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An Open Hearted Letter

Jan. 21, 2002

To the Chinese Ambassadors, Councilors and staff members from a Western practitioner

I have great admiration for your Chinese civilization. Wonderful people have come from the ancient land of China: talented doctors like Huatuo, moral exemplars like Lei Feng, spiritual greats like Yue Fei, and teachers like Lao Zi. Sadly, over the last several decades this wonderful history has been repressed and attacked, and this continues today. I write this letter thinking of your benefit. I hope that you read it, and keep an open mind.

Last November I went to the Forbidden City and saw a building there called "The Hall of Mental Cultivation" ("Yang Xin Dian"). It pained my heart to know that just across the street, in Tiananmen Square, people are being arrested, beaten, and murdered for standing up for their right to practice "Mental Cultivation." Two days later I went to the Square with 35 people from 12 countries to support these brave people. I was not hired to go there. Our banner read "Truth Compassion Tolerance." I was arrested, and I was beaten. As a Westerner, I was not murdered. Is there something wrong with Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance? These values are deeply rooted in Chinese culture, how could they possibly be called anti-Chinese?

Falun Dafa has been the biggest gift to my life. It has brought me better health, better relationships, and a deeper appreciation of Chinese culture. Confucius said: "Virtue is not left to stand alone. He who practices it will have." Falun Dafa has taught me to value virtue. It has taught me to think of others first, and care less about my selfish interests. Unfortunately, I find that many people cannot believe that anything selfless exists. What a shame! Look at what is happening in China, people are risking their lives to tell you the truth. My friends' sister was just arrested for passing flyers telling people the truth about Falun Dafa and the persecution. A man in Hubei was recently beaten to death while he was posting flyers. Practitioners have learned to no longer think in a selfish way, and this scares Jiang. Isn't that the truth?

"We are not against the government now, nor will we be in the future. People may treat us badly but we do not treat others badly, nor do we treat people as enemies."

(Li Hongzhi, July 23, 1999).

Before the persecution began, many high-ranking Party members practiced Falun Dafa, so it is therefore not against the government. You were told that Dafa practitioners are murderers, or suicidal fanatics, or that they don't take any medicine. 1-"Zhuan Falun" has an entire section that discusses killing and how wrong it is;

2-Falun Dafa teaches to cherish life, practitioners would not sin by killing themselves; 3-Li Hongzhi said: "for critically ill people, if you feel bad go to the hospital without delay."

Please think about it, I am telling you the truth. People practice Falun Dafa in over 50 countries, yet it is only banned in China. Why? In none of the other countries has the government or the government-controlled media mentioned any killing or suicide. Falun Dafa has received over 600 proclamations from people all over the world: from mayors, presidents, and kings. Everybody knows that Falun Dafa is good. In the Tiananmen Station a frustrated policeman told us "I know Falun Dafa is good, and I know that you are good people." More and more people are realizing this. I think that in your heart you also know that Falun Dafa is good, and that we are good people.

I practice Falun Dafa, and you don't. That is not a problem. I would like to be your friend, I have nothing against you. Think back a few years. What did you think of Falun Dafa before the media started slandering it, before it was banned? What did you think of it before you were shown pictures and videos telling you how bad it was? Did it bother you? You don't need me to tell you that you are your own person and you have your own mind. You are not the government, and the government is not you. You are You! If Jiang says that you are good does that then make you good? If Jiang says that you are evil, does that then make you evil?

I think that some of you don't know, yet some of you know but choose to ignore. Imagine that your mother, who regained her health after practicing Falun Dafa, is now being beaten unconscious in Wanjia. Imagine your son, who became more diligent and earned "best student" awards after practicing Falun Dafa, is now on his third week of hunger strike in Masanjia and is being force fed soy milk through the nose. Imagine your wife, who stopped fighting with you after she learned "tolerance," is now thrown naked into a male jail cell. These things happen every day. It is true. More and more people know it. In China vicious people, who are not you, are raping, torturing and killing innocent, kind-hearted people under the mask of "doing their jobs." Does doing your job include slandering Falun Dafa? Does doing your job include taking other peoples' rights to freedom away? These rights are guaranteed in your country's constitution! Don't you know the painful truth about the persecution, the truth the whole world has realized and one that is adding to your government's shame every day? Think about it, if you don't turn around history will regard you as even worse then the Nazi soldiers who were also "just doing their jobs." Where will you stop, how many lives will you help ruin? Please wake up before it is too late!

I know you are under a lot pressure, and I know that you have many concerns. This is why I write this letter to you from my heart. I'm appealing to your kind-hearted side. The side that cares about people, the side that wants to lead a happy, dignified life, the side that wishes that you weren't put into this situation. I hope you will be courageous and will not contribute to the suffering any more.

Good is rewarded with good, and evil is rewarded with evil.