(Clearwisdom.net) As I gain a deeper understanding of cultivation practice, I experience more happy encounters and more interesting incidents.
A happy encounter with a family in the U.S.
Once as I was waiting to take a train from Washington, D.C., to New York City, a young couple were approached me, one holding a two-year-old boy and the other a four-year-old girl, with their six-year-old boy walking beside them.
They all looked at me, while the little girl smiled and said hello.
Looking at these lovely children, I remembered the beautiful paper lotuses in my backpack. Hanging at the end of each lotus is a bookmark with the three English words, "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance." As I took the paper lotus out to give to the little girl, she was so excited that she could not help grabbing it from my hand and holding it in front of her chest with glee. Trying to get it first, her older brother ran towards me, but he was too late. Witnessing the boy's disappointment on his face, I regretted that I did not bring more lotuses with me. Fortunately I had some bookmarks so I could give one to him. He was happy again.
As we were waiting for the train, I started to introduce Falun Gong to the children's parents. Since they had never heard of the practice before, I told them that there used to be 100 million people practicing it in China. "Later the authorities suppressed the practice," I continued. I told them about the English Clearwisdom.net website. They said they would definitely check it out. They showed tremendous interest in the words "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance," and repeatedly followed me to say the three words and "Falun Dafa is good" in Chinese. Following their parents, the kids also repeated, "Zhen-Shan-Ren," the Chinese words for "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance."
This short encounter seemed to be accidental, but the lotus flower helped me to connect them with their predestined relationship with Dafa.
Another happy encounter on an airplane
I was taking an airplane from Sydney to Melbourne. During the flight, a lady sitting next to me kept sneezing. I pulled her blanket that covered half of her body all the way up on her, and said, "You must be cold. Shall I talk to the flight attendant and ask for another blanket and a hot tea?"
"I am cold," she replied. When I got a blanket and the hot tea for her, she was very touched. She said I was very kind and noted that, if anybody else had been sitting next to her, the person would have disliked her for her sneezing. "Instead of being upset with me, you showed your concern and sincerely took good care of me," she said.
I took out a paper lotus and gave it to her. Showing a lot of interest, she patiently listened to me introduce Falun Gong.
This way we became friends. After we arrived in Melbourne, I went to her office at her invitation. Later I learned that she was an influential person in the mainstream business community. In fact, she is a CEO of a large company and once won Australia's CEO award. Young and pretty, she is a very upright and successful woman.
Through my personal contact with her, I felt strongly that she had a very deep predestined relationship with Falun Dafa. She liked to draw lotuses and there were a lot of lotuses posted in her office. The paper lotus and the bookmark I gave her were important gifts to her. We quickly became friends who understood each other well. She is now about to learn Falun Gong. Influenced by the selflessness of Falun Gong practitioners, she has expressed great interest in volunteering to teach the kids at the Minghui School to draw pictures.
An chance encounter on a bench
One night I was having dinner in Melbourne. The seating was very close and, by accident, I touched the person sitting behind me. The person stood up and let me take his seat, but I felt uncomfortable doing so. It turned out that he and his party had been paying attention to me all along and were trying to get to talk to me. I smiled at them and gave them paper lotuses and the English version of The Epoch Times newspaper in which one of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was printed.
The party consisted of a couple with a boy and a gentleman who was a successful businessman in a building company. I started to chat with them. After their friend took The Epoch Times, he started to read the Nine Commentaries, while we continued the discussion. Suddenly their friend stood up. Shaking my hands, he said with excitement, "Terrific! You are a nice person. This is a terrific article!" When they learned that I had not been able to go back to China to visit my parents for many years, they were sorry and anxiously tried to help me to get my parents out. They invited me to their farm, too.
Staring at the lotus flowers and bookmarks, the couple and their child were fascinated. They expressed their interest in understanding Falun Gong and their disgust with the Chinese Communist Party's terrible tactics.
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I have many such stories of introducing predestined people to Dafa with the help of paper lotuses. These individuals include my present good friends. Some of them have become Friends of Falun Gong. Some are interested in Chinese culture, from the songs and music to Chinese classical music composed by Falun Gong practitioners. Throughout the encounters, the lotuses have become my best friends. Like glittering angels, they have been helping me to connect many predestined people to Dafa.
