Shared at the 2004 Canada Falun Dafa Conference
(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings Master! Greetings Fellow Practitioners!
My topic is "Clarifying the Truth to Everyone I Meet"
It is a Falun Dafa practitioner's duty to clarify the truth to people so as to offer them salvation. We should therefore take every opportunity to clarify the truth to the people we meet. Now, please allow me to share some of my cultivation experiences during the truth clarification process. Please be compassionate when pointing out any of my shortcomings.
Clarifying the truth to my colleagues
Besides my family members, my colleagues are the ones whom I spend the most time with in my daily life. From the beginning, when I first obtained the Fa until now, I have been constantly clarifying the truth about Falun Gong to them. I try not to miss any opportunity. When I had just obtained the Fa five years ago, I wanted my colleagues to also obtain the Fa. I told them everything I knew with good will, mixed up with the show-off mentality. Once I became over zealous and I actually demonstrated the exercise movements to them in the office. Although I behaved a bit too excitedly, my colleagues didn't give me any negative feedback. They seemed to have sensed that I truly wanted to share something good with them. I discovered that what makes everyday people accept us as Dafa practitioners is our good behavior in our daily life. Some feedback my colleagues gave me was that I have become less selfish. I am able to think more about others. On top of that, I have never been sick during any flu season. When some of my colleagues got sick, they would say, "I will practice Falun Gong someday." After I have made my colleagues understand that Falun Gong is good and Falun Gong practitioners are being persecuted, this has made things much easier. It is easier for me to get a day off work; I can wear a "Falun Dafa Hao" badge to work; I can exhibit a "Compassion" magazine and have a copy of Zhuan Falun [main teachings of Falun Gong] on my desk. Sometimes my colleagues not only encourage me to clarify the truth to my clients, but also would help me do that for their clients or other colleagues. All these positive factors are a great aide for me to clarify the truth to my clients.
Clarifying the truth to clients
I am an investment advisor. I have the opportunity to contact many clients every day, either face to face or over the phone. I have been trying to clarify the truth to each client I meet. The more I have tried, the easier I could direct the topic of our conversations to Falun Gong. Some clients asked me questions after they saw my badge or the "Compassion" magazine. Most of the time I initiated the discussion. I can start to talk about Falun Gong from many angles. For example, when I answer a question such as, "How are you doing with your own investments lately?" I would reply, "Great, because I have not made any investment since May 2000! I am a practitioner of Falun Gong and follow the teaching "No Gambling." I sold all my stocks in May 2000, and that is why I did not get hurt by this stock market downturn.
Some might ask me whether I had visited China in the past few years. I would answer, "No, I want to wait until Jiang is brought to justice for genocide. I am a Falun Gong practitioner and I don't want to go back there to get persecuted." When the topic of physical health came up, I would say, "I am lucky that my lower back pain was cured because I practice Falun Gong;" or, some people might like to raise the issue of what life is all about. Then I would have an opportunity to tell them that I have gained much more inner peace since I started to practice Falun Gong. When I wanted, I could find many opportunities to clarify the truth of Falun Gong to the people I met.
It is a cultivation issue
It is not a technical issue when it comes to clarifying the truth of Falun Dafa. I have found that I would be able to come up with many ideas, take various actions to clarify the truth on my own initiative during certain periods when I could concentrate on the Fa study, cultivate internally and have stronger righteous thoughts. When my Fa study fell behind, my righteous thoughts would become weak. Many confusing thoughts would arise. Once I had some moments of hesitation and wondered if I should start to clarify the truth to somebody I just met. I might wonder, "Should I tell him this time, or wait for some other opportunities to arise?" Once I had such hesitation, then sure enough I would find a lot of reasons not to clarify the truth.
Those reasons were all interferences that stopped me from stepping forward to clarify the truth. For example, our company hired a new high-ranking administrator who took his time to visit our branch one afternoon. I planned to clarify the truth to him, just like what I had done in the past with the other superiors. But my immediate boss, the branch manager, suggested to me to hold off on the topic of Falun Gong until I got to know this new boss better. I agreed with him because my righteous thoughts then were not strong enough. The problem is that this man came by only once and then has never shown up again. I couldn't even find him when I went to the head office. There were also some prospects who visited our office only once, then never returned. I didn't clarify the truth to them either. I regret it very much every time I remember those cases. I think some of the people might have only one or two chances to listen to the truth of Dafa from a Dafa practitioner. It should be my responsibility to rescue those people once I had a chance to meet them. Just to avoid this regret again, I have decided that I don't need any excuses at all when it comes to clarifying the truth. I have decided that it is a MUST for me to clarify the truth to each one I meet. Regardless whether it is a company's CEO or a beggar, once they have an opportunity to come close to me, they all have a predestined relationship with me and they all come to listen to the truth of Dafa. It is much better to at least tell them a bit of the truth when time is tight than not tell them anything.
Later on, I tried very hard to clarify the truth to almost everyone I met. When I had more time, I told them more. Normally, I told them right away that I am a Falun Gong practitioner. I have gained tremendous benefits from the practice, physically, spiritually and emotionally. I have therefore promised myself to clarify the truth about Falun Gong to everyone I meet. It only takes a short moment. This way, I seldom miss anybody.
Once I had made such a promise, Master arranged for many people with predestined relationships to come to me. For example, some clients came to see me to solve some very minor problems, which could have been solved over the phone. Some clients forgot their original purpose for seeing me. They'd say, "Something drove me to come and see you and I forgot why." There were some salesmen who tried to sell me long distance phone services, etc. To me, these people all came to me for the truth of Falun Gong.
There was a fellow who walked into my office and asked for some kind of insurance. I said I don't sell insurance. He said, "I think you do, because one of your colleagues in the head office recommended that I see you." My company has never been in the insurance business. All of my colleagues should know this fact! This fellow came for the only purpose - to hear the facts of Dafa. Really, when I told him about Falun Dafa, he appeared to be excited. His other side seemed to know that he was there to hear about Dafa. Usually these kinds of people whose paths had been arranged to come for the truth are those who are more compassionate. Once they hear of the persecution, they would show their compassion. Some of them might even want to learn the exercises.
Many truth clarification opportunities exist in our daily lives. It is a good idea to carry some fliers with us at all times. We can hand fliers to people anywhere, at any occasion, such as in an elevator, in front of a cashier when shopping, in restaurants. During lunch time I sometimes go around the same office building and talk to people. It was a bit awkward to talk to strangers in the beginning. Once I thought that I might never have another occasion to meet this fellow again, I told myself not to have too much human notions. Just go ahead and tell him. Not only should I tell them quickly, but I should also ask those of my colleagues or friends who have already known the truth to clarify the truth too.
There was such an example; one day my boss told me that he was just about to take off to meet one of his clients in a remote, small town. He went on to tell me that the client was an elderly woman, a faithful Christian, a person without any relatives, a person who had been leading a hard life, yet keeping a compassionate heart. I was touched and wanted to clarify the truth of Dafa to her immediately. But she was not my client. What should I do? I then asked Master to give me some insight. Just the moment before my boss took off for his appointment, I had an idea. I asked my boss to ask that old lady to say a prayer for those of our fellow Falun Dafa practitioners who are still being persecuted in China. I told him the reason that compassionate people's prayers might be helpful. I then had an excuse to ask my boss to give a Dafa flier to that older woman, to better explain the Falun Dafa facts. My boss accepted my request and went ahead to do it. The result was great. My boss told me that the older woman not only agreed to say prayers for our fellow practitioners who are persecuted, but she also became very interested in Falun Dafa.
Master taught us at Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference,
" 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. Actually, a lot of Dafa disciples say when they're clarifying the truth, "I'm going to go clarify the truth now," as if at that moment they're going to clarify the truth, but they don't clarify the truth normally. Saving beings should permeate every single aspect of your daily lives at this time. If you can all understand and really see its importance, I think you'll probably save more beings."
I think it is all caused by predestined relationships to meet certain people, therefore, I should tell them the facts about Falun Dafa.
Some Sharing
There are some other additional thoughts that I want to share: Try to tell people the facts based on their ability of acceptance. For example, I talk more about the persecution part to one of my Jewish colleagues. He really showed his compassion because he is Jewish. He understands what persecution means. Jewish people have suffered from persecution for quite a long time. He was willing to sign the petitions for us. To another colleague who strongly believed in "reward and retribution" I told that it is inevitable that there will be a retribution awaiting those wicked persecutors, therefore it is better to tell his friends and family members to not support the persecution policies of Jiang's regime. To Christian clients I usually point out to them that some Christian's comments about Falun Gong are not factual. It is helping the wicked Jiang's regime to persecute Falun Gong practitioners by openly criticizing Falun Gong. Those people of the Roman Empire did the same thing towards Christians, which resulted in harsher persecution. The Romans later on received a horrible karmic retribution (4 wide-spread plagues) because of what they did to Christians. After the truth is clarified, I normally ask those Christians to say prayers for our fellow practitioners in China. The ones with a compassionate heart usually agree to help.
In addition, we should follow Master's teachings about not to talking at too high a level. I had an experience of failure in the beginning of my cultivation. I talked to a friend about Falun Gong from 9:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m. am the next morning across a Kungfu Tea table. I had the good will of helping my friend obtain the Fa, mixed with excitement and some show-off mentality. In short, I talked too much and at too high a level. Later on, I found that the more I talked, the more confused this friend got. I might have achieved a better result to just tell him "Falun Dafa is great," and that I have gained such and such benefits; that our fellow practitioners are persecuted in China.
Another issue: Master taught us not to get involved in common people's events. We should correctly follow this teaching. I have some Taiwanese friends who would be very angry when "Blue Alliance" is mentioned, whereas some would complain that the "Green Alliance" used tricks to win the Taiwanese presidential election. Since I do not understand "Blue Alliance" and "Green Alliance" anyway, I just told them I have no comment.
One more caution: Don't go too far. Just tell people about the truth of Falun Gong. Just tell people we are against this brutal persecution. The reason is that some new immigrants from China have confused the concept of supporting China and supporting the Chinese Communist party as being the same thing due, to the life-long brainwashing by certain people in the ruling Party. We don't want to get into sensitive topics.
One more thing to comment on: we should always stand up against defamations of our Master and Dafa, and put down those absurd sayings. For example, when I participated in the 36-hour hunger strike on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to rescue our fellow practitioners in Changchun, I met the MP for my area. I explained to him why we were there and asked him for help. He replied that the Falun Gong issue is an issue between the Chinese government and the Chinese people. It should be left to the two concerned parties to "negotiate to find a solution." I immediately found his response disturbing. I had clarified the truth to him before. I had also helped him for his MP election campaign. He had an indifferent attitude toward Falun Gong. He was perfunctory. I could not accept that response. I then said, "That is nonsense. The Chinese government is cruel and violent. How can the Chinese people negotiate with them? Falun Gong practitioners' appeal to the government is an attempt to "negotiate for a solution." The result has been that the police arrested them and then tortured them. Some of them even were tortured to death! Right now, the Changchun police received orders to shoot our fellow practitioners in the streets. We wouldn't come to you for help if we could "negotiate." He was surprised to see the look in my eyes and said, "We have a disagreement." Some of our fellow practitioners had asked him to help us before. He didn't do much. But this time he had a better reaction.
According to a fellow practitioner, this MP then went back to the parliament building to urge his fellow MPs to pay attention to the Falun Gong practitioners on a hunger strike in front of the parliament building. Later on when I thought back, although I was a bit upset, I had righteous thoughts that suppressed his wrong notions. A good result came out of that. Of course, from the perspective of personal cultivation, I didn't do it perfectly. I shouldn't be upset.
Master said in Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference (2003),
"Question: Even now I still find that it's hard to handle and balance well having compassion for all beings and safeguarding Dafa's dignity. Master, would you please help and guide me on this?
Teacher: Your intention to safeguard Dafa's dignity is correct, but how do you safeguard it? Do you shut their mouths? Do you debate with them? I'm telling you, just treat all beings with compassion, and just clarify the facts to people with compassion, and you will be safeguarding Dafa's dignity, and you'll be able to safeguard Dafa's dignity."
That MP's ignorant words came to my ears because of two of my attachments: sometimes my righteous thought is not strong enough, being indifferent to matters of principle. Sometimes I get easily upset. To meet the Fa's requirements, I should disprove of his words without anger.
There is yet another thing I want to tell you. Although we should not go to extremes when it comes to the issue of truth clarification, we don't have to follow those unreasonable rules. People establish way too many rules, such as prohibiting talking about belief or religion; prohibiting flier distribution in front of shopping places because it is privately owned property, etc. I think these are all arrangements of the old forces. They have not arranged the truth clarification part. Colleagues can talk about hockey games forever at work. It is not fair that following "Zhen, Shan, Ren" and being a good person cannot be discussed in the same office. In the beginning when I wore a " Falun Dafa is Great" badge, my immediate supervisor, in a roundabout way, tried to talk me out of wearing it in the office. I refused him curtly. I said, " Jewish people can wear a ‘yamukah;' Indians can wear a turban and Christians can wear a necklace with a cross to work. This is a much lower profile, to just wear a badge that says, "Falun Gong is Great" which are my true words, my conviction. It is not fair to prohibit this." Upon hearing that, he didn't say any more and has left me alone since then. Of course I am not saying we should act recklessly. I mean we should try to improve our space and condition for cultivation and truth clarification. We should not be too easily restricted by unreasonable rules.
Getting rid of selfishness during the process of truth clarification
The process of truth clarification is a very good cultivation process. I obtained the Fa on 7.20, 1999. In the beginning, I clarified the truth for myself. Since I had just obtained the Fa and I was very excited. I was trying to spread the Fa to my friends and colleagues. Every time I heard some of them repeat the lies of Jiang's regime I got upset. I thought these people don't even know what Falun Gong is all about before they make their comments. Weren't they lacking in wisdom?
Back then, I believed that it was very lucky for me to be able to come to cultivate in Dafa. I believed I had the opportunity to cultivate longevity in Dafa. In ancient China, some truth seekers had to beg the master on their knees in front of a cave for just a little bit of the truth. Without a predestined relationship, they would not be taught at all. Now, Master delivers such a righteous practice to my front door; what a lucky man I am! I thought I had wisdom. Those people bad mouthing Dafa was insulting my wisdom, which is why I felt I had to disprove them. The usual line I used was, "If the Ruling party's word has become reliable, then an old female pig can climb a tree. Is this the first time you have ever heard that party's lies? If Falun Gong were like what they say, there wouldn't be anyone learning it. How come so many people have come to learn it? Many practitioners are highly educated. I feel great about learning Falun Gong. My lower back pain is cured. I have gained inner peace and many other benefits. It cost me nothing to learn it. Where else can you find such a good practice? You have not even read a single Falun Gong book. You are just repeating others' words. Where is your wisdom?"
Upon hearing what I said, those people became a little better. They would say the Falun Gong you practice sounds good. It may be different from the Falun Gong in China. My words worked a little bit. On the other hand I might lose patience when I encountered some stubborn ones, or someone with strong notions, or someone who kept attacking Master. By then some thoughts might flood into my mind, "This guy is bad" and "I shouldn't waste my time with him. I will go my own path until consummation. Who cares about such people?"
Along the way of my Fa study, I gradually realized that being impatient is a sign of selfishness. I only wanted to hear good words. It goes without saying that we should disprove those attacks on Master and Dafa. The result would be better if I am unmoved by human emotion. If I can truly think of others, I then can touch their heart. I then can show them the way to be saved. There is a chance I could meet very bad people, but most of the people I would meet are still not so bad, and are still savable. Some of them are just utilized by the evil due to their own notions and lack of understanding of Dafa. Once the truth is clarified to them they might wake up and become savable. A Dafa practitioner's impatience or bad attitude might push these people away. Since I have come to understand this, I have become much more patient. It took me a long period and quite a lot of hard lessons to become more patient. In the past few years, I sometimes managed to do well and sometimes I failed. I think this all came down to the issue of Fa study. When I could concentrate on the Fa study, I then could suppress the odd thoughts in my mind and I then could take initiative to clarify the truth with patience. If my Fa study didn't go well in a certain period, I then would fail to subdue my selfishness. Laziness and selfishness would overwhelm me.
Master has told us many heavenly secrets. We all know that this period will not be long. We all know that everyone in the world is here for Dafa. If they fail to position themselves, they are in danger then. It is just a simple act for us to open our mouths to clarify the truth to people around us. Let's all go ahead to tell them now. Only when we have fulfilled our duty we will have no regret then. Imagine this scenario: after we consummate and return to our position, we look back and find a few beings in our world missing. They failed to catch up because you did not clarify the truth to them when you met them in the human world; some human notions tied you down. It would be too late for you to be regretful. I do not want to be regretful.
Let's motivate ourselves with Master's poem:
Hurry Up And Tell Them
As Dafa disciples tell people the facts,
It's like sharp swords shooting out together from their mouths,
Shredding apart the rotten demons' lies.
Lose no time and save them, hurry up and tell them.
