(Minghui.org) I´d like to share my experience of talking about the persecution to members of the Czech Parliament. About 7 years ago, Czech practitioners decided to ask our senators, who are members of the upper chamber of the Czech Parliament, to pass a resolution that would express moral support for persecuted Falun Dafa practitioners and condemn the persecution. The main purpose was to clarify the truth to the senators so that they could be saved and because they represent the entire nation. We believed that the resolution could play a role in saving all people of the Czech republic.
When I first asked senators for an appointment I did not mention the word “resolution” because I felt they might refuse to meet with us.
In 2012, we arranged a meeting with a senator who was the chairman of the petition and human rights committee. We told him about the persecution and everything went very smoothly. We wrote up a draft of the resolution, which he accepted without modifications. We were invited to a committee meeting where senators were to vote on the resolution.
We asked a Chinese practitioner who lived in Finland to come to Prague and attend this meeting. Her mother had been imprisoned in China for a very long time. When she told her mother's story it felt like a very pure, humble and compassionate energy filled the meeting room. I felt that all senators present were moved by this energy and it cleared away all their concerns. The resolution was passed unanimously to the big surprise of the senators who were not members of the committee.
Our journey began easily and smoothly but later things got complicated. The Senate committee was supposed to pass the resolution onto a higher level so that it could be discussed during a Senate plenary session. This never happened and the senators backed out of it telling us they wouldn't have time to discuss it. They stopped communicating with us. In retrospect I see that we probably failed to raise our cultivation levels so the resolution could not be raised to a higher level. I fell into the trap of looking outward instead of examining myself to identify the problem we were facing.
Although the process seemed to have stalled we did not give up. We wrote a petition to inform the public so they could ask senators to pass the resolution.
After we collected about 37,000 signatures we delivered them to the Senate's petition committee. By this time most of the senators had been replaced but the pressure on them which came from the evil specter of communism still persisted. The Senate committee organized a couple of meetings where we, with the help of an organ harvesting investigator, Chinese practitioners and survivors of the persecution, clarified the facts about the persecution. Throughout this process I often had the feeling that the senator who was in charge of our petition was not entirely honest with us. He said one thing but thought another. At times we weren't sure which side he was standing on. For example, he canceled a round table discussion one week before the date. It had been planned long in advance and we had invited people from abroad to attend the discussion. All the arrangements were in place and their airline tickets and hotel rooms had been paid for.
The reason given for the abrupt cancellation of the round table meeting was that the Chinese embassy and other people who were on the opposition group did not confirm participation of the discussion. My first thought on hearing this rather shocking news was that I did not accept the old forces' arrangement. I only accepted our Master´s arrangement in this matter. When we calmed down and started thinking about why this happened, we realized that the Senate might not have cooperated well with us because local Czech practitioners had not cooperated well with each other.
For several years there was a group of practitioners in the Czech capital who were isolated from the others. The situation with the Senate helped us realize that it was high time we abandoned any past notions and cooperated with them. Perhaps because our thoughts changed a little miracle happened. The Senate round table discussion which took months to organize but was suddenly canceled, was arranged in two hours! It was scheduled in the Chamber of Deputies, which is the lower chamber of the Czech Parliament. Our guests did not come in vain.
The next surprise that the senator in charge of our petition prepared a draft of the resolution. We were invited to a meeting where he read the draft of the resolution he had written. As I listened to it, however, I felt that all the energy we had been putting in this matter was in vain. The drafted resolution was, from my point of view, very brief, diplomatic and empty. It did not express any stance and only shifted the responsibility to other authorities. When we later asked the committee chairman to rewrite it, we were told that they would not change anything. We could propose an amendment during our speech at the plenary session before the resolution was voted on.
It was clear that senators were afraid of criticizing the Chinese regime or even giving moral support to Falun Dafa practitioners. We discussed which of us three practitioners would speak on behalf of the Falun Dafa Association during the plenary session. I hoped it wouldn't be me and we agreed that another practitioner would make a speech. When another practitioner and I discussed what should be said she pointed out that I should make the speech. The thought stirred up my fear and almost paralyzed me.
I couldn't fall asleep that night and when I did I had a nightmare. I understood that if I had such great fear, how could senators not fear standing up to the Chinese regime? So the next day I began eliminating this fear. I refused to go along with the old forces' arrangement which had planted this fear of public speaking in me long ago. To my surprise, most of the fear quickly disappeared. In the end I had to give the speech.
I prepared my speech. I wanted the senators to listen and I believed that if I spoke from my heart instead of reading a speech they would pay attention. I decided to memorize the speech. I was very surprised that it went very easily with minimum effort.
We contacted each senator and asked them to propose an amendment to the resolution so that it would at least express moral support for Falun Dafa practitioners. Finally, we found two senators who had the courage to do it. One day before the vote we quickly drafted the amendment.
The day came when the Senate was to discuss and vote on the resolution. We spent almost 6 hours waiting for our turn because other items on the agenda dragged on for hours. It was a good thing because the practitioners sitting in the conference room sent forth righteous thoughts the entire time to clear the field.
Finally, the chairman invited us and the Senate discussed our petition. I tried to speak from my heart clearly, to appeal to the conscience of the attending senators and clarify the facts about the persecution and Falun Dafa. Thanks to the righteous field that practitioners had formed, in the end, it was much easier than I expected. After I spoke one practitioner told me that it was the best speech he had ever heard. Then 5 senators, one after another, gave speeches in which they further clarified the facts about the persecution of Falun Dafa and organ harvesting and repeatedly pleaded with their colleagues to support the resolution. Righteous energy once again filled the room and influenced the senators. Almost all of them voted for the resolution. After the vote, a couple of senators congratulated us and thanked us from the bottom of their hearts. We felt that it was a historic day for the Czech Republic.
We are urging the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament to pass a similar resolution. We visit members of Parliament and tell them the facts about the persecution. If our righteous thoughts are strong it's usually quite easy to arrange an appointment with them.
When I went to one of these meetings I felt a bit nervous. I realized that it´s probably because I am concerned with myself too much, whether “I” could manage the meeting well. So, I tried to focus on the person I was about to meet. What was most important was that he be saved, instead of worrying about my ego. I managed to transform nervousness into compassion.
More and more MPs learn the facts about Falun Dafa and the persecution. Many want to help us by spreading the information or by giving us good advice. Our journey gets smoother and smoother but we still have to overcome inner or external kinds of interference.
During this process of clarifying the truth to Parliament members I have been learning to actively deny the arrangements of the old forces, keep calm and not fight with people when interference happens. I've let go of layers of my ego, work persistently, and not give up and trust myself.
Thank you Master for arranging this journey for us and helping us walk it.
(Presented at the 2019 European Fa Conference)