(Minghui.org) In “Fa Teaching Given at the 2014 San Francisco Fa Conference,” Master said,
“When are you going to do something about it? When are you going to do something about it? Time is running out.”
I cry every time I read this part of Master’s lecture.
I have asked myself several times: What am I waiting for? Why am I not using every moment to save sentient beings?
I immigrated to Australia in 2012, and for a long time, I thought about making phone calls to mainland Chinese to tell them about Falun Dafa and why we are being persecuted. Because of my various attachments, I never could find time to begin making phone calls. I had so many excuses such as “I'll wait until I have a deeper understanding of the Fa,” or “I'll wait until I have more righteous thoughts.”
Master said:
“It’s not like we only study [the Fa] but don’t use it. Whether you proactively cultivate or are just passively following along reflects whether you are cultivating.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2014 San Francisco Fa Conference”)
I suddenly enlightened that the path arranged by Master is for me to cultivate myself, let go of attachments, and eliminate interference. To save sentient beings by making calls to tell them about Falun Dafa itself is an act that stems from righteous thoughts. If I simply wait, I'll never be able to study the Fa well enough, and my thoughts will never be sufficiently righteous. My selfish thoughts blocked me from elevating, and also prevented me from becoming selfless and altruistic.
Making Calls, Gradually Improving
I remember the day I made my first phone call to China. I was very nervous as I read each word from the script, and because of this, no one quit their membership to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or its affiliated organizations. I was not discouraged, and I made more phone calls the next day. One person finally agreed to quit after I had phoned people for two hours.
I was thrilled, not only for him, but also for myself now that I knew I could help people quit the CCP. On the third day, four people quit, and five people quit on the fourth day.
However, as I helped more people quit the CCP, my attachments grew and I began to focus on the difficulties and hardships I was going through. I did not realize that I needed to let go of my own attachments. I was only thinking of myself, instead of doing this for the benefits of others.
On the fifth day I made six phone calls, but no one quit. I felt very disappointed. A fellow practitioner shared a story with me that reminded me to search inside myself and let go of my attachments. I found that I looked down on others, and I was focused on the number of people I helped quit. The entire process of letting these attachments go was difficult for me.
After helping one man quit the party and telling him the truth about the persecution, he said something that impressed me. “My child joined the Young Pioneers,” he said. “What should I do about it?” I told him that being the parent, he could make the decision for his young child. So he let me help his child quit the Young Pioneers.
One day, the man I phoned happened to be a gangster. He bragged about how many zones were under his control. He told me to call back later since he had to deal with something first. While thinking for ideas on how I should talk to a gangster, I made more phone calls to other people. It was not until later that evening that I finally remembered to call him again.
I told him the stories in the classical novel, Outlaws of the Marsh—how the warriors in the novel trusted and supported one another, and how they protected the ordinary people. He happily quit the CCP after listening to my stories. He also promised he would help protect Falun Dafa practitioners in the zones under his jurisdiction.
Clarifying the facts on the phone can be a very effective way to reach people and also helps me improve. When I talk to Chinese people in Chinatown on weekends, I find that all the hard work on the phone pays off.
I want to tell everyone that we should not waste time—pick up the phone and save people! The process of saving sentient beings will help us do better in our cultivation.
