“Please Don’t Miss This Chance Again”

It was a bright sunny Saturday morning. The sun cast its affectionate light on everyone. I could smell the fragrance of the grass in the air. After I drove my daughter to the art studio for the painting lesson, I went off to the local Chinese supermarket to do some grocery shopping.

When I finished my grocery shopping, I ran into a lady from a local “Mummy Club” at the entrance of the supermarket. She was raising fund for orphans in Yunnan Province, a poor, remote mountainous region in China. I smiled at her, made a donation, and gave her a leaflet containing the facts of Falun Gong and the persecution against Falun Gong. I told her that I practise Falun Gong, and asked her to read the leaflet and try to understand more about Falun Gong. She took my donation and the leaflet with a happy smile.

After I loaded the grocery into the car, I checked the time to realise I had 30 minutes before I had to go pick up my daughter, so I took out a small stack of truth-clarification leaflets, went back to the supermarket, and started to distribute them at the entrance of the supermarket next to my acquaintance.

I chatted with her off and on while I was distributing the leaflets. She admitted that it was the first time that she tried to raise funds on the street and that she finally realised how difficult it was to do that. I encouraged her to persevere in her cause and to be impervious to people’s negative responses. After all, there are all kinds of people in this world. The more important thing is to try to plant the seed of kindness into other people’s hearts.

While we were on the subject of people’s negative responses, I shared with her the many difficulties and cold stares that fellow Falun Gong practitioners and I had met while clarifying the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution against Falun Gong. I also took the opportunity to clear up some of her misunderstandings about Falun Gong. While I was explaining to her the truth about Falun Gong, two people who just took the informative leaflets about Falun Gong threw them on the ground right in front of me. I picked up one of the leaflets from the ground in a peaceful manner. Before I could pick up the other leaflet, my acquaintance had already picked it up for me. She then confessed that she had practised Falun Gong for a while before she gave up the practise. She asked me if someone was manipulating Falun Gong practitioners for a political purpose. I replied with a smile, “Do you think it looks like I am under anyone’s manipulation?”

She smiled at me instead of answering my question. I said, “The truth is that the cultivators of Falun Gong are completely apolitical. I was wondering how much you really know about the Chinese Communist government. They have invented a lot of stories in order to justify their persecution against Falun Gong.”

Then another man took a leaflet from me and threw it towards my face. I caught the leaflet with a peaceful mind and smiled at him.

Then another man read my leaflet and said to my acquaintance, “You should seek donations from Falun Gong practitioners. They have a lot of money because someone is funding them. They don’t even have to work.”

With a peaceful smile, I explained patiently, “You probably have heard unfound rumours about Falun Gong. We pay these leaflets out of our own pockets. I work in a large pharmaceutical company. I can easily afford the expense of printing these leaflets.” He took off without making any rebuttal.

A Christian was also distributing leaflets in front of the supermarket. After taking a leaflet from me, he passed me one of his leaflets as well. I accepted his leaflet politely. A curious thing was that few people took his leaflet, but many people took my leaflets. He brought many balloons as free gifts for the kids. Those balloons were right behind where I stood. When I turned and looked at those colourful balloons, I felt as if they were prepared for me to be able to inform more people about Falun Gong and the persecution that day. I had a strong feeling that it was no coincidence that I had run into these people at the supermarket.

My acquaintance kept saying to everyone, “Please help the orphans in Yunnan Province.” However, very few people made a donation. So I told her, “Why don’t you promote your cause first? I will wait until you say your piece before I offer my leaflets to people.” I didn’t want to fight with her for people’s attention because I felt it was not polite. I just stood there with a smile, and would offer my leaflets after she said her piece to every person who went to the supermarket.

After a while, instead of asking for donation, she suddenly said to someone, “Please help Falun Gong.” Upon hearing her words, I broke into a big smile but I didn’t make any comment. She smiled at me and said, “You see? You see? I have assimilated to Falun Gong.”

In just 30 minutes, I had distributed almost all the leaflets I had in my hand. I knew it was the mighty power of Falun Gong and Teacher’s compassion.

Finally I bade the lady farewell and returned to my car. When I started the car engine, the CD player in the car started to play the song “Be Saved.” When I heard the Falun Gong practitioner singing, “Be saved. Be saved. Please don't miss this chance again,” my eyes were filled with tears. I put my hands together in front of my chest and expressed my most sincere gratitude towards Teacher for giving all the sentient beings a chance to accept his salvation.