People Have to Understand Us to Accept Us

(Minghui.org) I am a young Falun Dafa disciple in America. My parents do not practice Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa), but my grandmother does. All of them live in China. I am the only child. After I finished my studies, I chose to stay in America to practice Falun Dafa, since the practice is persecuted in China.

My mother cried and protested when I told her I'd decided to stay in America. She and my father both said things that were disrespectful to Dafa after hearing my decision.

Later, my mother came to the United States to visit me. She felt the joy of living in a free society and was able to learn more about Dafa. Since then, her attitude towards Dafa has changed. While she was visiting, I showed her many tourist attractions and took her shopping.

She was in a particularly good mood while in America, so after returning to China she shared her new understanding about Dafa with people around her. Both of my parents then supported Dafa.

My mother later brought my grandmother to America to visit me.

My Grandma’s Attachment of Zealotry

I hadn’t seen my grandma for about six years and only phoned her occasionally. As I recall, Grandma was always kind and full of love, but this time she didn't look happy.

Every time I talked to her on the phone, she was always a little boastful to say that her head was “empty” and nothing was on her mind.

Her daily living needs were taken care of by family members, and she just studied the Fa, did the exercises, and spent some time handing out Dafa fliers. She did nothing else. She didn't interact with people and barely chatted with my parents.

Grandma felt that this “empty” state was best for her, so she didn't care about anything. She felt that she should not have emotion, so she kept a somber expression on her face.

I felt that she was thousands of miles away and didn't have a tiny bit of kindness or love. She thought that being diligent meant not wasting any time, including on the family, and she should spend all her time doing the tasks expected of Dafa practitioners.

My mother spoke to me about her concerns after a few days and said she was feeling very resentful about my grandma. Grandma thought that she should not interact with society and should keep a distance from her family members, so as not to be attached to them and somehow dissolve her karma.

Grandma has been looked after by the family for the last ten years. However, I was very surprised to learn that she had not expressed any appreciation for this care. Instead, she said that the family members had too many human notions, so she would not lower her level to theirs.

Not once did my grandma talk to my parents about this.

My father thought it was strange and said, “Practitioners of Dafa say they are cultivating Buddhahood, but from being around your grandma we can't see any of that. Even those who believe in other religions look peaceful and have compassion.”

My parents work very hard. After they get home they hurriedly cook for my grandma, but she isolates herself and wants nothing to do with them.

Master said,

“Some people conduct themselves as though they are either mentally abnormal or they have seen enough of this secular world. They say things that others cannot comprehend. Others will say: "How come a person who learns Falun Dafa becomes like this? It seems he has a mental problem."” (Zhuan Falun)

Cultivating at Work

Our cultivation is not like that of monks and Taoists in the past who disowned their family members and wouldn't have anything to do with everyday society.

Master taught us to cultivate among everyday people. At work, when dealing with colleagues, I chat with them about everyday life. If they mention happy things, I share their joy. If a colleague meets with any difficulty, I offer help to resolve their problems. Occasionally, I share my cultivation experiences with them, and one colleague said that she has learned a lot about Dafa since she met me.

Sometimes our company organizes a meal together. I try to participate as much as possible, as it provides a good chance to get to know one another. Interaction with colleagues helps increase our understanding of each other and makes it more natural to talk to them about Dafa and invite them to attend Shen Yun performances.

I am interested in travel and fashion, which also help me to start a conversations. I start to talk about a certain topic so that the person I am speaking to can see a Dafa practitioner’s good side.

A Little Advice

In this regard, I want to put a question out there to practitioners: Are we trying to enlighten and help save people in a way that ordinary people can understand and accept?

My grandma cut herself off from her family, like the monks and Taoists of the past, but it has affected the harmony in our family and made my parents look at Dafa in a bad light.

Now that my grandma has come to America, if she would communicate with the practitioners here, she would become more knowledgeable about the world around her, which would in turn help her to clarify the facts when she went back to China. Many Chinese wish to come here, so it is a good topic to bring up to start a conversation about Dafa.