(Clearwisdom.Net) Chinese people have been the biggest victims of the lies that the Chinese Government run media have used to persecute Falun Dafa. People living in Mainland China have had to pay a big price for speaking out about the truth of Falun Gong. China is now in the Dharma-Ending period, when morality has been distorted and people are doing bad deeds under the influence of different human notions. Teacher saves all beings, and cherishes every life, especially those who reincarnated to China to make predestined karmic relationships [refer to the 9th paragraph in Teacher's Lecture on the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Conference]. But the old evil forces are holding those whom they still want to control and are trying to make them into funerary objects [an object or even a person still alive that was buried with the dead - a cruel tradition in some ancient asian countries including China]. Seeing this evil nature, we understand further the responsibilities of a Falun Dafa practitioner; the more difficult the environment, the more quickly one can improve his xinxing (moral character.) With an unprecedented compassionate and forbearing heart, we assist Teacher in his journey in this world.
1. Keep a mind full of compassion and kindness
At first we need to purify our heart in all conversations. No matter how vicious the words are from another party, we should always keep a peaceful, compassionate, and kind mind. As those who are safeguarding Falun Dafa in other dimensions, we must completely eliminate the evil with no forgiveness so people can find out about Falun Dafa through our serenity and kindness. When subjected to torture, we could be unwittingly developing an everyday mentality of resisting; many everyday people may have been turned off after seeing us become emotional or defensive when a negative comment about Falun Dafa is uttered, assuming we go to extremes. As Teacher has told us, we should keep our minds undisturbed and have a heart of compassion and forbearance, no matter what everyday people say to us, good or bad. Falun Dafa has no enemy in the world. Even a demon who has reincarnated, is supposed to be saved. Sending righteous thoughts is to eliminate the demons in other dimensions, but we need to offer the opportunity for the person in this dimension to realize his error. If he says bad words about Falun Dafa, it is due to the fact that he is a victim of demons. We need to be more compassionate toward him and give him a chance to understand his mistake. If we blame him, it might push him further away; if we are excited, we might give opportunities to demons to exploit the situation further and push him to say something worse and create more karma for himself.
2. Consider the other person's point of view and level of understanding
In a conversation we should carefully consider the other person's willingness and understanding of what we are saying. It is a manifestation of compassion to look at the situation from his point of view. If a person is drowning, we should place a buoy within his reach, otherwise it will not save his life. If we get involved in a debate with the other person, it would be denigrating Falun Dafa. The BUDDHA FA is not comparable to everyday principles. Using low-level principles to try to understand high-level principles can never work. In "Lunyu," Master Li says, "In order to explore this domain, humankind must fundamentally change its conventional thinking." So instead of debating with someone, we can have a discussion from the perspective of the Fa. Also we don't have to be anxious to change someone's mind after only one conversation. By speaking the truth, we will be providing him with an opportunity to recognize Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance and to realize the wrongfulness of the persecution of Falun Gong. As far as discussions about God or no God are concerned, that should depend on the other person's level of understanding.
3. Connect with others while strengthening your righteous mind and benevolence
A good conversation is based on a good connection between hearts. People have a side that's aware and most of them still have a mind to be benevolent. We can tell them Falun Dafa is beneficial, and if it makes sense given the particular situation, we can talk about how we have personally benefited from following Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance so as to arouse his recognition of the principles of Falun Dafa. At the same we should send righteous thoughts to eliminate the hidden evil forces in other dimensions. We need to keep uncovering other people's kind and righteous mind so that they can understand us when we speak about Falun Dafa and the persecution. It is pretty difficult to clarify the truth with wisdom; the knowledge we learned in human society is actually for spreading the Fa today.
We can also start a conversation by discussing the current condition in society, talking about the relationship between gain and loss, the price we pay when we harm others to satisfy self-interest, the universal principle that "Good is rewarded with good, evil meets evil," and that the requirement for a Falun Dafa practitioner is in being a good person in all circumstances. Is it right for a government to protect corrupted officials and at the same time arrest and persecute good people? China needs stability, but the stability should come from the healthiness and soundness of a state system. External forces could not shake its base if a ruling regime were not depraved. The dynastic changes in the history all occurred when the old system was on the decline.
The following analogy can best describe the relation of the Chinese authorities to Falun Gong. Jiang Zemin's regime is just like a sick man and Falun Gong is like a doctor. If the patient refused to see the doctor and receive the necessary treatments, and instead threw into jail the very people who were concerned about him and suggested that he have his illness be treated, would he then get over the sickness? The number of people is large, and fearing that they could one day be used by somebody to overthrow his dictatorship, Jiang's regime decided to throw these people into jail now. That's just like detaining a child because one fears that the child could commit a crime after he grows up. Is that the right thing to do? Since the constitution assures the freedom of belief, why doesn't the Chinese government follow the law? In addition, Falun Dafa practitioners have never gotten involved with politics, and what we have been doing at home and abroad is just to ask the Chinese government to stop persecuting Falun Gong, and ask it to see it clearly for the peaceful practice it is.
4. Explain the controversial topics one by one
We need to clarify the controversial topics one by one, especially the "self-immolation in Tiananmen Square," which should be explained using details. Many of those who originally felt sympathy for us have been deceived and now misunderstand us. Based on the lies that have been propagated, they have assumed we are being controlled by something and have lost our senses. If we over-react in a conversation, they will further presume we have gone astray. It is important to keep a heart and mind of compassion and benevolence; sometimes our mind speaks louder than our words.
We should let people know that we are innocent and that it is absolutely necessary for us to clarify the truth. If someone says we are making trouble for the Chinese government and the workplace, and bringing shame on the Chinese Government, we need to tell them the reasons for our actions. For example, before our appeal at Zhongnanhai, the Chinese government had, since 1997, banned Falun Gong's books under the guise of an effort to "wipe out pornography." After getting no local response through our appeals, we went to the state appellate office near Zhongnanhai to appeal. However, Luo Gan set a trap by blocking the major streets in the early morning, making it necessary for the police to guide the practitioners to Zhongnanhai to make the so-called "encirclement" [i.e., the 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners' surrounding the state council's complex]. Another fact is that our appeals in Beijing and demonstrations abroad are only to clarify the truth to the people, and for no other purpose. Our actions are directly directed at the wrongful deeds of the Chinese government. We should cultivate Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance; clarify the truth and consider others; we shouldn't leave the people in this world without the opportunity to learn about Dafa. Why else would we have suffered so many severe hardships in order to help Master in this world?
The above are my personal experiences and understanding, and please do let me know if you have any comments.
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