(Clearwisdom.net) A few months ago, a newspaper from Berlin published an article about Falun Gong. In it, they quoted a priest who was also a so-called expert that had done research regarding cults. It was very negative and echoed the tune of Jiang Zemin Government in China.
As such, I called him. Although he was very distant the first time I called, he was still fairly polite. I wrote him a letter illustrating my point of view on different matters. I called him again a week later. He asked me if it was because I needed his help to breakaway from the cult. He hung up the second I said, "No." The Germans that had seen him on TV all said he was a very self-centered and conceited person.
At a later date he reported on the history of Germany's religion. We decided that we would talk to him at this time. We continuously sent forth righteous thoughts while he was reporting. We saw him after he finished reporting. When he saw three very kind and gentle female Chinese students waiting to talk to him, his manner became very friendly. When he learned that we practiced Falun Gong, he was stunned for a second, but he still kindly accepted truth-clarifying, Falun Gong materials from us. At the same time, he also agreed to schedule a time to talk to us.
Early in November, I went to clarify the truth to him with a German practitioner. Aside from us, there were six other people there. A majority of them were experts in religious studies. One of them was a physicist.
From the conversation, we discovered that this priest had read Zhuan Falun and all of Master's (Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa) articles, including the latest articles. He either quoted out of context or misinterpreted the articles due to cultural differences. The other five were pretty much in the same situation. They had all read Zhuan Falun and opposed China's persecution, but their thought processes were limited by the knowledge gained from their professions. As such, some of them fiercely opposed Dafa. From the very beginning, I told them that our goal was not to convince anybody. I said that we were there to talk about our cultivation experience and exchange some opinions.
These six people were very serious scholars. They thoroughly analyzed each and every word and tried to verify every sentence according to their views. We treated every question as a chance for them to learn about the principles of Dafa and to open up their minds. Regardless from which angle they approached, we answered based on the Fa (the principles, the law of the universe). They were all very satisfied. After approximately two hours of intense discussion, they had become interested in finding out what Falun Gong was truly about. I showed them the five sets of exercises. I had one thought in mind when I was doing the exercises: I will send forth compassion from Dafa.
The priest got hold of a camera while I was doing the exercises. He took ten or more pictures at once. The atmosphere totally changed after the exercises. I could see happiness in everybody's eyes. A few minutes after I had finished the exercises, the lady who had continuously used a provoking tone to ask questions seemed to be engrossed by the harmonious atmosphere. A while later, she gently asked me, "Where can we learn the exercises?" We talked for another hour or so after that. That lady asked a few more questions, but her tone had changed dramatically.
After conversing for three hours, the priest ended the discussion. With a smile, he thanked us for attending the discussion and demonstrating the exercises. He continuously mentioned that we should keep in touch. He even told the physicist that he ought to be satisfied with today's discussion. The physicist nodded his head many times. At the end, we took a picture with the priest in the hallway at his suggestion.
From this conversation, I have realized that the reason they were happy was because we had used compassionate hearts and the principles of the Fa to break the shell that was preventing them from obtaining the Fa. The effectiveness was not based on giving them definite yes or no answers to their questions. For instance, the physicist's biggest concern was to confirm the truth about aliens and supernormal capabilities. Although he did not get any confirmation from us, he was very satisfied with the discussion.
Throughout the three hours of discussion, regardless of how abrasive their questions got, regardless how impatient they were, regardless how strong their prejudice was, I still listened with a smile and patiently reasoned with them. I remembered what Master said, "People haven't come to this human world for nothing." (Lecture on the Fa at the Washington, D.C. International Conference) Everyone has his or her own way of obtaining Dafa. I thought to myself, "We should not give up on any human beings." This is the basic compassion of a Dafa disciple.
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
