On June 20, in a Saturday group study, we were told of Teacher's speech passed to the overseas practitioners through the Chicago Falun Dafa Association in Chicago Conference. Everyone had the feelings of Teacher's great teachings and understood clearly that our most important responsibility is to tell the world the truth and this is also the most important part of "assisting the Teacher in the human world". Everyone's understanding has been improved. On the second day, all practitioners took actions immediately. First of all, we prepared materials about the truth of Falun Dafa. We downloaded articles from Minghui and compiled them into books of about 100 thousands words. We sent the order to the printing factory to print 10 thousand copies immediately. English newspapers and other materials were also well prepared. The house of our practice assistant is our indoor practice site. The practitioners who do not work in the daytime gathered together here voluntarily to study the Fa and staple the materials printed from Printing House. By Saturday, all materials were ready and the working practitioners were free from work. The practitioners set out on Sunday. We separated our resources and the tasks into several parts. First, we set up a booth in front of a Library located on a busy street in Flushing. We displayed two posters, one in Chinese and the other in English: "Do you want to know the truth of Falun Gong? Please ask for free materials." We put all materials at the booth for the people who like to know the truth of Falun Dafa.
It was very hot. People came to us and took the materials continuously. Sometimes they had a brief talk with us, asking about the issues they were concerned with. We did our best to explain everything to them. Two boxes of the materials were taken away quickly in the first day. Sometimes there were people from the church and other organizations coming to give us their materials. We would not read them but we didn't reject them. We just put them aside into a bag. A Christian kept preaching to us, he talked for a long time, we got impatient and one practitioner said, "Our Teacher had said that Christian is orthodox, but there is no God taking care of it." This Christian got more aggressive and talked more and more. At this time the practitioner realized that he had not relinquished his competitive mentality. We cultivate among everyday people, we must conform with the ordinary society to the maximum, but we should not get involved in everyday people's business. Teacher had taught the Fa to his students. It was not taught to the ordinary society. Once we maintain a righteous mind, that person stopped talking and walked away, looking embarrassed. There were also people coming over and condemned us: "Why don't you just go make some money? " We didn't say anything to this kind of people. We only felt sad for them. To avoid their making karma again, we didn't talk to them. Our moods were not moved by these episodes; on the contrary, they provided us an environment of cultivation.
What made us gratified was that the majority of people could change their incorrect views. Some pedestrians came over to get the materials, and sat down to read and kept asking questions. Some drove by us and then turned back to get the materials. Before a red light, there was lady who jumped out of her car, yelling, "Please give me a book, I can not stop here." An old man told us that he had been collecting the "A Window to Falun Dafa" column from every single issue of the World Daily and had compiled them into a book, then sending constantly to his friends and relatives in China.
We used to have a busy schedule with working and studying the Fa daily and seldom touched the ordinary society. Today, we step forward to tell the truth to the world according to the requirement of the Fa. If we didn't step forward, we would never know that there were still many predestined people that haven't obtained the Fa and many kind-hearted people didn't know the truth of Falun Dafa. We are so lucky to have obtained the Fa. We should do our best to give people a chance to learn Falun Dafa.
Other practitioners distributed the materials at the subway station. We tried to have the practitioners from the morning to the evening starting from Monday. We have one practitioner standing at each side of the subway outlet with the English and Chinese materials in their hands, waiting for the people who are willing to know the truth. The subway station was hot and humid and people passed by in a hurry. Several hours passed quickly. There were no people even giving us a glimpse. We were standing there quietly with English and Chinese newspapers in each hand looking at the people passing by in a hurry. Our hearts gradually sunk with sorrow. We couldn't help calling in heart: "Please stop! What are you busy for? Our great Teacher let us hold the Buddha's Fa in front of you. You don't even take a look, where are you heading for?"
I never experienced such strong feeling of Teacher's great compassion and the everyday people's muddle. I was moved into tears. We went into the street after a long time in the subway station. We two stood face to face in the street. Different kinds of eyes were thrown towards us, eyes with sympathy, disdain, and indifference. The story about "wandering" in the book "Zhuan Falun" occurred to my mind: "Wandering around in society is rather torturous. It must beg for food and meet different kinds of people who will scold, insult, or take advantage of it. It might encounter all kinds of things. It will treat itself as a practitioner and balance well relation with others, always maintaining and upgrading Xinxing. He will not be moved by the temptations of different benefits among everyday people. After many years, it will return from wandering around." (Pg 317) I calmed down while pondering. People started to come over to get the materials, one book, and the other. Some people passed by and returned to get a book, we were smiling from our hearts. We didn't want to waste a minute to take a bit of water; for fear that we might have missed a hopeful life. Standing here and there for a while, we hoped that more lives would have good futures.
Recalling in the days before the World Falun Dafa Day, we gave out materials in the same way. Some practitioners felt a little bit embarrassed. Now this kind of feeling was completely gone. We realized clearly that this was the demand and the arrangement of the Fa; we were assisting the Teacher in the human world.
Some other practitioners went to supermarkets, cake-houses, restaurants and banks to distribute the materials. We went to many places where people gathered. Before we dispersed the materials, we always informed the managers we were Falun Dafa practitioners and that the Chinese government was fabricating rumors to slander and brutally persecute the practitioners in China. We were clarifying the facts. We tried our best to get their understanding and support. To different extents, we could get the understanding from the majority of them. They allowed us to put the materials at their places. They felt sorry for what is happening in China. Sometimes we got unfriendly response. We could keep in a serene mood and left with peaceful mind. The road is to walk by oneself and choose the future. We have the Fa in our heart and we were doing something for the benefit of others.
After one day of distribution, we got together to share our experiences. The subway station was thought the worst place. Some practitioners got discouraged, suggested giving up the site in the subway station. The practice assistant studied the Fa with us. Teacher said in "the Lecture in Switzerland: "When we are spreading the Fa, if you regard it as a work, though you make effects to do, you don't read the book and also you don't have time to practice, this kind of work will deviate from the Fa. That is to say that you don't combine your cultivation with your work. You attached to the work, and when you run into problems you don't think that whether the problems are related to your Xinxing, whether you are doing in comply with the Fa and the standards of a practitioner " (Chinese Version p28). When we looked at inside, we found that though we were doing something for the Fa, we had a strong purpose and were impatient. It has already become an attachment. Since people in the subway station were hurrying on their way, if we don't have a peaceful and serene mind, the energy field around us would not be rectified, it would be hard to get a good result. The less materials you pass out, the more anxious you become, and it formed a bad cycle. This made you give up finally. This was not the proper way we should take. Subway station was the place of concentrated people and we had to persevere.
Several days in a row we went to the street. The practitioners working during the daytime always came to take turn during their lunch break. The practitioners taking a rest would go into the library to study the Fa. In the discussion on the first day, the practitioners agreed that no matter how busy we were, we must assure to have time to study the Fa. This will require every practitioner to make full use of every second of his or her time according to one's own situation.
In an afternoon, only one practitioner had time to be at the stand. We said: "Let's give up today." She said. "No." "What if nobody comes to take turn?" She said: "Teacher will take care of me, if I do have my own business, the practitioners will come." She stood there alone for four and half-hours. She didn't go home until one practitioner came to substitute for her. Later we knew that her husband had been sick at home for a couple of days. She had to spend four to five hours on a round trip from her home to our place. She had overcome difficulty to make it happen. Some practitioners substituted the others as soon as they got out of the subway and stood there until it got dark. The result of spreading the Fa became better and better at the subway station.
In the process of spreading the Fa, our Xinxing in the cultivation was always manifested, and upgraded. One practitioner had been in the United States for two years. She rarely showed up except the group Fa studies on Fridays. After reading the new scripture of our Teacher "Towards Consummation", she felt very sorry, feeling that she had been far away from what Teacher has required her. So she came every day to study the Fa with our group. In the discussion with the other practitioners, she came to understand what is "in comply with the ordinary society" and what is "really stepping forward." She gradually got rid of her attachments that she had been covering up. She also participated in the New York Fa study event last weekend. In the past two years, she had prepared every meal for her family, but this time she did not go home for a whole day. She said: "They (her family) are doing very well." She came with us to spread the Fa without hesitation and said: "I had lagged behind other practitioners and if I don't work hard, Teacher will not wait for me." She said that she would call her younger brother in China. She used not to support her brother going to Beijing few months ago because of her attachment of sentimentality. She was going to tell her brother that she was wrong, she said that she would step forward and also hope her brother would too. As Teacher said in the scripture "Environment" that "The cultivation practice form that I have left for Falun Dafa disciples ensures that disciples can truly improve themselves. For example, I ask you to practice the exercises as a group in parks to form an environment. This environment is the best way to change the surface of a person. The lofty conduct that Falun Dafa disciples have established in this environmentincluding every word and every actcan make people realize their own weaknesses and identify their shortcomings; it can move one's heart, refine one's conduct, and enable one to make progress more rapidly. Therefore, new practitioners or self-taught disciples must go to the exercise sites to do the exercises." We further understand the meaning of our Teacher's words. The practitioners got together and compared with each other in studying the Fa and cultivation. Practitioners who take care of children at home also stepped forward and went to the street. They helped to display the materials at stores, and bringing their children with them. When tired, they went to McDonalds to drink some water, they would read together several paragraphs of "Zhuan Falun" while the kids were playing in the playroom. Some practitioners take advantage of the convenience as a tour bus driver, telling the truth about Falun Dafa to the tourists from all over the world. Some practitioners mail "Falun Gong ---The Real Story" to friends and relatives in China. Some practitioners got the consent of a newspaper distributor. We are allowed to go with him to distribute newspaper. So we can send out materials into the mailboxes. The whole Flushing area is within his range of distribution. There are many more stories. The more we do, the clearer our minds are, and the wider the road becomes. We had prepared to do an exhibition and to be on radio.
We had some experiences to sum up. Firstly, we don't usually give out the materials on our initiative; we just made it clear that this is about the real story of Falun Gong. People can come and get them and we will explain and answer questions. This way would differentiate us from the commercial actions along the street. That will get the pedestrian to see us differently. Let people get the material at their own will. They intend to know the truth, so they come to get the materials. Secondly, we must dress tidily, as our Teacher demands us "he brings forth lofty ideals while minding minor details." We had to start from our own behaviors so we could clarify the misunderstandings, what they see is we are all righteous and noble people. Thirdly, materials must be in view of the situations, avoid the characters to be tiny and articles to be tedious, otherwise, people would not like to read it. We could clarify several questions of focus such as what is "death of the 1400 people." for those people who wanted to know more, we had the compiled articles ready. So we can aim the different demands of different people. For those who had prejudices about Falun Gong, if one of his confusion were clarified, all the misunderstanding would soon be clarified easily.
Two hectic and substantial weeks slipped away quickly. All practitioners were improving themselves and working hard. One practitioner said: "We have to work and have to work very well and at he same time we can not delay the Fa study. What we have to do now is to make every effort to spread Fa, to make the truth known. We have to overload ourselves." We had to work hard so we can improve ourselves. What is more important is to follow Teacher closely. It is the Fa that is assimilating us; it is Teacher who is leading us to ascend.
Teacher has said in "Zhuan Falun" "We have said that Falun Dafa is boundless, and it is completely up to your heart to practice cultivation. The Teacher takes you through the entrance, and it is up to you, yourself to practice cultivation. It all depends upon how you, yourself practice cultivation. Whether you can practice cultivation all depends upon whether you can endure, sacrifice, and suffer. If you can commit your mind, no difficulties can stop you. I would say that there is not a problem." (English version, P148) We would cherish this chance in thousands of thousands years. We are determined to cultivate to completion. We can see the big distance between the practitioners in China and us from the moving stories of fellow practitioners from China. We are cultivating our hearts. We have different cultivation environments with the practitioners in China, but we had the same criterion. We all had to abandon all to reach a realm of "not a single attachment left".
Today, Falun Dafa gives us the way of cultivation, Teacher gives us the chance to cultivate and we are incomparably happy and lucky. In the final tribulation of rectifying the universe, protecting and spreading the Fa are the best ways of cultivation. Practitioners, let us make every effort. Those who had not came out come out and those who had came out work harder. Let us live up to the expectation of our Teacher, live up to the lives that are assimilated in the process of rectifying the Fa. To reach consummation with our entire mind and body.
Falun Dafa Practitioner in Flushing, NY
July 7, 2000
