(Minghui.org) Telling people the facts about Falun Dafa is among the most important activities for a practitioner.
My husband and I visited one of our relatives. When trying to return home, our bus did not arrive as scheduled. I thought that this was a sign that I did not do the three things well. Anyway, I was on a night shift at work and wanted to go home to take a nap. I was anxious and was lacking righteous thoughts.
I tried talking to an elderly man about Falun Dafa, but he was not interested. I only told him some basic facts about Dafa but did not mention quitting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) before he got on his bus.
There were others, but I did not get a chance to talk to them about Dafa, because they got on their bus, or were not interested in listening to me.
An elderly lady then arrived on a bicycle. She stopped and my husband murmured that she must be a practitioner. She started to tell us about quitting the party and we told her that we were Falun Dafa practitioners too.
I encouraged her to talk to a girl listening to music with earphones, which did not work out. Then, she talked to an elderly lady, which did not go too well either.
We got on the bus, and I felt car sick, which I used to suffer from before I became a cultivator. I immediately denied this thought and recited Lunyu.
After I felt a little better I wondered why did we have difficulties clarifying the truth. I thought that there are many practitioners who talk to people about Dafa and pass out fliers. Therefore, many people in this area should know the truth.
However, I personally feel that people who really know the truth, understand, and support Dafa, are very rare. Even some family members do not understand the facts about Dafa. Besides, many local people have a negative attitude towards practitioners and are annoyed when a practitioner tries to talk to them
More than once I heard everyday people complaining about practitioners asking them to quit the party. My sister-in-law ran into such a practitioner. She was afraid to mention my husband and I as well as having already quit the Party. So, this practitioner followed her for a long time from the bus to the mall. My sister-in-law was very annoyed. She had already started reading Zhuan Falun, but after that incident, she returned the book to me and said many negative things about practitioners.
Then I overheard two ladies saying that they often run into young or older women at bus stations trying to help them to quit the Party. They wondered why these women have so much free time? I told them that many of my family members and friends have benefited from practicing Falun Dafa. They switched the topic, and did not pay any attention to me.
I wondered why so few people truly know the facts about Dafa, even though so many practitioners have been making a lot of effort, and have passed out so many Dafa informational materials.
I then recalled an incident that happened a few years ago. The restroom at the largest local fair was extremely dirty and a practitioner's brother told him that practitioners should clean it. Although practitioners felt that this would be good for clarifying the truth none wanted to dirty their hands.
Master told us to consider others. Do I follow His teachings? All of sudden I realized why people don't understand us, or even feel annoyed by us. We didn't reach the criteria of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. How can they believe us?
Then I remembered an incident. A young man was selling hats at a local fair. I tried to buy a hat, and also clarify the truth to the young man, but could not find an opening line. The other practitioner bought a 15 yuan hat and gave him 20 yuan, and I asked him to not make a mistake and give the correct change.
“Mistake,” he said. “Last year, I made a mistake and gave almost 100 yuan to a customer. But fortunately, he was a Falun Dafa practitioner. He came back and returned the money to me.”
I responded, “Would any other people return the money to you? They would even laugh at your mistake.” He said. “That is for sure. I would say Falun Dafa is great.”
Then, we again clarified the truth at that fair one year later. At the end of the fair, I wanted to buy a hat and stopped at a booth. When making the decision, I made one hat dirty. I told the vendor that I would pay for it because I practiced Dafa. I then recognized him as the young man who experienced a good deed by a practitioner.
I gave him a Dafa booklet. He said he enjoys reading the Minghui Weekly. His daughter tore a page, and he was very unhappy. He asked for more and I promised to bring it the next time I visit. This has shown me that the goodness of Dafa was displayed by a practitioner's action.
There are similar experiences. My husband and I accepted a new job. We helped co-workers with the cleaning. Some of them lacked a good education, and thus do not know how to write reports. So, we helped them and did not complain about others taking advantage of us, or about unfair task assignments.
We get along well with others and talk to them about Dafa. They stopped being against Dafa because they see that practitioners are very different from what the media publicized.
A co-worker said, “You are very different than everyone else here.” I told him that we practice Falun Dafa, which teaches people to be good.”
Master asked us to solidly cultivate. Fellow practitioners, do we really solidly cultivate? In my mind, daily life is a part of cultivation and not cultivation is a part of daily life. Master said, “... cultivate yourselves well ...” (To the Fa Conference in France) This is what we should focus on as a whole body.
I am not trying to criticize anybody because I also lack on my cultivation path. I have never been able to share these thoughts with local practitioners. I thought that I have not done well. Therefore, I did not have the courage to point out issues I find in other practitioners and the whole group.
However, I thought that I should let go of this fear. No matter my level, I am a particle of Dafa. I have the responsibility to point out what I see. It is not a slogan that we need to cultivate well and improve as a whole body.
Master said, “In this final hour of the Fa rectification, cultivate yourselves well and solidly every step of the way and accomplish your mission of saving people.” (“To the Fa Conference in France”)