(Minghui.org) I started to practice Falun Dafa in 1997. I joined a project in 2017 to phone people in China on the RTC platform, to tell them about the goodness of Dafa and how it is persecuted in China. As a member of the RTC platform, I wanted to mature in clarifying the truth to people.
Master has repeatedly mentioned the importance of studying the Fa.
Master said:
“In order for Dafa disciples to walk their paths well and do the three things well, they must study the Fa well and take Fa-study seriously. The regions that have done well saving sentient beings and validating Dafa, and where great changes have transpired, are always places where people have studied the Fa well. And the Dafa disciples who have improved quickly are always those who have made Fa-study a priority. That is because the Fa is the foundation; it is what’s fundamental for Dafa disciples; it is what ensures everything; and it is the avenue by which a human being journeys toward godhood. Thus I would like to take the opportunity of this Fa conference in Australia to tell all Dafa disciples around the world: Whether you are a new or veteran student, all the same you must not neglect Fa-study on account of being busy.” (“To the Australia Fa Conference”, The Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol. III )
There are groups studying the Fa at different times on the RTC platform. They study Zhuan Falun or Master’s new articles. Some of them also memorize the Fa. As I joined those groups, my daily Fa study was guaranteed.
I studied one lecture of Zhuan Falun every day. Then, I realized that I only followed the formality of reading the Fa but my mind was not focused. I realized that I had to break through this bottleneck. Master said:
“Every word in my book bears my image and Falun” ( Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)
“This book is already invaluable.” (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)
Since Zhuan Falun is so precious and it provides a “ladder” to Heaven, why shouldn’t I memorize the whole book? So beings in different dimensions and particles at different levels from macro to micro could assimilate to the Fa and melt into the Fa. In the first half of my life I passed all sorts of exams and memorized different books. For this precious and important book, shouldn’t I spend the time and memorize it? I started to act once I made the decision.
When I memorized the Fa, a lot of the contents in the book seemed new to me. It was as if I was reading it for the first time, although I had read it many times before. I realized the deeper meaning of the Fa principles for the first time. I felt as if I was awakened. Just as Master said:
“When it’s time for you to elevate, all of the Buddhas, Daoist deities, and Gods behind a word can see it. You have reached a new plane and are ready to know the principles of that level, so they will reveal to you the real meaning behind a word or a line. You will suddenly gain that insight.” (Teachings at the First Conference in North America)
I could understand and gain deeper insight of the Fa when I memorized the Fa.
The process of memorizing the Fa was also a process of cultivation. It was difficult to remember a paragraph of the Fa if I didn’t understand the meaning. I would add or omit words. It was not an easy job to recite the Fa without adding or omitting any words. My capacity of Forbearance was increased.
In the Fa study group, some practitioners recited the Fa really fast. Some were slow. Some recited it well while others made mistakes when reciting the Fa. My attachments surfaced during the process of memorizing the Fa. I realized that the purpose of memorizing the Fa was to understand the Fa better and the purpose of understanding the Fa better was to let go of attachments. So during the process of memorizing the Fa, I tried to let go of my attachments when I found them. My mind was empty when I was in a good cultivation state. My whole body was bathed in the Fa's light. I felt that my body was light and transparent. The happiness I felt is hard to describe in words.
Sometimes I could recite a paragraph of the Fa but when I read it again, I felt like it was new to me again and I couldn’t recite it. I would feel discouraged.
Master said:
“Memorizing Zhuan Falun helps you improve, since both the microscopic part of your body and the human part at the outermost surface are memorizing it together. But no matter how you memorize it—and this goes even for people who have memorized it very well—at a certain time you will suddenly find that you can’t recite it. Why? It’s that the main part of you, the part that memorized it, separates from you after it has met the standard. You suddenly feel like, “Oh, how come I can’t recite it anymore?” That’s because the part that is up to par has been separated, and the human surface can no longer recite the whole thing, for it has forgotten it. Some forget a lot, some forget less. This kind of situation does occur.” (Teachings at the Conference in Switzerland)
This passage of the Fa dispelled my concern. Master acknowledged memorizing the Fa. This reinforced my determination to memorize and recite the Fa.
I knew that it didn’t mean that I cultivated well if I could recite the Fa well. But the most beneficial aspect of memorizing the Fa was that I could measure my behavior with the Fa principles at any time. When I could not let go of attachments and felt annoyed, I then would recite the following Fa:
“If you can tolerate it and yet it preys on your mind, it is still not good enough. As you know, when a person reaches the Arhat level, in his heart he is not concerned about anything. He does not care at all in his heart for any ordinary human matter, and he will always be smiling and in good spirits. No matter how much loss he suffers, he will still be smiling and in good spirits without any concern. If you can really do this, you have already reached the entry-level Fruit Status of Arhatship.” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)
I recited this paragraph of Fa most when I was going through tests. When the Fa was in my mind, my righteous thoughts were increased and my heart opened up.
Thanks to Master’s strengthening and the help of the practitioners in my Fa group, I finished memorizing the entire book Zhuan Falun in one year’s time. I benefited a lot from memorizing the Fa. So, I study the Fa by memorizing the Fa every day now. I can recite the Fa fast and have a deeper understanding of the Fa. The realm of my mind keeps elevating and being purified.
Just as Master said: “You are also constantly improving yourselves, and they continually guide you—this is the Fa.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
Memorizing and reciting the Fa has become part of my daily routine. When I wait for the bus, am on the bus, or walk home, I recite the Fa. If I am too busy and don't have time to recite the Fa, I find time to make it up. I enjoy memorizing the Fa. Although it is almost midnight by the time I finish memorizing and reciting the Fa, I feel happy and fulfilled.
There were just two other practitioners in the city where I lived four years ago. I didn’t cultivate diligently then and the old forces took advantage of my loopholes. I had sickness symptoms and was very weak. I was taken to the hospital for treatment. At that time I realized that all the things I was attached to were nothing. I couldn’t take anything with me if I died. The doctor suggested that I have heart surgery. I knew it was the arrangement by the old forces. I refused the doctor’s suggestion and went home.
I was not afraid of death since I had already obtained the Fa. The only regret I had was that I didn’t cultivate diligently, nor had I done the three things well. I felt apologetic to Master for his saving grace and to the sentient beings in my cosmos who were waiting for my return. Master’s poem resonated in my mind:
“Live with no pursuit,Die not caring about staying;Clear out all wild thoughts,Cultivating to a Buddha is not hard.”(“Nonexistence,” Hong Yin)
I had a firm thought in my mind: “Whether I live or die, I will follow Master’s arrangement and will not walk the path arranged by the old forces.” I used all my strength and sat up. I sent righteous thoughts although my mind was still dizzy.
I saw countless Falun rising from my chest. They were glittering and spinning. This was the first time that I saw Falun. Master said,
“When disciples have ample righteous thoughtsMaster has the power to turn back the tide”(“The Master-Disciple Bond,” Hong Yin II)
I knew that Master was saving me and bearing karma for me. I cried. Master gave me a second life. I knew that my extended life was for me to cultivate and not for living an everyday person’s life. I would cherish this time and cultivate diligently until I reached consummation.
I went through another “sickness” test after I started to make phone calls on the RTC platform. I felt dizzy, had a high fever, and had no strength in my limbs. I couldn’t see anything on electronic products including my mobile, computer, and iPad because my eyes became sore and filled with tears. I shared with the practitioners on the RTC platform and exposed my attachments and the fear I had when I was clarifying the truth to Chinese people. They shared with me from the Fa's perspective and gave me much encouragement. I knew when I exposed my attachments, the attachments were dissolved in other dimensions. I passed this “sickness” test within days.
Once, I had a dream in which my friend’s husband was sick after they moved to a new city. In the dream I went to see them and clarified the truth to them. They agreed to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with an alias. I clearly remembered the alias in my dream. After I woke up, I didn’t have the courage to ring this friend. By looking inward, I decided to completely dissolve my deeply-hidden fear. So I picked up my phone and called her. I told her that I had practiced Falun Dafa for over 20 years and had recovered from a life-threatening illness without taking any medication because Master saved me. I clarified the truth to her thoroughly and helped her and her husband withdraw from the CCP using the alias I got from my dream. I suggested that they watch the Shen Yun performance. She said that my dream was very accurate. Her husband was indeed in poor health. She thanked me for my call and asked me to remember them again if there was anything more they needed to hear. Surprisingly, everything went smoothly.
Master had already arranged everything. As long as I let go of my human heart, one phone call would be sufficient. However, because of my attachments and human heart, I felt that clarifying the truth to Chinese people was very hard. Master said,
“Neither heaven nor earth canblock my road of Fa-rectificationBut disciples’ human hearts can”(“Troubles,” Hong Yin III)
I realized that only by cultivating myself solidly and letting go of my attachments could I better perform my historic mission of saving sentient beings.
I participated in two training sessions provided by the practitioners on the RTC platform. I found the training very helpful. From the first session, I learned about the scope of truth-clarification and how many steps there were for making a phone call. I found that many newcomers had the same questions I did. I wrote a guide for newcomers and published it on the internal site in the hope that it would provide useful information for newcomers on the project while saving some time for the practitioners who provided the training.
I benefited a lot from the second training session and learned three main points. Firstly, how to find a common topic based on the receiver’s profession and work environment. Secondly, that truth-clarifying contents must be accurate and flexible. Thirdly, talking in a way the receiver can accept and simply following a natural progression to achieve the result.
The first call I made was to a reporter for a provincial newspaper. This newspaper had published an article that slandered Falun Dafa.
I said to him, “The media work is very important. A reporter has the reputation of 'uncrowned king.' Personally, I admire reporters because their reports can influence society and people’s thoughts. And your future and fate are also connected with your reports. So it's important to take good care of yourself and protect yourself.”
Because my opening was related to his profession and I showed concern about him, he continued listening. He told me that he had retired and was hooked up to an IV in a hospital. The background was noisy. So I didn’t clarify the truth to him then, as it was not appropriate. I asked him to take care of himself and told him that I would call him again.
Two days later I called him back. I asked him about his health. He seemed very happy. Then I said, “Many people who have traveled abroad saw that the Buddha’s law that promotes truthfulness, kindness and tolerance is spreading widely in the world. The law teaches that killing or committing suicide is not allowed in cultivation. The producer who created the fake news of the Tiananmen self-immolation incident that framed the Buddha’s law was detained. The director of this film died from stomach cancer at the age of 47. The news anchor who read the most fake news slandering the Buddha’s law died of lymphoma. Bad people will be punished. You are a wise person. Please make sure that you do good deeds for the sake of yourself and your family.”
Then I told him about repeating the two phrases: “Falun Dafa is good,” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” so that he would experience comfort and safety and I urged him to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its youth organizations to protect himself. He was happy to listen to me and agreed to withdraw from the CCP. Thanks to Master’s strengthening and practitioners’ support, I overcame my fear of making phone calls to Chinese people. For the first time, I had a smooth conversation with someone in China. This reinforced my confidence.
As I made more and more phone calls to people in China, I felt that I should study the Fa more. Also, the articles on the Minghui website and on the RTC internal sites helped me a lot. They enriched my knowledge, reinforced my righteous thoughts, and helped me break through the bottleneck I had experienced when clarifying the truth. The following are two examples of how I clarified the truth to Chinese people over the phone.
In one instance, I called a grid administrator. I had no idea what a grid administrator did. On the internet it said “A community is divided into grids. The grid administrator serves as a community service personnel.”
After reading the article “From Skynet to Grid Management: How Modern Technologies Are Abused in the Persecution of Falun Gong on the Minghui website, I realized that a grid administrator was actually a person who executed the CCP’s persecution policies. If they knew the truth, they would treat practitioners kindly and would not commit crimes against Falun Dafa, giving themselves a bright future. So it is extremely important to clarify the truth to grid administrators.
I recommended this Minghui article on the RTC platform and hoped that practitioners would pay attention to it.
Because most of the grid administrators live in the countryside, I researched good ideas for reaching out to them based on other practitioners' experiences. I used the example of previous birth-control officers to give them an idea what would happen to them if they simply followed the government rule without protecting themselves. Those birth-control officers forced women in the village to have abortions if they became pregnant with a second child. When the CCP changed its policy that people could have a second child, the villagers were so angry at them that they had to go into hiding to avoid the wrath of their fellow countrymen. They became the victims of the CCP policy. I used this example in the hopes that they would see through the nature of the CCP’s changeable policies. I also told them that if they treated Falun Dafa practitioners kindly, they would not become the victims or scapegoats of the CCP’s misguided policy. Then I would persuade them to withdraw from the CCP. I talked to them sincerely but firmly. Most of those I talked to would agree to withdraw from the CCP.
The second example involved clarifying the truth to people in Beijing. I talked about how Dafa had spread to so many countries and about the Tiananmen self-immolation incident. But people often hung up immediately. I realized that people were sensitive to the words “self-immolation” so I had to change my starting points. One day I was studying Master’s lecture “Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa,” where Master mentioned how atheism has damaged the Chinese culture which was a divine culture. So I used the issue of divine culture as my starting point.
When I talk to people in Beijing, I tell them, “China has a divine culture that has a 5,000-year history. People respected Heaven and believed in gods, so Beijing has such historical sites as the Temple of Heaven, the Temple of Earth, and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. But over the past 70 years, atheism gradually replaced the divine culture. Buddha’s law is persecuted and righteous belief is suppressed. This directly leads to man-made disasters and natural calamities. Ordinary people have to bear the consequences.”
Then I talk about quitting the CCP. Out of the four calls I made, three people agreed to withdraw from the CCP. I made many more phone calls and achieved good results. Falun Dafa has given me wisdom and courage.
The process of making phone calls is also a process of improving my xinxing. At the beginning I was very nervous when making phone calls. When people misunderstood or badmouthed Dafa, I argued with them. The result was not good because of my competitiveness. When not many people picked up the phone or agreed to withdraw from the CCP, my heart would be moved and I couldn’t stay calm.
Looking inward, I found that my heart was not pure when making phone calls. I had the attachments of competitiveness, seeking fame, showing off, and jealousy. With so many attachments, how would sentient beings be moved? Now, before making calls, I do some research on the area so that I have topics in common with the people there. I listen to people more and communicate, rather than argue with them. I am no longer attached to the numbers of people withdrawing from the CCP. This was the breakthrough I made in the past three years on the RTC platform.
In the remaining time of the Fa-rectification, and in the precious cultivation environment of the RTC platform, I will remember Master’s teachings, cultivate diligently and act and think righteously. On the day the Fa-rectification finishes, I hope I will present a satisfactory exam sheet to Master.