(Clearwisdom.net) After the Chinese New Year, I attended a one-week tour to Thailand arranged by my work place. The foreign scenery didn't leave much of an impression. Instead, the fellow practitioners I encountered in Thailand are what made my trip meaningful and memorable. My heart was touched and warmed by them.
When I take trips abroad, what concerns me most is whether I will run into fellow practitioners at tourist destinations. When I was wandering on the wharf near the Grand Palace in Bangkok, I somewhat expected to see practitioners. Then, somehow, I indeed saw a practitioner in her 30s. She kept running back and forth to distribute brochures to passersby. She also briefly spoke in loud voice, "Please take a look at the truth of persecution of Falun Gong in China." I was deeply moved by what I saw - in the stream of people, she was alone working hard to save sentient beings. I truly felt the greatness of Dafa. How many lives have been awakened by Dafa, and in turn, these awakened lives did their best to awaken others.
I encountered fellow practitioners a second time at Walking Street, next to a wharf in Pattaya. A woman in her 40s was holding a Falun Gong poster. Two women in their 50s were distributing newspapers about the persecution of Dafa. One of them had an accent from Northeastern China, and was the main speaker to clarify the truth. In the boundless dim light of night, in a foreign country, I was again moved by the scene of practitioners saving people.
As I was in a tour group, I could only support the practitioners in Thailand with righteous thoughts. After our group toured the wharf, it was about 10pm. We returned to the wharf and were above to leave. It was very hot and humid. However, I noticed that the fellow practitioners were still standing there! They clothes were drenched with sweat, but they held fast to their position to distribute materials and clarify the truth to the passing-by tourists without rest. Then, interestingly, a tourist in his slippers took a newspaper from them and shouted "Heaven is eliminating the CCP." After that, over a dozen people walked towards the practitioner holding the poster and began to read the poster and listened to practitioners with great interest. Some courageous ones took the materials and read them when they walked back. Some even brought the materials back to the tour bus.
How much I wanted to stand next to these practitioners! Before we left the wharf, I kept sending forth righteous thoughts in the crowd. When I passed by a practitioner, I said to her, "[Thank you for the] hard work!" She responded, "Thank you." I was quite emotional at the time. I wondered if she knew that it was a greeting from a practitioner from mainland China. Exactly because of the work done by the practitioners outside China, the persecution suffered by the practitioners in mainland China can be relieved, and more people can be saved.
After I returned to the harsh environment in China, I not only felt moved by the deeds of practitioners in Thailand, but also felt guilty. Practitioners in Thailand strive to save the sentient beings even though they have very limited manpower. Practitioners in mainland China form the main body of the Fa rectification. However, I didn't have a strict requirement on myself. In the environment of being persecuted, I often slacked off and became indifferent, and couldn't always keep righteous thoughts. As a practitioner in China, I realize the great responsibilities, however, I slack off in my determination to cultivate diligently in various periods of time and situations.
Regarding the truth-clarification activities at tour sites in Thailand, I also would like to share some of my thoughts.
When Chinese people take tours abroad, they most often choose Thailand. In each tour site, ten thousand or even tens of thousands of tourists from mainland China visit every day. In my one-week tour, I saw only four practitioners in the major tour sites, as I have mentioned above. In one site, only one practitioner was there. She was busy distributing materials and talking to people. Without any practitioners to assist her, sometimes it's hard to clarify truth thoroughly. In a lot of major tour sites, I didn't see any practitioners.
My overall feeling is that there are few practitioners in the major tour sites in Thailand to clarify the truth to Chinese tourists. Is it possible for practitioners in Thailand to coordinate the truth clarification activities in major tour sites where Chinese tourists visit most often? Also it may be helpful to be more versatile in the arrangement. For instance, perhaps there can be someone to explain the posters, someone to send forth righteous thoughts, someone to distribute materials and someone to talk. In addition, I would suggest the talking points be more direct and easier to remember, so as to get more attention from the tourists.
I also feel that the local people do not have enough understanding of the evil persecution of Dafa in China. The local tour guide once attacked Dafa. I sent forth righteous thoughts, so he changed the topic. However, I have the strong feeling that many local people do not understand the truth. So I would suggest practitioners in Thailand to do more to clarify truth to local tour guides, as they directly influenced the Chinese tourists.
The above is just my personal understanding.
I would like to thank the overseas practitioners. Let's all be more diligent in our divine path!
