(Clearwisdom.net) Teacher said: "It's hard to save people nowadays. You have to explain things to them by following the logic of their attachments. For the sake of saving them, don't create any obstacles for them." (Touring North America to Teach the Fa), "So in other words, when we clarify the truth to save them, we need to tailor it to the mindsets modern people have." (Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.)
I have [acquired a] more direct and deeper enlightenment to the above-mentioned Fa-principle after actual experience. My father is nearly seventy years old this year. He is very stubborn and conceited after going through all kinds of tribulations in life. He had already started to cultivate Dafa, however under that kind of overwhelming pressure of the evil persecuting Falun Gong, hindered by his own human notions, and also the fact that fellow practitioners at home did not study the Fa well enough and did not do some things in ordinary people's life and work well, he did not admire Dafa from his heart.
All these internal and external factors finally led him to give up his cultivation. Whenever he felt personally hurt by the persecution, he dared not criticize the evil, but expressed his grievances against Dafa, Teacher and fellow practitioners at home. He also said something that was really disrespectful. I felt so bad hearing it, so angry in seeing it, and anxious in thinking of it. Besides, afraid that he would say something disrespectful of Dafa and Teacher, whenever I talked to him about Dafa cultivation, I always had my anger with me. I always seized upon his weaknesses and attachments, and used very unkind words to speak to him sarcastically, satirizing and laughing at him. I was very far away from cultivating compassion. I did not have a peaceful tone and did not have enough compassion, so I could not make him change from his inner heart. There was no fundamental change of his life's nature.
After studying the Fa, I gradually came to understand the harmfulness of my behavior. My behavior not only failed to persuade him; on the contrary it set up an obstacle in his mind and made him have negative feelings towards Dafa. And it may have finally made him lose the chance to be saved. Now that I have calmed down and thought carefully, I realize that as a Dafa disciple, it is very important to always keep one's self in the Fa. The fundamental purpose of the evil old forces is to destroy sentient beings, thus, they always makes use of the practitioners' omissions to damage Dafa. Teacher told us: "The old forces don't dare to oppose our clarifying the truth or saving sentient beings. What's key is to not let them take advantage of the gaps in your state of mind when you do things. " (Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston) "It's best that Dafa disciples walk their own paths righteously and not allow the evil to seize any excuse to persecute you." (Touring North America to Teach the Fa)
So I started clarifying the truth by following what Teacher told us: "When we clarify the truth to save them, we need to tailor it to the mindsets modern people have." "You have to explain things to them by following the logic of their attachments." And I got very good results in clarifying the truth.
My father admired very much those who have their own specialties, especially those famous scientists. Once I told my father that there were lots of people coming from different walks of life who were learning Dafa. I said: "Actually there are many scientists who believe in Dafa and diligently cultivate Dafa too." I said: "Qian Xuesen (the Father of the Chinese atomic bomb) once said that the 21st century is the century for the science of the human body." He himself believes in Falun Gong. There are thousands of overseas professionals of different areas who also cultivate Falun Dafa."
After I finished saying the above words, I saw his facial expression change greatly. His eyes lit up. Since then, my father obviously changed in his attitude toward Dafa.
He did not understand why Dafa practitioners study the Fa every day. Since he is a teacher, I said: "You are a teacher. You are very familiar with your subject. But why do you still have to make preparations for your lessons every day when it is the same content? What will it be like if you do not prepare your lessons for three days? It is even so for the every day human knowledge. Dafa is such a great and profound Fa that covers all the Fa principles from the lowest level to the highest realms. If you don't study it, how can you get to know all those unknown and high-level Fa principles? If you don't understand the high level Fa, how can you know how to cultivate yourself and what to do? When he heard this, he nodded his head and said yes.
Quite often when he said something that was disrespectful of Dafa, I would tell him the Fa principle of good is rewarded with good, and evil met with evil. However, he always said: "I am an ordinary person. A Buddha or God will not lower themselves to the same level as me." I advised him seriously that if someone refused to listen to this advice and insisted on defying the law, it is not that a God or Buddha would punish him, but rather, his own behavior would decide the terrible results. My peaceful and confident words made my father very surprised; he could hardly say a word for a long time. Besides, both individuals in our family and in our workplaces who persecuted fellow practitioners had received immediate karmic retribution. Seeing is believing. All the shocking reality was placed in front of him. When he saw and heard all of this, he once again felt greatly shocked.
Regarding his fear causing him to deny the evil persecution and instead complain about Dafa, Teacher and fellow practitioners, I said: "The evil is persecuting your family. As the head of this family, you dare not criticize these evil things directly and take the responsibility for your family, but on the contrary you feel angry with Dafa, Teacher and your own family. Aren't you bullying the good and fearing the evil?" My father thought for a while and felt it was true. He realized he was wrong. From then on, he did not argue any more.
As Dafa disciples, we not only supply my father with financial resources, fulfill all our responsibilities as sons and daughters, but also pay close attention to dealing well with our daily lives and jobs in the ordinary people's society so as to harmonize the Fa at the ordinary people's level. At the same time, we use our own words and behavior to exhibit the greatness and beauty of Dafa, making him experience and benefit truly from the Dafa disciples' "rationality," "wisdom" and "benevolence" and understand completely that Dafa transcends the concepts ordinary people. Then, from his heart, he will admire Dafa practitioners and then admire Dafa.
Recently, my father came to visit us. When we talked, my father said from his heart: "Dafa is true." My father not only said these words, but also changed fundamentally from his heart and became very respectful of Dafa. He [now] volunteers to clarify the truth to the world's people actively with his rationality and wisdom.
When we were sending forth righteous thoughts, we invited my father to join us. My father felt somewhat doubtful at the beginning and said: "I am not practicing Dafa any more. Does it work for me to send forth righteous thoughts? Am I entitled to send forth righteous thoughts?" I said: "You are eliminating the evil factors in other dimensions. It is not just for yourself. You are taking responsibility for others too. This is the most righteous and greatest thing. If you have a righteous mind, you will surely play a great role." My father learned the hand positions from us very and took it very seriously.
The next day, my father told us: "Last night, I had a dream where I saw a big snake, but I did not [come to know] how it was beaten to death." Hearing this, we told him: "It was the result of your sending forth righteous thoughts. It is not a dream; it is something that truly happened in another dimension. It is also the compassionate enlightenment given by Teacher who uses this to encourage you to believe firmly in Dafa." My father changed his state of mind [even] more greatly.
My father had given up his own cultivation, using as an excuse the fact that his family members did not cultivate well. We rectified ourselves and tried to think about others first. Hearing this, my father saw with his own eyes, and remembered it in his heart. Finally when he left, he said: "After going home, I will start to do the exercises." I felt so happy after hearing it.
My father is very enthusiastic with the Fa-rectification activities. Whenever there are new articles and lectures by Teacher, he reads them very carefully and thinks about them very seriously. He also participates actively in the Fa-rectification activities. He makes use of his widespread personal relationships to find out the facts about the persecution from the related departments. He often stands guard for us, and points out our gaps in cultivation when they appear.