(Clearwisdom.net) After I heard Master lecture on the Fa last April in New York, I realized I should share with my fellow practitioners my some experiences of clarifying the facts while travelling. In New York, Master said:
"Dafa disciples' personal cultivation and improvement are no longer an issue, nor is Dafa disciples' achieving Consummation. Right now, one important thing that needs to be attended to is the matter of how to save more sentient beings, and it is something Dafa disciples are to accomplish during their current process of achieving Consummation." ("Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference")
Master's words impressed upon me the idea that Dafa disciples should be clarifying the facts at all times; we should not take "breaks" from our missions to save sentient beings.
In my understanding, the process of clarifying the facts to save sentient beings has always been a key aspect of our cultivation, and here Master has told us to place an even stronger emphasis on it.
Over the past few years, I have had the opportunity to travel all over the world to clarify the facts. To do so, I have had to travel long distances by plane, train and automobile, which also meant I spent a lot of time in transit. On every long trip I would plan to make sure that I would study the Fa, but it didn't always work. On almost every trip, however, I had the chance to sit beside someone I didn't know, at least one person. What an excellent opportunity for truth clarification!
Quickly, I came up with a basic system for myself to prepare for travel. I always tried to dress neatly, and clean up before heading out to the airport. I would always try to have a "Falun Dafa is Good" pin on my lapel, a large one so that everyone could see - especially one that has the Chinese characters "Falun Dafa Hao" on it. This didn't mean I always had to wear it, sometimes when approaching individual Chinese travellers I would take it off, so that I could start the conversation with a different topic. But in those cases, the pin was always ready to be put on.
Upon arriving at the check-in counter, I was always asked what seat I wanted. After the first few flights, I realized that the best seat was in fact the middle one - because it could provide people on both your left and your right a chance to be saved. The middle seats were generally available, as people usually tend to choose the window or the isle. In some cases, the check-in clerks were surprised at my choice, and I could say, "I don't mind the middle, and others will like those seats."
I made up my mind to always try to give some informational material to any airport staff I would encounter. Generally, they took them, and in many cases we ended up chatting for a while about the CCP's human rights violations against Falun Gong practitioners in China. Less commonly, the same conversations were had with guards as I passed through airport security. I also tried to have materials at the surface of my carry on luggage; a number of times when a bag of mine was being searched, the guard encountered a material and asked about it, and eventually was able to take it for himself to read. All in all, it was very rare to have staff reject materials, including the border crossing guards that checked my passport as I entered a new country!
In "Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference", Master also said,
"...in doing everything that Dafa disciples are doing today--whether you are part of some project, or you are taking to the streets and clarifying the facts, passing out materials, or sitting in front of the consulates and embassies to expose the evil--you are cultivating yourselves, validating the Fa, and in the process saving the world's people."
When I had strong righteous thoughts and would plan ahead, some truly amazing arrangements were able to take place.
Last July as I was flying from Canada to the Washington DC Experience Sharing Conference, another practitioner and I had a lot of success in clarifying the facts to airport staff. When I reached the boarding gate, the gate clerk looked at me strangely and asked my name. She then proceeded to rip up my boarding pass. I sent righteous thoughts and she quickly presented me with a new one. I didn't argue or ask questions, but when I arrived at the cockpit, I learned that I had been placed in the first class section of the plane.
Later, I started a conversation with the woman that was sitting beside me. It turned out that she was the provincial director for one of Canada's largest television networks. As we talked, she mentioned that she was planning a vacation in Canada's province of Newfoundland in the near future. Having just written a travel article about Newfoundland, that had appeared in the paper the previous week, I was able to offer her a copy of the paper with the article, as well as some Newfoundland travel advice. More significantly, I was able to tell her about the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, as well as the mass resignations from the party that are happening in China. When I received her business card, I was also able to send her more detailed information about the human rights violations taking place against Falun Dafa practitioners in China today. Throughout the whole experience I had the strong sense that I was following Master's arrangement in everything that I did.
Another time, things did not start promisingly. I was flying from Delhi to Bangkok, and as I got on the plane, I realized quickly that there were very many Chinese people on board. Inquiring, I discovered that the plane was heading to Shanghai, and Bangkok was only a stopover point. With a sinking heart, as I started to search my carry-on luggage, I discovered that I had exactly four Chinese-language materials with me. Inside, I started to panic a bit. How could I save these people? "Master, I've failed here, but please help me save these precious people!" I said in my mind. I calmed down, and recited Lunyu, and started sending forth righteous thoughts.
I was sitting, in a middle row of course, with a middle-aged Chinese woman on one side. Pointing at my button, I said, "Falun Dafa dizi." ("Dizi" is Chinese for "disciple") She looked at me with wide eyes, and started speaking excitedly, but in a whisper, pointing at herself and her son. I said, "Hen Hao," and she responded in a thumbs-up sign and a smile. Suddenly, she grabbed my hand and started squeezing the meaty part between my thumb and forefinger. This was extremely painful. I know she was trying to test me and Dafa, so I asked Master to help me withstand the pain. I was able to, and soon she stopped, and shook her head in amazement. At that point a flight attendant started speaking to me, asking that I change my seat with another man, who wanted to be with his father. Sensing Master's arrangement in this, I moved on.
I moved up to an aisle seat with a beefy Chinese man sitting beside me. I was a bit concerned because shortly after my arrival, he ordered three whiskeys, and was looking quite rosy around the cheeks.
Again pointing to my button I said, "Falun Dafa dizi," pulling out one of those four precious materials. He looked at me, pointing at my chest, and I nodded. He then smiled, and proceeded to start reading the material from start to finish, but not before repeating "Falun Dafa dizi" loudly to all of the people around us, which were all Chinese.
Excitement grew around us, and sentient beings were raising themselves from their seats trying to get a look at me, motioning for me to give them materials. I quickly passed out the remaining three, and busied myself with sending righteous thoughts. I noticed the materials being read, and then passed on to others. Soon, a man sitting a couple of seats behind myself identified himself as speaking English. "You can get in trouble for this," he said, and I proceeded to clarify the truth to him, about the evil nature of the CCP and the true nature of Falun Dafa. Many people became interested in our conversation, and soon he was translating everything I was saying into Chinese, so that everyone could understand.
Even though I had not been prepared, Master had helped in making an arrangement to save at least some of these precious beings. My heart was filled with gratitude for Master's benevolence, and my eyes filled with tears. After some time the discussion died down and I prepared to read the Fa.
"So what exactly is this Falun Dafa," a voice asked directly from my right. Sitting across the aisle from me was a woman who looked like she could be Thai or Chinese, but I quickly learned was born of Mexican and Japanese parents. We started to talk. It turned out that she had gone to India to "find herself," had tried some practices but quickly discovered that in order to achieve a "higher level" in those methods, you had to pay "higher" amounts of money. One day, she had a strong sense that she should go to Bangkok immediately, so she bought a ticket and ended up on our plane.
I had started talking about Falun Dafa and the persecution at a basic level, but pretty soon I found myself talking about different aspects of cultivation, and reading her passages from Zhuan Falun to make sure I didn't misquote Master's words. Everything she heard, she nodded with understanding. At one point she said, "It's as if I had heard all of this before." We talked and shared for perhaps another two hours.
It turned out that she didn't have anywhere to stay, so I suggested that we share a cab to the city, and I could help her find a place near the large park where our Bangkok group practices, so that she could join group practice the following morning.
When we arrived, I introduced her to one of the female practitioners living in our area, a refugee from China who had endured terrible things at the hands of the vile CCP. Soon, it was arranged that she stay with that practitioner for the night. She started reading Zhuan Falun on the spot, shared with the refugee practitioner deep into the night, and learned the exercises the next morning. She learned quickly, as if she had known the exercises before. When last I saw her, she said she absolutely knows that she was a cultivator, and that she didn't have the words to thank me. I told her, "It was all Master's arrangement," and she cried.
I've shared this story with a number of practitioners before, because even when I myself remember it, I am inspired to continue clarifying the facts wherever I am. Master's arrangements have all sorts of unexpected forms, and I don't want to miss a single one of them while being distracted or interfered with.
My fellow disciples, make sure your thoughts stay righteous. Don't miss the opportunities that appear between projects, and between activities. Some of these can be the most magical, inspiring, and effective moments in our cultivation.
Of course, we can stumble at times. On more than one flight, I got caught watching movies for hours on end, which would, over that time, cause my thoughts to stray from righteousness. I missed some precious opportunities.
In "Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference", Master said,
"...countless gods, unprecedented numbers of them, are watching the Three Realms intently. If a human being could really see this, he would find it downright terrifying. Not a single thought that a person has and not a single idea that crosses his mind goes unseen by the multitude of gods. Thus, whatever a person does during this period of time is determining his own future."
In my understanding, the same is true for Dafa disciples. When our thoughts stray, we indulge in the everyday world, or we take a "break" from doing the three things and cultivation, we create a loophole for the evil to exploit. The cause of saving sentient beings thus suffers.
But when among everyday people we remain armed with the thought, "I want to save you!" we are able to share with them the one thing that can guarantee them a wonderful future: The Truth. And the yearning to save all sentient beings, this we can also take with us into our more private moments. Then, with all the universe's gods watching, we can best fulfill these most magnificent arrangements, which Master has made for the universe, and for us.
Thank you Master. Thank you Dafa disciples.
Category: Perspective
