Shared by a Korean Practitioner at the 2002 Asia-Pacific Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference in Seoul, South Korea

I am a Korean Dafa practitioner. The title of my paper today is "Clarifying the Truth to Chinese People in Korea."

During April and May 2002, the Korean government processed the naturalization procedures for illegal Chinese residents in Korea. The new naturalization law was also known as the Amnesty for it pardons and grants legal residency to those Chinese who turn themselves in. There were multiple naturalization offices in the nation for there is allegedly a population of hundreds of thousands Chinese that reside in Korea illegally. I immediately decided this would be a good opportunity for truth clarification.

Several fellow practitioners and I went to one of the naturalization offices because it had the largest traffic. There were several thousand Chinese waiting in lines from 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning until the office closed at 6 PM every day. On the busiest day there were 1,700 Chinese who got tickets but were not attended to by closing time. Every day we went there to clarify the truth to the Chinese applicants. Some practitioners would drive there as early as 4 to 5 o'clock in the morning and broadcast the truth clarification TV programs before they left for work at 7 AM, at which time some other practitioners would take over. There were also practitioners who would use all of their vacation during April and May in order to clarify the truth to Chinese people. These practitioners would remain at the naturalization office from dawn to dark clarifying the truth. They were so completely devoted to clarifying the truth that they would often have time for only one meal per day.

At first we had only one permit for the congregation in front of the naturalization office. The line was so long that it frequently extended into the park about 100 meters from the office. Normally the line would not disappear from the park until afternoon. There are also plenty of benches at the park. Therefore there was a large number of Chinese waiting in line in the park or taking a break after finishing their application. In observation of the traffic in the park, we applied for an additional permit for our truth clarification work. I would usually try to open the dialogue by chatting with them while sitting on the bench. When one of the Chinese began to listen, many other Chinese would come forward and listen to our conversation. When I finished clarifying the truth in one area of the park, I would switch to another area. Sometimes I would stay in an area for a long time if new people continued to come and ask additional questions. Due to the enthusiastic efforts of every participating practitioner, the truth clarification outside the naturalization office was quite successful. Next, I will describe some of special stories and what I have learned from the experience.

Many of the applicants used to practice Falun Dafa, but they had stopped because they became busy with work. Some became nonchalant towards cultivation because they did not keep in contact with other fellow practitioners and thus lost their motivation. Some fled from China to escape the persecution so they did not have any chance to bring along any Dafa books. They were thrilled to meet fellow practitioners in Korea and immediately resumed cultivating in Dafa.

One day a young Chinese read the truth clarification material carefully and asked me, "It seems like a very good practice, but I really have to read Falun Gong books first before I can decide whether to cultivate Falun Gong or not." Because he does not speak any Korean, I immediately offered to loan him the copy of Zhuan Falun which I always carry with me. I asked him to read from the beginning to the end, and do not skip any chapter. He said with a look of frustration, "I don't think I will be able to finish reading this book by today." I replied, "No problem. Bring it back and read it at your own pace. Return the book to me when you are done." Later I received a call from him asking to start learning Falun Gong. He asked me to refer a Dafa practitioner to me in his area since he does not live in Seoul. I complied with his request with pleasure and told him to keep the copy of Zhuan Falun.

I felt some people failed to accept the truth about Falun Gong because of their conventional thinking. When they freed themselves from their conventional thinking habits, they would be able to understand the truth about Falun Gong in no time. One day I asked a man if he would like to take a look at the truth clarification material. He became very indignant and said that he was a Korean with Chinese heritage. He expressed his patriotism toward China and implied that we were embarrassing China with our truth clarification efforts. I explained to him, "Everyone has to love his motherland the same way as his mother. However, no mother is right in her opinion or decision at all times. Isn't it a right thing to do to kindly point out her wrongs so that she may improve herself? If every citizen of a country seeks to improve himself morally, the country will bound to be prosperous and powerful. On the other hand, if a country's people fight nastily with each other for personal benefits, this will lead to annihilation despite a glamorous disguise. At present the Chinese Embassies all over the world are behaving like thugs. It is because of their uncivilized behavior, that western societies get a bad impression of China." Upon hearing my heart-felt speech, he immediately changed his mind. Before today he always had a bad attitude toward Falun Gong's truth clarification flyers. Now he finally understood that Falun Gong practitioners were not against China when they clarified the truth. He accepted the truth clarification materials and thanked me repeatedly for letting him know the truth.

One day I encountered two Chinese people. After we started to chat we quickly found we were originally from the same area of China. We immediately felt close to each other. They accepted the truth clarification materials and videotapes to learn about Falun Gong. However, one of them suddenly became suspicious of my motivation. He asked, "What do you ask of me in return if we accept the materials?" I said, "I hope that you will learn the truth about Falun Gong, and I am very confident that you will be a fair judge as to the truthfulness of the information in the videotape. If you believe the information in the videotape, I believe you will want to share the truth with your friends and families." He gladly promised me to do so. He said, "I promise I will." Finally he said, "If you have a chance to meet Master Li, please give my regards to him!" It was most pleasing to hear his greeting toward Master Li. I promised that I would surely pass on his regards when I met Master Li.

Sometimes we would encounter people who were very much likely special agents from China. These people came to the naturalization office every day as if they worked there. Whenever we passed them the truth clarification materials they would tell us fraudulent lies and curse Falun Dafa. Once a man came up to me as I was distributing truth clarification flyers to passers-by. He confidently challenged me with a question about Falun Gong he thought I would not be able to answer. Before I had any chance to reply, he bombarded me with another question and then another. He bluntly tossed many questions without giving me any chance to address them. Behind each question was a malicious intent. Finally he asked me the ratio of Korean to Chinese practitioners in Korea. After I told him that the majority of practitioners in Korea were Koreans, he gave me a puzzled look, and asked, "Did you mean Korea-born Koreans?" "Yes," I replied. Then he pointed at the practitioners nearby who were demonstrating Falun Gong, and asked again, "Are they Korean too?" "Yes, all of them are Koreans," I replied. Still he refused to believe and asked me to take him to them for confirmation. I decided that the only way he would accept the truth was for him to talk to them directly. He really did try to confirm their nationality by conversing in Korean with them. I supposed he initiated the conversation in Chinese because almost immediately my Korean fellow practitioners waved at me asking for help with translation. Then he finally had to believe that they were really Korean practitioners. After a while, he sat down on a bench looking defeated. He was no longer the arrogant and belligerent man of a minute ago. Suddenly I remembered Teachers words. "Whether this is through a common or uncommon channel, let's keep the door wide open." (From "Lecture at the Fa-Conference in Canada", Toronto, May 23, 1999.) Everyone is no more than a sentient being in the eyes of Teacher. Therefore, we must show benevolence to all sentient beings. I approached him and said peacefully, "You have asked me many questions. Now I have a question for you. Did you come with a mission?" He waved his hands frantically and repeatedly denied that he was a Chinese Communist. He said that he was within a minority in China, which was also suppressed by the Communist Party in China. I explained, "You misunderstood my question. Regardless of why you are here, we are not against the Chinese Communist Party or the Chinese government. Whether you came here with a special mission or not, it was predestined for you to come here. I hope you will treasure the predestined opportunity to learn the truth about Falun Gong. Falun Gong is open to everyone." I told him the truth about Falun Gong patiently while he listened in silence. Finally he took the truth clarification material. After we closed the conversation I got up from the bench and continued to distribute truth clarification materials to the passers-by. For a very long time he sat on the bench talking in low voice with another man who also showed up every day near the naturalization office. Once I overheard him whisper to the other person, "The Chinese government is really way over the line this time." I never saw him again near the naturalization office after that day.

From this experience I really felt that everything could be resolved with compassion and serenity. Teacher said, "There are reasons behind what everyone does." (From "Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America.") In our truth clarification work, each person we meet or each comment we hear must be arranged to improve ourselves in cultivation. If we would regard truth clarification work as cultivation and constantly seek within for areas of improvement, we would produce a greater effect, and settle all wrongs and karmic relationships like Teacher said. "...all of the chaotic world's unrighted wrongs and karmic relationships are settled with benevolent solutions." (From "Foretelling the Fa's Rectification of the Human World.")

It is the mission of a Dafa practitioner to validate the Fa. Every day we handed out a lot of flyers and every day many of them ended up on the streets. One day an old street cleaner complained, "Please stop passing out the flyers. Look at all these flyers on the streets that I have to clean up." We immediately had a discussion on this issue. We concluded that the complaint from the street cleaner was an evil interference. On the other hand, if we left the flyers on the streets, the passers-by who stepped on the flyers would unconsciously create karma, and the street cleaners would be given an additional workload. So we started to send forth righteous thoughts and pick up flyers from the ground. When people noticed that we persisted in passing out flyers and picking up abandoned flyers, they would curiously ask why we were doing the work of street cleaners. After they had learned the reason, they became very receptive to our words when we clarified the truth to them. Very often, people would request the flyers as soon as we picked them up from the ground. Teacher said, "You are cultivators, whose conduct is [supposed to be] pure and righteous. There are so many people who think you're great just by having seen how you act."(From "Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston.) Soon the police who kept order as well as the staff of the naturalization office noticed our admirable behavior. Many policemen came asking for truth clarification materials from us. Later, when we needed to extend our permit for an additional 5 days, the police told us, "It's OK. You don't need a permit to keep yourselves in order. You did not have a permit for this area of the park, but you have proved that you were able to conduct yourselves well without supervision. Continue your efforts until all the naturalization applications have been processed."

The success of truth clarification has contributed to the powerful righteous thoughts of Dafa practitioners. I recalled at first I was enveloped in a gloomy chill every day when I stepped out of the metro station. Later we divided ourselves into two groups. When a group of practitioners were distributing flyers, the other group always sent forth righteous thoughts or practiced the exercises. The effect of truth clarification was a lot better after we sent forth righteous thoughts. In the later stage of our truth clarification activity, I was no longer attacked by any dark chill. Although I could not see anything with my Celestial Eye, I knew there must have been a serious battle in another dimension. Despite the severity of the battle, the final triumph belongs to Falun Dafa as long as we have adamant faith in Dafa.

There was much interference during this activity. For instance, we did not get a permit for an area in the park. There were a couple times when the police received a complaint and asked us to take the banners down off the trees. Soon the practitioner who was responsible for hanging the banner determined that the next time we were asked to take down the banners, we would hold them with our hands rather than put them away. After that practitioner had made up the mind, no one reported us any more. There were plenty of miracles like this. Whenever we were saved by such miracles from embarrassing or difficult situations because of our own mistakes or neglect, I felt really ashamed of myself. We descended to the human realm to assist Teacher in the Fa-rectification and to save sentient beings, but I neglected a lot of work because of my attachment to comfort. I hope that we will continue to share our Fa-rectification experiences in order to encourage each other and advance further together. Finally I would like to end my speech with a recitation of a Teacher's poem, "Tathagata."

"He comes with the Truth, which gives him full control
And travels the four seas with a free and easy spirit
Spreading the Fa's principles throughout the secular world
Loaded full with sentient beings, his Fa Boat sets sail"

Posting date: 10/14/2002
Original article date: 10/13/2002
Category: Practitioners' Insights

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