(Minghui.org) The 11th China Fahui on Minghui concluded on November 16. According a Minghui editor, the published articles on the website are only a small portion of the total submissions. The sharing and stories by practitioners in Mainland China manifested the spread of Falun Dafa in the world, the history of practitioners' saving sentient beings amidst the persecution, and their solid belief in the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
The articles inspired many practitioners outside China. A Minghui correspondent interviewed a few readers and the following is their sharing.
Grace from the US, said what touched her the most was how the Chinese practitioners validate the Fa with their lives in ordinary society.
She said: “The author of 'Balancing Work and Cultivation Well' always obeys the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance at work. When dealing with the conflicts among subordinates and supervisors, he always behaves as a cultivator. It is just like Master said,
“The state, the mercy, the kindness, the purity, the righteousness, and the great forbearance displayed by Dafa disciples during the Fa-rectification period is helping to shape the future society.'” (Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference)”
“The author also follows Master's teaching:
“Also, with those people that you run into by chance, who you run into in daily life, and the people you run into at work, you should all clarify the truth to them. Even when in your daily life you pass by people so quickly that you don't have a chance to talk to them, you should still leave them with your compassion and kindness.” (Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference)
“The author tries to tell everybody that he runs into at work about what Falun Gong really is.”
Grace said: “Another article 'The Purpose of My Life is to Validate the Fa' also impressed me. The author is an elementary school teacher. Due to the persecution, she had to change her job five times, and settled down in a remote and poor area. She was assigned to a class of naughty kids, which nobody wanted to deal with. However, she didn't complain.
She treated the students with kindness and without having to revert to harsh disciplinary action. With the wisdom she gained from Dafa, she taught the class in a compassionate manner, allowing the students to feel that she was truly thinking of them. Then, something miraculous happened: the children began wanting to do homework and participating in class. The fighting had all but vanished.
She realized she had to be a good person no matter where she was, always in accordance with Dafa, and using her actions to validate Dafa.
When a few classroom doors wouldn't close, she brought wood from home to repair them. When the students bought books and exam supplies, she did not accept her share of the profits. When doing chores at school, she took the lead. When the school was distributing promotions, she passed them onto the younger teachers.
The principal said to her once, 'If everyone practiced Falun Gong, this school would be successful without a principal.'
Once 20 some 610 Office agents tried to arrested her. The children circled around her, acting as a shield, and yelled together, 'Our teacher is a good person! Falun Dafa, please save our teacher!'”
Grace said: “The experiences of these practitioners let me see that no matter what we do, no matter which social class we are in, we can cultivate by the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and we can validate the Fa and save people.”
Sherry from Canada thought that dealing with the conflicts among family members is the most difficult thing in the world. She often recites Master's poem:
“A hundred years of human life, for whom so busy?Fame, Fortune, and feelings toward family arouse deep anxiety”(“What's the meaning of life? Hong Yin III)
Sherry learned a lot from the articles “My Wife and Son Are Also Sentient Beings” and “Seize the Day to Do Everything We Can to Save Sentient Beings” how to consider others, look inward, and create harmony in the family.
“The authors of these articles are compassionate to their family members, although their family members mistreated and misunderstood them. They follow the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in their family life. They successfully jumped out the trap of sentimentality, and rectified their home environment,” Sherry said.
“From the articles, I saw that it requires long-term persistence. One cannot achieve it in a few days. The power of the Fa and a cultivator's realm can melt all kinds of hatred and make others feel the compassion from the Fa and respect the Fa genuinely.”
Sherry also saw the selflessness and fearlessness in practitioners through the articles “Letting Go of Fear in Labor Camps,” “The Path Broadens as Selflessness Conquers Fear,” and “Everything Goes Well When Thinking of Others.”
She said: “When practitioners were arrested or jailed, they were not worried about their own safety. Instead, they tried to help their fellow practitioners. They looked inward, instead of complaining about fellow practitioners. These practitioners try to validate the Fa wherever they go. They deserve being called 'the defender of the truth of the universe' (Teaching the Fa at the Founding Ceremony of the Singaporean Falun Dafa Association). They learned what they should do from the Fa, and abide by the Fa at every moment.
They put down the attachments to life and death, and have become truly selfless and fearless. Facing them, the persecutors have fear, and the evil thoughts disintegrate. These practitioners rectify their environment, and conquered the persecution under Master's protection.”
Many elderly practitioners shared their experiences of saving people. Ms. Pan from Europe, as a senior herself, was moved to tears by their stories.
The article “Bringing the Truth to Every Household” stood out to Ms. Pan. When young practitioners were all arrested in her area, the author, a 77-year-old woman, organized a group of 70- and 80-year-old fellow practitioners, taking the responsibility to clarify the facts to the local people.
In eight months, these senior practitioners visited seven hundred villages and delivered Falun Dafa materials to every household, reaching hundreds of thousands of people. Every day, they convinced hundreds of people to renounce their membership in the Chinese Communist Party. Sometimes they had to walk dozens of miles every day from village to village on foot. Neither the severe weather nor the persecution stopped them from saving people.
Ms. Gu, also from Europe, was touched by the article “A Village Next to the River.” Ms. Gu said: “In plain language, the author expressed her solid belief in the Fa. From her story, I could also see how Master protects us in every situation. If a cultivator behaves according to the Fa, then the power of the Fa will manifest.”
Several practitioners shared their experiences of collaboration and coordination.
Xiaoyue, the coordinator of a truth-clarification project, resonated with the article “Coordinating and Collaborating.”
Xueyue said: “We are a group of cultivators, and our project teams are not ordinary associations. In Dafa, we don't have ordinary people's social rank. As a cultivator, we try to get rid of the attachments to fame and the notion of social ranks. Team members in the projects have different tasks, but we are equal. A coordinator is not the boss. Instead, her or his job is to serve everyone on the team.”
“The process of coordinating is a process of cultivation. We cannot force others to change. The only person we need to change is ourselves. We need to change our notions according to the Fa.”
“It is important how we respond to other people's shortcomings. When seeing other people's problems, what is our first reaction? Is it positive or negative? Will we be anxious and complaining, or being forgiving and considerate? Our reaction reflects our cultivation level.”
“It is more important to look inward during conflicts. We should understand that we would not encounter such a conflict if we don't have problems in ourselves. The conflicts are there for us to improve. All the problems we have in coordinating are not obstacles to push aside. Instead, they are alerts for us to improve.”
Grace, the above-mentioned practitioner form the US, was also impressed by the article “Executive Vice President: Devoting My Whole Life to Assisting Master in Fa-Rectification.”
“The author read the persecution cases collected on Minghui website, and realized that it is his responsibility to set up a database of the death cases. During the day, he was very busy at work, so he worked very late every night. He spent seven months collecting and organizing the raw data, and another two months writing the summary report. I admire his persistence and responsibility.”
“To assist Master in Fa-Rectification, we must put priority on what Dafa needs. Also, we should not fixate on the end result of our projects. What we need is the wisdom given by the Fa, instead of everyday people's impulse or enthusiasm. Our tasks are long-term, which require patience, elaborated plans, and collaboration. Short-term impulses will not do, because we need to have long-term persistence.”
“It is the highest honor to validate the Fa, assist Master in the Fa-Rectification and save sentient beings.”