(Minghui.org) I read a lyric from a poem in Hong Yin III the other night, and all kinds of feelings and thoughts went through my mind.
Master Li Hongzhi said,
“ ... The divine is turning the FalunDafa disciples shed blood on the dust –It is for the sake of sentient beingsHow hard it is to save you” (“How Hard to Save You”, Hong Yin III)
Among practitioners I know, some were sentenced and are still suffering in prison today, some were forced to stay away from home or were forced to move abroad to escape from the persecution, while some were persecuted to death. When thinking of them, tears keep streaming down my face.
Recently, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) initiated the so-called “Zero Out” campaign. Practitioners were continuously harassed because they refused to cooperate or be submissive. Some were taken from their homes or workplaces to a brainwashing center, some were forced to leave their home, and some were monitored by surveillance cameras. Even those who did not encounter these troubles felt an invisible pressure. I also felt an indescribable uneasiness.
I began to cultivate in Falun Dafa in 1998 when I was in my 30s. I have always persisted in clarifying the truth about Dafa to people and was not bothered about the ups and downs I experienced those years. With Master Li’s (Dafa’s founder) help, I helped over 10,000 people quit the CCP and its youth organizations.
As I became more mature, I became more and more appreciative of the hardships Master has suffered during this Fa-rectification period. I realized why the Chinese character “to save” in a way implied “to beg” and “to persuade” as when we persuaded people to quit the CCP, which implies “to do one’s best over and over again.”
Fellow practitioner, Jia, is 80 years old. She has not missed a single day of the morning exercises during her many years of cultivating in Dafa. She sends forth righteous thoughts at 6 a.m., then goes out to tell people the facts about Dafa after breakfast. She goes out rain or shine, except for the weekends when she has other arrangements. I went with her to talk to people face to face during the pandemic and learned a lot.
We agreed on meeting at a bus station. Since I live far away, she told me she wouldn’t mind if I was late. She often was able to get two or three people to quit the CCP when she was waiting for me. Sometimes, I would have breakfast at the station, but she never felt that I wasted her time. I saw a gap between us. I always blamed practitioners for being late when I waited and never felt that I had a problem.
Jia always accepted the main role when we went out to clarify the truth about Dafa and the persecution. She was different than me. She was not skeptical and didn’t worry about losing face. I always picked my targets before I approached people, making sure the person was appropriate. For her, it did not matter whether the person was male or female, old or young. She treated everyone the same.
When someone hesitated or didn’t express their opinions, she always asked them with a smile, “Please do quit any of the CCP organizations in which you hold membership. You won’t be safe from the pandemic if you don’t.” She was happy for the people who agreed to quit. For those who did not, she was not bothered and just looked for the next person.
We met all sorts of people. Sometimes, they were cold and contemptuous, although she approached them warmly. She always told me tolerantly, “They just did not understand. They wouldn't be this way if they did.”
Once she told the facts to an elderly man when we waited at a bus station on our way home. Soon the bus arrived and we boarded. To our surprise, the man started yelling when the practitioner tried to talk to him again: “Our nation is so good and you guys are stirring things up and wanting people to quit the CCP.” Some people next to us echoed him and also said some bad things. So we got off the bus at the next stop.
The next time we met, Jia said to me, “I hope you were not affected. I felt I did not do well last time and worried it might affect you.” I thought, “What has she done wrong?” She always thinks of the needs of others first.
We were on the street another time when an elderly man, holding a basket, walked toward us. Jia went up and greeted him and began to tell him the facts about the persecution. He appeared reluctant and moved to the left and right. Jia side-stepped with him and backed up as he walked forward. I watched them and could not describe my feelings.
Jia was older and had a well-to-do family. However, she went outside every day to meet up with people’s cold expressions, yet she always had a smile and did her best to tell them the facts. I feel that Dafa practitioners are truly remarkable. A while later, Jia came back, and I asked, “How did it go?” She happily exclaimed, “He quit. He was a CCP party member.” I was delighted.
Yi is from a different Fa studying group, so I don’t work with her much. During the “Zero Out” campaign, I read on the Minghui website that she was harassed. I then heard that the neighborhood association threatened her with her child’s job to force her to sign the documents to renounce Dafa. She could not stand the harassment and was forced to leave home.
Her non-cultivating relatives all had righteous thoughts, however, so they supported her to stand up to the CCP. She stayed with one relative and was forced to leave when the neighborhood association found her there. During this time, she called the neighborhood association to clarify the truth. When the association could not find her, they installed a camera outside her home.
Yi did not forget her mission, even when she was forced to live away from home. I received two lists of people who declared their withdrawals from the CCP from her during this time. The first one had a few dozen names. The second had over a hundred. They were written on bathroom tissue and passed to me through another practitioner.
I felt moved to tears every time I saw the rows of neatly written names. I know behind each name was a remarkable story. Although I don’t know what the stories are, I know practitioners are completing their prehistorical vows and fulfilling their promises to Master.
As Master’s Fa-rectification proceeds, the unrighteous elements in other dimensions become fewer and fewer. But in its final days, the CCP attempts to control the Chinese people more and more stringently. Surveillance cameras are ubiquitous. Even finding a place to make a truth-clarifying phone call becomes difficult. Some of the places where we were able to make calls had cameras installed soon after. Cameras are positioned every 5 to 10 meters on larger streets.
I was making calls to persuade people to quit the CCP on a street. Between me and the small town square were patches of vegetation. When I looked up after I had just got two people to quit the CCP and its youth organizations, I saw a guy doing stretches at a spot between the patches. It felt suspicious since he kept glancing over. So I put away my phone and started to leave.
He followed me along on the other side of the patches. I suddenly turned toward him. He did not expect this and pretended to kick something on the ground. I then made another sudden turn and walked toward the crowd. I came to an intersection and crossed the street. The guy did not follow me. I ran into a young mother pushing a stroller and talked with her. She had joined the CCP in college and agreed to quit it.
Another time, I made phone calls in an alley, while another practitioner sent forth righteous thoughts to support me. A few minutes later, the practitioner said, “A guy passed by and rode back again to look at us – now he is gone.” She meant everything was okay. But I had a feeling the guy would come back for some reason. So I gestured for her to leave. When we got close to the bus station, the guy came back again. He stared at us coldly but didn’t do anything.
Such close calls occurred occasionally in the past, but then they became more frequent. The practitioner said, “How come such people are everywhere?” I felt the same, “Now it is truly difficult to make phone calls. There are cameras above us, plainclothes officers around us, restrictions for buying phone cards, blockages when we talk too long, as well as the danger we face of being reported by the caller. Besides, we have our notions and attachments, and there is interference from other dimensions. We need to overcome so many things.” So we cherish every opportunity to persuade someone to quit the CCP.
I often miss the good old days, when a few of us got together at a quiet place and made phone calls. We could get over a hundred people to quit the CCP organizations every time. Now, it is not even safe to call from a remote place using a phone card. Particularly after the pandemic, many people have been deceived by the CCP’s lies, which makes telling people the facts more difficult.
I’m now mostly by myself when I go out to make calls. I do it quickly for an hour or so and get anywhere from five to nine people to quit. Although the number is not high, I persist.
I have persisted in making phone calls because I feel it is quick, and I can take the initiative. It is now more effective than talking to people face to face. Many people drive and no longer walk. So our making phone calls will give them an opportunity to be saved.
I will continue to be diligent about studying the Fa to reduce my attachments and strengthen my righteous thoughts so that my phone calls are more effective.