(Minghui.org) Greetings Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
In this paper, I'd like to share some of my truth-clarification experience to the British and Scottish politicians during the past decade.
Purpose
The CCP has been persecuting Falun Gong and used its media and overseas institutions to attack and destroy Falun Gong. Many Western governments have been blinded by the CCP's lies. I wanted to find a way to help British politicians understand the truth about Falun Dafa. As I had limited English writing skills, I didn't know how to start this project.
At that time, a group of fellow practitioners in Britain gathered together to form a task force for clarifying the truth to British politicians. Most of the task force members were Western practitioners. Their letters to politicians helped me a lot. Every time a big event happened, I was aware that getting the letter into the hands of politicians really helped them to understand the truth. At that time, I had a limited understanding of Master's Fa, and only felt that letting them know the truth about the CCP's persecution was the purpose of my truth clarification.
Different Mentalities Produce Different Results
My last MP was a lady. Every time I went to see her, I either wanted her to sign a motion launched by her fellow MPs against the persecution of Falun Gong, or hoped that she could write a letter of support for our activities. I also sent her a lot of information about the CCP’s persecution by email and letter. But each time, her response was very bureaucratic without any substance. So I later avoided visiting her, thinking that she might reject my request. I instead sent an occasional email to keep in touch with her. I mentioned this to a fellow practitioner from another part of Britain, who said I was accusing my MP of taking no action. The fellow practitioner reminded me that our responsibility was to save people. The MP did not act because we did not help her understand the truth. We didn't do a good job. How could I blame her?
The MP was later defeated in the election. I was very regretful to hear that because it was I who had failed to tell the truth to her. Reflecting upon what I had done, I realized that each time I went to see her I did not act in her best interest, but wanted her to do something for me. Was my purpose no different from that of an ordinary person? The starting point of a cultivator is to do everything for the best interest of others, without any other purpose. My understanding was that my attachment of pursuit caused this failure.
In 2012, DAFOH launched a petition to senior UN human rights officials, calling for ending China's forced harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners' organs. Scotland has its own government and the Members of Scottish Parliament (MSP) were living in their constituencies. One October evening, I took a copy of supporting documents to see my MSP. It was drizzling and cold, but I had nothing distracting me. I just wanted my MSP to know the truth.
To my surprise, after listening to what I had to say, he expressed immediately that forced organ harvesting was extremely shameful. He signed the petition and told me that he was prepared to launch a motion in the Scottish Parliament on “Forced Organ Harvesting.”
My MSP's motion was launched on November 5th. The year after, with support and help from fellow practitioners in Britain and other countries, he conducted a series of seminars for the Scottish government, and invited DAFOH, international investigators, and academics to speak about China’s forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience for profit. Audiences included MSPs and their assistants, professors of ethics education at universities, and student representatives of Amnesty International from three universities in Scotland. Although there were not many people attending each seminar, some local practitioners and practitioners in other parts of Britain provided a lot of information to Scottish politicians, academics, and media through email and telephone. At that time we had not foreseen the after effects of these activities.
Some fellow practitioners from Glasgow collected signatures opposing the CCP’s live organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners in October 2016 outside the Scottish National Party annual meeting. We met a lot of MSPs, MPs, and MEPs at this event. These politicians did not hesitate to sign and support the anti-forced organ harvesting petition. They also told us that they had learned from their party member about the evils done by the CCP, and that some MSPs were informed of the matter from their voters’ letters.
Master teaches us,
“Everything that Dafa disciples have done and everything that Dafa disciples have said when clarifying the facts causes the facts to circulate in ordinary human society and creates an environment that fosters communication among the people. Then with that environment, the discussions people have are another way for those beings to get saved, an indirect way.” (Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York)
These two examples of clarifying the truth to my MP and MSP have made me deeply aware of Master's principle of attainment without pursuit. The feedback from some MSPs also helped me realize that when a life knows the truth, he is a living media and can play an active role in spreading the truth.
What Points to Include for Truth-clarification?
After speaking with my MSP, I started to reflect on what is the most important point when clarifying the truth to other people. During a conversation, he told me, “I know why the CCP suppressed the Falun Gong. With so many people practicing Falun Gong, every government will fear it.” My goodness! My MSP still didn't understand what Falun Gong was about and why the CCP was so afraid of Falun Gong.
What was the problem here? I calmed down and thought about it. In my communication with politicians, I just talked about the cruelty of the persecution and live organ harvesting. However, I failed to let them know what Falun Gong was. Facing the spiritual and physical persecution, Falun Gong practitioners did not give up their faith in “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.” This fundamental truth was ignored in the communication.
I reflected upon this for a while, and also discussed it with fellow practitioners. With Fa study, my understanding of the Fa gradually deepened. I realized that the characteristic of the universe, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, formed everything in the universe. They are universal values. The principle of Falun Gong is to follow “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.”
While helping politicians learn about the beauty of Falun Dafa, the evil nature of the CCP is exposed accordingly. If I was only talking about massacres, torture, and organ removal, what was the difference between my communication and communication conducted by human rights workers? The starting point of human rights workers is to have justice done. But our starting point is different. Our aim is to wake up the conscience of these politicians and help them understand the essence of this persecution. The aim of the persecution is not only related to China, it is related to having the world destroyed.
Master teaches us in “On Dafa,”
“When people show the appropriate respect and reverence toward Dafa as it manifests here in this world, they, their race, or their nation will enjoy blessings or honor.”
I must convey the beauty of Dafa for them to position themselves well between good and evil. I believe that this should be the starting point for clarifying the truth to politicians.
Fellow practitioners in the task force prepared a letter in July 2017, to encourage MPs to write a letter to support our July 20 anti-persecution activities. On the night before I met my MP, I calmed down and thought: What is the purpose of my visit to my MP? Just to persuade him to write a support letter for us? No! Going to talk to him about the CCP's live organ harvesting? No. He had already learned a lot about it, either from my MSP, or the seminars, or via my emails.
I recalled that in many MPs’ replies to fellow practitioners, a dubious attitude towards the CCP's live organ harvesting was very clear. I understood that many MPs did not dare to believe this cruel fact. This time, I wanted to help my MP to see clearly the CCP’s killing nature through my personal experience.
I was born in China in 1952 and experienced the cruel Cultural Revolution. I had heard and witnessed the tragedies created by the CCP. Even when I was only 14 years old, I was still forced to be involved. My fellow students and I were forced to fight, insult, and humiliate our teachers. It was a nationwide terrorist movement. Some children used their belts to beat their school teachers to death, and such actions were even applauded by the CCP media. This background must be made known to MPs. Only after understanding this context, could he understand why Falun Gong became so popular in China.
With clear thinking, I conveyed this basic background information to him. In the meeting with my MP and one of his assistants, I told them how the CCP killed innocent people, how the CCP incited hatred between people and caused everyone to become each other’s enemy. I talked about my family’s experience during the Cultural Revolution and why Falun Gong and the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance became so popular so quickly in China. Taking my personal experience as an example, I talked about the miraculous effects of Falun Gong and the physical/mental changes brought about by following the principles. The room became very quiet. They were all listening to me carefully, and I noticed that the MP was even taking notes on his iPad from time to time.
While telling them about the beauty brought by Dafa to the Chinese people, I started to talk about why the CCP feared Falun Gong practitioners who are keen to be good, and why the CCP tried to eliminate them physically and spiritually. Before leaving, I told them that so far we had not heard a single case from the mainland of Falun Gong practitioners being persecuted and taking revenge on those who had hurt them. I said to them sincerely, “This was the power of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance!”
Before this meeting, I had provided the film Free China: The Courage to Believe to the MP’s assistants. I hoped it would help them to fully understand the truth about Falun Gong and the truth about the persecution.
A few days later, I received an email from my MP, who said that he had launched a motion No. 173 for Falun Gong: PRACTICE OF FALUN GONG AND THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST ORGAN HARVESTING.
For My Own Interest or the Best Interest of Others?
I used to send information to my MSP, and never missed a single case concerning the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong. One of my relatives was a volunteer in his office and she told me something she thought was interesting. One day, my MSP said to her: “Today I have eight emails in my email inbox. Six of them are from YuYu.” I knew that this was Master reminding me that when doing anything, we must consider if it is acceptable to other people. Otherwise it will not work.
I was subsequently afraid of contacting my MSP. This year, our political task force prepared a letter for fellow Chinese practitioners to send to their MPs. The aim of the letter was to encourage the MPs to write a support letter for our July 20th activities marking 19 years of persecution. I sent a letter to my MP, and hesitated over whether I should send my MSP a copy.
Why did I hesitate? Because I feared being rejected and losing face. On a deeper level, I only cared for my life, not his life. Obviously the root of my fear was selfishness.
That was to say, I was still thinking and doing things based on the old cosmic law. There was nothing wrong with writing letters to politicians and telling them the facts. What went wrong was that I didn't clarify the facts wisely so that they could accept them. My starting point was for myself, which was being selfish.
Master teaches us,
“Many lives came here from very high planes of existence, and we should try to save them. These lives are representatives of beings from the old cosmos who were about to be eliminated, and they wished to spare their beings that fate. So when we save these lives, the beings they represent will be saved as well.” (“2018 Fa Teaching Given in Washington, D.C.”)
I became aware that I should let my MSP know about the letter and give him a chance to position himself. Whether he wrote the support letter or not didn't matter. What mattered was helping him see the beauty of Dafa and the CCP’s evil nature. Based on a clear understanding of the Fa, I sent him the letter by email.
My MSP replied to my email and attached his letter of support. In the letter, he expressed his admiration for the integrity and dedication of Falun Gong practitioners in his constituency, and also mentioned Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. He wrote, “I hope that my Falun Gong practitioner voters, as well as all Falun Gong practitioners from Scotland and around the world, have a successful event for the 19-year campaign against arrest, detention, torture and killing.”
My heart was touched as I read this email. I was moved by him positioning himself well and by the Falun Gong practitioners around the world who persisted in helping the Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings. I knew that a fellow practitioner took a new practitioner to meet him for truth clarification. I fully understood, in the process of making the truth known to the politicians, my MSP and other politicians’ understanding about the truth never resulted from one person’s effort, but from the joint efforts of Dafa disciples.
Epilogue
In the past ten or more years of clarifying the truth to politicians, frustration, grievance, fear, and joy have frequently appeared. All these emotions had selfishness hidden behind them. Dafa disciples’ saving people is not to validate the Dafa disciples themselves. With an impure mind when clarifying the truth, we will not be able to save any of the sentient beings because negative elements will block our way.
Master teaches us:
“Before, when I discussed enlightening, I expounded on a heavenly secret nobody had disclosed: ‘Cultivation depends on oneself, while gong depends on one’s master.’ For thousands of years people have thought that they themselves were cultivating and elevating. Actually, you can’t achieve anything cultivating [on your own]. Nothing can be resolved if you don’t have a master taking care of you. That is, the real issues are resolved by your master—they’re resolved by the factors behind the Fa. Your own enlightening is only about your continuing to cultivate after you overcome difficulties in your practice. That’s what we mean by ‘your own enlightening.’ As for truly enlightening to something from the principles, if this Fa doesn’t let you know it, you can’t enlighten to it no matter how you try. So you have to meet one condition: You must genuinely practice cultivation.” (Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Europe)
During the past ten years of clarifying the truth to politicians, I realize that I must always remind myself that I am a cultivator. As a cultivator, I must study the Fa well, and must use the Fa principles to measure and deal with things. At the same time, I have to do real cultivation to dig out the attachments behind the emotions. My practice tells me that when I think and deal with issues as a cultivator, Master will quietly give me a green light.
There are still many politicians in Britain who do not know what Falun Dafa is, why Falun Gong practitioners are opposing the persecution, and the potential threat to the world of the CCP ideology. My British fellow practitioners are gradually recognizing the need to clarify the truth to their MPs persistently.
I thank Master for his purpose of saving all beings. Thank you, my fellow practitioners in this country, for your efforts and dedication to the Fa-rectification through different projects. Let us work together on the road of cultivation and saving people diligently. Let us not let any being down in our paradise. Let us meet the expectation from our Master.
Thank you Master! Thank you fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the 2018 European Fa Conference)
