(Minghui.org) I learned Falun Dafa in 2008. Wanting to help expose the persecution of Falun Dafa in China, I eagerly learned from other Falun Dafa practitioners how to make phone calls to encourage people to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliates in 2009. I mostly made calls at home alone. Only very occasionally did I do this task along with other practitioners.
Because my relaxed attitude, I did not do the three things well at home. I was worried about my cultivation. In the meantime, I saw that the elderly practitioners at our practice site only studied the Fa and did the exercises, but seldom informed people about the persecution that Falun Gong practitioners were subject to in China.
Teacher said:
“Another thing is, some people have a hard time realizing how urgent it is to save sentient beings. And there are only so many Dafa disciples acting on this at present. Some people have not stepped forward and don't take this task seriously, and they don't think that saving sentient beings is all that important. In reality, your responsibilities as Dafa disciples all lie right there. If you don't take action to save sentient beings, you will not have fulfilled your responsibility as a Dafa disciple and your cultivation will amount to nothing, for your becoming a Dafa disciple was not for the sake of your own Consummation. This means that you shoulder a monumental mission.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference”)
Recognize the Illusion of the Tribulation
I decided to take the lead and brought together the two dozen or so practitioners at our site to collectively send text messages to China, as a means of informing people about the inhumane persecution. Looking back, I was glad that they did it with me. With them working alongside with me, I wasn't as prone to slacking off. But leading other practitioners to make phone calls was also a test, in which I found many of my attachments, such as: showing off, zealotry, arrogance, etc. As time went by, I started to slacken my resolve and treated the whole task as part of a mundane routine.
During this period, my husband was promoted to manager, but his salary was significantly reduced. Our family's financial situation suddenly worsened a great deal and I was helpless. My first thought was not to look at the situation based on the Fa, but rather, I resorted to ordinary people's methods and began to look for a job. But for some reason, I did not get the job that I thought to be very promising. Some company told me that I was a good candidate, but they'd inform me later whether I got the job. I then just waited and waited without an answer. It dragged on for months, and I began to get worried and anxious. I thought about how we were going to keep sustaining our lives like this.
Later on I calmly looked inward to see if there were some things for me to enlighten to. Then I thought, am I not a Dafa disciple? Hasn't Teacher arranged my life's path? The illusion in front of me must be to block me from saving sentient beings. We need to remember the promise we made before we came to this world--to save sentient beings. We need to do the three things to stay on the path that Teacher arranged for us, otherwise we would be on the path the old forces arranged. We should prioritize and make sure we treat the issue of saving people as an important mission.
I began to make phone calls and urge others to quit the CCP with other practitioners. Then a miraculous thing happened. My husband told me that his company restructured that day. His unit was eliminated and he no longer needed to be the manager, and his salary wouldn't need to be reduced. I sighed in my heart. I was not excited, but I was clearer about what I needed to do.
Calling People to Tell Them the Facts
At first I joined the Global Rescue Platform, which is a platform where practitioners meet online, and make phone calls from home. Later I wanted to try to work together with other practitioners at a local site that has been set up to sit together and call China together. So I took five weeks off from the Global Rescue Platform and began calling people from the calling station in Taoyuan City. Below are just some of my experiences.
We studied Teacher’s lectures at different locations on weekday mornings, followed by some sharing. We shared about how we faced certain tribulations in daily life, and analyzed whether or not our thoughts and actions were based on the Fa. We all realized that we can do anything as long as we thoroughly study the Fa. The site provided us an ideal environment to improve ourselves. At the calling station, one made phone calls with other practitioners around, providing help as needed, and it was very beneficial. The following are some examples.
1. An elderly practitioner made calls to urge people to quit the CCP for years, but never made any calls to rescue practitioners. It happened to be the first day of the Shanghai Project and everyone worked on the phone numbers in that project. It was truly a cultivation process, such as when she had to overcome her fears. When dialing the first phone number, she held another practitioner’s hand tightly, and the first sentence she said over the phone was: “Religious freedom is protected by law, and persecution against that is a crime. Please do not persecute Falun Gong. Let the practitioners go home.” Then she gave the phone to the other practitioner to continue the conversation.
She tightly held that same practitioner’s hand during her second phone call, but was able to tell the Chinese Judicial officers or police officers the facts very smoothly from the beginning of the third call, as she had overcome her fear. She benevolently urged the other party: “ You need to think about it carefully. Doing too many bad things is harmful to yourself and your family.”
2. A practitioner joined us on the first day the Shanghai Project began. He is a member of the Divine Land Marching Band, who often carried a heavy instrument and walks several hours in parades never to feel tired. But when he picked up the phone that day, he trembled uncontrollably, feeling that the telephone set was many times heavier than his musical instrument. Despite being so nervous, he persisted in making phone calls. We all felt he was remarkable.
3. One practitioner declared in front of everyone in an experience sharing that he would make thirty phone calls every day to urge people to quit the CCP, and he promised to stick to it. I thought: “Why don’t you make it easier for yourself? You can say ten phone calls instead of thirty. Anymore than ten is quite a lot.” Afterwards I felt that there was quite a gap between us. Teacher wanted us to save as many people as possible, and I was having this sly mentality. Later this practitioner not only made thirty phone calls a day, he made up to a hundred sometimes.
Every Dafa disciple is in charge of a part of the cosmos and responsible for saving sentient beings in that region. Everyone has his or her own style. Some strangled the evil with their righteous thoughts. Some had an hour long conversation with the other party and the person still wanted to hear more, until finally he was totally convinced and was willing to quit the CCP and its affiliates. The practitioner’s tone of voice, kindness and good reasoning finally saved the person.
I felt that being able to make phone calls at the calling station with everybody was an immensely wonderful experience. I hope everyone can cherish this environment of working together to tell people the facts and make good progress.
