My Experience of Distributing The Epoch Times

By a practitioner in Los Angeles, USA

(Clearwisdom.net)

Greetings Master!
Greetings Fellow Practitioners!

I would like to share my experience of distributing The Epoch Times.

In the middle of last year, in order to broaden the influence of The Epoch Times in the Los Angeles area and to save everyday people more efficiently and effectively, some fellow practitioners who worked at The Epoch Times decided to hand out The Epoch Times newspaper to businesses in-person. Potential advertising clients would be more accessible this way, and more advertisements would allow The Epoch Times to become financially self-sufficient, with the goal of becoming the most widely distributed Chinese newspaper.

When this project first started, many fellow practitioners took on the responsibility of delivering the newspaper to local businesses close to where they lived. Another practitioner and I delivered 200 copies to the businesses in our neighborhood. Initially it was OK to deliver the paper to businesses one by one, but by the third week, some practitioners quit because they felt that delivering the paper to each business was very time consuming and the effect was not really noticeable. I also felt it was tiring and time consuming, because it took two of us three hours to finish delivering the papers one by one.

The minute I had this thought, I felt that something was not right. "Isn't this laziness? I am a Dafa practitioner. On the one hand I want to save people, but at the same time I am afraid of the hard work. Am I too selfish, and is that why I am having this thought at this critical moment?" Our main task as Dafa practitioners is to save people. Isn't it true that people are being saved when they read The Epoch Times? I thought about our benevolent Master, who suffers so much in order to save us. I thought about the practitioners in China. They have been risking their lives in such an evil environment to spread the truth to save people. And I thought about fellow practitioners overseas. For a long time they have taken on the responsibility of many projects in order to stop the evils in mainland China. Many of them have put aside everything in their daily lives and devoted their entire lives to assisting our Master in the process of rectifying the Fa. Then I thought about myself again. I felt I was being overly selfish when I did not want to do such a small task as delivering the newspaper. At the same time I realized that was I stuck and that I was still indifferent. I knew what I should do and what my duties were, but from my heart I did not seize the moment to save ordinary people who had been poisoned by the evil Chinese Communist Party. "If I am that selfish, how can I have a benevolent heart?" Realizing my gap, I came to understand that we can't achieve the standard of the Fa when we worry about our own hardships. Only when we cultivate according to Master's teachings can we rectify ourselves and do better in saving people. Therefore I have continued delivering newspapers to businesses every week, including this week.

Another obstacle to overcome was the resistance from some Chinese people, especially people from China, when we deliver the newspaper to them. I remember one incident that occurred after the media exposed the Chinese Communist Party's harvesting of human organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. One day when I was delivering newspapers in Hong Kong Plaza, I was attacked verbally by a group of people from China. It was obvious that they had been brainwashed by the Chinese Communist Party propaganda. At that moment I realized how difficult it was to save Chinese people. Master's said in his teachings,

"They were brave enough to descend because of their steadfast faith in Dafa and their conviction that Fa-rectification would surely succeed. [They believed that] the Fa could definitely save them, that Dafa would definitely succeed (enthusiastic applause), and that Fa-rectification would definitely succeed, and it was thus that they had the godly courage to come to the human world. I'm not talking about Dafa disciples or students who obtained the Fa at different times, but rather the human race's overall situation right now. Many beings and many things in human society have changed. With such beings before us, we must act, we must save them." ("Fa Teaching at the US Capital")

I also thought of these words Master once said,

"Had you been feeling that those places were a bit too evil and were you a little afraid? But think about it--who should actually be afraid of whom?" ("Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005")

Every time I go to deliver newspapers, I tell myself to show the good nature of a Dafa practitioner and bring beauty and goodness to people. That is when I enter a state where all the bad thoughts in my mind and all the attachments in my heart are totally restrained. My heart feels happy and peaceful with only one determined objective, I want to save people. So I walk into every store with a smile on my face and while I am passing out the newspaper to people I say to them, "Good afternoon. Please read this newspaper when you are not busy." Influenced by my upbeat mood, many people take the paper merrily and say "Thank you!"

Of course I have encountered some individuals who harbor an ill attitude towards Dafa and Dafa practitioners. One time I was passing out newspapers at a workshop. The owner was from Hong Kong. He said to me bluntly, "I don't want it. It is all about Falun Gong." I asked him with a smile, "What is wrong with Falun Gong? If it is not good, why are there are so many people practicing it? In fact, Falun Gong practitioners are all good people. It is the Chinese Communist Party who persecutes these good citizens." He replied impatiently, "Okay, okay. I'm busy." I knew it was impossible for me to help him understand the truth in such a short period of time, so I went on to other stores. A week later when I returned to his store, I smiled at him as if nothing had happened between us and I said to him, "Take one and read it please." He still refused to read it. I just smiled and left. Another week passed. I asked him if he wanted a copy, and again he refused. This went on for a while. I thought of Master's words, "Just by staying unaffected you will be able to handle all situations." ("Teaching the Fa at the Conference in the Midwest-U.S.") Despite his attitude, I continued to do what I should do. One time his store was empty of customers and he said to me, "I am busy. I don't want to read it. You Falun Gong are involved in politics." Most overseas Chinese have been brainwashed by the CCP's slanderous propaganda. Many regard the CCP as the same as China. They think that exposing the CCP is equivalent to not loving one's motherland. With a smile on my face I said to him, "As a matter of fact, the evil Chinese Communist Party is not China. Our Chinese nationality has a history of 5000 years. How long has the Communist Party existed in China? Furthermore, this evil Party did not originate from our Chinese heritage." Each time I went there I did not say much, but I knew each time my words would somehow touch him.

I did not give up on him. Every time I greeted him, I treated him as if we had just met for the first time. One time he had a customer with him and I passed him a copy of the newspaper. He took it and right away dropped it to the bottom of the counter as if dropping a piece of garbage. This time I said to him seriously, "If you don't want to read it, please give it back to me." He picked up the paper and handed it to me. At the end of last year, he began to accept the paper, but I was not sure if he had actually seriously read it. After the New Year, I saw him sitting outside the counter with a painful look on his face. I asked him what was wrong and if he felt uncomfortable. He told me he had a bad toothache that kept him up all night and he could not take it any longer. I persuaded him to see a dentist and then to go home and have a good rest. I also advised him to take good care of himself and not to work too hard. He nodded at me with gratitude. Last week when I went there, he greeted me and said hello and happily took the newspaper to read. I knew that he had changed his view towards Dafa and Dafa practitioners.

From this experience I learned that no matter whom we meet and no matter what happens, we should not be afraid. Master has taught us in his lectures that we should not avoid difficulties. During the course of clarifying the truth, if our actions are based on caring for others, and if we are empathetic to their feelings, we will be more successful in clarifying the truth. By showing our good nature as Dafa practitioners, it is easier for ordinary people to accept the truth.

Many things may happen while distributing newspapers. We need to clarify the truth all of the time. For some people, after they get in touch with genuine Dafa practitioners, they will set aside their negative views about Falun Dafa and support Dafa. Some people even want to place ads in The Epoch Times. Many people have gotten into the habit of waiting for The Epoch Times to be delivered on Friday. Sometimes when a fellow practitioner delivers the newspapers for me, the store owners will ask about my whereabouts and they want to know why I am not delivering the newspapers on that day. Gradually, I have become familiar with these business owners and the situation in the plaza is getting better.

The above is my little experience of distributing the newspapers that I wanted to share with you. Please kindly point out my mistakes if there are any. Thank you!

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/3/25/175041.html

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