(Clearwisdom.net) For the past ten years, we've validated the Fa with rationality, clear minds, and a firm belief in Teacher and our sacred oath, despite cold winters and hot summers, no matter how far away or how perilous the environment. We have made use of every means available to accomplish these tasks, and managed to spread the wonderfulness of Dafa to every corner of the areas that we've covered. From these efforts, we've truly come to realize the dignity and sacredness in Dafa cultivation. We shoulder great responsibilities given the urgency of saving sentient beings. The difficulties in saving them made us realize that sentient beings are all waiting to be saved, which strengthened our thoughts for saving people.
The process of going to the countryside to clarify the truth is also a process of validating the Fa and cultivating ourselves, and every step requires Teacher's benevolent care and cooperation among practitioners.
Letting Go of Myself, Looking Within, and Working Together to Save Sentient Beings
We live in a small town, so we made use of all means available to validate the Fa in our area, beginning in 2000. That year, fellow practitioners and I embarked on the journey to go to the countryside to clarify the facts about Falun Gong and the persecution. We later changed from sending out materials to explaining the facts to people face to face.
I previously worked in the financial services field, so I knew a lot of people and talked to them in a kind way, being always willing to help others. I received several awards for my excellent service. I later came to realize that my past experience formed a good foundation for my truth clarifying activities. On the other hand, I am fairly introverted. I'm not outspoken, but I do pay attention to my own feelings, and I'm lazy. I realized that these post-natal notions have obstructed me from letting go of my own ego and truly improving myself. I've always wanted to eliminate them, yet whenever I approached others and was about to clarify the truth to them, my fear and concern gained the upper hand--I was afraid that people wouldn't listen to me or accept what I said, or might swear at me. As a result, I lost many opportunities to save people.
Upon realizing this, I made up my mind to look within and dig out the root. The fundamental problem was that I didn't study the Fa with a calm mind or hold myself strictly to the Fa's requirements, and my perspective on saving people was not right. I also lacked concentration in sending forth righteous thoughts, and my thoughts were not pure enough. After I dug out all the fundamental attachments, I felt elevated immediately, and my mind nature improved as well.
On one occasion, two practitioners and I went to the countryside to talk to people about Falun Gong. After we entered the village, we went in three different directions to hand out materials. When I walked by one household, the door was open, so I looked in and saw that nobody was there. I grabbed a flyer from my backpack and was about to put in on the table, when suddenly a person came out of the house. I was very calm, smiled at him, and said, "I wish you and your family a happy New Year. I was just delivering good fortune to your door. It's predestined for you to receive it, and it will bring you good fortune after you read it. Then, if you pass it on to your family and friends, you will accumulate good fortune." I also told him to recite, "Falun Dafa is wonderful" and "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance is wonderful" as often as possible. He nodded with a smile and gladly took the materials from me. At that time, a warm current went through my body, and I knew that Teacher was strengthening and encouraging me. I continued walking and saw a few people sitting in the courtyard, so I told them that I was there to deliver good fortune and wished them health and happiness. They invited me to sit down. I thanked them and began talking. I told them that Falun Dafa taught people to cultivate their mind-nature and to be good and compassionate. I then told them that due to my limited knowledge, what I said was only part of on the information provided in the materials, and encouraged them to read it, so they would have good returns in the future. Some took the materials and thanked me repeatedly as I was leaving. I replied, saying that if they wanted to thank me, I'd rather they thank my Teacher, since it was Teacher who arranged for me to come here to save them. We kept talking to people while we walked, and after traveling for more than 20 kilometers (about 12 miles), I didn't feel tired or hungry at all. Actually, eliminating an attachment is not difficult, because Teacher will help us and create opportunities for us to build up our mighty virtue as long as we have the Fa in our hearts and always think of sentient beings,.
Fellow practitioner Xiao Yu gave me extensive help in clarifying the truth. Every time I felt depressed, she encouraged me, pointed out my attachments, and helped me understand more Fa principals. From our cooperation, I've come to realize the gap between us. Even though she is not well educated, she measures herself against the Fa standards when facing difficulties, she does the three things well, and doesn't have many notions. When telling people about Falun Gong, she doesn't treat them based on their social status. As long as she has contact with them, she clarifies the facts to them. She is also very confident in Dafa, and cultivates solidly in her day-to-day life. Every practitioner has one side that has been cultivated well and one yet to be cultivated. I sometime have an unhealthy thought, comparing my strength to others' shortcomings, and I've always wanted to change others rather than myself. I criticize others for looking externally during conflicts and don't put others first when doing things. Through continuous Fa study, I realized that all these things are biased content from the old cosmos that must be eliminated, and we should rectify ourselves and align with the Fa.
When Xiao Yu began clarifying the truth, she didn't know what to say, nor was she able to make herself understood. After she talked for awhile, no one understood what she was trying to say. Fellow practitioners didn't want to work with her, thinking that she couldn't clarify the truth to others, and she felt very hurt inside. Why did I happen to see it? Wasn't this a test to see how I would react to it? I decided to think about helping others and help her to learn how to clarify the truth. We then started going to the supermarket together daily. At the beginning, I talked to people while she sent forth righteous thoughts and learned from me. She worked very hard and sincerely, so Teacher opened up her wisdom, and she now does it very well.
There were times when she talked to people before me, and although she might not have realized it, my attachment flared up, and a negative thought flashed in my mind, that I shouldn't go with her the following day. I realized immediately that this was an attachment that must be eliminated. At that time, I thought about what Teacher said,
"It's not like Gods see that your idea worked and then they raise your level. Instead, they only raise your level when they see that your understanding of it has improved."
"But true improvements come from letting go, not from gaining."
("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.")
Therefore, every time we clarify the truth, whether practitioners are talking or distributing flyers, I send forth righteous thoughts. After they finish talking, I add a few points if needed. I learned how to understand and be tolerant of practitioners, preparing a solid foundation for working together to clarify the truth.
Righteous Thoughts, Righteous Actions, Being Compassionate to Sentient Beings
With the progress of the great Fa-validation wave, we started going to the countryside to clarify the truth more often than before. As long as the weather was good, we went out at least once or twice per week, and often traveled more than 100 kilometers (over 60 miles). We took the bus and then followed the side roads, talking to whomever we met. After we persuaded them to do the three withdrawals (withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party and its two youth organizations), we gave them truth-clarification materials, the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, and Shen Yun DVDs. There were utility poles on both sides of the road, so we posted truth-clarifying information on them using special pens. Because we worked well with each other, we managed to finish our tasks effectively.
Whenever we went to the countryside to explain the facts, we sent forth righteous thoughts. We had the Fa in our hearts, kept righteous thoughts in our minds, were very clear-minded, and maintained calm and steady mindsets. We sometimes didn't get home until five or six o'clock in the afternoon. If we came back before that, we got something to eat first, then studied the Fa in a group.
The process of clarifying the truth in the countryside is also a process of self-cultivation. These activities directly targeted our hearts. Every time we went out, we met all kinds of people, which made us feel as if we were homeless and wandering about.
Even though I've cultivated for many years, my attachment to fear kept popping up. I realized that this is the greatest obstacle in clarifying the facts to people. The fundamental reason for harboring this attachment is that one's compassion has not come forth, so one does not think of sentient beings from the bottom of their heart. Rather, one does Dafa work from the standpoint of gaining benefits for oneself, which can't express the mighty power of Dafa.
I once went to a village where many people were standing outside enjoying the sunshine. Two practitioners passed by them prior to our arrival. Xiao Yu and I approached them, and she began talking while I sent forth righteous thoughts and began handing out the Nine Commentaries, but no one was willing to accept it. I began to say, "Such a great book, and we are giving it to you for free, yet you don't want it? There are many people looking for this book. Many people have commented on how wonderful this book is. Also, whoever reads it will benefit from it. We have families, but we haven't eaten yet in order to travel this far to help you and offer you a good future." As soon as I finished speaking, one person came over and grabbed a copy. Although no one did the three withdrawals, we still felt good inside because we had let go of ourselves and talked to them in a compassionate way, so everything went smoothly after we let go of our attachments. We kept going and came upon a place where some people were building houses. I began sending forth righteous thoughts, and Xiao Yu then began talking to them. There were a lot of people there, and we handed out a dozen Shen Yun DVDs. We also managed to help about a dozen people with the three withdrawals. In the end, we ran out of DVDs, and some people felt sad about it. We asked them to share with others when they finished watching. On that day, we helped over fifty people quit the CCP. We truly came to realize the grand and in-depth inner meanings Teacher's words,
"Cultivation depends on one's own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one's master." (Zhuan Falun)
Clarifying the truth to people is not an easy task, especially convincing them to read the Nine Commentaries and quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. People in China have been deeply poisoned by the CCP, and they have all kinds of the evil Party's notions and a deeply rooted Party culture. Additionally, they have a strong fear of the CCP.
Some people turned around and walked away as soon as they heard us talking about Falun Gong, some tried to report us to the authorities, some swore at us and sneered, and others tore apart our materials right in front of us. There are all kinds of people. We managed to maintain our xinxing and tried to resolve the hatred against us, so that we could save them in a compassionate way.
On another occasion, right after we finished talking about the staged self-immolation incident in a village, a car drove up and three people jumped out. They asked us what we were doing there, and Xiao Yu replied by saying that we were there to save people. I stood by and sent forth righteous thoughts. The person who was listening to us said that it was his son who'd come back. I went off with another practitioner for awhile, but Xiao Yu hadn't returned, so we decided to head back to look for her. We then saw the car driving towards us, following Xiao Yu. The driver jumped out of the car and ordered us to get in the car. He was rude, and we sent forth righteous thoughts. Another practitioner waved to him in greeting and said, "We are good people and cultivate Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." Xiao Yu and I were talking to that group, and he then smiled at us and nodded his head to show that he agreed to do the three withdrawals. The driver however was still very rude, so I said to him, "You are a driver. Who doesn't want to have peace in life? We are here for your benefit to save you." After hearing this, he stopped talking and drove away. It was just like what Teacher said,
"If you have fear, they will grab you
Once your thought is righteous, evil will collapse
People practicing cultivation, filled with Fa
Sending righteous thoughts, exploding rotten ghosts
Gods are in the world, validating Fa"
("What's There to Fear" from Hong Yin Volume II)
At lunch, after we finished sending forth righteous thoughts, each of us began to look within, and we found each of our attachments. It was harvest time, and farmers were all drying out their crops on the road. We were all thinking of saving people and didn't want to skip even one person. It was past 4:00 p.m., and we had to walk another good 40 minutes in order to get on a bus, but we weren't sure when the last bus would be leaving. We made up our minds to leave everything to Teacher. We talked to people while we walked. We arrived at a roadside village, and one practitioner talked while the other two handed out flyers. We were truly saving people in an urgent way. The bus came soon after we arrived at the bus stop. When we got home, we were on time for sending forth righteous thoughts at 6:00 p.m. We helped sixty people with the three withdrawals that day. We sincerely appreciated Teacher's benevolent care.
During the process of clarifying the truth in the countryside, we strengthened our righteous thoughts, tested our will, and managed to eliminate all kinds of bad things. The path taken was unfathomable and our mind-nature was elevated. We were often moved to tears whenever we encountered people who were anxious to be saved. Some people bowed to us after they learned the truth and thanked us many times, and some led the way, while others escorted us for a long distance. Some even invited us to stay for dinner. One elderly lady held my hand with tears in her eyes and said, "Where are you from? If you live close enough I want to see you often." Last November, we dropped by her home and clarified the truth to all her family members. Her son works in the village and was worried about us at the beginning. After he learned the facts, his worries disappeared and he gladly accepted truth-clarification materials and did the three withdrawals. He also helped us to spread the Fa to the people in his village. There was one young man who shouted, "Falun Dafa is wonderful! Truth-Compassion-Forbearance is wonderful!" after he learned the truth. He also said that he wanted to write a song about Dafa. After the elderly lady heard what he was shouting, she followed him. We felt that the gods in heaven were smiling--it was such a nice day. This is truly the wonderful power of benevolence manifested in the human world!