(Minghui.org) Greetings to revered Master and fellow practitioners,
Joining social clubs and attending various meetings to build connections with people in mainstream society for truth-clarification, as well as writing cultural and historical articles are what I am doing to help Master with the Fa-rectification.
I am not a very sociable person and often shied away from those in power. Yet after beginning to practice, I have been pushed toward socializing step by step. In the past years, with a business card of Epoch Times, I have walked on the path to save those with a predestined relationship with Dafa. Under the guidance of Dafa, I got rid of personal attachments and gained the courage to make it through periods of loneliness and helplessness.
These several years of club participation have been a process of letting go of my ego, conquering my resistance to socializing, and adjusting to socializing customs in clubs. Gradually, I expanded my circle of acquaintances and saw those I met as people waiting for salvation. This way, I have been doing better in Fa-rectification.
At first, club friends were prejudiced against me since they thought I was speaking for someone or promoting something. As I gradually let go of my ego and fit in with the club, they changed their attitude. They would tell their friends about the Chinese communist regime's crime of forced organ harvesting. When seeing Shen Yun promotional leaflets in my hands, they would ask if I had something good to share with them. Some of them would instantly ask their secretary to order Shen Yun tickets; others would ask me to help them order tickets; some would invite their friends to Shen Yun. Telling people about Falun Gong and promoting Shen Yun is not as hard as before.
After joining Rotary International, I have access to members of the social elite in Taiwan and all over the world. This way, I can expand my circles, which in turn helps me to tell people about Falun Gong and bring in resources. Though club members are friendly, at first I had difficulty adapting to everyday people’s noisy singing and dancing. Searching within, I found this was due to my personal likes and dislikes, plus a big ego. Gradually I conquered my clumsiness and fear of socializing. Compared with the enlightened beings in history who begged for food among people in order to save them, I have comparatively less suffering. Master said,
“Did you know that in order to save you the Buddha once begged for food among everyday people? Today, I once again make the door wide open, and teach this Dafa to save you. I have never felt bitter for the numerous hardships I have suffered. Then what do you have that still can’t be abandoned? Can you bring to heaven the things deep down inside that you cannot let go of?” (“True Cultivation” in Essentials for Further Advancement)
After I delivered two speeches in the club, the club members showed a positive attitude toward Falun Gong and actively signed the petition against the persecution in Mainland China. A young club member who works for a famous high-tech company admires Falun Gong practitioners for their perseverance in telling people about Falun Gong at tourist sites. Asked by visitors from China about famous attractions in Taiwan, he said the spots with Falun Gong are the famous spots. By making more friends, we can let them understand Falun Gong and further turn them into helpers to spread the information further.
The club’s weekly meeting enabled me to get acquainted with speakers and guests. However, sometimes I resisted such constant meetings due to my tight schedule and fatigue. Once I felt reluctant to attend a regular meeting of the administrative committee, since there was no speech arranged. Nonetheless, I still kept making preparation for it. As I was about to leave home for the meeting, it struck me that I had promised to bring a copy of Zhuan Falun to one of the club members. Later at the end of the meeting I proposed the club members get to know the art school founded by Dafa disciples. My proposal was accepted. The scheduled activities involved a speech by the school principal, sponsoring the school, attending its promotional performance by its students, and a visit to the school. I felt grateful to Master for spurring me on to attend the regular meeting. I also felt ashamed of my initial laziness and slacking off. Fortunately, I did not miss the chance.
Last March, the Rotary Club of Singal, South Korea, visited the Rotary Club of Nander, Taipei. After watching the Shen Yun clip, the information of the Shen Yun show in South Korea, and the Epoch Times Korean website, the three representatives from South Korea were full of praise. The newly elected president of the Rotary Club of Singal later replied to me in his greeting letter that he would manage to invite his club members to the Shen Yun show.
When I first joined the association of some learning enterprise, I felt isolated and lonely. Most of the association members and lecturers travel between mainland China and Taiwan, so the association feared being labeled by mainland China. The founding president of the association is highly respected by cross-strait government, industry, and academia. At first he had prejudice against me. I considered saving people the top of my priority list and let go of the so-called humiliation. In the few meetings that he attended, I seized every chance to expose him to Dafa media and magazines. In two years, he became friendly, bought a ticket to the Shen Yun show, and accepted a copy of Zhuan Falun from me. He has since been very kind.
As a Dafa disciple, I should focus on my personal cultivation, Fa-rectification, and saving people. By accumulating useful knowledge, I can create good opportunities. During training courses of the association, we discussed different issues and I also shared my unique perspectives based on my understanding of the Fa. This way, I earned respect. Through constant responses in class, contributions to the association journal, posting news reports online and patiently giving feedback to contents posted by other members, the association members could be impressed with the kindness and wisdom of a Dafa disciple and know Dafa facts.
As for some key members who took action against my sharing of perspectives, sometimes I really felt like keeping a distance from them. But weren’t they the people that I should save with compassion? Therefore, I gave up my attachment to fighting and treated them with kindness. This way, they also became friendlier and friendlier and even greeted me on their own initiative. From the incident, I learned that an encounter with challenging problems allows us to upgrade our level. We should not reject such a challenge. On the other hand, we should seize the chance to search within and also feel thankful for such an encounter.
When attending the courses of the association, I had missed some precious chances due to my cowardice. I felt ashamed since I failed the expectations of Master and sentient beings. The CEO of a famous enterprise was invited to deliver a speech. He asked who could sacrifice his life for principles today. Upon hearing this, I almost responded that Dafa disciples would, but I was interfered with at that moment and lost my righteous thoughts. I failed to make an instant response and even refused to answer it. While I felt regretful, the CEO surprisingly knocked twice on my desk. I felt as if he were knocking on my head. Through this, Master was reminding me to act like a Dafa disciple. Master had given me such a precious chance to tell those present the facts of Falun Gong, but I didn’t seize it.
After having read news reports of Dafa media for one year, one online friend invited me to the dinner party of his fraternity. I accepted his invitation with delight. As I handed the Shen Yun promotional leaflet to the fraternity president, he said he had already bought tickets, praised Falun Gong for its role in Shen Yun and media, and wanted me to introduce the Epoch Times to those present. There were almost thirty guests, including members of Rotary Club, Lions Club, and professors. Some of them were also interested in watching Shen Yun. Some of them were Taiwanese businessmen in China and had read the Epoch Times. They praised our newspaper for its bravery in the face of a totalitarian power. This event, which helped many social elites to know about Dafa, was made possible by that friend and me although we never met in person previously.
Some practitioners asked why I visited the fraternities. Indeed, I had never thought whether it was a fraternity or a sorority. What I saw was a chance. Through the interaction with acquaintances on social media, I have got several unexpected rewards. If we let go of our notions and focus our efforts on saving people, then the door to a chance will be opened.
At a meeting of the directors of some clan association, the director-general introduced me as Chairman of the Board for Epoch Times. An elderly man knocked on the table and shouted, “Isn’t the Epoch Times a Falun Gong newspaper? It interfered with the unity of Taiwan and China!” I recognized the man as the one who refused to take the Epoch Times newspaper when I first joined the clan association. At that time I was too busy to deal with his problem. Two years later, he unexpectedly sent such a strong signal, wanting to learn more about Dafa. After the meeting, I immediately scheduled a personal meeting with him.
On the day of our meeting, he had a cold face, refusing to take the Falun Gong leaflets. When informed of the persecution of Falun Gong, he refused the facts and shouted aloud. In fact, his father and relatives had been persecuted by the evil Party, migrated to Taiwan with the KMT government, started a business and became the leaders of Taiwanese people who lived abroad. He often traveled to Shanghai and was treated with respect by China’s high-ranking officials. Since he was confused about the so-called powerful motherland, he did not really recognize the evilness of the Party.
When he was talking nonstop, I seized a chance to tell him that the evil Party offered promotion and fortune as bait to make him an accomplice of the communist gang in order to help them persecute the innocent. When he talked about the Chinese dream, I cited examples to explain that resources in China had been exploited and drained by the evil Party. Chinese banks’ performance is suffering a massive amount of bad debt; local governments are deeply in debt; China’s fake GDP data result in excess capacity, environmental pollution, adulterated foods, and a brain drain; the communist regime sustains its political power at the expense of numerous innocent lives. These are nightmares for the Chinese people. In fact, the elderly man knew the facts. It was his homesickness that made him deny the facts. In the end, he accepted the Epoch Times newspaper, the Epoch Weekly Magazine, and the book Bloody Harvest, and said he would treat me to a meal next time.
In our next meeting, the elderly man happily talked about Chinese history and culture. In response to him, I added some historical facts and changes to astronomical phenomena. Our chat lasted from lunch time to dinner time. Watching the Shen Yun clip, he was full of praise and bought five tickets. After watching the show, he said, “I have no negative opinion of Falun Gong. The Shen Yun show is very good.” But he said he could not agree with Falun Gong practitioners who manned booths at tourist sites. I cited examples to explain that Falun Gong practitioners cultivated Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. They never fought back against the persecutors, but hoped the evildoers could understand the heavenly law that good is rewarded and evil meets with retribution, and wished them a good future. Since then, he stopped his Chinese dream and positively introduced me and my performance at meetings of the clan association.
Later I brought him the book, Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, he said he did not need it since he had a good understanding of the communist party. But as he took a glimpse of the Epoch Times editorial, his eyes widened and took it. In the beginning of this year, the elderly man, who was the newly elected director-general, delightfully took the book, The Ultimate Goal of Communism, and sincerely admired the Epoch Times. Master said in “Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference”,
“Clarifying the truth in an upright and open manner are the very things Dafa disciples should do. I'm also telling you that all beings in today's world came for the sake of the Fa. If you want a being to clearly understand this point, you should go and clarify the truth to him. It is a master key, the key that can unlock that thing all beings have had sealed off for a long time and been awaiting for ages.”
Cultivation is very serious. Every single thought of ours should reach the level of purity. In our daily life, we should be aware of our own attachments, eliminate them step by step, and seize chances to advance further in our cultivation.
In an economic and trade forum, the owner of a cross-strait chain enterprise said that I should exchange my business card with his assistant since his assistant was more available. I thought maybe he was sensitive to the Epoch Times. Later the president of a pharmaceutical manufacturer also wanted me to contact his assistant, while his assistant mistook me as a journalist. I thought the two bosses might not know I was Chairman of the Board for a company. If they read my personal letter I had prepared in my bag, I thought, they would feel their rejection was impolite. At night I dreamed of boarding a boat with a group of people. All the others walked through a door, with me left outside. No one was seen to come out for a while. I started to complain to myself and then rejoiced in their misfortune, thinking, “If you knew who I am, you would be regretful.” Waking up from the dream, I realized my hidden attachment to fame and my unseen bitterness. Much to my astonishment, all the people had entered the door to Heaven, but I was still strapped in the human world due to my attachment. Thank you, Master, for enlightening me in my dream, where I saw my unobserved attachment. I was given a chance to see it and then get rid of it.
Three years ago, I started getting involved in editing and writing historical and literary documents. The relevant fields were unfamiliar to me, so I had to read a lot of Chinese classic texts. How to have out-of-the-box thoughts and keep the essence of the divinely imparted culture? There is no fixed reference. My cultivation state plays a key role in my work. Though I managed to beat the clock and had little sleep, I progressed little in my writing and editing. Yet I insisted on reciting two pages of Zhuan Falun daily. I never missed any session of sending forth righteous thoughts. The process involved great hardships. In half a year, I recited the entire book of Zhuan Falun and went on to pick up the essay about a distinguished historian. I had hadn't the least idea for my essay, but then I suddenly came up with a clear structure for the essay and finished it smoothly.
Since I had to spend time on promoting the Shen Yun show and the Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra, I found it hard to focus on my editing and writing. Having struggled to cope with the demands of my work in the beginning of the year and attended the anti-persecution demonstration in Hong Kong, I found all I needed was righteous thoughts instead of brainstorming. With a peaceful mind and the virtues from my Fa-rectification work, I was able to concentrate on my reading and writing after going home. Since then, I had participated in several anti-persecution campaigns in Hong Kong.
In the past as I joined the anti-persecution demonstrations in Taiwan, Hong Kong and America, I often saw some scenes. For example, fellow practitioners would be chatting; the display boards were not properly held; the participants did not walk in a straight line. At first I often looked outside, being anxious and critical, and unable to wholeheartedly send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate disturbances. In the second half of July as I arrived in Hong Kong again, I decided to do my part well. This time, I held a vertical board, managing to walk in a straight line with fellow practitioners on the left and right and staring straight ahead. It turned out that I saw no talking or casual behavior of others in the demonstration, nor did I feel thirsty or tired. Even as I returned home at midnight, I still felt energetic.
Sometimes, since I was busy with the work I participated in, I found it hard to be in a peaceful state of mind. Then I started to recite the Fa. When concentrating on reciting the Fa, I also came to understand the Fa at a higher level. Though sometimes unable to recite the Fa smoothly due to outside disturbance, I was still able to recite the Fa. But when practicing exercises or sending forth righteous thoughts, I did not do well since my mind was preoccupied with what I was eager to do. When deeply looking inward, I found the origin of the disturbance. It was selfishness. I was unable to fully let go of my ego, nor was I in a pure state of mind. When doing one thing, I tended to think under the influence of human feelings. Then there surfaced all the attachments of showing off, complacency, and fighting.
Understanding these questions, I could easily observe the rootless thought that hindered me, went on to resist it and then made progress.
Master said in Zhuan Falun, “When it’s difficult to endure, you can endure it. When it’s impossible to do, you can do it.” In the past few years, I have learned various kinds of knowledge, interacted with everyday people, and used different ways to help Master rectify the Fa. This process involved great challenges. The first step is the hardest. As long as you fear no hardship, regard the Fa as Teacher, and persevere in the face of all challenges, the Fa will find the path for practitioners and help them find those waiting for salvation.
Perseverance and endless efforts of Dafa practitioners are being seen by people. Though sometimes my performance was clumsy, my perseverance in upholding the truth is admired and envied by ordinary people. What’s more, a human being has a side that understands Dafa disciples are saving him. We have to remind ourselves not to forget our original goal and act with righteous thoughts to save more.
Let me share with you Master’s poem “Righteous Thoughts and Righteous Actions” in Hong Yin Volume II:
A Great Enlightened One fears no hardshipHaving forged an adamantine willFree of attachment to living or dyingHe walks the path of Fa-rectificationconfident and poised
The above is my cultivation experience. If there is anything improper, be kind enough to point it out.
Thank you, Master. Thank you, fellow practitioners.
(Presented at the 2018 Asia Fa Conference)