. We tell them about the architectural characteristics of City Hall and that it looked like an open eye with upper and lower eyelids from a bird's view. We also told them that the old City Hall was next to the new one. Unlike the new one, it was of European style.
We then moved on to talk about the celebration we hold in front of City Hall every May 13, the spreading of Falun Dafa around the world, and the Canadian Prime Minister sending congratulatory letters to World Falun Dafa Day nine years in a row, commemorating the great contribution Falun Dafa has given to Canada's society.
We also tell them that the publication of the book the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party in 2004, which has catalyzed the tuidang (quit-the-CCP) movement among Chinese people since then.
Though our approaches are different, we share the same pure heart for reaching out and helping our fellow Chinese to understand the truth about Falun Dafa. We often see big changes from the tourists in a matter of 15 minutes.
While initially cold or maybe even hostile, some quit the CCP or start considering the facts we presented to them. What my experience strikes me most is that we should treat every Chinese tourist with compassion.
I was a little bit afraid in the very beginning. My in-person truth-clarification efforts were limited to the Chinese in Canada. I called people in China, but couldn't see them. I was now directly facing mainland Chinese. I didn't know what they had on their mind, didn't know where they stood, and was afraid that they would give me outright rejection.
I knew my concerns were all human attachments.
Master tells us in Zhuan Falun:
“Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one’s master.”
When I realized we were truly doing this for them, and that this effort of Dafa practitioners was awakening sentient beings, I discovered that my fear was gone.
On a Saturday morning, three buses of Chinese students from neighboring universities came to City Hall. It was cold and the students didn’t wear a lot of warm clothes. Practitioners kindly told them to take good care of themselves while being away from their parents. They also told them how to get to Chinatown and a shopping center. The students were all thankful.
We also told them the CCP had murdered 80 million Chinese citizens in the various political movements in the past 60 years, and that since 1999, the CCP has been persecuting Falun Dafa practitioners. The crimes even include harvesting practitioners' organs for profit.
We mentioned that the atrocities has shocked the world and it is inevitable the CCP will be punished by heaven. As they have all previously joined the Young Pioneers and Youth League, they will have to disassociate themselves from the CCP organizations to avoid being implicated when the CCP receives its karmic retribution.
More than 20 students agreed to quit the CCP. Some asked for materials to read. One girl told us her grandma also practiced Falun Dafa.
On the second day of the Chinese New Year, two buses of high school students from China came. It was extremely cold. It was snowing and the students were excited.
When talking to the students, one of them asked, “Why did practitioners set themselves on fire at Tiananmen Square?” Obviously they were misguided by the Tiananmen Self-Immolation hoax propagated by the China Central Television (CCTV), an official mouthpiece for the CCP.
A practitioner from Beijing who lived near Tiananmen Square pointed out that three fire extinguishers were used on the self-immolator within a minute of the start of the self-immolation. As far as he knew, no police patrols carry fire extinguishers with them. He further explained other details to illustrate that the Tiananmen Self-immolation was staged and scripted. Furthermore, Falun Dafa prohibits killing.
We continued to talk to students while they were visiting City Hall, and in the end, most of them renounced the CCP, along with their teacher.
Before the students got back on the bus, their teacher helped them to dust the snow off their coats before they boarded. Practitioners also helped. They did it in such a way as if the students were their own children. I was really touched.
One day a bus of tourists from Northern China came. I was talking to a teenager girl, with contempt, she asked me if I was going to ask her to withdraw from the Party and she laughed. I said to her I just wanted to wish her a pleasant trip. She was a little taken aback.
I then said the tuidang movement you mentioned is well known among Chinese people and it's for their own benefit. The girl said she lived in Japan for three years, and someone else had asked her to quit the CCP, but she didn’t do it because she was not a Party member. I asked if she had joined the Youth League. She replied that everyone at her school did.
I told her 80,000 to 90,000 Chinese people are renouncing the CCP every day. And this was something she should be concerned about as well. In the end she agreed to renounce the Youth League. I was very happy for her.
When we waved goodbye to the tourists on the bus, a lady sitting by the window showed us a DVD about Falun Dafa she had. There were also people who told us they saw Falun Dafa material on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Some people told us they withdrew from the CCP in Flushing or other cities in the US. We felt the great power of practitioners outside China working as one body.
In the past nine months of my experience at the Toronto City Hall, what touched me the most were the practitioners who overcame the difficult weather and drove all the way from the northern part of the city.
We had an unprecedented cold winter and the temperature was usually 20 degrees C below zero. The ground was covered with thick ice. In order to avoid traffic, practitioners left home very early.
The practitioners of this group pay great attention to Fa study. Most of them were memorizing it. While commuting, they recited poems written by Master, sent righteous thoughts, and shared cultivation experiences.
Upon arriving, they had a simple breakfast in a nearby coffee shop or ate something they brought from home. They usually got ready to talk to the tourists by 8:50 am. If there were no tourists, they did the exercises together.
In those extremely cold days, we wore two coats or even three coats and two pairs of gloves. We encouraged each other to persist. There were days when no tourists showed up. But not one practitioner quit going there.
We had a heavy snowstorm one morning. We could hardly see each other in the snow. Suddenly more than 20 college students showed up at the skating rink. We felt very encouraged: no matter what kind of weather it was people with predestined relationships with us that would come.
On a cold morning in early February, six or seven practitioners took pictures in front of City Hall and we saw lots of Faluns of various sizes on their bodies, and pink petals around the sun. We knew that our benevolent Master was encouraging us.
Master said in “Be More Diligent”:
“There’s also the matter of Shen Yun ticket sales. I have said that we are now to focus on higher-end society, and only by making ourselves part of the cultural mainstream can we unlock society at large, have a greater impact, have more people attend, and have more sentient beings come to be saved.”
It's the same when we explained the persecution facts to the Chinese tourists. They belong to the mainstream or upper echelon of China's society. After they learned the facts about Falun Dafa and withdrew from the CCP, they would get the word out once they went back to China.
Practitioners at the City Hall site spontaneously formed a line to wave farewell to Chinese tourists as they departed for their next stop. We all want to leave compassion and kindness in their memories. Many tourists also waved back at us.
A fellow practitioner shared that she didn't feel much when she first waved goodbye to the tourists. However, on the third day, tears rolled down her cheeks as she did so. We all understood what was on her mind: if our fellow Chinese miss the opportunity to learn the truth, they may face dangers in their future. Thus, we added one more procedure: holding the banner of “Falun Dafa Is Good” as we waved goodbye to our fellow Chinese tourists.
The banner is white and transparent. A line of golden lotuses are beneath the Chinese characters “Falun Dafa Is Good.” Many tourists couldn't take their eyes off the banner.
Master said in “Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Washington DC Fa Conference:”
“The Fa-rectification of the cosmos was to take place right here, it was to be done right here, so the Three Realms was created here. Every blade of grass, every tree, every speck of soil, every stone, from people to things--all the beings have come for this Fa.”
I have realized that every item at the Toronto City Hall can naturally help in our efforts to help people understand Falun Dafa and the persecution, and effectively break the ice with Chinese tourists and forge friendly interactions, thereby becoming less guarded.
We are all familiar with every interesting item at the tourist spot. For example, the wall composed of 10,000 nails, the sculptures, and the rock from the Berlin Wall underneath the square's concrete arches.
I once offered to take a group pictures for several tourists. They were very happy and told me their driver didn’t want to take them to City Hall at the beginning, but they insisted that they visit it.
I briefly told them the story of the rock off the Berlin Wall. They listened with keen interest. I also told them about the spreading of Falun Dafa and the tuidang movement. They all agreed to withdraw from the Party and were very appreciative of the information shared.
“You made my day!” one of them shook my hand and thanked me. They took some pictures and left in a hurry, the whole process was less than ten minutes.
Master said in “Fa Teaching at the 2013 Western U.S. Fa Conference:”
“Every planet in this greater universe has life on it, only it’s not in this surface dimension and thus it’s invisible to you. America’s space technology is said to be so advanced, yet when they land on other planets they see nothing there but a desolate world. But it is not desolate there; it’s just that man’s technology is too shallow.”
That part of the Fa suddenly came to my mind when I was at City Hall one day. I started seeing a little bit of its inner meaning. The City Hall doesn't seem to be anything special. The surrounding roads are even under construction.
However, when Dafa disciples come to clarify the truth, the site has become a serene field for reaching people. Master’s law bodies send buses of Chinese people here. We assist Master in helping to awaken them so that they will make the right decision for their future. I am deeply grateful for Master’s magnificent compassion.
When we have a pure heart to save people, the Chinese people will find us.
Master said in Zhuan Falun:
“These things are arranged by the master and performed by the master. Therefore, it is said that cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while transforming gong is done by one’s master. You can only have such a wish and think about it like that, but it is the master who actually does these things.”
There is another impressive story I’d like to share. On a cold winter morning, there was almost no one on the street. I was walking back and forth in the square when a young Chinese man in his 20’s passed me in a hurry.
I felt very cold and didn't feel like talking to him. But suddenly I had a thought: I should not miss anyone who has a predestined relationship with me. I greeted him and he responded back. I said it’s cold but I still want to tell you something. He slowed down. I asked if he had just come to Canada and he told me he had been here for half a year.
I said I was happy to meet him and I asked if he knew that 160 million Chinese people that had withdrawn from the CCP and its affiliates. I told him the CCP destroyed 5,000 years of Chinese civilization in 60 years with violence and lies, and I suggested he withdraw from it. I also told him the CCP persecutes Falun Dafa practitioners who cultivate Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and even harvests organs from non-consenting living practitioners for profit. He said the CCP is indeed too evil.
He told me his last name is Liu and he agreed to withdraw from the CCP organizations. I gave him some information about Dafa and he was excited and asked me what's the difference between Falun Dafa and other Qigong.
I recommended him to read the book Zhuan Falun. I gave him the website of Falun Dafa and how to purchase the book. He told me he would look at it for sure, and he wished he could have obtained all this information sooner.
I also want to share my experiences studying the Fa.
Master said in “Touring North America to Teach the Fa”:
“I've often said that you need to study the Fa well. Whenever I've met with students at Fa conferences or in other settings, I've always said that you must make Fa-study a priority, and that no matter how busy you are you have to study the Fa.”
There was a period of time I experienced a bottleneck in cultivation. I looked inside, and practitioners kindly pointed out my issues, but I felt none of them were the fundamental cause. I tried to maintain a calm mind and spent a lot of time studying the Fa and sending righteous thoughts.
One day I opened Zhuan Falun, and saw the following paragraph:
“…the practitioner will draw a circle on the ground with a brush-pen dipped in cinnabar ink and draw an "x" in the middle of the circle. He will ask her to stand in the center of the circle. Then he will start to chant the incantations.”
I suddenly realized what my fundamental problem was. It was hidden deep inside and hard to detect. When I cooperated with fellow practitioners, I often insisted on my own ideas and using the Fa to validate myself. This prevented me from truly understanding the Fa.
This attachment is deeply rooted and does not want to be touched. After studying the Fa and sending righteous thoughts for a long period of time, I felt uplifted.
Please allow me to conclude my sharing with Master’s Fa from “Congratulatory Statement to the New York Fa Conference”:
“In history's past, you brought to humankind the splendor it should have; in history's present, Dafa has bestowed upon you the mission of saving all sentient beings; in history's future, everything of yours that is pure and righteous will be what ensures that the colossal firmament has formation and stasis, but not destruction. Walk your paths well. The beings who are saved are to be your sentient beings. All that you do establishes all that you will consummate.”
Thank you benevolent Master!Thank you fellow practitioners!
(Shared at the 2014 Falun Dafa Cultivation Conference of Canada in Toronto on August 23)