Busy Saving People in Autumn

It is autumn now and the weather is mild. Many people walk on the streets or stay outside. It's the right time for Dafa disciples to clarify the truth to people face to face. We are responsible for saving sentient beings. Therefore, we should cherish every minute and use it well. Master said,

"This instant is precious beyond measure. Completing the last leg of this journey well is what's most magnificent." ("Teaching the Fa in the City of Chicago")

Recently, Dafa disciples in our local area have been proactive about face-to-face truth clarification. Every day, we separate into small groups and go to public areas--including streets, parks, community centres, or villages--to clarify the truth and persuade people to resign from the CCP.

There are several advantages to going in groups. For example, some practitioners can talk while others send forth righteous thoughts. If one practitioner is unable to fully convince a person, another practitioner can follow up with reinforcement. Some practitioners are open and aboveboard. They are not afraid to expose the evil. Some practitioners are talkative and knowledgeable. They are good at clarifying the truth. Some practitioners are calm and compassionate. They are able to clarify the truth in detail and with great patience. All practitioners complement each other and use their special talents to achieve the best results in truth-clarification.

We face many kinds of people and many different situations while clarifying the truth. If we are able to search inward in time, we can let go of many attachments. For example, if we feel uncomfortable or get upset when we see other practitioners persuading more people to resign from the CCP (chinese communist party) than we do, we may still be attached to jealousy, competition or achievements.

Once, several practitioners could not persuade a single person to resign from the CCP all morning. Some people did not want to listen to the truth. Others rejected our explanations and could not understand the truth. We searched inward and found that we were not merciful enough. The tone of our voices was not compassionate. We were using the Communist Party culture of "rigid theorizing" to try to persuade people.

Later, we discovered more attachments. Those that do not understand the truth blamed or humiliated us because we still had not let go the attachments to fear and fame, not wanting to lose face. Some practitioners could not completely clear up other people's misunderstandings and only focused on the number of withdrawals they could tally up. Because of their attachments to personal fame and competition, they could not be responsible for those sentient beings.

Although we have to walk a long distance, talk a lot, and sometimes even face humiliation, we don't complain, since we are Dafa disciples walking on the path to godhood. We are greatly encouraged when we see more and more people understand and accept the truth.

Touching incidents happen every day. Once, we persuaded 12 students to resign from the Young Pioneers in front of a school. Another time we encountered several naughty boys. In the beginning, they did not want to listen to us even though we took turns to talking to them. After we left, they followed us and wanted to hear more. We told them of the beauty of Dafa, and why people need to quit CCP. After they were convinced, they used their real names to resign from the Young Pioneers.

A business owner had heard the truth about Dafa many times, but he still did not want to quit the CCP. After talking with him several times, with Dafa disciples' truthful and compassionate manner, we eliminated his concerns. He finally decided to quit.

Once we clarified the truth to a teacher. In the beginning, he refused to accept what we said. However, after he understood the truth, he wanted to read Dafa books and started on the path of cultivation.

By clarifying the truth face to face, we can see the miracles and beauty of Dafa. Ordinary people will awaken if our hearts are pure. Master told us,

"Dafa disciples have become almost the only hope for humanity in some regions." ("Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005 (Q&A Portion)")

At the same time, the side that we did not cultivate well was also exposed and we discovered our shortcomings:

1. Relying on others. Sometimes we let other practitioners do all the talking so that we could send forth righteous thoughts. After deeply searching inward, we found our attachments to fear and to our own safety.

2. Anxiousness. If we meet a person who is willing to listen to the truth, we sometimes flock together and all speak at the same time, making it hard for the person to clearly understand our points. Actually, the attachment to validating ourselves was behind this behavior.

3. Afraid of difficulty. A lot of us do not want to go to difficult locations to clarify the truth, including stations, ports, manufacturing plants, companies, or residential areas. Actually, the major reason for this is our attachment to fear. (Of course, we do have to be rational and wise.)

4. Not enough heart. Sometimes we forgot to bring truth-clarification materials with us. Since the time for face-to-face clarification is so limited, materials are a good supplement for our truth-clarification. In addition, people who understand the truth might, in turn, use our materials to clarify the truth to their family and friends and become our "mobile media."

From our truth-clarification in small groups, we learned a great deal and would like to share some ideas with fellow practitioners:

1. The importance of our tone of voice and mindset while we talk. Before clarifying the truth, we need to study the Fa well and send forth righteous thoughts. We have to adjust our mindset and speak openly with a benign attitude and peaceful tone. If we meet with CCP members, we can relate stories of karmic retribution from history. "One righteous mind can subdue one hundred evils" (Zhuan Falun) Some of them are rectified right away, while others become scared and run away.

2. Don't talk at too high a level. We have to put ourselves at the level of ordinary people instead of above them. We need to stand in their shoes and consider their viewpoints. We have to listen to what they say and follow their attachments to break the shell that prevents them from understanding the truth.

3. Be modest. When we meet people that refuse to accept us, we should not resent them. We may try another viewpoint, approach, tone of speaking, or topic. We need to put down our pride and be modest. We should avoid telling them things that we believe but which are difficult for ordinary people to believe. Some practitioners started their truth-clarification by recounting recent natural disasters. Since people were scared right away, the results were not so great.

4. Only focus on the process. Master asked us to pay attention to the process. We should clarify the truth completely and should not pursue results. We are saving people instead of asking for people's help. Our basis must be correct. We are spreading the fortunate message to ordinary people and giving them the chance to choose a bright future.

The above are the understandings of our local Fa-study group on face-to-face truth-clarification. We are still far from Master's standard. We would just like to offer a few suggestions so that others may share their valuable ideas. Let's do better to clarify the truth. Heshi!