Cultivating Myself while Calling China

(Minghui.org) I moved to the U.S. two years ago and soon began clarifying the facts about Falun Dafa to people in Flushing, New York. This April, I joined the global team to make phone calls to China.

Looking Inward and Improving Myself

During one of my first calls, the other party began shouting at me, “You don’t want to talk to me. You are just fulfilling a task!” I was caught off guard. I hadn’t gotten the hang of making these calls; how could I already have formed the notion of routinely fulfilling a “task”? I felt wronged. Then I thought, “He didn’t refer to me specifically, did he?” I forgot all about looking inward.

During our daily recap meeting, I reported the conversation to the general coordinator. She quoted Master’s words to me,

“When any conflict arises or anything happens, I've told you that not only should the two parties in the conflict look for reasons on their part, even any third party should think about himself--why are you the one who observed it? When you are a direct party in the conflict, that's even more the case, but why won't you cultivate yourself?” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. IV)

She also reminded those who attended the meeting to look inward.

Her words alerted me. Since the person spoke directly to me, shouldn’t I look inward even more deeply? After examining myself, however, I still couldn’t find anything wrong.

A couple of days later, I suddenly realized that I lacked compassion. This manifested in a low answer rate, and I didn’t really care whether the other party picked up the phone or not. When I did talk to people, I went on and on without considering the other party’s feelings. I even thought, “If you’re not saved, it’s your own choice. I tried to clarify the truth to you.”

I didn’t put my heart into calling people. I only appeared to be kind on the surface. Wasn’t I just completing a task?

To be honest, I had another deeply hidden attachment–resentment. I thought, “Falun Dafa is practiced all over the world by 100 million people. So many people outside China understand that Falun Dafa is good. Why can’t you? When other people renounced their memberships in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), why didn’t you? It’s your choice. What does it have to do with me?!”

I realized that my issue was not having enough compassion. I wasn’t altruistic as Master asked us to be, nor did I put my heart into truth-clarification. I just went through the motions. When this was pointed out by the person I called, my first response was that it didn’t apply to me, so I wasn’t moved. Afterwards, I realized that Master used his words to give me a hint. I understood that only by looking inward when unexpected things happen, can we identify our issues and realize where we need to do better. Through this matter, I had a deep understanding of what it meant to look inward.

Letting Go of Fear

One time I was given a list of people who work at the CCP’s Cyber Police Detachment and Terrorism Prevention Brigade. At first, I was fearful and hesitant. I also wondered if I should take another case instead. When I looked inward, I saw my attachment, which was selfishness. I recalled what 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)

After I realized I had to eliminate my fear and selfishness, I immediately accepted this case.

When my call to a team member at the Cyber Police Branch went through, I didn’t address him by his title. I didn’t want him to know how much information I had about him. After he listened for more than two minutes, he suddenly asked me to repeat what I had just said. I began to wonder if he wanted to stay on the line so he could identify my location. I had the urge to hang up on him.

Right then I knew what to do. I said, “So-and-so, you are a cyber police officer and responsible for monitoring Falun Dafa. I hope you can use your position to safeguard Dafa instead of carrying out the persecution.” As soon as I said this, he said I called the wrong number and then quickly hung up. When I reflected on this experience, I felt I had eliminated a layer of selfishness and ego.

I phoned an Attorney General in the Procuratorate of a certain county. After the call went through, he asked me, “Who are you? How did you get my number?” I told him I was a Falun Dafa practitioner. I said, “You are all famous people. Anyone who is involved in persecuting Falun Dafa can find their names on a worldwide website. I realize persecuting practitioners is part of your job. But since you are a kind person, you should use your power to safeguard them.”

He said, “I understand.” Then he said, “I’m about to attend a meeting. How about we wrap this up now?” Since I didn’t say anything, he hung up. I felt a bit regretful afterwards, for I didn’t continue talking. Every time I made phone calls, I felt there was room for improvement. Over time, my fear was eliminated.

One time during a four-minute call with the deputy director of a county’s police station, he threatened me by saying that he recognized my voice and would go after me. I ignored what he said. I tried my best to awaken his conscience.

Seeing that I was unmoved by his threats, he said, “Do you know how annoying you practitioners are?” I replied right away, “We call you solely to benefit you. We are not being paid to do this. We use our own time and spend our own money to call you. We try our best to hold ourselves to the standards of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and we try our best to be good people.” Even though he hung up on me, I felt our conversation laid a foundation for him to accept the truth.

Looking Inward and “Hurry Up And Tell Them”

One time, the call went through to the head of a brainwashing center under a certain Domestic Security Division. A woman picked up the call. She was very impatient and shouted, “Speak quickly! I must attend to an urgent matter!” I was caught off guard. Then I quickly said, “I’m calling you from overseas. I hope you can use your power to treat Falun Dafa kindly.” She replied without any hesitation, “Sure! Sure!”

Then she quickly asked, “Anything else?” I was caught off guard again, as it was very rare to come across someone prompting me to tell them more. I quickly said, “Have you quit the CCP? Please be sure to renounce your memberships in the CCP and its affiliated organizations.” She did not answer me and hung up. Then I debated whether to call her again because she had urged me to say more.

I suddenly recalled what Master said,

“As Dafa disciples clarify the truthSharp swords shoot forth from their mouthsTearing open the rotten demons’ liesLose no time and save them,hurry up and tell them”(“Hurry Up And Tell Them,” Hong Yin II)

Master was using her to hint at me. The next day, I went to the bank. While a clerk took care of me, I suddenly remembered, “Hurry Up And Tell Them.” I clarified the facts to him and helped him quit the CCP.

One time, I called a court staff in Liaoning Province. When the other party asked me something, I responded. She was so surprised that she said, “Wow! You are a living person! I thought I was listening to a recording.” I told her that the CCP was carrying out the “Blade Inward” activity. The CCP felt it was close to collapse, so it began to shirk its responsibilities.

She was surprised that I knew so many details about what was going on. She said, “It looks like you called us specifically.” I said, “It’s because your local police, judicial system and procuratorate are launching a new round of persecution targeting Falun Dafa practitioners. We are trying to stop you from committing more crimes.”

When she talked about the current CCP leader, I said, “You are deceived again. That’s what the CCP does. In order to leave a way out for themselves, those high-level officials have all transferred their assets overseas. Meanwhile, those of you working on the front lines are scapegoats. You know why the evil CCP is doing “Blade Inward”? Because they’re trying to avoid accountability. Please protect yourself well and don’t be fooled again.”

She said she understood what I meant. When she asked me to talk to their management, I said, “This has nothing to do with the size of your post. As long as you are involved, you will be held accountable. We have been talking to those high-level officials as well, as we are trying to save everyone.”

I told her it was very important to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. I said, “The divine can no longer stand the evil CCP continuing to harm people. The CCP is working against the divine. When you swore to devote your life to the Party, it’s the same as surrendering yourself to demons. The gods can’t do anything about it since you have made this pledge!”

She argued with me by saying, “The CCP is not against God, it’s atheist.” I said, “This is exactly the lie the CCP uses to trick you. If people don’t believe in the divine, they do whatever they dare to. This is exactly the root cause of today’s declining morality. The gods are about to eliminate bad people. Whoever sides with Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance will be protected by Gods and Buddhas.”

The woman said, “I quit the Communist Youth League long ago.” I said, “That does not count. Only by removing that pledge from deep down will it do. I can help you quit your memberships in both the Youth League and the Young Pioneers.” She said, “Sure, I can do that.”

The telephone truth-clarification platform has helped me greatly in my cultivation. I have also learned a great deal from it. I now have a deeper understanding of what it means to look inward. I always wanted to be diligent in my cultivation, but I always failed. After I joined the platform, I saw practitioners doing group Fa study, exercises, and making truth-clarification calls. They are improving and elevating themselves as a whole.

What touches me the most is that when practitioners have issues, they look at them from the Fa’s perspective. In the past, I always had trouble seeing my own issues. But now when I compare my state to others’, I can see where I need to do better. This also motivates me to cultivate diligently so I can help save more sentient beings.

Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.