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A Story from China: The Ninth Pancake

Oct. 21, 2004 |   By A Xiang

(Clearwisdom.net) When I went back to my hometown in the summer, I saw many of my neighbors. I told them about the outside world and also about Falun Gong. Some of them are supposedly very stubborn, but they all changed their attitude towards Falun Gong. Some even wanted to practice.

Local fellow practitioners said, "You are so good. We have tried so long and it did not work. You did it so fast." I said, "This is not because of me. On the one hand, Fa-rectification has progressed to this stage and on the other hand, you have fed them eight pancakes, including flyers and CDs. In their heart, righteousness has won out. My arrival, and talking with them in person is like the ninth pancake, disintegrating the last evil elements. As a result, the breakthrough came because they were finally full.

We cannot be led by what meets the eyes and wonder how come no matter how hard we try, someone just never understands. In fact, every time we clarify the truth, we are laying the groundwork. We are not doing it in vain.

Today, when we are full of compassion, it is also the time they walk out of darkness. As long as we keep our righteous faith and carry on, we will be successful.

One day, I met a military officer. He went into a rage after a few words. "How can you say things like that about our Chairman Jiang? He is...... , how could he do bad things to ordinary people. You are against the Party and socialism."

I said to him, "What you know about Jiang is only what you hear in his propaganda. He only allows you to get on the military website. Did you know that he persecutes Falun Gong and the kind-hearted people who practice it? He spent 400 million yuan to build an opera house for a woman singer he fancies. Have you ever visited an international website? People around the world know that he is bad for the country. What are you defending him for? Other than his self-promotion, what else do you think you know? " He walked away very angry. The way he looked, I did not want to talk with him any more. But I felt so sad for him. I continued to send forth righteous thoughts to get rid of the evil elements behind him.

Two days later, I met him again. He was very hostile, trying to avoid me by saying that he had to look for his sister's child. I told him some stories about how to teach children to be unselfish. Here is one such story. Once upon a time, some children went on a field trip. My child was carrying two big bottles of soda pop. When it was time to have drinks, he poured them for everybody. Then he realized that he did not have enough for himself. Should he reduce the amount for other people to save for himself or not? Then he realized that he was supposed to consider others first and that he should not be so concerned about himself. So he gave it all to the other children. Although it was hot that day, he felt good. The officer said, "This kid is so nice. Such a child is hard to find. I like him a lot."

One night after dinner, I saw him walking downstairs, so I went down to greet him. I thought to myself, he has had over 30 years of atheist brainwashing and he is still being brainwashed now. I did not talk any more about Jiang. I only told him how I am trying to be a good person. I told him many stories about kindness and tolerance. Two stories are as follows.

In one of the companies I worked for, I was responsible for allotting budgets to various regions depending on their needs. One of the managers sharing the same office as me was not happy with the outcome. He believed that I should have given him a bigger budget. I did not explain my reasons at that time.

After the meeting, he gave me a ride home. He did not say a word on the way until about one kilometer away from my home. He stopped the car and asked me to walk home myself. It was in the middle of winter with a bone-chilling wind and it was also a very remote place where I could not get myself a taxi. I am a woman, but I was not scared. I only felt a little wronged. So I said to him, let me tell you a story. Remember last time you came back from Beijing and wanted to have your expenses reimbursed? According to the policy, you can only claim up to 200 yuan for communications and you insisted that you wanted the full amount, 280 yuan reimbursed. I knew that our general manager would just follow the policy and it would not be to your advantage. But I could not convince you at that point. So I agreed, but I paid for the amount over with my own money. I do not regret doing that. After saying that, I walked into the darkness. Soon, he drove over and insisted that I get in the car. I did not refuse. When he dropped me off at my home, he said, "I am sorry. Compared to you, I am so small as a man."

Another incident happened at a general meeting last year. At the meeting, it was announced that all general managers of the provincial branches would receive 3000 yuan a month increase, and there was nothing for the associate managers. All the associate managers were very upset and wanted to complain to senior management. After dinner, they wanted me to go with them.

I asked everybody to come in and sit down and said to them. I don't know about you guys, but I don't think I am in the position to argue for a raise. My current salary level was set when our sales volume reached 2 million. Now our sales are decreasing and our salary remains the same. I am happy with what I have. Our salary comes from sales profits. If we don't have sales, how can we get a raise? Where would it come from? In fact, it's not easy for headquarters to survive. They gave the general managers a raise to prevent them from leaving the company. They had no choice. It has nothing to do with us.

Nobody said anything and they all just left silently.

Then I told him more stories. After hearing my stories, he said, you are the most cultured and moral person I have ever met. Your moral standards are higher than all those in my circle. I have never met anybody like you. I would like every military officer in my school to be considerate of others. Can we be friends? I would like to know more." " Of course," I answered. Later, I told him that all Falun Gong practitioners are like me, even more selfless. I explained the truth about Falun Gong to him. He ate the ninth pancake and was finally full.

On August 1, the day when the Army of the People's Republic celebrates its anniversary, he sent me a letter wishing me a happy holiday and told me that he had taken truth-clarifying information to the military officers' school.

It brought tears to my eyes. The military has hope now.

My fellow practitioners, please feed friends around you the ninth pancake. I am sure they will soon be full, after the accumulations of previous meals.