Collecting Signatures Without Pursuit and Purifying Oneself to Save Sentient Beings

(Minghui.org) I am a 60-year-old Falun Dafa practitioner living in Calgary, Canada. We started the “End the CCP” petition in September 2020, and I would like to share some of my cultivation experiences along the way. If anything below is inappropriate, please kindly point it out with compassion.

Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone

I only know a few English phrases such as “hello” and “thank you.” My language barrier was the first tribulation that I had to overcome while collecting signatures. I had no confidence and would often just place the poster boards in the park and let people come to sign the petition on their own. Not many people signed the petition, and I started to wonder if I was capable of collecting signatures myself. I encouraged myself and started to do it.

I mustered up my courage and stepped out of my house. Just as I was leaving my house, I tripped and fell to the ground. It was very painful for me to get up, and I felt like I could not walk. Why weren't things going smoothly for me? I wanted to go inside and did not want to collect signatures anymore. However, I had a second thought, “Isn’t this giving in to the old forces?” This was a tribulation that I had to overcome. I tolerated the pain and continued forward. I collected a total of 70 signatures that day. After taking my shoes off at the end of the day, I was in shock. My foot was swollen and was covered with black and purple bruises. I did not rest at home for the next couple of days. Instead, I continued collecting signatures to save more sentient beings.

I enlightened that Master endures a lot for me. I started to look inward and think about the cultivation process between my husband and I over the past decade. In the beginning, both of us abided by Dafa’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. When we encountered problems, we’d look inward and find our own shortcomings and eliminate our negative thoughts. But as time passed, we started to slack off and began pointing fingers at each other, and we felt awkward in each other’s presence. Sometimes I would sadly think, “Do I really have that much karma? When will this come to an end?” I felt hopeless and troubled. I couldn’t find the root cause of my problems. Nothing went as planned when I collected signatures. After the fall I took, I began to seriously look inward and found many attachments.

I thought of what Master said one time.

Master said:

“As you cultivate yourself, you should regard the things that you perceive to be hardship, emotional blows, or things that affect your xinxing and the like, as good things. If you consider all the hardship, ordeals, and such that you go through to be bad things, then you are an ordinary person. (“Fa Teaching at the 2008 New York Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. VIII)

After a meal one day, I started to share my experiences with my husband. Both of us admitted our own shortcomings, and I enlightened that as long as we have the heart to look inward, Master will arrange an opportunity for us. The knots that had been buried in my heart for 10 years were all untied in a day! My husband encouraged me and said, “You can go collect signatures and needn’t worry about anything. You can just come back and I’ll prepare your meals.” I was very touched.

Winter in Calgary is very cold. After looking at the vast landscape covered in snow, I felt I would rather stay home in the warmth. I looked out the window and seeing all the snow, I started to become lazy. I thought, “It is impossible to go out.” Though the sun came out in the afternoon, I still did not want to go out. I sat down and started to read a cultivation experience written by a practitioner in China. This practitioner shared about how she had persisted in clarifying the truth despite the tight security measures during the pandemic. The author also encouraged other practitioners to distribute truth-clarification materials during the pandemic and save sentient beings. I benefited a lot from reading the article. I thought: I am not in the evil environment like this practitioner in China. Why can’t I withstand the cold weather? I put on some extra layers of clothing and went out. I managed to collect 60 signatures within two hours. Though the weather was cold, I felt very happy deep down in my heart.

Touching Stories With Sentient Beings

I’ve had many touching experiences during the past couple of months and would like to share some of them.

Though I do not speak English, I recollected a section of Master’s lecture.

Master said:

“The Fa Rectifies the Cosmos

Compassion can harmonize Heaven and Earth, ushering in springRighteous thoughts can save the people in this world”(Hong Yin)

I was always compassionate and maintained a smile on my face when greeting people and inviting them to sign the petition. When someone finished signing the petition, I would raise my hand and point to the skies and say that the heavens are protecting us. Many people understood what I was saying and expressed their gratitude. Some would give me a thumbs up while others would put their palms together in heshi. I encountered several high school students one time who signed the petition and one of them even knelt in front of me and put his palms together. I was very touched from the bottom of my heart and knew that his knowing side was playing a role.

While reading Collected Fa Teachings one day, I came across a section of Master’s Fa.

Master said:

“Many Westerners haven't been harmed by the poison of the malevolent Party, and in those instances the person might come across as a bit indifferent. That's not a problem. As for the Nine Commentaries, at this time they are an important step in saving humankind. Perhaps, during the next stage, every single person on this earth will soon have to give his stance on whether he wants that evil Party around or not. Each person must choose his future.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. International Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. VII)

I thought to myself, “Isn’t Master referring to the present? Sentient beings need to sign the petition and make a choice. Aren’t they determining their own futures?” After studying the Fa, I became more confident about collecting signatures.

I was at a basketball court once and saw seven students playing basketball. The father of one student was sitting in a wheelchair. I smiled and asked him to sign the petition. After he signed, he called his child over to sign the petition as well. To my surprise, all of the students came over and wanted to sign the petition. Two children who were about 10, looked up and smiled at me while putting their palms together. Some older children said, “End the CCP.” I was very touched.

The winter is harsh and cold in Calgary. During the winter, it can get as cold as -10 or -20 degrees Celsius, and sometimes even -30 or -40. It was around -20 degrees one time and a man came up to me and signed the petition. He said something to me in a rush, but I was unable to understand him. He left hurriedly and came back a few moments later with a warm cup of milk tea. I told him that I did not want it and wanted to give him money for it. He did not want to take my money and he left. I was very touched. However, my hands were full with the petition board and the pen, so I had to give the tea away. I also was not used to eating or drinking while I was outside collecting signatures. I have an extra pen up my sleeve, and I alternate the pens, since it gets too cold at times for the pens to work.

I have had many short and touching encounters with sentient beings. Calgary practitioners have collected a total of 4,400 signatures since mid-September last year. I was able to collect 1,500 signatures myself. This is not to brag about how capable I am. I want to convey the message that for someone like me, who does not speak any English, as long as I put my heart into things and persist in what I do, I will be able to do it. In reality, I am just merely moving my limbs and body, as the actual work is done by Master. Master arranged for all the predestined people to come to me.

Master said:

“Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one’s master.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)

I’ve learned to study the Fa well, and have a righteous, unwavering mind. When I first started to collect signatures, I had a lot of attachments. Many sentient beings would look at the truth-clarification materials and not sign the petition. My attachment to grievances, holding grudges and feeling that things were unfair all surfaced. Although I felt wronged, I still had to say thank you! I eliminated many attachments, such as saving face, being lazy and wanting to be comfortable, in order to save sentient beings. Sentient beings will have hope as long as there are Falun Dafa practitioners. When encountering people who are willing to sign the petition, I will say loudly “Thank you, thank you!” to make the people around me all willing to sign. If I encounter people who are not willing to sign, I will quietly say “thank you” and make sure that their not wanting to sign does not affect the people around them. This is what I have enlightened to.

Many people have helped me improve and some also encouraged me. These are all good things. Practitioners who have the time should step forward to collect signatures. We shouldn’t worry about the results, Master only sees our hearts.

There is not much time left. During the Last Havoc, we should do whatever we can. As long as it is still the Fa-rectification period, we will still need to eliminate our attachments and save sentient beings.

Please kindly point out anything not in line with the Fa.