By a Dafa practitioner in China

(Clearwisdom.net) In October 2002, another practitioner Ms. Ying (I call her "Yingjie") and I rented store space in a shopping center. We planned to use the space to clarify the truth to our customers, and at same time earn some money to support ourselves.

We encountered many difficulties at the very beginning. For several days in a row, we failed to sell any merchandise. Frustrated we were hesitant and wanted to give up. Later, we carefully thought it over: we came to save people. This was interference from the old forces. If we give up now, isn't that what they want? We are here to save people; we should not give up so easily. We finally determined that we would definitely break through the old force's interference. With righteous thoughts and improved xinxing [the nature of the mind or the heart, moral character], the situation changed. On the first clothes we sold was a smiling face. We understood it as encouragement from our teacher.

The other merchants were not against Dafa. We helped them serve customers regardless of how tired we were or how tedious it was. The owners all said that Falun Gong people are so nice.

Teacher said that, "The old forces don't dare to oppose our clarifying the truth or saving sentient beings. What's key is to not let them take advantage of the gaps in your state of mind when you do things." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston"). Clarifying the truth face to face requires us to be rational and use wisdom. When telling the facts about Dafa to people, one practitioner sends righteous thought to eliminate the evil elements behind that person, while the other practitioner can patiently clarify the truth. The result showed that this method is very effective.

Here are some stories:

A couple came to buy a jacket for their child. I told them, "Our profit is 1 Yuan from selling you the jacket." The husband did not believe us. I said that I am a Falun Gong practitioner and would not lie. The wife said, "He (my husband) works at the Public Security Bureau." I said, "Then you have been in contact with practitioners and must know that they cultivate "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" and would never lie." He agreed with me on this point, but he said, "The government spent lots of money on (persecuting) Falun Gong. Since they don't want you to practice, why not agree with them and give it up?" I corrected him, "Cultivating "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" and being a good person are the most righteous things. The immolation and killing portrayed on TV are all fabricated reports to slander Dafa. People who went to appeal for Falun Gong benefited from the practice. Their only motivation was to speak the truth 'Falun Dafa is good." But Jiang's government used all public funds to persecute these good people." Yingjie continued, "You look very honest and kind. Some police are extremely vicious. They torture Falun Gong practitioners and their evil deeds will bring them karmic retribution. We hope you never get involved in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners." The wife said, "He won't." We told him that the day would definitely come when Falun Gong will be recognized. The policeman honestly said, "I hope that day will come."

One day, a middle-aged woman from out of town came to our shop. When we mentioned Falun Gong to her, her attitude became very cold because she thought the TV reports were true. I stood aside to send out righteous thoughts while Yingjie patiently spoke with her. Several minutes later, she changed her attitude and believed us. She said that she read several pages of Zhuan Falun and felt very good about it. But she heard about people going insane from Qigong, and put down the book. We told her that cultivation insanity doesn't exist. The opportunity to read Dafa books is a predestined relationship. We gave her a VCD about the truth of Dafa. Several days later, she was back. She said that her family watched the VCD and knew the so-called immolation to be a lie to slander Dafa and they wanted to get more VCDs.

One day, a woman came in. When she heard that both of us practice Falun Gong, she said, "Don't practice it anymore." We remembered that Teacher said in "Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference," "Don't take a detour when you run into difficulties." The people who were deceived by the media reports need us to save them even more. We gave two examples to explain to her the sham news in the media. She agreed with us. Then we told her that the so-called "immolation" was staged. We drew her attention to the suspicious points: practitioners pay attention to virtue, are compassionate and kind, and must not kill. She gradually understood: the questions in her heart disappeared. She took our truth-clarifying brochure and said she wanted to read it thoroughly at home.

I gave a VCD of the "Mei Hua Poem" to a female customer. The next day, she came back asking for another copy. She said that after she told her co-worker about the content of the VCD, her co-worker wanted to watch it also. But she felt the VCD was very precious, so she came to get a copy for the co-worker. I gave her a copy and told her she was doing a great thing. She was very glad.

Two sisters wanted to offer 90 Yuan for a dress. We told them that our lowest price is 95 Yuan. After paying for the dress, they asked whether there was a free gift. I suddenly thought of our truth-clarifying VCD. I said, "We are Falun Gong practitioners, we will give you two truth-clarifying VCDs as a gift." The older sister said, "I work at a Public Security Bureau. I heard that practitioners of Falun Gong care little for money, so why did you still care about the five Yuan difference for the dress?" Yingjie said, "We are not supposed to be attached to money, but we need to make a living like everyone else! We had offered you the lowest price." They said, "We have received Falun Gong flyers, and watched Falun Gong VCDs. We like them very much. But the media said exactly the opposite to you; we don't know what to believe. We thought we would get a chance to personally find out what kind of people practitioners are. Today our wish has been realized. Falun Gong practitioners are beautiful." We said, "Then believe what you see today, and don't be deceived by the media." They happily accepted the Mei Hua Poem VCD.

During four months, we clarified the truth to lots of people and also made many friends. When our store first opened, the person in charge of delivering our orders had given me one too many dresses. When I returned it to her she was surprised. I clarified the truth about Dafa and gave her a VCD. She accepted them all and told her family about me. She repeatedly billed us less than she was supposed to. Each time I paid her correctly. Later, we became her best friends and she offered us great help.

Teacher said in Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston, "You are cultivators, whose conduct is [supposed to be] pure and righteous. There are so many people who think you're great just by having seen how you act. If we don't pay attention to our own behavior in our daily lives, everyday people will see our actions and, since they can't get to know you at a deep level such as by studying the Fa, they will just look at how you act. And it's possible that one sentence or one action of yours will make them unsavable or create a bad impression of Dafa. We need to think about these things." We treasure the chance to clarify the truth face to face. We feel the responsibility on our shoulders is heavy. We do our best to let all people see the greatness of Dafa through our speech and behavior. But, when our actions are not based on the Fa, we lose many valuable people and don't fulfill our responsibility. We realize the importance of studying the Fa more and more. Only when we study the Fa well can we do everything well.

Our booming business is also a verification of Dafa's mighty power. We keep as little money as possible for ourselves, and use the rest to do Dafa work. We can clarify Dafa's truth to people when we are doing business. The money we earn can be used to save more people. All this is possible because of our Teacher's great compassion. We will do better.

Thank you, Teacher!

March 3, 2003