"Please Don't Miss This Chance Again"

[PureInsight.org] It was a bright sunny Saturday morning. The sun cast its affectionate light on everyone. I could smell the fragrance of the grass in the air. After I drove my daughter to the art studio for the painting lesson, I went off to the local Chinese supermarket for grocery shopping.

When I finished grocery shopping, I ran into a lady from a local "Mommy Club" at the entrance of the supermarket. She was raising fund for orphans in Yunnan Province, a poor, remote mountainous region in China. I smiled at her, made a donation, and gave her a flyer containing the facts of Falun Gong and the persecution against Falun Gong. I told her that I practice Falun Gong, and asked her to read the flyer and try to understand more about Falun Gong. She took my donation and the flyer with a happy smile.

After I loaded the grocery into the car, I checked the time to realize I had 30 minutes before I had to go pick up my daughter, so I took out a small stack of truth-clarification flyers, went back to the supermarket, and started to distribute them at the entrance of the supermarket next to my acquaintance.

I chatted with her off and on while I was distributing the flyers. She admitted that it was the first time that she tried to raise funds on the street and that she finally realized how difficult it was to do that. I encouraged her to persevere in her cause and to be impervious to people's negative responses. After all, there are all kinds of people in this world. The more important thing is to try to plant the seed of kindness into other people's hearts.

While we were on the subject of people's negative responses, I shared with her the many difficulties and cold stares that fellow Falun Gong practitioners and I had met while clarifying the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution against Falun Gong. I also took the opportunity to clear up some of her misunderstandings about Falun Gong. While I was explaining to her the truth about Falun Gong, two people who just took the truth-clarification flyers threw them on the ground right in front of me. I picked up one of the flyers from the ground in a peaceful manner. Before I could pick up the other flyer, my acquaintance had already picked it up for me. She then confessed that she had practiced Falun Gong for a while before she gave up the practice. She asked me if someone was manipulating Falun Gong practitioners for a political purpose. I replied with a smile, "Do you think it looks like I am under anyone's manipulation?"

She smiled at me instead of answering my question. I said, "The truth is that the cultivators of Falun Gong are completely apolitical. I was wondering how much you really know about the Chinese Communist government. They have invented a lot of stories in order to justify their persecution against Falun Gong."

Then another man took a truth-clarification flyer from me and threw it towards my face. I caught the flyer with a peaceful mind and smiled at him.

Then another man read my flyer and said to my acquaintance, "You should seek donations from Falun Gong practitioners. They have a lot of money because someone is funding them. They don't even have to work."

With a peaceful smile, I explained patiently, "You probably have heard unfound rumors about Falun Gong. We pay these truth-clarification flyers out of our own pockets. I work in a large pharmaceutical company. I can easily afford the expense of printing these flyers." He took off without making any rebuttal.

A Christian was also distributing flyers in front of the supermarket. After taking a flyer from me, he passed me one of his flyers as well. I accepted his flyer politely. A curious thing was that few people took his flyer, but many people took my truth-clarification flyers. He brought many balloons as free gifts for the kids. Those balloons were right behind where I stood. When I turned and looked at those colorful balloons, I felt as if they were prepared for my truth-clarification and Falun Gong promotion effort today. I had a strong feeling that it was no coincidence that I had run into these people at the supermarket.

My acquaintance kept saying to everyone, "Please help the orphans in Yunnan Province." However, very few people made a donation. So I told her, "Why don't you promote your cause first? I will wait until you say your piece before I offer my truth-clarification flyers to people." I didn't want to fight with her for people's attention because I felt it was not polite. I just stood there with a smile, and would offer my truth-clarification flyers after she said her piece to every person who went to the supermarket.

After a while, instead of asking for donation, she suddenly said to someone, "Please help Falun Gong." Upon hearing her words, I broke into a big smile but I didn't make any comment. She smiled at me and said, "You see? You see? I have assimilated to Falun Gong."

In just 30 minutes, I had distributed almost all the truth-clarification flyers in my hand. I knew it was the mighty power of Falun Gong and Teacher's compassion.

Finally I bade the lady farewell and returned to my car. When I started the car engine, the CD player in the car started to play the song "Be Saved." [1] When I heard the Falun Gong practitioner singing, "Be saved. Be saved. Please don't miss this chance again," my eyes were filled with tears. I put my hands together in front of my chest and expressed my most sincere gratitude towards Teacher for giving all the sentient beings a chance to accept his salvation.

Reference:
[1] "Be Saved": http://www.pureinsight.org/pi/articles/2004/7/12/2400.html

Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2004/11/28/30109.html