(Minghui.org) The Shen Yun Office has issued an announcement on things to pay attention to when placing door hangers and undertaking similar promotional efforts. This is a followup notice. We hope that this will be duly noted in the various areas.
Some extreme thoughts and actions have emerged in the process of putting up door hangers. For example:
* Some practitioners requested that other practitioners hurry up and save more people by skipping eating, drinking, or going to the restroom. They think that this is what being diligent means. Some practitioners had no choice but to go into the woods or even into people's backyards when needing to go to the bathroom.
* For communities or residential areas with locked fences or gates, practitioners in some areas were encouraged to scale them or crawl under them. Because it was difficult to distribute materials during the daytime in some residential areas, practitioners chose to cover those areas after dark, or even in the middle of the night.
* Some practitioners thought that there was no need to bring water. When they got thirsty, they used faucets in people's backyards.
* Management at some upscale office buildings, firms, or hospitals do not allow us to distribute materials. Some practitioners chose to try to get past security and sneak into these buildings.
* One practitioner left a bag of materials inside an elevator while distributing materials floor by floor to save time. When other practitioners asked her why she was doing that, she said, “Don't worry, the materials won't get lost.” After terrorist attacks such as 9/11 or the Boston Marathon bombing, unattended packages are often seen as dangerous and suspicious. Why didn't the practitioners who did this sort of thing consider the impact of their actions on others?
In a civilized society such as the U.S., gates and fences are often not that high, and not meant to keep out those with bad intentions. Many housewives stay at home and are able to observe abnormal behavior in their backyards or communities. We are promoting a top-level, world class performance, and anything that representatives of the show do could affect Shen Yun's reputation. Such uncivilized behavior is against the norms of Western society, and it has severely harmed the image of Shen Yun. Even if a few tickets were sold this way, they are far outweighed by the long-term negative impact on the public, and this is definitely not what Shen Yun needs.
Many office buildings in the U.S. are electronically controlled. The doors are closed magnetically, and they require badge access. For safety reasons, in case of emergency, such doors can be forced open. Some practitioners discovered this, and after entering office buildings, they tested every door by pulling from the outside. After opening such doors, they went in to distribute Shen Yun materials, even in key government offices or in hospital operating rooms. Such behavior is extremely inappropriate! Some practitioners were even delighted by their actions and shared their “experience” with others.
These actions have brought about many losses and problems. Below are two such examples.
One office building in a major city has a traditional door. When a practitioner who distributed materials forced it open, a piece of wood on the door frame popped out and the door lock broke. After causing this property damage, this practitioner went on to place a copy of Shen Yun material inside the door. This was a law firm, and its management was very angry about this incident. This was reported to the theater and legal action was threatened. It took many efforts from the local Falun Dafa Association to resolve the issue.
In another city, a practitioner set down a Shen Yun pamphlet at a residential home, totally ignoring a large sign saying “No Solicitation,” indicating that the homeowner despised such behavior. Through information found on the pamphlet, the homeowner planned to file a lawsuit against the hosting organization for the Shen Yun performance.
Some practitioners with these extreme thoughts are stubborn with their own ideas and refuse to change. After finding out about the damage they have caused, they still defend themselves with all sorts of excuses, for example, “These issues arose because we did not have strong righteous thoughts. People at a such and such location also did it this way, and they did not run into trouble.” As a result, they continued doing what they did. This incorrect view of righteous thoughts is misleading, especially for those practitioners who recently came from China. They have not had a chance to understand much about Western society, yet they are eager to do things that validate the Fa. Therefore, they are easily misled by these extreme thoughts. Overseas veteran practitioners know that these actions are improper, but they could not resolve this issue in the face of such strong, extreme thoughts, and did not want to escalate the conflict. As a result, they remained silent.
Our cultivation involves hardship, but this is fundamentally different from “defying hardship and death” as promoted in Chinese Communist Party propaganda. We are saving people with rationality, and we are improving ourselves in this process. Only by obeying laws and social norms will we be accepted by mainstream society. In China, some people do not care about what approach to take, thinking that the ends justify the means. We cannot bring such mentalities and actions to society overseas. But instead of feeling ashamed, some were proud of what they did and even told others to follow suit.
We appreciate that many practitioners want to promote Shen Yun, but we need to align our willingness to endure hardship and compassion to save people with what Shen Yun stands for, as well as the social norms of Western society. Only then can we achieve the positive results that we are supposed to attain.
When saving people, we need to focus on our hearts and bring out people's positive sides with our dignified words and actions. We cannot employ the degenerated approaches driven by the Party culture; otherwise, these shortsighted actions will lead to negative consequences that are difficult to remedy. We hope that all Falun Dafa Associations and Shen Yun coordinators will take this seriously, fulfill our responsibilities, and pass this notice on to every practitioner involved in Shen Yun promotion. For a small number of practitioners who have extreme thoughts, we need to tell them to cherish the cultivation opportunity and be considerate in all circumstances in order to save people. We cannot allow such extreme behavior to cause losses for our own cultivation or the mission of saving people. We cannot let this extreme behavior mislead more practitioners.
Falun Dafa AssociationDecember 27, 2015
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You Are Annoying People, Not Saving Them
Practitioners from mainland China, why would you do such things outside China? Such thoughts and behavior are created by the Chinese Communist Party culture. This kind of behavior is not acceptable anywhere in the world. Aren’t cultivators supposed to consider others first when doing things? Why are you so insistent on doing such things? Why bring behavior that has been corrupted by the evil Party to regions beyond China? That’s not what I guide Dafa disciples outside China to do! Before doing something, you must consult local practitioners to make sure it is appropriate. Otherwise don’t do it!
Li HongzhiDecember 27, 2015
Editors' Note: This translation is subject to further improvement. Last revised January 9, 2016.
