(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, I opened a small noodle restaurant, but business wasn't very good. There were three or four Mahjong halls next to my restaurant. People playing in the Mahjong halls sometimes came to buy noodles at my restaurant. They were quite picky and critical of me. Sometimes they didn't pay me after getting the noodles. I was quite unhappy with them, and I thought, "You played Mahjong and gambled all day and night and lost large sums of money, but you cannot pay me. Also, you are so picky. I will not serve you anymore." Because of this I didn't feel like clarifying the truth about Falun Gong to them.
Perhaps my attitude made them unhappy, because they then went far away rather than to my restaurant to buy food. I was worried because I really did want to save them. I wondered whether I should play Mahjong with them in order to get close to them. Then it would be easy for me to clarify the truth to them. But I thought that everybody would be concentrating on winning, and I wondered whether it work to clarify the truth in such circumstances. I also thought that their environment was too polluted. Buddha Fa is solemn and rescues those who have the predestined relationship, as well as those who are good. Also, sentient beings should choose their own futures by themselves. It is not right to beg them and it is even worse to do the things that they do.
I went back and forth between these two notions and had trouble sleeping for several nights. When I sat in meditation and studied the Fa, it seemed that my thought karma was very strong. One night I couldn't focus my mind and was very angry, thinking about how they would not buy noodles at my place. "What should I do? I've tried to remove this thought. Surely, I am better than that! I'm not a mean person, am I?" But I just couldn't stop thinking about it. Then, as I watched the video of Master's "Fa-Teaching Given to the Australian Practitioners," I came to realize that I was against or had issues with ordinary people. It must be that I was wrong! I should let go of my attachment to self and save them.
Once again I felt that Master was worried and pushing me! So one day I went and began to chat with those that were playing Mahjong. I discovered they were among those who could accept the truth very quickly. There were teachers and school principals among them, and they had very vivid memories of the "June 4 Tiananmen Massacre" event. They strongly supported the students. Some of them were doing business and detested the different taxes levied on them by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party). Some were laid off, and they would become furious when talking about rising prices or unemployment. Some people were retired, but they were worried about their children's careers. There were also those who did not have a proper job but still knew very well the dark side of the CCP. They were different, with different kinds of worries and issues, but they all hated what the CCP was doing. With regard to"Falun Gong, most understood and supported Falun Gong practitioners. They played Mahjong because they had nothing better to do and wanted to kill time. It was even easier to persuade them than those I run into on the street. Some of them do hard labor and others have businesses, and still others are dreaming about making a big fortune under the rule of the CCP. Many of them accepted the truth readily.
From this event, I realized that I had mixed in too many of my own notions when I clarified the truth and tried to persuade people to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. I thought too highly of myself and looked down on others. I cannot think this way of others and understand their situations. We must get off our high horse if we want to succeed. In order to save us, Buddha once sought alms in human society, and I'm just a cultivator. I should not balk at hardship. When I became clear on this issue, I succeeded in persuading several people to quit the CCP that afternoon and gained a valuable experience in persuading others to quit.
Because I became aware of my human attachments in clarifying the truth, when I face special groups of people, like those who believe in Buddhism, I can now handle the situation well. I used to think that it was very difficult to persuade people who believe in Buddhism to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. It gave me lots of headaches when they said something like, "I worship Bodhisattva and burn incense, and I will not quit the CCP and its related organizations." Later I enlightened that I should clarify the truth based on their interests and beliefs. Now I say, "You are right. Getting involved into two sets of beliefs is not allowed when you cultivate. You believe in Buddha but you have also sworn an oath under a blood red flag and joined an organization that does not believe in divine beings. Isn't that getting into two entirely conflicting belief systems? Is it a good idea to make this kind of evil oath?" When I approach them this way, it is often quite effective.
