(Minghui.org) I joined the global telephone rescue team about three months ago. It is a platform where practitioners call people in China to let them know the truth about Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa). Prior to that, I clarified the truth about Dafa face to face at tourist sites and airports. Being outside of China, I can talk freely to any Chinese, without worry.
However, when I talked to people on the global telephone rescue team who work for China's security apparatus or judiciary I used to get nervous about how best to start the conversation, or what I should say.
I soon realized that was because I was thinking in terms of normal human logic, and it was hampering my ability to apply my own wisdom.
Master said:
“When you lack wisdom it's usually caused by your being anxious, being anxious in your mind to do something, giving it too much importance, and thereby developing a different type of attachment. Actually, with a lot of things if you calmly and gently talk to people and handle those things rationally, you'll find that your wisdom will flow forth like a spring, and every sentence of yours will get right to the point, and every sentence will speak the truth. As soon as you become attached or anxious, though, or have some strong intention, your wisdom is gone, and that's because at that time you've come over to the human side again, right? You should try your best to use righteous thoughts and try your best to be in the state of a cultivator, and the results will be excellent.” (“Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. III)
I was nervous when I first logged onto the telephone platform. I knew that it was because of my fear – a deeply hidden feeling of terror of the police in China.
I was also apprehensive about whether I could do a good job, being a newcomer to the team, or if I could fit in with the others. I was afraid of being criticized. That was my human notion trying to take over, but I knew that these fears and worries did not come from me. They were merely human notions that I had acquired, so I sent forth righteous thoughts to get rid of them.
Learning to Make Effective Phone Calls
Normally, when I am given a case to phone about, I first try to understand the underlying details, prepare myself mentally, and then send righteous thoughts, targeting the team or department and its personnel, all the while asking Master to help me.
My mentor on the team gave me a prepared script, which detailed eight different approaches for clarifying the truth to people on the phone. It covered all the basics, and is very useful for newcomers to the platform. I kept a copy next to me when I made the calls. Initially, my call pick-up rate was quite high, and I just read from the script.
One time I called a police station and the call was promptly picked up by a man. I said, “Happy New Year! I wish you and your family a happy New Year!”
“Happy New Year to you too!” The man responded.
“I am calling you from overseas,” I continued. “I would like to tell you about things you cannot hear about inside China.” I then started reading from the script, which talks about the current situation in China.
The man interrupted, “We know all about this,” and then hung up.
I called straight back, and he picked up the call. I continued reading my script, but he claimed that he could not hear me very well, and hung up again. When I called back a third time, he launched into an attack on me, and then hung up.
I was bit annoyed at my mentor for making me read from a script, rather than tailoring my conversation around the particular circumstances at the time. I felt that was not helpful when we are trying to save someone, so from then on I decided to clarify the truth in my own way, and use the script only to offer supplementary information.
However, I soon started to stumble during some calls. On one such call, the person on the other end of the line picked up the call but remained silent. I had to keep the conversation going, but had difficulty conveying my message, because I didn't have a good grasp of all the aspects of the information I needed to say.
I had to admit that what my mentor told me was correct. That is, we need to know the script by heart, and even master it to the degree that we can freely apply it as the need arises.
Discovering Attachments
That particular call helped me see my attachment to “self,” which is an attachment that could lead to the development of other negative traits such as combativeness, jealousy, vanity, and arrogance. My emphasis on “self” stopped me from considering or accepting other people's ideas. I was being selfish.
Master said:
“I also want to tell you that your nature in the past was actually based on egotism and selfishness. From now on, whatever you do, you should consider others first, so as to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism. So from now on, whatever you do or whatever you say, you must consider others—or even future generations—along with Dafa’s eternal stability.” (“Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
Selflessness is a standard of the new universe. Therefore, I have to cast off this self-protective mentality to better equip myself to save people.
Being Persistent Brings Results
One particular call left a deep impression on me. I made the call to a 610 Office in Shandong Province, and it was answered by a woman. She picked up four out of the ten times that I called.
This woman immediately hung up the first time I called and started advising her to stop taking part in the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners. On the next call, she listened for about ten seconds before hanging up. She didn't pick up the phone for the next few times that I called.
However, the next time she picked up, she listened for over ten minutes. I told her that Falun Dafa has spread to over 100 countries and regions around the globe, but faces persecution in China. I added that what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is doing is illegal, so she shouldn't want to be held responsible by being associated with it. I also told her that the CCP has always been good at getting rid of people once they are no longer of use to them, and that she must not assist them.
She responded by saying, “I don't like listening to what you say.” And then hung up.
I rang again. She picked up, but didn't say anything. So I kept talking. I talked about the self-immolation hoax on Tiananmen Square, the CCP's organ harvesting from living practitioners, the Party's inherently evil nature, and so on.
Before finishing, I said, “Dafa practitioners inside and outside China have been patiently and persistently urging everyone not to be part of this persecution against innocent practitioners. We tell everyone the truth, because we want everyone to be able to distinguish between good and evil. Please treat Dafa practitioners with kindness to ensure a bright future for you and your family. In particular, practitioners inside China risk incarceration, torture, and even having their organs harvested, to bring the truth to you. Their hope is for every Chinese to know the truth and be saved from impending disaster.”
Emotion welled up inside me as I was speaking, and tears flowed down my cheeks. She must have picked that up from my voice, and said in a much softer tone: “Please don't cry. Have a drink and a rest first.”
I thought of Master’s words:
“Validate the Fa with rationality, clarify the truth with wisdom, spread the Fa and save people with mercy...” (“Rationality,” Essentials for Further Advancement II)
It occurred to me that my true compassion was disintegrating the evil elements controlling her, and now there was hope for her.
I composed myself, and said, “Most of you working for the 610 Office are Party members, so please quit the CCP as quickly as possible for the sake of yours and your families' future.” She agreed and asked me to help all her colleagues there too to quit.
I cautioned,“They need to first understand why they need to renounce their Party membership, so you have to tell them what I have told you. After that, the local Falun Dafa practitioners can help them quit or they can ring the 'Quit the CCP' phone number themselves.” She thanked me as we said goodbye to each other.
I am very grateful to Master for giving me the opportunity to save people and to cultivate myself on this telephone-calling platform.
