Shared at 2004 Canada Falun Dafa Conference
(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings to Master and fellow practitioners,
In "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference," Teacher said,
"At present, in addition to a Dafa disciple's own, personal cultivation, you need to do a large amount of things to clarify the facts. So I think that for Dafa disciples clarifying the facts has become a unique way of cultivation for you cultivators today. This has never, ever happened before. And it can be called Dafa disciples' magnificent feat of validating the Fa and saving sentient beings during the Fa-rectification."
The Internet has developed very rapidly in Mainland China in recent years. The number of the Internet users has risen to tens of millions, and all kinds of chatting tools have been developed. Many practitioners who have been clarifying the truth on the Internet persistently, feel that the everyday people are truly waking up; more and more people show kindness. However facing so many people who are waiting to be saved, we need to strengthen our effort to clarify the truth more in depth and in more detail. Here, we will share with you the experiences of some practitioners in the Toronto Internet team.
One practitioner shared that the process of clarifying the truth is the process of cultivating Xinxing (1). Our attachments are often reflected from the questions the everyday people ask. I used to feel that I don't have good linguistic skills, and am not good at talking. When I chat with other people in chat rooms through typing words, I like to copy pieces from the articles on our website. One day, a person asked me, how come you're always saying some other people's words. Can you talk with me in your own words?
I realized that when I couldn't answer some questions clearly, it was because those are the parts I'm not clear about myself in the Fa. For a while, I met everyday people who would say to me: even if I understand the truth, what's the use? It can't change anything, we can't do anything, and it's useless. They felt so hopeless. I didn't know how to convince them otherwise. Later when I thought more about it, I found that deep down, I felt that the Fa rectification is already entering the last step of the last stage, that there are very few evil factors left, so how come sometimes the evil still appear to run so rampant; it was me who had the helpless feeling sometimes when I didn't have strong enough righteous thought in the face of interference.
In clarifying the truth, I discovered that the facts are most convincing. Sometimes, when I can't clarify something clearly, it's because I don't know the facts well enough. So I would prepare some facts, including individual persecution cases, with details such as time, location and names, all kinds of statistical data, and the positive media reports on Falun Gong in China before the persecution began. So when I talk with people, I can pull them out when needed. They often have very good effect.
We felt that what can truly touch people is not the words we use, it's our compassion. Sometimes, when my mentality is not so pure, after an hour of debating with them, they still wouldn't change. Yet when I'm truly thinking of them, even though I didn't say much, they would suddenly change. The power of compassion is boundless. When we can give up our own notions and selfishness, our compassion will touch the everyday people to help them understand the truth so that they can have a chance to be saved.
Another practitioner shared that the Internet is a virtual society. All kinds of people are in it, and this has truly formed a channel for them to learn the truth. Once I chatted with a retired soldier who participated in the Tiananmen massacre. After he listened to the truth, he hesitated for a moment before telling me of his own experience. He said he would never forget the scene of June 4, and he didn't know that today another even more brutal massacre is taking place. So many Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted. What is China becoming? He asked what he could do to help.
I told him that the compassion and tolerance of the Falun Gong practitioners are bound to be felt by more and more people. Their magnificent deeds will be recorded in history. Please try your best to help Falun Gong practitioners whenever you can, then you will see the beauty and hope of life. He said that he would remember the truth and try to do his best. He also told me that from Falun Gong practitioners, he saw the most beautiful things in human nature: fearlessness of the brutality, standing up for the truth, and never giving up. He wished that the truth of Falun Gong could be known sooner.
A person who is in charge of the Falun Gong issue in a university police unit in Shandong province has misunderstandings about Falun Gong. He helped some police to persecute Falun Gong practitioners on campus. After listening to our truth-clarification, he changed dramatically and said that he would be kind to Falun Gong practitioners in the future. He said: Your words shocked me. These Falun Gong practitioners are so honest, and they are very talented, many of them are PhDs and Masters. Persecuting them is the same as ruining our country's future. We must pay attention to this.
An engineer, although not agreeing with the persecution, has misunderstandings about Falun Gong. He thinks that if the authorities don't want you to practice, then don't practice. Why try to break a rock with an egg? I asked him, "If a thief has just stolen from you, do you dare to go after him?" He said, "Of course." Then I asked, "If today your parents have been wrongfully accused, do you dare to appeal for redress? If the policeman asked you to curse your parents, would you do it?" He said he wouldn't, so I asked him, "If you refuse to curse, the policeman would torture you--what would you do then?" He couldn't answer. So I said, "Perhaps you'd agree to curse?" He said even if he did it, it wouldn't be from his heart. I told him, "Then you're not a man of honor, as you betray your conscience in the face of torture and lies. Do you respect those who dare to stand up for the truth in the face of similar atrocities?" He said yes. So I asked him to think about what kind of people these Falun Gong practitioners are. Aren't they having the courage to uphold the justice? He suddenly understood and was very respectful. People should live like this; he would treat Falun Gong practitioners better. In his work unit, a practitioner was illegally detained for refusing to give up Falun Gong, and as a consequence, the bonus for all the people working in their office was taken away. So he used to feel negatively towards Falun Gong. After our conversation, he said he would be nice to that practitioner now, that the small amount of money counts for nothing in comparison to the dignity and sincerity of a human being. He will remember Falun Dafa is good!
A construction supervisor asked many questions about Falun Gong, such as, does Falun Gong allow people to take medicine? How come the practice can help to cure illnesses? He also had many questions about people's thoughts and other dimensions. I explained to him through my understanding, using language that everyday people can understand. I told him many Falun Gong practitioners are scientists and experts, and gave him many examples. He became very interested and wanted to read Zhuan Falun. So I give him the website address. He soon found the book there and the next day, he told me he already finished reading the book and would read it again.
A university lecturer in Southern China chatted with me for a long time. Although he understands that Falun Gong is good and has been persecuted, he thinks that the persecution is also understandable. I told him that your way of thinking is just what the people in power want: whatever they say, you should think in this way, even if you object to it, it's useless. Then they would step up the persecution on you, so that you won't even think about making an appeal, and would only follow their way of thinking. For example, if one day they tell you Jiang's theory can build houses for you, then you begin to think it would be great if you could live on the 4th floor. Then they tell you their theory can plant trees for you, and you think, "I want an apple tree." So they are manipulating how you think. They don't do any solid things for the people, but they lull your mind: this is what they want: to deprive you of rational thinking. They are persecuting you, yet they won't allow you to say a word. Think about it, how can something good be persecuted just because someone in power doesn't like it? On the other hand, if he likes evil things, harmful things, do other people have to like those things too? In this way, how can our country have a future? In the end, he said, "You changed my notions. I finally found myself, Falun Gong is so good, and should be spread far and wide."
When I talk about global efforts to bring Jiang to justice, many people had strong reactions. One person said that the day he's brought to justice will be a festival for all Chinese people. Others said they support putting him on trial.
Another practitioner shared her own understanding. She mainly clarifies the truth by exchanging typed messages on the Internet. After some auto tool had been developed, she would collect news and good articles on the Internet and edit them into short segments and broadcast them in chat rooms. There are often over 100 people in the chat rooms. In the beginning, she wondered if other people would read her messages, but soon she began to see reactions. Some agreed, some disagreed, and some cursed. She would then reply to them to clarify the truth more in depth and help them to know that Falun Dafa is good. Some of those people would then ask her for a Falun Gong website address, some wanted to read Zhuan Falun.
One day she met a high school student, and after chatting several times, he began to know that Falun Dafa is good, and they began to know each other better. Soon, this student emailed her to ask for money. She told him, I'm sorry, I can't lend you money, because Falun Gong practitioners save on food and clothes, in order to make truth-clarifying materials to tell people that Falun Gong is good, to save them. After sending off this reply, she thought that the student perhaps would never reply again. But to her surprise, she soon heard back, the student said, "Thank you so much for your kindness, all Chinese people thank you!"
Another time, I met a person who used to practice Falun Gong before July 20, but gave up after the persecution started and began to gamble and is now deep in debt. But he can read Minghui and see Master's new articles. He is pessimistic and felt that he could no longer cultivate. She shared with him her own understandings and experiences, and urged him to continue cultivating. But this didn't have much effect, so she left him her email address. Half a year later, she suddenly received an email from him, saying that he had begun to cultivate again because he read Master's new article. She truly felt the great compassion of Master and witnessed the magnificent power of Dafa. Master doesn't want to leave anyone behind, yet she thought, "he doesn't want to practice any more," so she gave up on him. Later she helped him to send his solemn statement to Minghui. He also helped other practitioners in his hometown to resume cultivation. From then on, they maintained contact and exchanged cultivation experiences. She faxed him truth-clarifying materials, and he has overcome his own fear and begun to distribute materials on his own.
Thank you!
Notes:
(1) heart nature, thought-quality, character
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