(Minghui.org) I am 47 this year. I started to practice Falun Dafa in 1996 when I was in college. My experience of obtaining the Fa was somewhat magical: One night I had a dream in which a giant Buddha was standing in the sky with a temple behind him. I elevated and floated into the temple. The next morning, I had the same dream. After I woke up, I said to myself, “Something life-changing is about to happen.”
A short time later, a classmate of mine introduced Dafa to me. I thus started my journey of returning to my true self. I learned the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance through reading the Fa. I followed Master's teachings to be a good person. It was really like what Master said:
“Dafa is being spread far and wide. Those who hear about it are looking for it. Those who have obtained it are delighted with it.” (“Seeking Discipleship with Teacher,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
After graduating from college, I found an internship position at a state-run enterprise. I worked hard and never tried to take advantage of other people. Supervisors and co-workers all liked me. My internship was supposed to be for one year, but I was promoted to a full-time position in six months. I was the only person who got an early promotion out of more than 20 interns.
After the persecution was launched in 1999, I went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa and was imprisoned for a month. My company was pressured by the authorities, and I was fired. On my last day of work, my supervisor and coworkers cried. The head of my work unit sighed: “We’ll never have such a good worker again.”
I was arrested again a year later when I talked to people about Dafa and the persecution in public. I was put in a labor camp for two years, where I was beaten, starved, held in solitary confinement, forced to read brainwashing materials, and forced to do heavy labor. I was once locked in the hallway during winter and deprived of sleep for seven days. They tried to force me to renounce Dafa, but I refused to do so.
The day I was released, the police took me to the train station and forced me to go back to my hometown.
Clarifying the Facts at Bus Stops
Master told us:
“So a Dafa disciple's responsibilities aren't for the sake of personal Consummation, but to save sentient beings while validating the Fa--that is a Dafa disciple's historic mission, and that is why Dafa disciples are truly magnificent.” (Touring North America to Teach the Fa)
When the book Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party began a trend of quitting the Party, I understood it was Dafa disciples' responsibility to tell people the truth about the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and help them quit the evil CCP organizations.
At the beginning, I found it difficult to convince people to quit the Party. I had fears and attachments to saving face.
Master said:
“That's why I say that in your personal cultivation it's extremely important that you keep persevering with Fa-study. If you don't study the Fa well, when you do Dafa work there will be a lot of things that are hard for you to handle correctly or do well. But if you do study the Fa well, you'll find many things a lot easier to do, and at the same time, problems will be less apt to occur. That's why I've said that no matter how busy you are, you must study the Fa.” (Touring North America to Teach the Fa)
So I started to read the Fa calmly.
Master said:
“If the vast majority of the people in this world today have really come from high levels to obtain the Fa, think about it--they aren't just some simple beings, then.” (Touring North America to Teach the Fa)
Master also said:
“When you save such a person, think about it, aren't you saving a God? He's probably an extremely high-level God, and he corresponds to even larger cosmic bodies and numerous sentient beings. What kind of mighty virtue are we talking about, then? Is this a simple thing? Only Dafa disciples can have such great missions bestowed upon them.” (Touring North America to Teach the Fa)
What Master asks us to do is what the Fa-rectification requires. We should unconditionally put down all human notions and try our best to fulfill our tasks.
It took a long time for me to convince my first person to quit the Party. I tried my best to talk to him a little bit each time. After a long time, he finally agreed to quit. It was big breakthrough for me and gave me confidence.
Later, I found all the articles on Minghui.org about how to convince people to quit the Party. I memorized many sentences from them, followed practitioners' suggestions, and also figured out my own methods. I gradually learned how to read people, identify their notions, and address them.
The key is to study the Fa well. It will give us the power to break through people's notions. Also, we must have compassion so that our words can touch people's hearts.
Besides talking to people at my workplace, I have been talking to people on my way to and from work since 2008. I made many friends on the bus and at bus stops. At first, we would talk about some other topics. After we got to know each other better, I would start looking for chances to clarify the truth.
Sometimes, to have more time to talk a person, I would get off the bus a few stops earlier so that I could walk with that person. Although it takes time to wait for the next bus, it is worth it.
For example, a lady I got to know on the bus gets off the bus for work a few stops before me. One day, I told her that I needed to run some errands near her workplace and got off the bus with her. I walked with her to her work and talked to her a lot. My words and sincerity touched her, and she agreed to quit the Party. We arrived at her workplace right after we finished the conversation. After she entered her building, I rushed to the bus stop to catch the next bus to my work.
Sometimes, I walked with people for a long time in the opposite direction of my destination. But the effects are usually good. Although I would spend more time, people have often been willing to quit the Party.
Sometimes, a cultivator's behavior can create opportunities to clarify the truth. For example, the buses do not have heaters, so the seats next to the windows are very cold in winter. Everybody tries to sit next to the aisle, but I always sit next to the window and leave the warm seats for others. One day, a middle-aged man sitting next to me said, “You’re a high-level person.” I smiled and asked why. He said, “Everyone fights for the good seats, but you’re different. You consider others.”
I told him that I cultivate the Buddha Fa. We then talked about morality in society. He told me he was a government official who deals with divorce cases. He felt sad that couples often fight and get divorced over something really trivial. I said, “This is because the CCP brainwashes people with atheism. People do not believe in the divine or traditional values, so the morality of the entire society is falling.” He agreed.
I then said that the CCP has tried to destroy traditional Chinese culture. “Falun Dafa is a high-level Buddha Fa. So the atheist CCP has made up all kinds of lies to slander it and persecute practitioners,” I said. I told him about the self-immolation hoax and other lies that the CCP has told about Falun Gong.
I asked him, “If Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is not good, what is good then?” He agreed. I then asked if he was willing to quit the Party. He did so happily. The whole conversation lasted about 20 minutes until he got off the bus.
Sometimes, chances to clarify the truth present themselves entirely beyond my expectations. For example, early one morning while it was still dark out, I saw a guy at the bus stop. I had talked to him a long time ago, and he had quit the Party back then. So, I went over to say hi to him. He greeted me back, and then I realized it was not the person I had talked to. I apologized and took the chance to clarify the truth. He agreed to quit the Party.
I often made friends at the bus stops and on the bus. There was a businessman, and we often ran into each other on the bus and had good conversations. We exchanged phone numbers and became friends.
Later I temporarily moved to a different apartment and took a different bus to work. A week later, he called me and nervously asked if I was alright. When we met again at the bus stop, he said, “It had been a week. I couldn’t see you at the bus stop. I was really worried that the police had caught you. You have no idea how evil the CCP is.”
I also got to know a Party member who had a good government job. I had talked to him many times over the course of a year. He agreed with me about many things but was always reluctant to quit the Party. He was afraid that quitting the Party would affect his job.
After a year, he told me that he was about to retire and would not take the bus anymore. I told myself not to miss the chance and to talk to him one more time. I waited for a long time and finally ran into him again on the bus. I knew he had some fears, so I didn't talk about quitting the Party on the bus. I waited, got off the bus with him, and then said, “You’re about to retire, and your workplace won’t control your life anymore. Your health and safety are now the most important things. You should quit the Party immediately to protect your health and safety.” This time, he agreed without hesitation. In my heart, I thanked Master for his arrangements and salvation.
