PureInsight | August 2, 2004
[PureInsight.org] Master said:
But when someone comes to persecute the Fa, what should you, a disciple, a particle of Dafa, do? Shouldn't you let the truth be known and make people aware of the facts? This is looking at it in terms of you. You are a particle of Dafa, so you should play this role.
(From "Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference")
I came to the United States at the beginning of 2001. My lack of English presented some difficulties for me to tell the truth. When I passed a copy of Dafa truth information to a westerner, he would ask me something and I did not understand. When I passed a copy of the Dafa truth handout to a Chinese person, they would ignore me or even look at me despicably. Some even threw insults at me like "How much money do you make?" and so on. When that happened, I was so upset that I did not know what to say. When other practitioners encountered this kind of situation, they would keep telling the truth while following the person. This gave me an idea that I would use my current situation and go into Chinese people's homes in the US to tell the truth about Falun Dafa.
The end of 2001 was the first time I went to a Chinese American family to be their housekeeper. The husband and wife worked for the government. They had a nine-year-old daughter and a newborn son. The first day, at about 9:00 a.m, I arrived at their home. The husband greeted me as the representative of the family and then instructed me as to what I needed to do and to what I should pay attention. While I was listening, the power suddenly went out. The husband said, "What is going on? A tornado this morning and a power outage at night? This is the first time this has happened in all the many years since I came to the US." I was very calm because I knew that this was interference. I went to my room, sat down on my bed and kept sending forth righteous thoughts. The power outage lasted for about 40 minutes and then everything went back to normal.
At the beginning, when I explained the truth about Falun Gong and talked about my physical and mental changes since I started to cultivate Dafa, they did not understand much. They asked me to play Master's lecture tapes only in my room and to not let their children listen to it and asked me not to bring my Dafa books to the children's rooms. They also said something to the effect that they did not understand Master.
During the one-year contact, I took myself as a Dafa practitioner. I cultivated Dafa with dignity. I considered others first from many aspects of daily life, as was evident from my personal conduct. If there were any issues, I would look inside myself first for drawbacks. I properly arranged the balance of learning the Fa, practicing the exercises and doing my work. I learned that it was best to study the Fa and practice Falun Gong in the early morning and late at night. The remainder of the time I did my best to take care of the children and do housework. I did not forget what I should do as a Dafa practitioner – that is telling the truth at any opportunity without being abnormal.
When my employers asked questions such as, "Why does Jiang Zemin want to persecute Falun Gong? What about the self-immolation at Tiananmen Square? Where does the money come from for Falun Gong conferences, rallies, and for printing truth materials?" There were other questions, too. I answered these questions, one by one. From the onset of admiring my work, they gradually reached an understanding of Dafa. I kindly suggested to them that if they wanted to further understand Dafa they should read Zhuan Falun without any bias. Finally, both the husband and the wife read Zhuan Falun. Their daughter also learned the Fa and practiced Falun Gong. The boy listened to Master's lecture tapes ten times. At every holiday they wanted to give me a "Hongbao" (money bag). I refused, but thanked them appreciatively. They said, "We heard you always make phone calls talking about Falun Gong. Please use the money to buy phone cards." I said, "Thank you for your kind intention towards Falun Gong!"
One time, my woman employer learned on the phone that her father was ill and was hospitalized in Beijing's 301 Hospital. She told her parents, "You should practice Falun Gong!" Her mother who still did not know the truth said, "You want to push us into a fiery pit!" This showed how effective at deceiving those evildoers are. Another time when she was chatting with her colleagues during a lunch break a colleague said, "There must be some organizations donating money to Falun Gong; otherwise, how could they support themselves until now?" My employer said, "I know about this; my friend practices Falun Gong. Every time she joins any activities she uses her own money that she saved from her daily living expenses." After she returned from work she told me, "Look, even those Westerners won't believe that Falun Gong does not have support from the society. Today I spoke out for you and finally they believed." She also told me, "I was lucky that the first Falun Gong practitioner I knew was you."
Several times when the husband spoke on the phone with his former bosses in Beijing, he made positive comments about how Falun Gong has spread outside of China. One time he joined a gathering of more than 50 of his former classmates. Some people made negative comments about Falun Gong. He spoke out in front of all the former classmates, "If Falun Gong is negative, how can I leave my whole family in the trust of a Falun Gong practitioner who's taking care of them?" It made those people speechless.
Finally, because my home is too far from their home, I told them I wanted to stop doing housekeeping for them. They said, "Then, please find us another Falun Gong practitioner!"
The second family's woman of the house was a chief business manager of a company. She had an eight-year-old daughter. At the beginning when I told the truth to her she did not want to listen. She told me, "If you believe, go ahead and practice. We have no problem with it. We don't want to get involved and we don't want to say anything." When I gave her the Dafa truth-telling information, she said that she did not have time to read it. She told me not to waste the material. During two months of the contact, I spoke to her about my personal experiences about how miracles had happened to me after I started practicing Falun Gong. She was moved! Finally she said, "Falun Gong is really great. I should learn more about it."
I gave her a copy of Zhuan Falun and several factual VCDs. She told me that her husband had a company in China and remained in China for long periods of time. He came back to the US once a month. But while I stayed in their house for nearly a month, he did not go out for the whole period; he worked on his computer all day long everyday. I felt strange. When the woman paid me my second month's salary I asked her how things were going. She responded, "To be honest, my husband and his friend's company went bankrupt. He has not found a job yet. We did not want you to know because if you leave, we will not be able to find such a good person like you later. We prefer to accept some of the difficulties and to keep you here." I said, "Now for the work you give me every day, I finish it before ten o'clock in the morning. As Dafa practitioners we should consider others when we do things. I can not take more money from you like this." She said, "None of those housekeepers who came to my house before said that they were overpaid. They all complained that there are too many things for them to do. You do things quickly and highly efficiently." She also said, "I like it very much that you consider this family like your own family." I told her, "After your husband finds a job, if you need me I will still come to help."
The third family's woman of the house is a restaurant owner who was busy all the time. She had a six-year-old girl and a nine-year-old boy. She asked me to take care of the children, to put them to bed at night and tell them a bedtime story before they went to sleep. What should I tell them then? I thought of talking about Falun Gong to them, but hesitated at the beginning. I was afraid that the children would tell their mother. Then I thought again that telling people of Falun Dafa is the most holy thing one can do and I should not have any incorrect thoughts. I have to adjust my mind. This way, from various aspects of life, I lead the two children with a Dafa practitioner's mentality.
They could not really take care of themselves. I patiently taught them every tiny thing in daily life, from brushing their teeth, washing their face, washing their hair, taking a bath and wringing out wet towels. I considered them as my own children. I told them how and why one should follow the principles of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." I told them always to speak the truth, and told them that swearing at others, beating others, and stealing from others will make one lose virtue. They should listen to their parents and be good children. I also taught them to recite Master's scriptures, to sing Dafa songs and to practice Falun Gong.
The two children changed greatly. The little girl said that she was very comfortable while practicing Falun Gong and felt she was flying into the blue sky. While she was waiting for her school bus, while in school and in other public areas she would sit in the double lotus position and practice the meditation. Once she asked me, "Grandma, if a child steals from others and beats others, what is going to happen to him if he used up all his virtue?" I told her, "He will be truly dead." One time she came back from school and told me, "My mother got a lot of virtue today." I asked her why? She said, "A thief stole a lot of money from my mother's wallet. The thief then gave my mother a lot of virtue."
When the little girl called her relatives, she told them that she practiced Falun Gong. She asked her mother to practice, too. When her mother told her that she was too old, the little girl showed her the picture of an old lady on a Dafa bookmark and said, "She is much older than you and she practices Falun Gong." Her mother smiled. Every day after they come home from school, the sister and brother loudly sang, "Falun Dafa is Good!" I heard that they sang the song in the restaurant too, and all the customers heard them. It had a really good effect of introducing the Fa to the public.
The children's grandmother lived in New York. Before she retired, she was a deputy bureau head in China. She had some misunderstandings about Falun Gong and was afraid that I would mislead the two children. She came here purposely to take a look. At the beginning when she saw me, she was distant and asked me, "How old are you? When did you start to practice Falun Gong?" I told her with a calm mind, using my personal experiences, about the miracles that had happened to me after I started to practice Falun Gong. For example, some illnesses that the hospitals said could not be cured were all gone after I started to practice Falun Gong. She was shocked and, faced with the facts, had to change her attitude toward Dafa. One afternoon when she wanted to go out, the two children wanted to go with her. She said, "It is too hot outside! You stay home and follow grandma to practice Falun Gong." I gave her several Dafa truth VCDs and she watched them all. She also read Zhuan Falun and asked me for a Falun Gong exercise tape. She wanted to practice Falun Gong after she got back to New York. Even though the children's mother did not try to understand Falun Gong further, she had a good impression of Dafa. She said that many Dafa practitioners went to her restaurant to eat, and every one of them was kind and nice.
The owner of the restaurant invited two cooks who had misunderstandings about Dafa. Interestingly, one of them saw the "self-immolation" incident personally. He said that the Chinese Communist Party was not wrong; he saw the fire starting and the police started to put the fire out right away. I told him it was true that somebody set these people on fire but they were not Dafa practitioners. I gave him a copy of a truth VCD. After he watched it he could not say anything.
Another cook said that if Falun Gong is so powerful, why did his friend's mother not have her illnesses cured by practicing Falun Gong? I told him, "The Falun Gong book explains that someone who wishes to practice Falun Gong with the pursuit of curing illnesses will gain nothing. One must follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to improve oneself. Illnesses will then be cured automatically." I also told him some examples. Finally he said, "Now I understand."
I was glad that they could understand the truth. Finally, because I needed to help my friends to take care of their children, I told the family that I wanted to leave. This way, I left within two months. Later, the friend's mother arrived and I came to the fourth family.
When I talked on the phone with the woman of the house, she asked me how old I was. I told her that I was almost 57 but others said I looked younger. After we both agreed, I went to her home with my luggage. The hostess said, "Are you almost 57? You really don't look that old; your talk and walk don't show that you are that old and your mental state is also very good."
She wanted to know very much how I could be that way. This gave me a good starting point to tell the facts of Dafa. I told her that my physical condition was previously not good and I could not take care of myself. I needed a housekeeper to help me. After I started to practice Falun Gong, my condition is completely good.
When she heard Falun Gong she looked serious. She said that her friend's relative also practiced Falun Gong but she did not understand something he had done. I said, "If he did not do something well it was because of him, not because Falun Gong taught him not to do well." Master told us to be a good person anywhere. When doing things we need to consider others first. We should be good employees in the workplace and we should be worthy of our salaries; we should be good wives, good husbands, good daughters-in-law or good children at home. She said, "Your words were easy to understand. Let's talk next time."
This family had two boys, one six-years-old and one nine-years-old. The younger one was medically diagnosed as mentally deficient and could not take care of himself at all. He destroyed many things at the home and sometimes he even hit his mother. If anything did not go according to his will, he would bang his head against the wall. The mother was often sad, with tears on her face.
One time during our chat I told her that many children, after they learned Dafa, became healthy and intelligent and listen to their parents, saving their parents a lot of worries. The hostess was intrigued and said, "Then you can teach my younger son to practice Falun Gong." I said, "I suggest that you also read through Zhuan Falun without any bias and then we can talk about it."
She soon bought a copy of Zhuan Falun and started to read. Two days later she found that a small wart she had on her lower right eyelid for several years became soft. She told her husband. Her husband said, "Don't be too sensitive; go ahead and practice if you feel good." Two more days later a miracle happened. The wart the size of a mung bean fell off. She came to me, excited, and told me, "Falun Gong is really miraculous!" I told her that many patients' sentenced with terminal illnesses by people in the medical field were healed by practicing Falun Gong. She was very moved.
One night, the hostess pulled her younger son into my room. I told them the magnificence of Dafa and the greatness of Master; told them the truth that Jiang Zemin persecutes Falun Gong by various means and so on. While she was listening her eyes turned red. She told her son, "Looks like auntie's purpose for coming here is for saving us." Tears ran down my face. I really felt the meaning of saving lives with various methods mentioned by Master. She then bought a few Dafa books and Master's lecture audiotapes from the Internet. She read Master's lectures at different locations. She started to cultivate in Dafa. I am really glad for her.
One time she took out 100 dollars and said that I could use the money for anything, meaning supporting Dafa. I did not take it. I said to her that Master told us that Dafa does not gather money and possessions. She then bought 200 dollars worth of stamps for mailing truth information. I told her that her son's daily visit to the psychologist incurs high expenses for her, that she did not have to spend more money. She replied with smile, "You have done so much and I only did a little."
At several parties with her former classmates she told them that she also started to practice Falun Gong. Some of them said, "Everybody knows about your boy's state of health and we were worried about you. When we met, others complained about something being wrong in their families; only you are not complaining and your mental state is good. We feel relieved."
One day I talked to her husband. He also recognized that her mood was better than before and she did not get angry over trivial things anymore. While they were talking, her son, who used to speak only several simple words clearly, shouted out "Falun Dafa is good!" twice and then started to sing the song, "Falun Dafa is good, Falun Dafa is the righteous Fa." The boy's mother was deeply moved and said that even she did not know how to sing the song, expressing "It is real that Dafa manifests miracles!"
Living in Chinese-American families during the past two years to tell the Dafa truth made me feel deeply that it was an opportunity that Master gave me to offer salvation to people and to validate Dafa.
