(Clearwisdom.net) I would like to share with you my personal cultivating experiences in clarifying the facts at the Los Angeles international airport (LAX) and fairly recent principles to which I have enlightened.
Clarifying the Truth at LAX
Since late 2000, practitioners have utilized LAX airport as a place to clarify the facts and expose the persecution to people from around the world, especially people going to and from China. I feel that we have been able to do this at the airport fairly successfully because practitioners did a good job of clarifying the truth to police and other important airport employees so that they have understood our mission.
For the first few years, we would be questioned by police, who would ask what we were doing and if we had permits. We would tell them our purpose and clarify that we did not need permits because we were not selling anything, and we would give them the number of an airport official who we visited when we first started clarifying the truth at the airport. He is in charge of permits. We let him know what Falun Gong is, the persecution in China and why we came to the airport for truth-clarification: to let people from China and other countries know the truth of Falun Dafa and CCP's poisonous propaganda. That official understood very well and paid special attention to our application and granted permission. Then he gave us his card and told us to refer police to him if we were ever questioned. We would then continue passing out newspapers. For over 6 years now, the police seem to know who we are and do not question us any more.
Over the years at the airport, I have experienced many situations that tested my xinxing and my ability to remain unmoved and compassionate.
After Teacher's article "My Thanks to Sentient Beings Who Have Sent Greetings" was published on the Minghui/Clearwisdom Website on January 1, 2007, I have noticed changes in the remarks from the Chinese people I've encountered while at the airport. One Sunday evening, while offering The Epoch Times newspapers to the people flying to Beijing, I encountered a woman who wouldn't accept the paper and walked by me briskly. She refused the paper a few times. By the end of the evening, however, as this woman was walking to the gate with her mother and husband, her mother grabbed the paper from me and continued walking. Several minutes later, as I was sitting on a bench waiting for the few remaining people to finish checking in at the ticket counter, this family returned and talk to me. The mother told me that, although she didn't believe in Falun Gong, she felt sorry for the practitioners who are being persecuted. She added that Chinese people should appreciate our efforts. I felt as though she, or her subconscious, had heard Teacher's message:
"Dafa disciples are the sole hope of salvation for the beings in each region and each nation. Cherishing what they are doing amounts to cherishing yourselves!" ("My Thanks to Sentient Beings Who Have Sent Greetings")
A couple weeks ago, while at the airport, I offered The Epoch Times newspaper to a man on his way to Beijing. He asked me, "Falun Gong?" and I said, "No, it's Dajiyuan (Epoch Times), but I practice Falun Gong." He smiled and we continued to talk. When his friend was finished giving his luggage to a TSA worker, he approached us. His friend told me that he practiced Falun Gong, and then he proceeded to sit on a wooden bench and pull his legs into the lotus position. I wasn't quite certain if he really practiced Falun Gong because he told me in such a casual way, and it was a bit unusual that he decided to prove it by getting into the lotus position, but I was certain about this: these people weren't afraid or nervous to talk to me and they didn't seem to be poisoned by the propaganda from the Chinese Communist Party. I further had the feeling that these people and many more - even all sentient beings throughout the cosmos - are paying more attention to what Teacher Li said on January 1st of this year.
It's not that easy to pass out newspapers at the airport; it's still challenging and there is a lot of rejection involved. Some people grimace when I offer the paper to them, as if I were offering them something that would get them into trouble; some look right past me as if I didn't exist, some smile and accept it, and some people make rude comments.
Another recent encounter at the airport forced me to look inside and endure a little pain. One evening, while I was offering passengers on the Beijing flight The Epoch Times newspaper with a copy of Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party inside, a man accepted the paper with a smile. I think he complimented The Epoch Times, and then he added, "I know real practitioners in China..." I just smiled in return. It might have been his tone of voice, or it could have been that I lacked righteous thoughts, but I became slightly defensive after he said that. He seemed to be saying I was not a real practitioner. I wanted to proclaim to him that I am a real practitioner, too, but I remained silent. Within seconds, this man walked away toward his flight.
Why didn't he think I was a real practitioner? Part of me thought that it wasn't a big deal, but another part of me still wondered, "Why did he say that? Here I am, late at night, volunteering my time at the airport, and I've got to be at work before 8 a.m. the next day. Furthermore, before being at the airport, I was at the weekly organ harvesting demonstration in Santa Monica. I had a three-hour break between the two events to eat, rest, and do everyday people things to prepare for the following day. Don't I sacrifice? Why did that man imply that I wasn't a real practitioner?"
I continued to pass out newspapers that night, with these thoughts lingering in the back of my mind. After some time, I asked myself, "Weren't you an hour late to the airport tonight? Your five-minute nap at home turned into an hour-long one, which caused you to be late. How many people did you miss because of it?" As I thought more and more about this, I felt my need for improvement. A real practitioner would indeed be able to discipline him or herself enough to be on time for their duties - even if the duties are voluntary.
Many practitioners are busy at this time. I learned from this experience that when I get busy doing Dafa-related things, I might create a notion in my mind that I am doing a good job and that I am doing all I can. Therefore, when I slip up a bit or make some mistakes because I am lazy or forgetful, or inconsiderate, then I don't take it to heart or don't resolve to improve myself. It's hard to take criticism when we think that we're doing all we can and working to our capacity. However, doesn't Teacher encourage us to do even better? At many of the experience sharing conferences in the past, Teacher wished that we would continue to improve. The truth is that I was not working to my capacity.
Every time I go to the airport and meet face-to-face with mainland Chinese, it compels me to thoroughly clean out my bad thoughts, karma, bad notions, and external interference so that I can send forth the strongest righteous thoughts possible. I sometimes feel that, as my body in each dimension is trying to send righteous thoughts, they are also communicating with the mainland Chinese people's bodies in different dimensions, clarifying the truth to them and urging them to let their main consciousness know how serious this is and to accept the newspaper and have good thoughts about Dafa.
I also considered my observation that I am not as confrontational as I used to be. I used to walk past the lines of people waiting to get their tickets and the lines for people to check their bags slowly and try to engage in a conversation with them. This certainly wasn't a bad way to offer newspapers. Now I just walk past these lines once or twice and then stand in a location in which most people need to pass me. I try to send righteous thoughts and exude kindness. My understanding is that if my gong is more microscopic than their bad thoughts about Dafa, if they indeed have bad thoughts about Dafa, or the being that is controlling their thoughts, then I can clear them out.
For the past couple years at the airport, I've noticed that the Chinese people to whom I give newspapers are less aggressive than before. This must partially be due to the effect of the collective power of our clarifying the truth. Because we clarify truth with compassion, they learn what Falun Gong is and what Falun Dafa practitioner should be from what we do.
I think that I would be able to do a more thorough job of clarifying the facts if I spoke Chinese, I just haven't put these thoughts into action yet.
Getting Rid of the Attachment of Lust
I feel this might be helpful for fellow practitioners, especially the unmarried men. For a long time I remained either confused, lost in illusion, or in a state of denial in regard to my attachment to lust. I thought that, because I had never had a serious girlfriend, was unmarried, and celibate, perhaps I wasn't attached to lust, or if I were attached, it wasn't too serious.
I remember while living with a practitioner in the part of Los Angeles known as Korea-town that he once told me if you indulge in a lustful thought during the day, then it will haunt you at night. I initially wasn't quite sure what he meant. Then I gradually understood, little by little. If physical beauty moves our heart and it turns into desire, then a physical attachment forms. If we see something with our eyes and allow emotion to enter our body, then we will be controlled by that emotion, our hearts will be moved, and the demon of lust will use it as leverage to attack, saying, "Didn't you ask for this?"
I experienced back-to-back-to-back events that helped me improve in this regard recently. It was kind of like a divine arrangement. One evening, a practitioner indirectly confronted me about the attachment of lust. Then the following day, while at work someone made a comment that made me realize that, although my actions and words might be proper, the information I communicate through my eyes might not be proper. Then later that night, I went to a Fa study in Santa Monica with western practitioners. I met a couple practitioners for the first time, and after studying, we shared experiences. One topic we shared about was lust. One of the newly-met practitioners revealed that he has been over the attachment of lust for a while. He added to my surprise that food was more of an attachment of his than lust. When I inquired, he said that he simply would not have those thoughts.
Those three subtle events had an effect on me; they seemed to kind of wake me up. For the following weeks, I focused more on my thoughts and I became more cognizant of whether I was allowing emotion to enter my body throughout the day. As a result, I experienced immediate improvement. Before, I would be disturbed by the demon of lust many nights during the week, but now I was sleeping like a child. It was a wonderful change. I have digressed a bit to the attachment of lust since then so that I feel a bit nervous, but I feel that I now better understand the requirement in this regard for cultivators by Dafa.
I hope my sharing in some way helps fellow cultivators. Please let me know if you see shortcomings in my understanding.
I am honored to share experiences with you. On average, I spend a small percentage of my days with practitioners, so I think our time together is precious. We create a righteous environment when we are together, whether in a big group or small one. This is arranged by Teacher for us to compare in study, compare in cultivating and improve together. We can see our own shortcomings and loopholes from others. Group study can strengthen our righteous thoughts because we base our actions, words, and thoughts more strictly on the Fa.
