(Clearwisdom.net) I am a practitioner from Orlando, Florida. I started to practice Falun Gong in November 1998. The title of my paper today is "Make the Best Use of Time to Clarify the Truth to the Chinese People."
Around the end of November this year, I read an article on Clearwisdom.net about clarifying the truth to the Chinese people. As I was reading that first paragraph, I felt my third eye open up, and I saw the scenes as described in the article by the Clearwisdom editor that: "Many were high Lord Divines and holy Fa-kings that confronted danger in the Three Realms and the human world hoping to obtain the Fa." It was so real in my mind that I only had one thought, "How could I help?"
I was not too clear about how to proceed, but I was eager to do something. A local newspaper reported that approximately 50,000 people of Asian descent live in central Florida. The largest group is from Vietnam, and the next is Chinese. In Orlando, we do not have a Chinatown like those in New York, Toronto or San Francisco. Instead, what we have are Disney World, theme parks and beaches. What should I do? I found some answers while driving around Orlando delivering parts for my job. I noticed many places to eat Chinese food. I began to visit Chinese restaurants in the three counties of Seminole, Orange, and Volusia. When I wasn't helping out on Wednesday nights with class or Sunday mornings at Lake Eola, I would go off looking for a chance to clarify the truth. Usually, I would take with me an exercise-site schedule, a flyer, and my limited Hongfa materials in Chinese.
Driving the roads at night, I let my desire to help Dafa be my guide. I ate a lot of Chinese food. For the price of a meal or even just soup I could meet with Chinese people working here in central Florida and share the Fa. I had many enjoyable and exciting experiences. They were all different. Each restaurant I ate at helped me prepare better for the next Chinese restaurant I would visit. I talked to persons who had just recently come from Beijing, Canton, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Some came from cities in China, the names of which I couldn't pronounce even after they told me two or three times.
I often wore my yellow Falun Gong T-shirt when visiting a Chinese restaurant. I would take a seat in the restaurant and place some Chinese Hongfa materials on the table. A chance to talk would usually come quickly. As I was rather new to this way of Hongfa, I noticed that going to the restaurants when they were busy was not so effective, so I would frequently go there when business was slow.
Sometimes I'd go to a place only once, some many times, and one I visited for six weeks. I followed no rules, except to spread the Fa when an opportunity presented itself. The most memorable incident was in Wekavia Springs at a restaurant called China. The waitress was an owner of the business. She worked seven days a week and had no free time. Her husband, their young son and she were there the night I stopped to eat dinner. The restaurant was completely empty except for us. Plenty of time to talk, I thought. The room seemed to glow with what I could only describe as benevolence and compassion as we both talked about Falun Dafa. The woman had previously received some information about Dafa in the mail and was curious what it was all about. Her three-year old son carried around under his arm the book China Falun Gong. When he would pass by my table, he would stop by and show me the pages and pictures and talk to me just like a three-year old would. I would listen and then show him Master's picture, the Falun emblem and say Teacher's name. His mother and I showed him part of the exercises from the book. I left that night and returned a week later with the exercise video and a Chinese copy of Zhuan Falun. Three weeks later I returned again and she gave me back the books and video. Her son, she said, would watch the exercise video in the restaurant after pre-school. It was one of the most precious moments I had in my many visits to Chinese restaurants. Though we met as strangers, I left feeling like we were a family--all because of Dafa.
I got an idea to go to a town meeting at a hotel in Maitland, Florida. The purpose of the Town Hall Meeting was to talk to the community about International Security Challenges. The key speaker was Phillip Reeker, who is a Deputy Spokesman for the State Department overseeing the Offices of Press Relations, the Regional Director and Foreign Press Centers within the bureau of Public Affairs. Almost 400 people from the community showed up for the meeting, and a television crew made a live recording. During the question and answers session, I asked simply, "Would the State Department be willing to put pressure on Jiang Zemin to dismantle the '610 Office?'" I knew the audience and local media would not know what the "610 Office" was. So for a brief moment I had the opportunity to clarify the truth to the Maitland community and local newspapers and television people. The person holding the microphone just happened to be Chinese and the Asian American Chamber of Commerce was in attendance too. I felt that Teacher Li had arranged all these events. I shared with them a brief explanation about the "610 Office" (an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems) and Jiang Zemin's extreme treatment of Falun Gong practitioners inside China. When the meeting was over I drove my VW bus home happily. I saw Teacher was making my circle of people bigger and bigger. I saw Teacher's compassion touch them all.
Not long ago, I read on Clearwisdom that: "At present the most important mission of all Dafa disciples is Fa-rectification, and the crux of Fa-rectification is clarifying the truth. No matter what kind of environment one is in, each and every Dafa disciple has the responsibility to clarifying the truth to the circle of people around him or her." ("Clarify the Truth to the Chinese People Comprehensively, in a Deeper and More Refined Way") http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/1/15359.html I continue to look for chances to reach Chinese people living outside China. Recently, when the Tampa SOS RescueWalk Team completed their walk at Disney World, practitioners from Orlando went there to meet them. We then split into two groups to Hongfa in the vicinity of Disney World. One group went to International Drive to pass out flyers; the other group went to Splendid China, which is a theme park owned by the Chinese government.
Since the last time I visited Splendid China with another practitioner, the park has changed much. Business activity at the park has slowed down, with fewer visitors. One Chinese worker told me that her little store made only two hundred dollars the entire month. I spoke with one Chinese lady from Beijing, now a student at UCF. We talked for almost an hour and exchanged many stories about life in China, including Falun Gong's situation in China. When I left, she accepted some of the Dafa materials.
The editors once said on Clearwisdom.net that, "At present we need to more fully utilize the advantages of each person's personal and external conditions." On a Sunday afternoon, I discovered, with a hint from Master, that many Chinese people have started new businesses in that community. Therefore, I started to contact them during weekends and share Hongfa materials in Chinese with them. Their businesses involve antiques, and the import-export of shoes and clothing. I found such small businesses provided a good environment to Hongfa, as they quickly accepted some Chinese Dafa materials. During some of my discussions with them, I found that many had heard stories against Dafa or Teacher Li. This kind of environment required me to really listen carefully to them. I had to respond clearly using a cultivator's wisdom to remove those lies and notions. Due to their limited background about the Fa, sometimes I focused on only one issue while talking to them. There were occasions when I would return another time to explain further. I would often meditate the night before, and get up at two or three o'clock in the morning to send forth-righteous thoughts, just to be able to say the right thing.
The Clearwisdom editorial referenced above states, "The process of Fa-rectification is rapidly forging forward at a speed that cannot be described using human language. During this precious final phase, let our Dafa disciples inside and outside China join forces as though with one mind. Do not wait and do not rely upon others. Grab hold of every minute and every second." Early this December, President Bush said on national television that American farmers would be able to sell wheat, corn, and rice and so on to China. I thought this be would an excellent way to spread the Fa to many people who may never have heard about Falun Gong. Farmers and their supportive organizations all across the United States needed to know the truth. I talked with practitioners at other local exercise sites and asked for their help. They agreed to send out emails to different executives, managers and staff involved with the cotton industry worldwide. This would be a chance to reach even those business contacts inside China buying cotton from America. I thought that before American businessmen met face to face with their Chinese counterparts, I wanted them to hear from practitioners first that Falun Gong is good, that it is good for China and the whole world.
For these few months, I intentionally tried to do things that required few expenses, planning or resources. I believe other practitioners could do the same or more if they wished. Teacher said in the "Lecture in Washington DC International Conference 2001," "No matter which angle you approach it from, there's a way to ultimately resolve these problems. During this period [we should focus on] how we can seize this opportunity to truly demonstrate the extraordinariness and the great mighty virtue of a cultivator. This is also a precious opportunity. Since the old evil forces insist on giving us a chance to eliminate them, make good use of it. History has never seen this before, it's hard to come by ."
Basically I had the heart to assist Master Li and Dafa, as well as letting the Chinese people know the truth about Dafa. Thank you Master Li.