Break Through Human Notions and Help People With the "Three Withdrawals"
By a Falun Dafa practitioner from Canada
(Clearwisdom.net) It has been a bumpy road with the "three
withdrawals" initiative. One practitioner shared that it was the most
difficult in the beginning. Therefore, I thought it would be important to share
my experiences in asking people to withdraw from the Communist Party and its
affiliated organizations with fellow practitioners. With the encouragement of
fellow practitioners, I was able to produce this sharing of my three withdrawals
experiences. If I remember correctly, Dafa practitioners were involved in doing the three
withdrawals since the end of 2004. However, my first experience was not until
Fall 2005. Before that, I was tongue-tied and just didn't know how to break
through it. I felt that talking about the three withdrawals was much more
difficult than talking about the truth of Dafa. Now, I realize that it was due
to my lagging behind in the Fa-rectification process. In Fall 2005, I was a
nervous wreck when I wanted to talk to two family members and some friends of
ours, who also needed to hear the truth about Dafa besides the three
withdrawals. In the end, it was not that difficult and both families quit the
Party. From this I understood that the Fa-rectification and the cosmic changes
have progressed to the current stage, and Master and gods have all been helping
to save people with predestined relationships. As long as we let go of our human
attachments and begin to talk about it, we will do well. Even though I had a
good beginning, I didn't really make any progress until December 2006. In October 2006, I heard that a fellow practitioner from Mainland China
seized the opportunity and was quite active in seeking the three withdrawals.
She was quite successful in having people do the three withdrawals every time
she went out. I was envious of what she did and often felt that I was falling
behind, so I decided to catch up. I searched for articles that talked about how
to help people with the three withdrawals. I wanted to learn from these
experience-sharing articles. Helping Relatives from Mainland China to Quit the Party In early 2007, I planned to talk extensively to my relatives about
withdrawing. I had not approached this subject with them because I always felt
that this was a sensitive issue. I was afraid that others couldn't accept what I
said. Because most of them are atheist, I was afraid that as soon as I began to
mention "the heavens will eliminate the CCP" and "mark of the
beast," they would automatically think that I was talking superstitious
gibberish. I was also afraid that others would say that persuading people to
quit the Party is playing politics. This revealed quite clearly that I did not
understand the importance and significance of the three withdrawals in relation
to the Fa. I was still using my human notions to treat this issue. First I would write letters talking about truth of Falun Dafa and the three
withdrawals. Then, when I thought that they had read my letters, I would call
them. In the letters, I would tell of my personal experiences and include ideas
I had found important when reading articles on the Minghui website. I also used
the book, "Disintegrate the Party's Culture" as a reference. First, I decided to contact two aunties whom I thought to be fairly easy
going. Then, I began to make phone calls. One aunty had a local practitioner
teach her husband the exercises, so I thought that she would have been persuaded
to quit the Party by that practitioner, but both refused to quit the Party.
Also, they didn't understand what I was doing. So, I ended the conversation.
Shortly after, I came to understand that persuading people to quit the Party is
a serious process. One has to disintegrate the party's culture in them, and only
then could their lives be saved. I couldn't just imagine that this person was
easy to talk to. It became clear to me that the key for whether they hesitate to
quit the Party or not depends on to which degree they have been brainwashed by
the CCP. My human notions made me believe that it was easier to call relatives
and I approached it with more confidence. I felt less confident when it came to
people with whom I had lost contact. I did not send them letters, but called
them instead. To my surprise, they agreed to quit the Party right away. I began
to understand that the three withdrawals is not any ordinary thing. We should
not use human notions that make us believe that because someone is related to us
or closely associated with us they are easy to convince. I should not use my own
judgment. Before I began to make phone calls, I felt very nervous. I was afraid if
people turned me down I would lose face. I was scared and worried. At the
beginning, I asked practitioners to help me overcome this fear. Persuading
people to quit the Party is not something that can be put off, and it is more
important than my losing face. My mind was not quite within the Fa. I didn't
understand that quitting the Party was for saving people, which is more
important than losing face. It is their lives that are in jeopardy. In addition,
the attachment to not losing face in itself is an attachment to fame and
sentimentality. Before I sent emails to my relatives, I expected that they would agree to
quit the Party after reading the email. I hoped that this would save me from
calling them. Alas, most of them didn't reply to my email. Even though some
replied, they only thanked me in a polite way, without mentioning anything else.
At the beginning, when I saw a reply from my relatives, I didn't dare to open
the email. Negative thoughts filled my mind. I often thought that they wouldn't
accept what I had written and I was terribly scared. One time, when my uncle
addressed me as so and so Mrs. in his reply, I felt very sad. I thought that
must be because he didn't accept my letter that he addressed me in such an odd
way. Later, I found out that the email was actually received by a stranger and
not my uncle. He said that he appreciated my sending this letter to him and that
he was very touched. He encouraged me to send it to my uncle, saying that he
would appreciate this e-mail as well. This letter encouraged me a lot. We are
doing the most compassionate thing. Ordinary people have the side that knows, so
that side can feel our compassion. I feel that by counting on ordinary people to
quit the Party because of my email, the mere thought has a lot of attachments
behind it - mainly fear of being turned down when calling people face-to-face,
and pursuit of results. I am actually quite adept in connecting people's behavior with a perceived
attitude. I thought that once a person said something about misunderstanding the
truth, it would be difficult to clarify the truth to that person. This kind of
notion had been controlling me firmly. As a matter of fact, the progress of the
Fa-rectification in other dimensions and the cleansing of other dimensions with
our righteous thoughts has a great effect on everything. Everyone is going
through changes. I was still governed by the thought "seeing is
believing" from my atheist background and had not felt this transformation
in ordinary society. Teacher said: "There is another type of person. Someone was told in the past that he
had spirit or animal possession. He felt that way as well. However, upon having
it removed for him, his mind still worries about it. He always thinks that the
condition still exists. He still thinks that it is there, and this is already an
attachment called suspicion. As time passes, this person may bring it to himself
again. One should give up this attachment, as this spirit or animal possession
no longer exists." (Zhuan Falun)A relative of mine said that the Nine
Commentaries was playing politics. Therefore, I was afraid to talk about the
three withdrawals with him. He is an 80-year-old CCP member. I thought that he
must be very stubborn, since he had already shared his thoughts with me. I
didn't know how to bring up this topic again. Even though I sent forth righteous
thoughts, I still had many concerns. Unexpectedly, after only a few sentences,
he agreed to quit the Part. This made me recall what Master said: "If ordinary people say something or interfere with you, don't take it
to heart, and just do what you need to do. The sources of human thoughts are
very complicated, and in many cases it is people's notions talking, not their
true thoughts or their true beings. So the things they say are often specious
and not what they mean. They forget the things they just said right after
saying them. They don't even take their own remarks seriously, so why would
you? Don't worry about what they say, [but] every word that you say is
like a thunderclap to them." ("Teaching the Fa in San
Francisco," 2005) As soon as I thought of non-practitioner friends, my notions would pop up out
of the blue. I thought that so and so was very snobbish, so and so is not
truthful, and so on. This was not the end of it. More notions were popping up,
such as being afraid after talking to someone, or feeling that so and so would
come up with excuses. I thought of people whom I had conflicts with, or whom I
was not crazy about. All these attachments had been hindering me in helping
others. During this process, I came to realize that helping people with the
three withdrawals is to save people. Therefore, we have to hold great Compassion
and rid ourselves of human notions. This is a fundamental issue. I thought of
someone I had conflicts with in the past, and didn't have a great impression of.
This time, before making the phone call, I cleansed myself first. I wanted to
get rid of my notions toward her. I thought about what Teacher said: "and all of the chaotic world's unrighted wrongs and karmic
relationships are settled with benevolent solutions." ("Foretelling
the Fa's Rectification of the Human World"If we are to do what a god would
do, then how can we be still be attached to human notions. Therefore, when I
called her, I could truly feel compassion. This was reflected in our
conversation. Without realizing it, I chatted with her for three hours. In the
end, she was very happy to do the three withdrawals. She then also talked to her
friends in China. She told them how I had changed and how nice I was now. This
indirectly helped my clarifying the truth to other friends in China. Persuading Overseas Chinese to do the "Three Withdrawals" Besides helping relatives and friends, I felt that helping
local Chinese with the three withdrawals is also very important. People I met at
subway stations, at the roadside, cashiers, at elevators and so on are all
people with predestined relationship. I prepared a form for withdrawing. People
who wished to withdraw could sign their real names or alias. On the top of the
form, I wrote a short paragraph as to why the three withdrawals are necessary.
Sometimes I use the form to help with the three withdrawals. Sometimes I gave
flyers with the picture of a fossil on the front. The words inscribed on the
fossil read: "Please read the introduction for the 'three
withdrawals.'" No matter what format, it creates an opportunity. At the beginning, I felt it quite difficult to talk about the
three withdrawals. I had a lot of notions in my mind. I even hoped that I
wouldn't run into any Chinese people. At the same time, Teacher gave me a lot of
encouragement. When I began to use the form to help with the "three
withdrawals," out of the four people I asked, three agreed to quit, and the
fourth was Taiwanese and thus didn't need to quit. At that time, I was reminded
of Teacher's Fa: "When you are overcoming a real hardship or
tribulation, you try it. When it is difficult to endure, try to endure it.
When it looks impossible and is said to be impossible, give it a try and see
if it is possible. If you can actually do it, you will indeed find:
"After passing the shady willow trees, there will be bright flowers and
another village ahead!" (Zhuan Falun) I feel that it easy to clarify the truth in some specific situations or at
specific times. For instance, during Dafa activities when it is my turn to tell
the truth it was quite easy. Yet I felt it rather difficult to tell the truth in
my daily life. Master says: "One thought can determine whether you make it through. Whether you
can step forward to validate the Fa is a test that can't be passed just by
following the crowd and its momentum. Some people have thought that they'd
wait on Tiananmen Square, and figured that "if everyone steps out of the
crowd, then I'll step out." When they don't see many practitioners
stepping out, they stroll around and then head back. This is because when
everyone steps out, it's that momentum that brings you out--you aren't
stepping forward as a result of letting go of life and death deep down within.
Cultivation is an individual matter, and following the crowd won't do it. Each
person's improvement must be well-grounded." ("Teaching the Fa at
the Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference") I understand now that we are expected to clarify the truth at all times,
everywhere we go, and in certain circumstances. We exhibit a good cultivation
state when doing so. Yet, in daily life we are unable to be compassionate at all
times. So, if we are attached to different human notions, we don't feel like
telling the truth when we meet people. I often missed the chance due to my worries. For instance, once at the gate
of a shopping center, I saw a Chinese sitting next to a Westerner and eating. I
said to my-self, "It is not good to talk to him." Many excuses stopped
me, such as the fear of disturbing others, the worry that the Chinese might
refuse to listen, the Westerner might think badly of me, wondering if that
person really was Chinese, and so on. Finally, I left. I felt great pain and
regret at not having done well, while at the same time I lacked strength to
break through this barrier. If truth be told, my finding excuses for not speaking is ultimately the fear
of what I see as their attitude toward me and the fear of losing face. This
attachment brought out many other notions, such as the feeling that it's hard to
make overseas students accept the truth of Dafa, that currently young people
have lowered tremendously the fundamentals of morality and they probably will
shout abuse; that it is easy to tell the truth to one single person, instead of
twos and threes; and that this person looks nice but that one looks fearful or
shrewd. However the end result was always different from what I imagined. So,
these experiences have helped me eliminate my notions that were formed in the
human world. They actually were all based on self-protection. When there was more than one person, I would feel more pressure to keep my
mouth shut. Then there is also the thought that if I can't make it, I will also
lose face. This thought puts pressure on my heart. Once I recalled Master's
words: "Someone says: "If someone kicks me while I'm walking down the
street and no one around knows me, I can tolerate it." I say that this is
not good enough. Perhaps in the future you may be slapped in the face twice,
and you will lose face in front of someone whom you least want to see it. It
is to see how you will deal with this issue and whether you can endure
it." (Zhuan Falun) Presently, I clarify the truth over the phone to my overseas friends
(ordinary people) while inviting them to take part in celebrating activities
on Falun Dafa Day. Many of them who were willing to quit had never heard of
the withdrawal activities. Some of them often read the Epoch Times but never
knew the facts. Most everyone no longer considered themselves CCP members.
They said that they were too old to still be members of any Communist
organizations, etc. After my clarifying the truth, they suddenly understood
and were willing to quit. I felt that sometimes the evil in other dimensions
prevents people from noticing the facts published by the media. Therefore,
speaking to people face to face and clarifying the truth through the media is
mutually complementary. Master said:"Of course, as the saying goes,
"an announcement posted everywhere still can't make the illiterate
aware," so there are still some that are left out for sure, there are
still people who don't know the truth for sure, and that's why you need to
keep doing things to clarify the truth." ("Teaching the Fa at the
Meeting with Asia-Pacific Students.") Although our media already published articles on the three withdrawals and
our grand parades have shaken people's hearts, they can't take the place of
speaking to people face to face. Although we do have our fixed Service Centers
for Quitting the CCP on the streets, they are still far from enough. If every
one of us practitioners overseas won't miss the chance when encountering any
Chinese, we actually turn ourselves into moving Quitting Centers. It would be
great if we could make the centers bloom everywhere. If every Chinese who meets
us gets the opportunity to hear about the tide of withdrawals from the CCP and
has the opportunity to choose his/her own future, those people who don't quit at
a site will feel eventually that the three withdrawals are just a step away from
their grasp. By doing so, not only will more people quit the Communist
organizations in this dimension, but also the changes in other dimensions
brought along by us will play a more effective role. I take part in a calling project for one hour every week. I was most
encouraged by two students I talked to who agreed to withdraw from the Young
Pioneers. I thought children would never follow what I was saying, instead they
might question my motives. On the contrary, both kids understood me clearly and
well. From it I learned that kids also have the ability to tell right from
wrong, good from evil, and they can also choose a wonderful future for
themselves. Master said: "It's like sharp swords shooting out together from
their mouths." ("Hurry Up And Tell Them") I understand the
process of telling more people the truth is also the process of grinding my
sword. The more it is grinded, the sharper it will be. Of course the process of
studying the Fa, cultivating xinxing and sending forth righteous thoughts
are also sharpening my sword. Only when one is assimilated through cultivation
practice can one be sure to save people. Finding Ways to Undo Others' Knots in the Heart and Bringing About Resonance It is really hard to have the truth of the Three Withdrawals clearly
explained. I found that to atheists we could put more emphasis on encouraging
them to show support for the three withdrawals for the sake of morality and
justice. If we talk about gods or Buddhas, they probably will not believe in it.
Instead, if we use an old proverb or some principles like "good is repaid
with good, evil with evil," they seldom argue with us. To speak up is only an initial stage of clarifying the truth well. Whether we
can get the problems in their heart solved is directly related to our
cultivation stage. I feel that many Chinese have given up normal logic and lost
their judgment between right and wrong. Most of their problems are illustrated
in the book Disintegrating the Party Culture. But, I still do not know
how to dissolve their problems. Yet I can tell others -- the way you think is
just the way the CCP wishes you to. You are simply using its logic, and not
considering even the facts that are well recognized by people. You also do not
realize the truth of universal principles. I strongly feel these words have
power and many people share the same opinion on hearing them. I think by saying
things this way I make them aware of the source of their ideas and thoughts, and
I let the wicked Party culture be exposed. This is the prelude for it's being
disintegrated. Though I have thoroughly read the book Disintegrating the
Party Culture, I still discover that I have not fully digested and absorbed
its contents. Each time when I encountered questions that I could not answer, I
would open the book and think deeply about what I read. I understand that if
there are questions that I failed to answer, it is not only the reason of
lacking human knowledge, but more than that. If I cannot clearly respond to
their argument and if I still identify partially with their theories, it shows
that I am still poisoned or polluted by the evil party culture. Recently, when I called a relative in Mainland China to have her quit the CCP
organizations, it was quite easy. I started the discussion a little differently
than usual. Formerly, I began with the CCP having killed 80 million people, or
from the point of destroying human rights. This time I talked of the CCP
destroying traditional culture, and not letting people believe that both evil
and good will be repaid, talking about how it undermines human morality, how the
officials are corrupt, how the whole society focuses on money, that they will
commit all kind of evil deeds for the sake of money, and that everyone is a
victim. This relative of mine thought that she had so much in common with these
thoughts that she quit without any problem. I did not feel like talking this way
in the past due to my laziness. Before, I never paid much attention to social
things, and I was not good at talking about topics concerning the economy or
politics. Now, I know for the sake of saving sentient beings, more effort should
be put into the topics that raise Chinese people's interests. Now, I understand,
only as we talk about things that others know of, by talking from the lower
level to the higher, can we have them share the same opinion with us, thus
achieving a better effect. Realizing that our Reason for Doing the Three Withdrawals Should be to
Save People It is vital to send forth righteous thoughts before clarifying the truth.
"We have said that good or evil comes from a person's spontaneous
thought" (Zhuan Falun). To clear up others as well as one's own
dimensional field, one can't talk with human notions. Sometimes after I succeeded in making others quit, my mentality of showing
off and zealotry would come out. If failed, I would feel depressed and upset.
One day when studying the Fa, I read Master words, which directly pointed to my
heart: "He thinks that he has cured an illness. When others call him a qigong
master, he will become delighted and very pleased. Isn't that an attachment?
When he cannot cure an illness, he drops his head and feels fizzled out. Isn't
it caused by his attachment to fame and personal gain?" (Zhuan Falun) In fact, I did care too much about results. Presently, when I am still driven
by the attachment, I will think of Master's words in Zhuan Falun:
"An Arhat should be free of attachments, with a heart that cannot be
affected." I find actually the procedure of persuading others to quit is a
process of clarifying the truth. Having others clearly known the truth is the
basic precondition for quitting the CCP. So, even if they refuse to quit, I
should not feel upset, for they at least had the chance to hear some of the
truth. When cherishing this state of mind, one will feel each phone call is
useful and is wiping out the elements of the evil ghosts of communism. When I first began persuading others to quit the communist organizations, I
felt that I was somewhat falling behind. I had only a limited number of people
quit, and I really wanted to do better. Thus, I had the heart of eagerness to
accomplish my mission and I was really attached to the numbers of people who
quit. Actually, it was for the sake of selfishness and wishing to accumulate
more virtue. Little by little, I realized this is diverging from the Fa. The
basis should be for salvation and for others sake, instead of for oneself. One day when I got on the train with a fellow practitioner, we met with an
overseas Chinese and talked about the three withdrawals. But that person refused
to listen, and was rather unfriendly. When we talked more, she again refused.
Normally, if I was rejected twice, I would just move on. The elderly fellow
practitioner still kindly and patiently talked to her, while that person
continued to ignore us. At that time, I strongly felt the great gap between the
elderly practitioner placing her heart on salvation and I putting my face and
so-called self-esteem ahead. In the past, I wanted to participate in other truth-clarifying projects, but
shied away from doing the three withdrawals. When I began doing the three
withdrawals, I showed less interest and put less effort on other Dafa projects.
Now, I realize that my shying away was due to my fear of encountering
difficulties. My present focus on the issue is because I feel it is very
difficult. But, when seeing that more and more people quit the CCP and its
related parties, I feel successful. But, this is still the attachment of
validating myself. All that we do is perfectly arranged and ordered. I can't
choose to do this or that according to my own interests and passions. Only if we
let go of all our attachments and do so on the basis of saving more sentient
beings as a whole, should it be righteous. I am not cultivating well enough. I started to do the three withdrawals a bit
late. Compared with practitioners who have done well, I still have a great gap
to close. My heart of fear still wells up when talking to people about quitting
the Party. I hope my sharing helps fellow practitioners. I hope that they will use it as
reference and through it let go of burdens. I hope that others will make the
first step forward toward encouraging others to quit. Please
kindly point out anything inappropriate I might have said. Thank you.
Chinese version available at
http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/5/20/155283.html
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