(Clearwisdom.net) Colorado's population is approximately 4.5 million people. There are a total of 65 state representatives. On May 7, 2003, one day before its annual recess, the House of Representatives of the 64th General Assembly of the State of Colorado passed House Resolution 03-1013 "Concerning the Elimination of the Persecution of Practitioners of the Falun Gong Practice." The House Resolution 03-1013 was sponsored by Representative Frank Wedding and co-sponsored by 24 representatives that comprised 40% of the House of Representatives. (For full-text of House Resolution 03-1013 please read "Colorado House of Representatives Passes Resolution Concerning Ending the Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners [May 2003]," http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2003/5/30/36308.html).
We would like to share our cultivation experiences in clarifying the truth to the state representatives. Please kindly correct any erroneous information.
In February 2003, Falun Dafa practitioners of the United States' west coast were getting ready for the upcoming "Falun Dafa Month in US-West" celebration activities. At the same time, Resolution 03-1013 was introduced. Due to time constraints, we were unable to lobby extensively concerning Resolution 03-1013. We even encountered some interference. After viewing a copy of Resolution 03-1013, we had to agree unanimously that it was generic and not very meaningful.
We studied the Fa extensively and thus came to understand that this was the perfect opportunity to clarify the truth to Colorado's state representatives more thoroughly. We delivered truth-clarification packages to each Colorado state representative approximately one and a half years ago, met with some, received some letters of support; yet we now realize that we hadn't helped them understand the truth about the persecution, and about Falun Dafa. This was a perfect opportunity for us to advance the process of drafting the Resolution, delivering it to the corresponding committees, and introducing it for vote. It was the perfect opportunity to expose the evil drama, clarify the truth about Falun Dafa, and offer sentient beings salvation. Teacher said,
"You have to expose the persecution and the evil drama, and you have to let the world's people see it clearly, and this too suppresses it and eliminates it." ("Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference.")
Since we reached a collective understanding concerning this effort, based on the Fa, we discussed with Representative Wedding the possibility of perfecting the draft of Resolution 03-1013. Representative Wedding became a willing participant, and refined the resolution. For example, he added that Dr. Charles Li, an American citizen, has been illegally detained since January 22, 2003. As soon as the draft was improved, we began to thoroughly clarify the truth to all of Colorado's state representatives, and to ask for their support concerning Resolution 03-1013.
We decided on the following approach in contacting the state representatives: Dafa practitioners formed teams of two. Each team consisted of an Eastern and a Western Dafa practitioner. Given their different perspectives, Eastern and Western Dafa practitioners were able to improve upon, as well as complement, each other's presentations for the truth-clarification discussions with the state representatives.
Most of the state representatives are very honorable. A young state representative volunteered to co-sponsor it after he found out that representative Wedding sponsored Resolution 03-1013. There was another sincere young representative, who the moment we explained the purpose of our visit, declared without delay, "Falun Gong is a peaceful cultivation system. I'm fully aware that the Chinese Communist government has and still is persecuting these kind Falun Gong cultivators. I support this Resolution wholeheartedly!" One female state representative had visited China. She was favorably impressed by the Chinese people, and could not fathom why the Chinese regime continued to violate human rights. After we told her about the persecution that Dafa practitioners suffer in China and overseas, she did not hesitate for one moment, and called representative Wedding to volunteer as a co-sponsor. Another young representative feels rather incensed with the Chinese regime, because of its continued violations of human rights. He requested that we explain the importance of Resolution 03-1013 to two of his friends, two state representatives of Colorado. He volunteered to co-sponsor Resolution 03-1013 without a moment's hesitation. We also experienced many touching stories during this outreach. For example, after clarifying the truth about Falun Gong to the assistant of a female state representative, she held our hands in tears and said, "Thank you so much for taking the time to explain the truth about the persecution that Falun Gong practitioners are suffering. I will make sure that the representative reads this Resolution and that she understands the truth about Falun Gong's persecution."
We have also met with some state representatives who had a difficult time accepting the truth. We agreed that we should look within ourselves and find, based on the Fa, where we were lacking. In the meantime, we were positive that it was most important to continue to send righteous thoughts. The evil elements that manipulated these state representatives had to be eliminated. We can't capitulate when we encounter obstacles. Perhaps those representatives were deceived by the evil's deceptive lies, or maybe there were some hidden sources for their inability to heed us. After sharing our understanding, based on the Fa, we decided that we would write letters to each of those state representatives who did not support, understand, or care about Resolution 03-1013. Perhaps they needed more time and Dafa practitioners' compassion to take a step in the right direction. Although the minds of everyday people are complicated, we must bear in mind that we came to the human world to offer salvation to sentient beings.
While clarifying the truth to the state government, we often discovered Teacher's compassionate arrangements. There was a time when we encountered difficulties in making appointments with the state representatives' offices. At that moment, a young lady approached and greeted us. She told us that she adopted a baby girl from China. Later we ran into her again in the cafeteria. This time we approached and talked with her. We told her about Resolution 03-1013 and clarified the truth. We also mentioned our inability to meet with the state representatives because of their tight schedules. She told us that she represented several lobbying groups and often met with state representatives. Then she gave us a little tutorial on how to meet a representative without having an appointment. She asked if we had business cards with us, and told us to write the representative's name on the back of a business card, and then hand it to the security guard standing outside the conference hall of the House of Representatives. We accepted her suggestion. Not surprisingly, the representatives came to see us within a short period of time. After we explained the purpose of our visit, most state representatives accepted the truth-clarification packages we had prepared in advance. Using this approach, we were able to meet with more than ten state representatives in one day.
Working to get a resolution passed in the House of Representatives is an excellent way to clarify the truth. The first time we visited the House of Representatives, we brought a list of representatives and their telephone numbers. The result of ninety percent of the calls was getting their voice mails, and the rest of the times we could only speak with the representatives' assistants. It did not matter if it was the state representatives, their assistants, or the receptionists, we were polite to all of them and clarified the truth every chance we got. Those Dafa practitioners who volunteered to clarify the truth to the state government visited the House of Representatives in Colorado at least once a week. Some practitioners had to drive close to 100 miles to the House of Representatives. Each trip would take them a whole day. The biggest difference compared with our prior efforts was that we would not give up on any representative. We tried our best to meet with each and every state representative. Our minds were as calm as still water when we clarified the truth. We kept the thought in our minds that we were offering sentient beings salvation. During this process, we motivated many western practitioners to join our efforts. They began by volunteering to write letters and to deliver truth-clarification packages to the state representatives. A lady who worked as an executive assistant in the legislative section helped revise and print Resolution 03-1013. She had not heard about Falun Dafa. Eventually she gained a correct, but elementary understanding of Falun Dafa, read materials on the Internet and from the packages we delivered. She once shared her thoughts with us, "All the state representatives need to hear about and practice Falun Gong. They need to order their daily work and life based on the principles Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance. This is just what they need."
The process of clarifying the truth to state representatives was a marvelous opportunity for Dafa practitioners to learn to cooperate with each other and progress in our cultivation levels as a team. There are many Western Dafa practitioners in Colorado, who have cultivated Falun Dafa for only a short time, and yet they have an excellent understanding of the Fa and do Fa-rectification work with a peaceful mind. We rarely had arguments. In fact, we think highly of each other.
Just before the resolution came before the committee to be voted on, we contacted the State Governor's office and managed to host a one-week long color photo-exhibit with the theme of "Falun Dafa in Colorado" on the first floor of the State Government Building. This photo-exhibit provided the assistants and staff members of the state representatives offices, as well as the tourists, an opportunity to understand the truth about Falun Dafa and Colorado Dafa practitioners. A visitor told us that ever since he witnessed police officers beating up Falun Gong practitioners at Tiananmen Square, he has been very closely following news related to Falun Gong. A state representative was pleasantly surprised when he saw himself in a photograph from last year's Falun Dafa Day celebration activity.
To be more effective in our truth clarification efforts, we attended a State Committee Hearing, where three Dafa practitioners were called to the witness stand. Throughout the hearing, several elderly Dafa practitioners, who were not fluent in English, sent forth righteous thoughts outside the hearing room. They contributed just as much as those who clarified the truth to the state representatives. Teacher said, "The better you cooperate with each other as a whole the more powerful you are, and the more powerful you are the greater your impact." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Midwest-U.S. Fa Conference.")
We realized that clarifying the truth widely and thoroughly harmonized our undertaking. As we clarify the truth more widely and to a wider range of audiences, more and more people will understand the truth about Falun Gong. This encourages us to clarify the truth more thoroughly. As we clarify the truth more thoroughly, those who already have an in-depth understanding of Falun Gong will help spread the truth to more people. Through clarifying the truth to the state representatives, we arrived at a deeper understanding of how to clarify the truth more widely and thoroughly. This resulted in forty percent of the state representatives co-sponsoring Resolution 03-1013. Of course, we also realized that we hadn't clarified the truth to the state representatives widely and thoroughly enough in the past. Some of the state representatives from rural areas had heard very little of Falun Dafa. Those were the exact areas where we rarely promoted the Fa in the past. We will be more diligent now and spend more time and effort clarifying the truth in these areas.
