(Clearwisdom.net)
(Shared at 2006 Canada Experience Sharing Conference)
Greetings, Venerable Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
Ever since obtaining the Fa in 1997, I've benefited tremendously. After understanding the profoundness of Dafa and the true purpose of being human, I naturally became disinterested in everyday people's movies and TV shows; nor would I have time to even think about them. Nonetheless, one day in 2001 I went with my family to a Chinese film screening organized by a club that showed the movies for a profit.
While watching the film I didn't know what I was watching; and after the show, I didn't remember what I had watched. Seeing the theatre with 300-400 seats packed with Chinese people, I couldn't help but ponder: every day during lunch time I would go to the Parliament Hill to distribute materials and clarify the truth face to face to people. Usually, not many Chinese would stop to listen to me, and many of those who stopped would leave after hearing a few sentences. What a great blessing it would be to those Chinese people in the theatre if what they were watching was a Falun Gong truth-clarifying video!
The next day I called the film club and talked to a lady in charge. I proposed that the club offer free admission to everyone coming to the next movie show, and that we would compensate them for their financial losses. The woman agreed. Right away we began to prepare for it, and had an announcement for next Saturday's free Chinese movie show published in local Chinese newspapers and other media. Just on the day before the movie show, another person in charge of the club told me that their club was a 3-person partnership, and the 3rd partner didn't want to cooperate with Falun Gong practitioners. I asked why. He told me that the 3rd partner didn't like Falun Gong because he was a practitioner of another Qigong, and every time when there was a Falun Gong practitioner in the audience of his movie show, the gong in his body would go wild. Hearing this I was both glad and upset. I was glad because even everyday people had witnessed what Master says in Essentials for Further Advancement II, namely: "Dafa Disciples' Righteous Thoughts are Powerful."
I was upset because our announcement had already been published. How should we face the audience? As Dafa disciples, we must keep the promise and do what we say. I was panicking a bit. Then I thought about how I had always been fond of mechanics and electronic devices. Wasn't that a preparation for today's Fa-rectification? Why should we rely on everyday people? That day I went to an electronics store and bought a projector and other equipment. I told the owner about Falun Gong and why the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecutes Falun Gong. I explained how we decided to offer a free movie show in order to clarify the truth. After hearing this, the owner showed great sympathy toward Falun Gong practitioners and told me that what we were doing was the right thing to do. Later on, when the Epoch Times started to publish in Ottawa, this owner showed his support by having an advertisement in our newspaper.
In the evening I went through the whole procedure of how to play a film and familiarized myself with the equipment.
On that Saturday, we successfully hosted the first free Chinese movie show in the Chinese community in Ottawa. The 350-seat theatre, located in a university campus, was packed with people with no empty seat left. Even the hallways were packed with people who had to stand to watch the movie. Without spending a cent, the audiences enjoyed the profound Chinese martial arts through the movie. Moreover, they attentively watched the truth behind the Self-Immolation at Tiananmen Square. Among several hundred audience members, almost no one left during the show.
From that day on, for the past 5 years, our bi-weekly free movie show has never been interrupted except for some special circumstances. So far we have done over 100 shows. The audience has varied from a few dozen, to over 400 each time. We have shown nearly all the truth-clarification videos produced by Dafa practitioners, including "The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party." Many favorites are repeatedly shown. Through carefully selecting everyday people's feature films, advertisement, and following everyday people's mentality to choose the truth-clarification video, the Ottawa free movie shows have produced some very good results. Many people have been cleansed of the poison injected by the CCP. We often hear people's praise when clips of large scale Falun Gong group exercises are shown; we also see people shedding tears when brutal torture scenes are presented. After the show some people would come to ask us about how to start practicing Falun Gong. Some have become firm Falun Gong practitioners. Some have not started the practice yet but are showing great respect for Dafa. They either speak up for Dafa or volunteer to help our movie shows.
During our first movie show, there was a new immigrant from mainland China who came to see the movie. She was totally brainwashed by the CCP with regards to Falun Gong. When she saw the truth-clarification video for the first time, she was a bit shocked. She felt that Falun Gong practitioners were kind, peaceful, and quite different from what she had been hearing from the Chinese government propaganda. When she got home, she immediately went online to further search for information on the truth of Falun Gong. Then she cautiously called a Falun Gong contact person in Ottawa. The contact person's kindness, sincerity and trustfulness made her feel very relaxed and easy at home. She has ever since become a steadfast practitioner.
For the past few years, our movie shows have been directly and indirectly changing Chinese immigrants' view of Falun Gong. One day when I was at a weekend Chinese school collecting petition signatures for supporting NTDTV's license application, an immigrant, while signing his name on our petition, said, "You Falun Gong people have done our Chinese community a great favor." I asked him which favor he was referring to. He said, "You guys have been continually providing free movie shows to us." Many people near him also signed our petition on the spot. After watching the NTDTV Global New Year's Gala, many also came to ask about how to purchase satellite receivers for watching NTDTV.
Currently Montreal and Ottawa are publishing the same edition of the Chinese Epoch Times. Once, a Montreal couple, after reading our free movie show announcement in the Chinese Epoch Times, called me to make sure that two seats be reserved for them as they would drive 2 hours to go to the movie in Ottawa. There were also people complaining to Montreal Falun Gong practitioners: why don't you guys also do free movie shows in Montreal regularly so that we won't be jealous of the Ottawa Chinese when seeing their free movie show announcements?
Our movie show announcements are posted on local Chinese Internet bulletin boards. This also provides another opportunity for truth clarification. Sometimes there would be someone following up with our post, saying, "Don't go! It's Falun Gong!" Before I could respond, someone would step forward to clarify the truth for us, "What's wrong with Falun Gong? Nowadays, who would offer us free movie shows?"
Some who fear the CCP posted on the net, "I'm a little bit concerned. Will Chinese Security agents, or Falun Gong people themselves, videotape us during the movie show?" Soon someone would comfort him, "Don't worry. I've been there many times without any problems."
When distributing truth clarifying materials on the street, many Chinese won't or won't dare to take our material. However, they would be willing to take the materials that we left at the entrance to our movie show theater.
Master says,
"As a matter of fact, if your thoughts are very righteous, when you walk down the street and go about your life in the city where you live, all of your surroundings will be cleansed. Your mere existence has the effect of saving sentient beings." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York")
Once, we changed to another theatre. The security personnel could not find our reservation in his computer so he refused to open the door for us. He said that the last time he opened the door for someone who was not on the reservation list, they got some equipment stolen. He didn't want to lose his job. I said that I understood and I would go home to get a copy of the reservation. He took a look at me and said, "By your look, I know you are a good person who can be trusted." He happily opened the door and our show was not delayed.
At one movie show there was an old couple in the audience who seemed different from others. The man whispered to me, "I can see your sincerity and kindness from your face. You are someone that I can trust." Then he told me he was so and so. He was a well-known writer and journalist. He told me that "The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party" was quite well written. It was marvelous. You know, in order to write "The Nine Commentaries on the Soviet Union Communist Party," the CCP organized a such and such big team of well-known writers and they worked for such and such a long time on it. Their Nine Commentaries were not comparable to yours at all. There is a lot of talent among Falun Gong practitioners! Before the show time, I answered some of his questions on Falun Gong. Nonetheless, he didn't want to leave his contact info to me when they left. When they came to our movie show again for the second time, the man readily gave me his contact info and promised to come to our forum next time and contribute articles to the Epoch Times.
Some Chinese people, after learning the truth, would consciously or subconsciously clarify the truth for us. There is one person who frequently comes to our movies. He often shows up early. While I was busy setting up equipment, he would talk about the persecution with others. At the end of a movie, he wanted to make sure that I brought him a few more copies of the Nine Commentaries, as he was going to a reunion in Beijing and he wanted to bring them to his former classmates. When we met again a few months later at our movie show, he told me that he only needed to give out a few copies of the "Nine Commentaries" since many of his former classmates had already received and read them.
In the past several years of providing the movie shows, we have also experienced various incidents of interference. However, the evil's interference didn't stop us from clarifying the truth. On the contrary, the interference helped us to do the truth clarification further, to improve our Xinxing and strengthen our firm belief in Master.
Occasionally the Ottawa weather could be very nasty. Often I would be advised to cancel a pre-announced movie show. I felt that even if there was just one person coming to hear the truth, it was still worth our efforts. Of course even during the worst weather, there were still a dozen or so brave truth seeking souls. For the past 5 years, regardless of thunderstorms, ice storms or heavy snows, we haven't had one cancellation.
One Saturday morning, after doing the sitting exercise I began to read Minghui/Clearwisdom website articles. There was one experience-sharing article about a practitioner who got rid of her eye glasses after a short period of practicing Falun Gong. I said to myself, I've been practicing Falun Gong for so many years. Maybe I don't need my glasses either. Following my own attachment, I took off my glasses. Just then I started to feel dizzy and nauseous, and felt like vomiting. It became worse and worse. A few minutes later I couldn't even sit in the chair. I had to go back to bed. That was my first "sickness karma" since I started practicing Falun Gong in 1997. Master says, "...any attachment will bring on tremendous tribulations. You absolutely must not form any attachments!" ("Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference")
How come I forgot all this?
In the beginning we would have several practitioners involved with each movie show. In order not to take up too much time from others, we upgraded our equipment. Now we just need one person to take care of the whole process. That evening we were to have a movie show. The announcement had been out already. I had to call another practitioner to help out. Although he accepted it without any hesitation, I began to hesitate. He was not familiar with the movie show proceedure; moreover, he was in charge of some very important Fa-rectification work. I can't affect other practitioner's Fa rectification work simply because I'm going through a tribulation due to my own attachment. On the other hand no matter what, we should not cancel the movie and disappoint the truth seeking audience. I said to the old forces in my mind, "I have Master taking care of me. I have gaps in my cultivation and I should suffer what I deserve. However, if you use my omission to interfere with the Fa-rectification activity, you won't have any value to your existence."
I kept sending forth righteous thoughts. When I couldn't sit up I would do it in my heart while lying in bed. Later when I could sit up, I'd sit up to read the Fa; when I could stand up I would do the standing exercise. Just as Master says
"No matter what, have righteous thoughts and act righteously, and there will be no test that you cannot pass." ("Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005")
Although I didn't eat anything the whole day, when it was time to pack up the equipment I felt as if nothing had happened. When I saw hundreds of people watching the truth-clarification video attentively that evening, my eyes became moist. I sincerely thank Master for giving sentient beings another opportunity.
A while ago we showed a movie called "The Rooster that Lays Eggs." Although we didn't actually see any rooster lay eggs, that evening I witnessed a greater miracle than that. I got all the equipment set up 10 minutes before show time when I realized that I had forgotten to bring the power cable for my laptop. The movie was going to be more than 2.5 hours long but the laptop battery usually lasts for only 1.5 hours. There was not a person in the audience that I knew and I couldn't just leave everything there and go home. Coincidently, we changed the theater venue that day. I called to ask my wife to bring the power cable to me, but no matter how I explained to her, I just couldn't make her understand the direction to get to the theater. I kept sending forth righteous thoughts, hoping to see someone that I knew show up so I could go home to get the cable, but no one I knew showed up. I didn't think of troubling other practitioners, as the trouble was due to my own omission and I had to face it.
During the movie, I continued to send forth righteous thoughts. In the meantime I kept watching the battery power level indicator. I decided that I would sneak out of the theater while the movie was going on, when the battery level was half-way. You must have guessed the result: even at the end of the movie, the battery power level indicator still showed a full charge!
On the way home, there were very few cars on the road. The cold Ottawa suburb was very dark. I didn't feel lonely at all, as I know that on the road of Fa-rectification, Master is always with his disciples.
Thanks to Master! Thanks to everyone.