(Minghui.org) During the 2017 New York Fa Conference, a practitioner asked me to join the RTC team to send truth-clarification text messages. I told her I didn’t have time and mentioned a couple of things that would be difficult for me. I was not tech savvy, didn’t use a smartphone, and had no clue how to send a text message through a computer.
The coordinator of this project is a practitioner from Taiwan. He waited patiently, didn’t push me, and only asked once in a while. His patience moved me after a few months. I thought maybe this was what I was supposed to do, so I decided to join the team. Just as I made up my mind to join the team, a practitioner from my local Fa-study group gave me a smartphone and said, “Auntie, I’ve opened a phone line for you.” What else could I say? I had to do it.
Step by step, the coordinator taught me how to use the smartphone and the many apps that I would use. I was finally able to send messages. When the coordinator asked me to sign up for a time slot, I again hesitated and said that I was still not very good at using the phone and put it off.
Another month passed, and even I felt embarrassed. I finally signed up for a time slot, and with the coordinator’s help, I learned everything I needed to send truth-clarification messages.
Throughout the entire process, I was very passive. In hindsight, I should have realized that every project that I had the opportunity to be involved in was meant for me. The coordinator’s patience and tolerance truly moved me. I saw how far behind I was in my cultivation compared to him.
Getting Rid of Resentment
The practitioners on the phone team usually asked me to send text messages to people they had just contacted, saying, “This person agreed to quit the Party before I could clarify the truth. But now he won’t listen or even pick up the phone.” I thought to myself, “If you only tell some stories on the phone and leave the truth-clarification part to the text team, then our workload will increase.”
When I mentioned this to the coordinator, he said, “We have to work as a team and cooperate unconditionally.” I immediately saw the difference in our xinxing levels. Isn't cooperating smoothly cultivating well?
I eliminated my negative thoughts and resentment and focused on what I was supposed to do. When I changed my mindset, I became more effective in saving sentient beings.
A practitioner from the phone team once asked me for help: “I’ve talked to this person for more than 20 minutes, but he still does not want to quit the Party.”
I sent that person a text: “Falun Gong practitioners are waking up the goodness in people, which is what this society really needs. By sincerely acknowledging and putting the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance into practice in your daily life, you will bring happiness and peace to your family and society. It will benefit our children as well. Please think about what we've said and make a wise choice. We are waiting to hear good news from you.” I also included information on how to bypass the Chinese internet censorship.
When the practitioners from the phone team called that person again, he was ready to quit the Party. At that moment, I felt that Master was watching us to see if we tried our best to save that person.
I deeply appreciated the opportunity arranged by Master. I don’t have any excuse not to save people or do my best. Master has done the majority of the work for saving people, giving us the opportunity to cultivate.
Another practitioner from the phone team once asked me to send a text message to a person. After I sent it, she called him again and asked, “Have you received the text message?” When he said he did, she asked, “Then how about I help you quit the Party?” He immediately said, “Sure.”
Getting Rid of Zealotry and the Show-Off Mentality
As soon as I began seeing results, my show-off mentality and zealotry surfaced. I thought, “My text messages are so powerful!” I felt very capable and pleased with myself. I told the coordinator that my text messages were so effective that the person who received them immediately quit the Party.
As soon as I said this, I realized that I had the attachment to zealotry and showing off. I had to get rid of these attachments, or the things that we do will not be sacred. Plus, we don’t have any reason to show off or to feel pleased with ourselves because it is Master and the Fa that are saving people.
Master said,
“Dafa disciples are magnificent, because what you are cultivating is the ultimate Great Fa of the cosmos, because you have validated Dafa with righteous thoughts, and because you have not fallen during the massive tribulation. Dafa disciples’ doing Fa-rectification has no precedent in history. In the magnificent, grand feats of validating the Fa with rationality, clarifying the truth with wisdom, and spreading the Fa and saving people with mercy, each Dafa disciple’s path of Consummation is being perfected. At this great moment in history, every steady step is a glorious historic testimony, and is incomparably-magnificent mighty virtue. All this is being recorded in the history of the cosmos. The magnificent Fa and the magnificent epoch are forging the most magnificent Enlightened Beings.” (“The Disciples’ Magnificence,” Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Working on the RTC text team is an opportunity to continuously improve in my cultivation.
Getting Rid of the Attachment to Lust
I began experiencing physical discomfort in the form of hemorrhoids. It didn’t matter if I was standing, sitting, or lying down, the pain was intense. When I asked another team member to fill in for me one day, she said, “Examine yourself for the attachment to lust.”
I laughed—I was already in my 70s and had been single for decades; there was no way that I still had an attachment to lust. She said another practitioner who also experienced this issue found that when we have discomfort in that area of the body, it is usually caused by the attachment to lust.
The pain caused me to consider this possibility. A friend from college recently called me and said that a mutual friend was recently widowed, and asked if I was interested in him. I thought to myself that I might consider it if I weren’t a cultivator. I said, “But we're already in our 70s.”
Then, I realized that I must still have this particular substance in my field, or such things would not happen to me. As I went deeper, I realized that sometimes I felt lonely and sad when I saw happy families. Sometimes when I noticed couples hugging or kissing on the metro or on the street, I wasn’t shocked.
I carefully examined my every thought and knew that the substance of lust did exist in my field. What should I do? The practitioner suggested that I recite Master’s teaching:
“Desires, lust, and things of these sorts are all human attachments, and all of them should be given up.” (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)
I began reciting this section of the Fa, and all my symptoms disappeared after three days. My health became even better than before. Such a big hidden attachment was gone, and I now feel that my field is purer.
Cooperating as One Body
Being with other practitioners on the RTC platform really helped me improve in my personal cultivation. I can’t imagine not being part of the team. Master’s arrangements are the best, and I found that my skills can be used in other areas.
For example, the content of the text messages that I send may be from articles that I proofread or from truth-clarification phone calls I make. I can easily follow up with text messages and send them right away and without needing to ask other practitioners.
One time, I answered a phone call from a student in Beijing who asked for the link to quit the Party. I quickly sent it to him, and he replied, “Thank you for responding to my text message this late. I admire your sense of responsibility. Many of my classmates in China always try to get away with doing the bare minimum. If I get the chance to study abroad one day, I wish to help others quit the Party. Have a good night.”
It no longer matters who asks me to help send text messages, I quickly send them out. I help anyone who asks, not just practitioners from the RTC platform. I also help edit their messages.
Regardless of the outcome, I feel that it is my responsibility to do what I can. We are one body and have the same goal of saving sentient beings. Master’s arrangements are the best and are always perfect. We just need to cultivate solidly, do what we are supposed to do, and fulfill our vows.
