(Minghui.org) I’d like to share some of my understandings about how to better clarify the facts about Falun Dafa.
Many practitioners have been exposing the persecution of Falun Dafa and telling people how wonderful Falun Dafa is for many years. They have helped many people deceived by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) learn the truth.
However, I’ve noticed that some practitioners are repeating the same information from years ago. Some try to persuade people to quit from CCP and its organizations but they can't clearly explain why. Some don't even know which organizations are affiliated with the CCP. Some don't follow the news and can't address the most relevant questions that some people have, such as, “Why are there so many coronavirus cases in the U.S. but much fewer cases in China?”
I think persuading people to quit the CCP and its organizations is not the ultimate goal. Our goal should be to help people understand the truth. So, my first suggestion is to read truth-clarifying materials regularly and also to listen to news programs on Minghui Radio.
If we become more familiar with our information, we can better answer people’s questions and address their concerns. We should help those seniors, who are often on the front-lines in clarifying the truth but aren’t familiar with electronic equipment, by providing them with updated materials.
Another issue I’ve noticed is that, when some practitioners clarify the truth, they don’t put themselves in others’ shoes, and they say things at too high a level.
Master said,
“When promoting [Dafa] and answering questions, he should advance Dafa appropriately, as fitting the recipient’s degree of understanding of Dafa and capacity to accept it.” (Preface of Explaining the Content of Falun Dafa)
Some practitioners sometimes say things that do not comply with the Fa. For example, I once noticed that one local senior practitioner calls the phrases “Falun Dafa is good” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” incantations. These are all issues we need to pay attention to in our truth-clarification.
At quite a few Fa study groups, practitioners rarely share their experiences. They simply read the Fa and then leave. I suggest that, after studying the Fa together, we share our experiences on how to clarify the truth better, how to best confront the upsurge in police harassment, and how to do the three things well. It’s helpful for us to realize our shortcomings and handle situations better in the future.
If everyone in the Fa study group can open their hearts, it will create a very positive environment that everyone can benefit from.
A Fa study group in my area is a good example. We always began by reading one lecture in Zhuan Falun and then shared our thoughts on how to do the three things well.
For instance, one practitioner told how she clarified the truth in a teahouse. Another shared how he managed to escape with righteous thoughts after he was arrested for distributing truth-clarifying material. A third practitioner talked about how she wrote letters to police officers and legal professionals to clarify the truth to them. And other practitioners shared how they overcame fear in truth-clarification or realized mistakes they made in the past.
We had so many topics to share and discuss. Several practitioners offered answers to some tough questions people asked so that others would know how to handle them later. We also learned how to better deal with police harassment. Everything we talked about focused on how to better clarify the truth.
Master said,
“When you Dafa disciples develop even stronger righteous thoughts among you, that will be what's most magnificent. Starting from each person, let's truly make our environment a very righteous one, and then all the unrighteous factors will dissolve, and all the students who haven't conducted themselves well will see where they fall short, and it will make them do better.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. IV)
One practitioner had an affair and was also very fearful when it came to clarifying the truth. After joining our group Fa study, other practitioners encouraged him, and he admitted his mistake and also got rid of the attachment of fear. He now goes out to clarify the truth every day and has enabled many people to understand the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong.
Another practitioner made similar mistakes due to the attachment to lust, which probably resulted in his being jailed several times. However, he didn't believe there was any connection. He later developed symptoms of cancer and couldn't sleep at night because of the unbearable pain. His life was coming to an end. Two practitioners from the study group went to encourage him. He admitted his wrongdoings and became determined to get rid of the attachment to lust and live as a righteous person. Very soon after, he recovered.
In short, I think if we focus on doing the three things well, we must have a lot to share. Studying the Fa together is something Master requires us to do, but we shouldn't just take this at face value. Instead, we should turn Fa study into a place where every practitioner contributes their experiences and we help each other reinforce our righteous thoughts.
Master said,
“Then, as a cultivator, you should make use of all feasible conditions to spread Dafa and validate Dafa as a correct and true science, rather than preaching or idealism—this is every cultivator’s obligation. Without this enormous Buddha Fa there would be nothing—and this includes everything in the universe, from the most macroscopic to the most microscopic, as well as all of human society’s knowledge.” (“Validation,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
During many years of countering the persecution, practitioners have been clarifying the truth regularly and have had many amazing experiences. For example, some survived critical situations simply by reciting, “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” Many government officials understood the truth and stopped following orders to carry out the persecution.
For all kinds of reasons, many of these stories have not been told. Some practitioners had little education and do not know how to write, while others think telling such stories is showing off and are unwilling to share them.
If we can write them down, I think they would be very helpful in saving more people. I hope practitioners can pay attention to this. We should write down what happened, what we witnessed, and what we heard, and submit it to Minghui to share with more people.
I can share one miracle that occurred in my local area.
On March 29, 2019, right before the Chingming Festival, a traditional Chinese festival for people to visit the tombs of their ancestors and show their respect, a practitioner in his 70s visited his ancestors’ tombs. When he burned joss sticks, he accidentally started a wildfire that spread quickly into a bamboo forest. The fire was blazing over 10 meters high and would soon spread to a large forest not far away.
It was impossible to put out. He suddenly thought of Master. He knelt down and asked Master to help him, then stood up and said loudly, “Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!” Immediately, the blaze died down and was completely extinguished in two to three minutes.
This really happened. If the practitioner had taken pictures or videos at the time, it would be very effective evidence of the power of Falun Dafa.
In China, software to overcome the internet blockade is very important to help people learn about what is happening in the world, especially about the persecution of Falun Dafa in China and yet how people all around the word are practicing it.
Compared to truth-clarifying pamphlets, the internet provides much more information. Imagine if people are able to visit the blocked websites, how much easier it would be for them to see the truth. Especially right now, everyone has a smartphone and people can surf the net anytime, anywhere. If we can create a barcode for these kinds of software, they could be shared easily and faster.
Helping more people watch NTDTV is another good way to overcome the information blockade. The smart TV is getting more and more popular. We only need a portable drive to install the software on the smart TV.