(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings Master. Greetings fellow practitioners. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my limited experience in Fa rectification with you.
1. Clarifying the truth to the precious Chinese people is our obligation
I went to Russia during the Thanksgiving Holiday to help Russian practitioners organize the "Journey of Fa Rectification" exhibition in several cities. Due to limited access to the Internet, I seldom had a chance to read Clearwisdom Net during that time. One day, upon returning to Moscow, I read the article from the editors of Clearwisdom Net entitled, "Make the Best Use of Time to Clarify the Truth to the Precious Chinese People." After reading this article, I thought deeply about it. I had been living in a city in New Hampshire for a few years. Most of the people there are all westerners. The audience for spreading the Fa and clarifying the truth were all Caucasians. Seldom did I clarify the truth to Chinese people and never to Chinese people in Mainland China. I rarely talked about Dafa to my family and friends in China. I read the article form the editors a number of times. I was moved by the little known background and history of the Chinese people and was deeply touched by the compassion expressed in the article.
I realized that I had been just the same as the Mainland Chinese people, lost in the mortal world, exhaustively suffering the pains of being in the Three Realms and creating innumerable quantities of karma in order to survive. Those high lords, those divine and holy Fa kings had reincarnated in the land of China during the time that Dafa is being widely spread. They are still confronting danger in the Three Realms and the human world, hoping to attain the Fa. Their lives and actions directly affect many cosmic systems and the future of innumerable sentient beings in the cosmos. I remembered that Teacher had often mentioned the importance of clarifying the truth to the Chinese people. I hadn't fully realized the significance and urgency of this matter. I felt very ashamed. That article touched me very deeply. After returning from Russia, I started to put most of my effort into clarifying the truth to the Chinese people in Mainland China.
2. Letting go of Self and cherishing sentient beings
I remember the first time that I chatted with people on the Internet at a fellow practitioner's home. The best word to describe my feeling at that time was "filthy." I understood in terms of Fa principles that we should save sentient beings. However, my human side felt it to be very difficult to develop compassion toward the people that I had encountered on the Internet. I even felt regretful for having chosen such a method to clarify the truth. No matter how I tried, I just couldn't relate to those online. I couldn't relate to the sentient beings who "confront danger in the Three Realms and the human world, hoping to attain the Fa." I was entangled by this notion for a period of time. Later, an experience changed me. In a "voice" chat room, a terribly bored man kept yelling. He wanted someone to say something entertaining in order to keep him interested. He had already spent the whole night online. As soon as I started talking, he kept badgering me as if he found his last hope and kept asking me to tell him a story. I really didn't enjoy this and wanted to leave but I was able to control my mind. Later, he wanted to chat with me in private. I said that if he wanted to chat with me he would have to accept the topic I picked. He agreed. Gradually, I started talking to him about Falun Gong. To my surprise, he stopped acting senselessly. He listened seriously and his words gradually became more polite and courteous. Later on, he invited me to talk regularly in that chat room. I knew this was a hint that Master gave to help me change my mind. I sensed Master's great benevolence. From then on I was able to stay calm and focused on clarifying the truth on the Internet.
Sentient beings' negative feelings and their hatred against Dafa is forced upon them by the evil old forces, as Master reminds us. Think about it, a high level being is one who came down to obtain the Fa in order to save the sentient beings in the cosmic system he represents. Now, he is unable to obtain the Fa because of the evil old forces' interference and sabotage. Even worse, he has gone to the opposite side of Dafa because of being poisoned by the evil. How dreadful this is! Our clarifying the truth is to give those sentient beings an opportunity to be saved. We cannot let the sentient beings who are waiting to be saved miss this opportunity because of our inadequate understandings of the Fa.
Master said in Touring North America to Teach the Fa, "So even though the people in China don't look especially striking--which is due to the large amount of karma in recent times--although this skin is no longer that pretty, the substance inside is significant. Think about how scary it will be if the sentient beings there are destroyed. Whether it be those that they represent, or the dimensions and sentient beings that they correspond to themselves, they're all major groups of beings." [Unofficial translation] In Fa-rectification, Master treasures every single life, and silently bears the karma created from the degeneration of human beings in the course of history, painfully saving everyone that can be saved. Master said, "As Fa-rectification cultivators, we can't just watch these innocent beings get deceived like this into sinning and be destroyed. This is because once this matter ends, the next stage of human history will begin, and many bad beings will be weeded out." ("Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference")
There are all kinds of people who join on-line chat rooms from all levels and all kinds of professions. I treat all of them as sentient beings to be saved. Perhaps the ones I'm facing are very likely the lords and kings of celestial bodies from very high realms. Even if some came to damage the Fa, they can realize their wrongdoings and obtain the Fa instead. They may then be saved.
3. Sincerity and compassion can touch people's hearts
The name I gave myself for chatting online was Ah-Hui. The "Hui" is the Hui in the word "Ming Hui."[Clear Wisdom] Many people on-line came to chat with me. Sometimes I had to talk to three or four people simultaneously. If I maintained a righteous mind I was able to clarify the truth in depth and people were willing to listen. Some even thanked me at the end. But when my attachments surfaced, such as being attached to talking to more people, the effect immediately turned out to be not as good. The surface manifestation was that I became unable to handle talking to several people at the same time. People would not listen to me and only a few people would agree with me. I then understood that clarifying the truth is tightly connected with the cultivation of our Xinxing [mind nature]. Later, I straightened out my frame of mind. I understood from the standpoint of the Fa why I clarify the truth to them. Compassion arose deeply from my heart. My heart calmed down, wisdom arose and more people came to chat with me. At the same time I also developed a trust with many people in the chat rooms. Some even came to talk with me very often and became friends. It may be that Dafa disciples are becoming mature in the Fa or that they could feel my sincerity. Many of them call me "elder sister." They said that they felt close to me and liked to chat with me. Later, I simply changed my name to "Ah-Hui elder sister." Some people even introduced "Ah-Hui elder sister" to their friends and asked them to come to chat with me too.
My deepest feeling about clarifying the truth in Internet chat rooms is the key point, sincerity, not technique. It is the connection of hearts, not flowery words. I met all kinds of people online, including military personnel, military school students, middle school students, policemen, salespersons, unemployed people, managers, hairdressers, computer programmers and more. Their life experiences are all different and the subjects they want to talk about are different. The things they care about are also different. I'm always able to find a common interest from their perspectives that lead to discussions about Dafa. I feel that a Dafa disciple is an enlightened person who has understood the truth of the universe at a certain level. "With broad knowledge of the laws and principles, he is able to unravel uncertainties." ("Sage" of Essentials for Further Advancement) No ordinary people's topics should appear difficult to us. On the contrary, we can always give them the righteous understanding that is closer to the Fa principles of the universe.
I usually start the topic from the their perspectives. Some people want to talk to me about the heartache of their breakup, conflicts with their spouses and so on. So I explain to them the Fa principles about marriage and family in a language that they can understand. Some people have lost interest in life. To them I explain why humans are humans and what the purpose of life is. Some people are interested in the social systems of western countries. I talk to them about the role of morality and faith. No matter what I say, in the end all the topics are centered on the truth of Dafa. Many of my on-line friends think that I am different because of my sincerity, openness and righteousness.
I remember that I once chatted with a high school student. The first time we chatted, I felt that he didn't know what to talk about. I took the opportunity and gradually showed him the slanderous lies of the government media and talked about the freedom of belief. I then "showed" him some Dafa truth-clarifying materials and told him that he would have a bright future if he follows "Truth, Compassion, Tolerance". I told him to conduct himself according to these principles and to be sincere and kind to people. I advised him to think of others first and to be tolerant when encountering conflicts. He replied "okay." Days passed by. He found me in the chat-room again and called me "Falun Gong elder sister." I didn't quite remember him so I asked how he knew me. He said he had chatted with me before. He had tried to conduct himself according to what I had told him and that he felt pretty good while doing so. He later said that he wanted to be a tree in his next life because a tree wouldn't be separated from the things surrounding it. I told him that humans are the most precious beings in order to lead him to think about the origin of mankind and the true purpose of one's life. I showed him parts of lecture one in Zhuan Falun. I showed him where Master talked about the origin of human beings and about returning to one's original, true self. He was very interested after reading it and wanted to read the entire book. He wanted me to send him a copy of the book and wished to learn more. When he knew that I would keep my word and would send him the book he said to me, "Knowing you is the greatest honor in my life. I'm so happy today." Actually, it is the side of him that knows things that is looking for the Fa and is forming a predestined relationship with the Fa. I was deeply moved that a being had come across a chance for salvation. Perhaps it's not just one life that sought the truth, but the dimensions and sentient beings that correspond to him and that he represents.
There was another girl who chatted with me. After hearing about the city she was in I asked if she knew about something that happened in her city. She said she didn't. So I sent her some cases of the persecution against Dafa that took place in her city. She was very sad after reading them and couldn't believe that it was true and showed great sympathy toward Falun Gong practitioners. She accessed the Internet from an Internet café. Every time she logged on, she would say hello to me. Sometimes, when I was busy she would just wait for me quietly. As long as I sent her truth-clarifying materials and gave her the addresses of web sites, she would read them. She even forwarded the news and websites to her good friends. I sent her an electronic copy of Zhuan Falun. She said that she would read it. I could feel that she was waiting for me to introduce the Fa to her.
There were also those who were poisoned by the evil lies. When running into this kind of situation, I usually tried my best to lay out the facts to them and avoid arguments. If the person was difficult to talk to I asked for his phone number. In most cases I was able to eliminate his thoughts against Dafa through talking to him on the phone. There was a police academy student. After I introduced Falun Gong to him he said a soldier's duty is to follow orders and it was not acceptable for him to comment about anything on the subject. Although he held some prejudice against Dafa, he still wanted to make friends with me and he gave me his phone number. I called him at his dormitory and clarified a lot about the truth and talked about my personal opinions about life, matter, faith, human rights and many other things. Gradually I gained his trust and the evil lies were exposed without much effort on my part. I said to him, "Although a soldier has to follow orders, it still matters what the order is and whether it is morally correct. The government makes mistakes. When the government wants you to do bad things against your kind nature, as a person with independent thinking, you should not help bad people do bad things." I also told him that many policemen in China no longer follow those morally decrepit orders and are doing things based on their own judgment. He was inspired by what I said.
There were also times when I ran into Internet police and spies. They were not interested in talking but would say all kinds of nice things in order to obtain information about practitioners. These people are easy to identify. I usually treat them the same and clarify the truth to them I tell them the principle of "good is rewarded with good and evil is met with evil." I also tell them the names of those evil beings in their regions and tell them that a list of all those who persecute Dafa practitioners was being kept. I advised them to stop helping the evil commit crimes and to seriously take responsibility for themselves.
4. Clarifying the truth on the Internet is important
Nothing is a mere coincidence in the process of Fa rectification. With the rapid growth of the Internet in China in recent years, more and more people visit Internet chat-rooms. Is this phenomenon coincidental?
Master said in his poem "Just a Play," "The sky serves as curtain, the ground as stage. The Cosmos moves, Heaven and Earth open. Everything through the ages has happened for the Fa. Falun turns, renewing the three domains." I understand that the popularity of the Internet and online chat rooms in China is just a stage setup for us to clarify the truth. It is to serve the Fa. To use this method to clarify the truth to the precious Chinese people is just part of the process of assisting Master in "turning the Falun" and "creating the three new domains." This includes the new heavens, the new Earth and the new mankind. While clarifying the truth on the Internet, we directly face tens of millions of Chinese people whose minds have been poisoned and who need to be saved. Isn't it significant? When we don't have a lot of financial means, the Internet has provided us with an inexpensive information channel for clarifying the truth to large masses of people.
Sometimes clarifying the truth on the Internet appears to be tedious, insignificant and mundane. Some practitioners slowly gave up and went to do things that they thought were more important. Some other practitioners thought they did not know enough about computers and thought they were not able to do it for lack of technical ability. Of course, there are also various kinds of Internet blockades which have created difficulties. Some of the elements have become interference that affects the outcome of our clarifying the truth. Therefore, we must overcome the interference from our own notions and understand the Fa from within the Fa and make use of this good opportunity and good vehicle for clarifying the truth. This large stage arranged for Dafa can be fully used for clarifying the truth.
To break through and overcome these obstacles and difficulties and to break through the Internet information blockage, we need to first of all reject in our minds the old forces' arrangements. We need to eradicate the evil with our righteous thoughts. Clarifying the truth via the Internet requires a little more technical knowledge than telephone or mail, but we can also clarify the truth more thoroughly. I've seen many elderly practitioners who had never touched computers before learn it quickly. Actually, the technical part is not difficult. The difficulty lies in how we understand the requirements of the Fa for ourselves and how much faith we have in the Fa. Dafa has already offered infinite wisdom to Dafa disciples. I believe we are able to break through these mental and technological blocks and do better in clarifying the truth to Chinese people.
From getting exposed to Dafa during chatting on the Internet, many people have already gradually changed after learning the truth of Dafa. Through our long term efforts, we can clearly see that the environments of the online chat rooms has been purified a lot. Bad thoughts in peoples' minds have also been eliminated tremendously. More and more people are getting closer to Dafa and are understanding Dafa better. There are still hundreds of millions of sentient beings waiting to obtain the Fa, waiting for us to eliminate the bad thoughts in their minds that have been poisoned against the Fa. Our responsibility is significant and undeniable.