(Minghui.org) When I heard that Jeju Island, South Korea, was popular with Chinese tourists, I wanted to go there and help local practitioners clarify the truth about the persecution. I was able to arrange for a break from work in June, so I booked a hotel and went to Jeju Island for two weeks.
Before I headed to the island, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) embassy had sent thugs to the truth-clarification site near the duty-free shop on Jeju Island, and they violently attacked the practitioners there. After I watched footage of their attack, I felt unsettled. I realized this was interference, and I should send righteous thoughts and focus on coordinating with the other practitioners.
My flight to Jeju Island was smooth. While I waited for immigration clearance at the airport I saw many Chinese tourists filling the arrival halls. The next day my wish was fulfilled and I was standing at the truth-clarification site on Jeju Island! I felt very happy as I watched the constant stream of tourists from China—I was eager to tell them about Falun Dafa.
A constant flow of tourists who were eager to enter the duty-free shop passed by our site. We only had a seconds to talk to them, so I spoke loudly, and said, “Have a great trip! Please remember that Falun Dafa is good and that the Tiananmen self-immolation was a hoax.” Many people seemed to sense our sincerity and kindness, and smiled at us.
While talking I always made sure to maintain righteous thoughts, and I tried my best to convey kind thoughts to everyone. I felt that even if they didn’t have the chance to learn the full details at that moment they could hopefully have a positive impression of Falun Dafa.
I understand that Chinese people live in an environment where right and wrong are reversed, so they require time to process the information and understand the truth. The degree to which people are brainwashed varies, and many accept the CCP lies as truth. For those people who have been severely poisoned, practitioners need to give them a chance to change their notions and habitual ways of thinking. We need to let them see that Falun Dafa is different from what the CCP claims, so that they will be willing to learn more about the truth.
Every practitioner represents Dafa’s image, so I pay great attention to my personal appearance when I go out to talk to people about Falun Dafa. As I had just bought new clothes before leaving the country, I brought them with me, planned my outfits carefully, and put in the effort to put on proper makeup, aiming to bring pure compassion and pure beauty to the sentient beings, so that they would feel that the demeanor of a Dafa practitioner is very different from the CCP’s propaganda. I think that a neat and proper appearance shows that you value and respect others. If one wears makeup every day for office work, how much more important is it when we go out to clarify the truth?
Many group tourists widened their eyes with astonishment when they saw us. Someone said, “You are so attractive…” I replied him with a smile, “Everyone who practices Falun Dafa is attractive.” Later I thought about it, and changed my reply to “I look good because I do the Falun Dafa exercises.” Indeed, there were a few days when I was shocked as I looked into the mirror after returning to the hotel, because my whole face seemed to be radiating light. I looked absolutely radiant, so different from my usual self. I understand that practitioners look attractive so people will have a good impression of Falun Dafa and be saved.
I emphasize my attitude and demeanor. The Minghui.org article “Clarifying the Truth to Strangers: Things to Note When Distributing Materials” is accurate. We need to be courteous, and smile and make eye contact. We should take the initiative to greet people while maintaining a gentle, friendly demeanor, that is poised and respectful, neither servile nor arrogant.
From my observation, the people who come to the duty-free shops are mostly wealthy Chinese. They often have vested interests within the CCP system and are deeply indoctrinated. Therefore, interacting with them requires great care and empathy. Of course, this is not always the case. I’ve also found that they often have access to diverse information, and some are able to bypass the CCP’s Great Firewall to read the truth, making it a bit easier to talk to them about what is happening to Falun Dafa in China.
One young and stylishly dressed lady made a deep impression on me. She and her friend stopped and looked at the truth-clarification display boards, so I talked to them. When I mentioned that the Tiananmen self-immolation is a hoax, she said with certainty, “I’ve already researched this, so I know that the Tiananmen self-immolation was staged by the CCP.” When her friend disagreed, the woman said to her, “You’ve been brainwashed by the CCP!”
One young man told me he knew about Falun Dafa because his roommate was a practitioner. However, he thought that it was enough just to know that the CCP is bad, and there was no need to quit the CCP. After I explained the importance of quitting he agreed to quit. This made me realize that we and the practitioners in China are one whole body. We work in relays to save sentient beings.
We need to use different approaches to convince people to quit the CCP. One man would not listen to a practitioner. I happened to be standing nearby, and I waited until they finished talking. I explained that quitting the CCP was withdrawing from politics and supporting kindness and justice. Approaching the topic from this angle convinced this man. He happily quit the CCP and even smiled and at me when he left the duty-free shop.
While I was holding a truth-clarifying display board about Falun Dafa being practiced around the world, there were few passersby to clarify the truth to, but I kept sending righteous thoughts. When my shift was about to end, a young lady, who looked like a university student, came to me and asked me in a friendly tone, “What is Falun Dafa all about?” I told her that Falun Dafa is a cultivation practice that is rooted in Buddhist tradition. It was first introduced to the public in the form of qigong in Changchun, China, and is now the pride of Chinese people. She was very happy to hear this. I explained that the Tiananmen self-immolation was a hoax, and why millions of Chinese already quit the CCP. She believed everything I said, and quit the CCP.
I also met a grandparent and his grandchild, who wanted to buy some vegetables, and asked me for directions. I explained where the market was, and they were very grateful. I then went on to talk about Falun Dafa, and persuaded them to quit the CCP and its youth organizations. Both of them accepted what I said.
When it rained heavily I took out my umbrella and helped people cross the street. One lady thanked me, and within a few seconds, she agreed to quit the CCP.
Through face-to-face talks, some “little pinks” (young Chinese who defend China through social media posts) who were seriously brainwashed by the CCP also changed. A young “little pink” was initially hostile when I mentioned Falun Dafa. He directly rebutted that the “Tiananmen self-immolation was a hoax,” “How do you prove that the self-immolation case is a hoax?” I did not get drawn into his line of reasoning, but instead told him that I practiced Falun Dafa. We live by the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and treat others with kindness. We cannot kill other beings or commit suicide. With that, he quieted down.
After a while, he spoke in a hostile tone again, this time questioning how more than 400 million people had quit the CCP and its youth organizations. I did not fall into his line of reasoning. Instead, I sent righteous thoughts and looked at him. He immediately stopped talking. I thought that this was a rare chance for him to interact with a Falun Dafa practitioner, and he would also reflect on the brainwashing propaganda.
My major is political science, so I have a deep understanding the CCP’s evil nature. I feel that the people in China live in a large scale prison. One middle-aged man who looked like a government official was sitting on a stone bench. When a practitioner talked to him he listened. I also went to talk to him later, and he listened very seriously, but did not reply. The corners of his mouth turned down, and his eyes and expression portrayed a profound sense of pain and sorrow. I truly felt the helplessness and pain that Chinese people feel under the CCP’s rule.
Another incident made me deeply feel the power of righteous thoughts. There was a group tour in which the young men, who were deeply poisoned by the CCP’s lies, were contemptuous and hostile towards us. One of them was about to make a gesture and utter a sarcastic remark when I sent forth righteous thoughts. He immediately put his hand down and didn’t say anything more.
There was also a middle-aged man who made a racket and shouted, “You say that China is not good, China is doing so well now…” I calmly told him, “The CCP does not represent China. We too are very happy that China is doing well.” He did not expect us to respond in this way, so he was very surprised.
I am relatively more sensitive to other dimensions At the tourist attraction site, I truly felt that the fight between the righteous and the evil was very intense. We are on the very front lines, so the evil hates us with a vengeance. Therefore, it is very important that we constantly maintain very strong, righteous thoughts. My body seems to have no strength as I walk home after my shift. Therefore, I all the more did not dare to slack in my Fa study and exercises. Gradually, my cultivation state improved, and more people were willing to quit the CCP.
I think that we are truly seeing the results of the 27 years of Falun Dafa practitioners persevering in clarifying the truth to people. On the whole, as compared to the years when the persecution first started, there are now more sentient beings from China daring to learn about Falun Dafa. Many people give us a thumbs up, or nod their heads with smiles expressing their support. There are even people who keep shouting, “Falun Dafa is good!” when they see the truth-clarification site.
I would like to cite some areas where we can do better, and encourage and spur each other on. First is what the coordinator emphasized repeatedly, “Do not chase after the Chinese people.” I had seen cases where the practitioners chased after Chinese tourists, which really put them off! In that way, not only did we not clarify the truth successfully, we even pushed them further away. Not being able to save these persons is a very serious matter, and they may be destroyed because the Dafa practitioners did not do a good job.
Second, some practitioners may want to consider adjusting their ways of clarifying the truth. I heard a practitioner telling a Chinese tourist directly at the start, “Your forehead bears an evil mark…” Some practitioners start off with, “You young people need to be careful when you walk on the streets. The forced organ harvesting now is targeting young people. Some youngsters are being kidnapped while they are walking down the streets.” or “The CCP is a demon, not a human.”
I think that Chinese people who went through atheist education since they were young will find it hard accept hearing these words. I saw that the expressions of many of these sentient beings was one of disdain and rejection after hearing such words. I also saw that if a practitioner changed their angle of approach by starting to explain slowly from the start to those sentient beings who were willing to listen, before moving on to say that they were branded with the mark of evil, these people were actually able to accept the truth. If we start at such a high point right from the start, it’s hard to predict the effect of the truth-clarification.
When I shared my thoughts with fellow practitioners, they thought that shocking those sentient beings would arouse their interest to listen. But I recalled that Master said:
“...or the sake of saving sentient beings you can do it strategically and with wisdom. But don’t shock the world’s people. You should save sentient beings.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume III)
I heard a practitioner tell someone, “The CCP is not equivalent to China. Loving the country is not equivalent to loving the Party,” and “Do not love the wrong person,” such remarks are relatively neutral and humorous. Not only did they address the mental knots held by the people, they also gave them something to reflect on after leaving, making it quite effective.
There is also no problem with practitioners exchanging cultivation thoughts for a while, since it is not easy for us to see each other. However, the tourist attraction site is the frontline where the good and bad goes to war to save lives. It is not really a place for exchanging cultivation thoughts. So if we place too much emphasis on exchanging cultivation thoughts and spend a lot of time talking, and even chatting, the public may see this and forms a negative impression. It also creates a loophole for the evil to exploit.
On top of that, the content of the display boards and of Minghui radio audio files that are played at the tourist attraction site may be a bit dated, and much of the content was written from a relatively high level. I thought it would be better to use the content that Minghui.org published for display boards at tourist sites, and explain the truth clearly. This would be a better way to help save the Chinese who were poisoned by the CCP.
The above are just some of my own cultivation experiences. I am writing about them to share with fellow practitioners so that we can cultivate diligently and save more sentient beings together.