(Minghui.org) It has been 21 years since I started to cultivate in Falun Dafa and am now a young adult. I have experienced happiness and depression but have come through all that I faced with Master’s protection.
I did not clarify the truth face-to-face prior to 2013, but just through the internet and telephone, or by talking to my friends and classmates. I married in 2013. My wife, who emigrated to the United States from China, had distributed truth- clarification materials and clarified the truth face-to-face when she was in China. She suggested that we clarify the truth at a tourist site. But I hesitated and found an excuse, “I already do it on the internet. It is not necessary for me to clarify the truth face-to-face.” She replied, “Please consider this sincerely. We need you. The more people who go the more powerful it will be.”
Her words touched me. I knew that Master was telling me that I should quickly come out and clarify the truth face-to-face. I shared with her and cast off my attachments of apprehension, fear and saving face. I improved in the Fa and decided to go with her to talk to people about Falun Dafa.
We both have full-time jobs, so we only have the weekend to clarify the truth. Several years have passed and we have both persisted in doing it. Except for when we are promoting Shen Yun or participating in parades with the Tian Guo Marching Band, we go out to talk to people every weekend regardless of the season.
I remember a winter weekend when the temperature was 14ºF [-10ºC] with winds that made it seem more like -4ºF [-20ºC]. We kept clarifying the truth outside for several hours. My face was numb from the cold, but I felt warm inside. Regardless of how tired or difficult it was, it was always worth going to save sentient beings because that was our vow made long ago.
With the foundation of clarifying the truth at the tourist site, I can now talk about Falun Dafa with predestined strangers. I was leaving a supermarket one day after shopping when I almost collided with a guy who was about to go into the supermarket. I smiled at him and immediately started a conversation. I asked if he had heard about withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its youth organizations. He had no idea what withdrawing from the party was all about.
“Many people,” I said, “who came from China and who joined the CCP's youth organizations have chosen to quit them. That is because when you joined the CCP, you held up your fist and vowed that you would give your life to struggle for the CCP. But your life is your own, and you don't give your life to anyone. Thus, we help erase that poisonous oath, so you can be safe.”
“Okay. No problem,” he said, and gave me his name so that he could withdraw from the CCP. I then talked to him more about Dafa. He expressed that he was extremely grateful. As he was leaving he looked back and waved.
Master said:
"Also, with those people that you run into by chance, who you run into in daily life, and the people you run into at work, you should all clarify the truth to them. Even when in your daily life you pass by people so quickly that you don't have a chance to talk to them, you should still leave them with your compassion and kindness. Don't lose those who should be saved, especially those with predestined connections." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference" from Teaching the Fa at the Conference IV)
When I clarify the truth, I tell myself to let my righteous thoughts dominate and to eliminate all my human notions and any apprehension or other attachments. I tell myself to follow Master’s Fa and clarify the truth to whoever I encounter. I strive to not miss a single sentient being.
I withdrew from a media project and started to focus on face-to-face truth clarification in August 2015. Two years have passed quickly. I clearly understand that Master's arrangements are always the very best. Thinking back over these past two years, I have clarified the truth face-to-face every single day and made phone calls every night. A fellow practitioner mentioned in a sharing that many Chinese were applying for visas at the Chinese consulate and there were also so many Chinese visitors at Toronto University's main campus. I believed that these two places were where I should go. During this process, we have encountered many touching stories and things that have improved our xinxing.
I remember one day there was a long line in the front of the Chinese consulate. I worked with another practitioner to clarify the truth to the people waiting in line. We were on each end and talked to every visitor. Most of them readily agreed to withdraw from the CCP. Only a few visitors refused to withdraw.
I recalled Master’s Fa:
“Of course, a couple of years ago it was still difficult to clarify the truth. Some people were totally irrational since at that time there were a huge number of evil factors, which were controlling people. Those evil factors have now been progressively wiped out as the Fa-rectification has pressed forward and the bad things in the cosmos have been cleaned out, destroyed, and dissolved in large volume. And those changes are paralleled here among human beings. Now people are able to think things over with a clear head, and can have a good understanding of the persecution and of Dafa disciples and the evil party, so they are asked to take a position. So, naturally, it’s different now.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2015 West Coast Fa Conference”)
I clarified the truth at the University of Toronto when a graduation ceremony was being held, so many students were assembling there. Many parents had also come from overseas to attend the graduation ceremony. I believed this was a great chance to clarify the truth. But we were only three practitioners. We remained calm and talked to people, one after the other. An hour later, my parking space had expired – one could park for free for an hour. I considered going back to move my car, but that would take at least 10 minutes. When I came back the sentient beings might be gone. I decided not to go back, and that if I was to get a ticket I would just get a ticket. In the end, I did get a ticket.
I thought about my unrighteous thought process that had caused me to get a parking ticket. I felt a bit uncomfortable. Later, I looked inward more deeply and found that I had a thought that I might be lucky and not be fined because it had only been a short time. I also found my fear of inconvenience and my attachment of laziness.
Master said:
"The old forces don't dare to oppose our clarifying the truth or saving sentient beings. What's key is to not let them take advantage of the gaps in your state of mind when you do things." (“Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston” from Teaching the Fa at the Conference II)
Another year has passed since I started clarifying the truth at the Chinese consulate and the University of Toronto. Winter was coming and visitor numbers had reduced. In addition, the Chinese consulate had moved to an online reservation system for visas. I wondered where I should go to clarify the truth? My wife seemed to read my mind and said, “Let’s go to the airport to clarify the truth.” I said, “That's great!” Other practitioners had mentioned this idea before, but I had not paid a lot of attention to it. I now realized that Master was encouraging me to go there, so we started inquiring about clarifying the truth at the airport and found some practitioners who go there. We started a new journey to talk to people at the airport during the weekends with other practitioners.
When I first went to the airport, there were so many Chinese people lining up to wait for their luggage. “This is great!” I had thought. I appreciated the chance to clarify the truth to people one-by-one.
I remember meeting a Chinese lady and talked with her for about 30 minutes. She had a good predestined relationship with Dafa.
She told me what she had experienced. She had read Zhuan Falun before the CCP started to persecute Falun Dafa. She gave it up after the persecution started and handed her Dafa book over to the CCP. But, she found a copy of Zhuan Falun in her luggage. It was incredible because she knew she handed in the book, so how could it still be in her luggage and had even gotten through Chinese customs? I was so touched that Master had not given up on her. I recited Lunyu to her and told her to return to Dafa. She said, “I will study the Fa!”
I came across a number of people who thought I was someone they knew and initiated a conversation with me. I changed the topic to Dafa and persuaded them to quit the CCP. They agreed.
Master said:
“Everything has been prepared, and all that’s missing is for you to carry it out.” (“Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa - Fa Teaching Given at the 2011 Washington DC Metro Area Fa Conference” from Teaching the Fa at the Conference XI)
Someone told me, “I see you every day.” Someone else said, “I have seen you seven or eight times.” Yet someone else said, “It is you again.” Someone also jokingly said, “Do you live here? I always see you here.” I smiled and said that we had a predestined relationship! “I will be wherever we have more Chinese people.”
Young people who are around 20-years-old usually don’t seem to have so many human notions. They tend to readily accept the truth and withdraw from the CCP. Maybe the celestial climate has come to this stage and it is time for them to be told the truth.
Master said:
"When I was born, many Gods came down with me. From then on, this happened every year and Gods have been coming down. By the time I started to teach the Fa, those Gods came down like snowflakes—it was just that many. I calculated their ages now, and from when I started to spread the Fa till now, they would be young people around twenty-five years old, many of whom really have not been saved. They were all Gods, coming down to Earth, and they scattered to all areas of the world." (“Fa Teaching at the 2016 New York Fa Conference”)
Master's Fa spurs us on and keeps us moving forward, guides our direction, and stops us from getting lost in delusion on the journey home.
During these years of clarifying the truth, there have always been some people who would not listen to the truth. Even if some spoke to me unpleasantly, I was able to act peacefully. Someone even spat at me, but I felt very calm.
Master said :
“...only when you have an attachment will you be affected inside; if you don’t have an attachment, it will be like a breeze passing over you—you won’t feel a thing. If you hear someone say that you want to commit some horrible crime, you’ll just find it amusing.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2014 San Francisco Fa Conference”)
I have come across many kind people over the years since I have clarified the truth. When I talked to a young guy in a restaurant once he told me he had not joined any of the CCP's organizations, and added, “I support you!” A middle-aged man told me, “You guys are great!” I was shopping in a supermarket once, and I talked to an older man. He shook my hand and said, “You are so great!” I know that Master was borrowing these sentient people's mouths to encourage me. I must cultivate diligently.