Written by a Falun Dafa practitioner in North America

(Clearwisdom.Net) From Teacher's lecture at the conference in Florida, "Clarifying the truth is what we need to do at this time. Do it on a large scale, do it with all the wisdom that you can, and as long as something can save the people, go do it. It doesn't matter if what you do is expose the evil, or if you use all sorts of approaches, be they direct, indirect or from different angles--as long as you can have people recognize this persecution, you are saving them, and you are extraordinary." ("Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A")

After two years of clarifying the truth to government officials, non-government organizations, the media, and the people of the world, I have realized the profound effect of "Learning to understand with the aid of pictures" -- clarifying the truth by using photos, and I would like to share my experiences with you.

As the old sayings go, "Seeing oneself is a hundred times better than hearing from others" and "Seeing with one's own eyes is the truth." Everyday people prefer to believe in what they themselves can actually see. When looking at the pictures portraying the relentless killing of so many benevolent practitioners, the horrible scenes of torture, and the statistics of the murdered practitioners from every province, they can have a real feeling of the state-run terrorism that exists in China. When people see how Falun Dafa has been welcomed in over fifty countries, the certificates of merit issued to Falun Dafa by the Chinese government before the persecution, the six hundred proclamations awarded to Falun Dafa, and the scenes of how Falun Dafa has spread in Mainland China, Taiwan, and other countries, the peaceful appealing, and the support from so many governments, they will realize that the inhumane persecution is useless.

1. With compassion, clarify the truth to the people of the world and save all beings.

Teacher tells us, "Clarifying the truth, at the same time as exposing the evil, restrains the evil and lessens the persecution; and exposing the evil is at the same time purging from people's minds the poison of the evil's lies and deception -- it is saving people. This is the grandest mercy..." ("A Message" in Essentials for Further Advancement II)

Whenever I explain the photos to others and see again for myself the benevolent faces of the fellow practitioners who were persecuted to death, I am reminded of the importance of my responsibilities. So many times I have felt the presence of thousands of my fellow practitioners in Mainland China standing there with me to clarify the truth. That is why I will not lose my courage, even in the face of someone's initial attitude of ignorance. When I sincerely hope to let them know the truth, for them to be free from the lies and deceit, they will surely be moved and their attitude will change significantly. Many of them would ask me honestly, "What can I do for you?"

Teacher also tells us, "You need to know that clarifying the truth is extremely important for Dafa disciples. You aren't just doing personal cultivation -- your own cultivation is saving the beings in the gigantic cosmic bodies that you represent. When you clarify the truth you are saving even more and even larger additional cosmic bodies and the beings in those cosmic bodies, because this is the responsibility Dafa and history have bestowed upon you." ("Touring North America to Teach the Fa") I understand that what I am doing is for the most righteous cause, and all the people in the world, regardless of their status in society, are all beings awaiting our clarification of the truth. So I don't feel nervous or shy when talking to high-ranking officials or the media, and everyone I meet is an opportunity for me to clarify the truth.

2. The function of a picture board

At a press conference in Maine, a journalist told me after reviewing the picture board that it would be hard for her, a person growing up in a land of freedom, to imagine the inhumane persecution just by reading the articles in the newspaper. She suggested that we display these picture boards in different places in order to let more people know the truth.

To clarify the truth to government officials, we made four picture displays for the capitol building. One of the displays concerned the persecution of female practitioners and the other covered the SOS walk, both of which were well received. Many representatives, officials, and passers-by got an immediate perceptual knowledge of the bloody persecution by Jiang's scoundrel gang after taking a glimpse of those pictures. When we asked for support for certain letters or resolutions, many of them had seen the truth-clarifying picture board and expressed their sympathy to us. Because the picture boards were too big to move easily, we later made the boards smaller and added the newest color prints for serious topics and brought them with us to clarify the truth to everyone. We got good results from this.

3. Speak out and reveal the truth to people from all walks of life

Teacher tells us, "Clarify to people what we're about and tell them that we're being persecuted, that all the means of attack being used are fabrications and slander and completely persecutory in nature, and that this is the most evil persecution." ("Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A")

A. Clarify the truth to government officials

We used to send written materials to the members of congress and make phone calls to follow up. Some of their offices barely recalled what we had sent, so we had to deliver additional materials. Later, when talking to the officials in person, I always brought pictures to show them. Shocked by their content, they handled the materials we sent them more seriously from then on. Many congressional members expressed their sympathy and support.

One day when I clarified the truth to a congressman's assistant, tears filled her eyes, and she told me how to get support from the government at different levels in a more effective way. She encouraged me to knock on the door of every congressional member's office and clarify the truth to them with pictures. Then she arranged an appointment with her congressman for me that very afternoon, even through I hadn't made an appointment in advance. After reviewing the pictures and listening to my explanation, he initiated a dear colleague letter to President Bush blaming the persecution of the female practitioners on Jiang's regime. Over twenty members of congress co-signed the letter to support us.

Some days ago, we went to the capitol building in Massachusetts to help two western practitioners who were detained in Beijing for peacefully appealing. In the cafeteria we met a representative and explained to him the pictures about the so-called "self-immolation" in the book Witness. Even before we finished he understood it was a setup directed by Jiang's regime and a pretext cooked-up for further persecution. He asked us right away, "What can I do for you? May I make a new resolution?" (He had made one for us earlier.) Later this representative initiated another resolution, which blamed the systematic persecution of the Falun Gong practitioners on Jiang's government.

B. Clarify the truth to non-governmental organizations

A fellow practitioner and I once clarified the truth with pictures to people at a women's conference in Massachusetts. Shocked by the cruel persecution, especially of women, they were willing to help us. They sent all members of the women's organizations in Massachusetts an email attached with a letter to the President to collect signatures. Then they posted the letter and the address of the SOS website through their network to other non-governmental organizations requesting a united call for an end to the killing.

C. Clarify the truth to media

Generally we were very careful when talking to the media, because sometimes some journalists would ask tough or unfriendly questions or would write the report based on their own understanding, which would cause the report in newspaper to be quite different from what we had said when we were interviewed. But once we used pictures to explain the truth, we gained the initiative. When we told them that fellow practitioners in China had risked their lives to send those important pictures, their hearts were moved as they looked at the photos and listened to our explanation. After being shocked by what they saw, they listened more intently and made a positive report for us.

Last year when we stopped by a small town in France on our SOS walk, French State TV3 interviewed us. The journalists and cameraman were shocked by the pictures we showed them. The cameraman asked us to hold up the truth-clarifying photos and then took six pictures. Later they aired the interview with our walk team and showed these photos during a prime time TV program, which was a positive outcome for clarifying the truth.

D. Clarify the truth to the precious Chinese people

In most cases, we explained the truth about the so-called "Self-immolation" to the people from Mainland China first. Often they would change their attitude after hearing our explanation. In addition, the spread of Falun Dafa to over fifty countries and the pictures of the SOS walk have been exposing the lie by Jiang's scoundrel gang that Falun Gong was also forbidden abroad. Because most of the torture and inhumane killing happen in the jails, the forced labor camps, and the brainwashing classes, people outside of China hardly know about the relentless persecution. We need to let them know the truth behind the lies.

One day, when I handed the truth-clarifying materials to a professor at an academic conference at Harvard University, he refused them and instead asked us questions. Suddenly he asked, "Could you let me take a look at the pictures you mentioned that show the wide use of torture in Mainland China?" We did have some pictures with us. After seeing those horrible pictures he sighed, "Our professors and college students don't care about the life or death of people anymore. Most people only pay attention to how to make more money." He accepted the CD that he had refused earlier and said he would look at it carefully and take it back to China.

Another day I passed the truth-clarifying materials to an official from the Chinese deputy's team. He wouldn't take them and just walked forward in silence, but I still walked with him as I spoke out the truth. When he stopped by a booth to look at some keepsake, I showed him the pictures in (Witness) about the torture. After taking a glimpse, he quickly took the materials and put them into his bag.

Having experienced the positive effects of clarifying the truth with the aid of pictures, we have, with the help and effort by many fellow practitioners, compiled both a Chinese and an English version of Witness and The Historic Witness in which we have added some concise explanations to the pictures. The truth-clarifying album is similar to a portable pocket board, which may be carried on our person for clarifying the truth to people face to face at any time and any place. The pictures touch people through their sense of sight and can reveal the truth to people. Especially for those fellow practitioners whose spoken English is limited, using pictures may have a better effect in the clarification of the truth.

One time we were speaking to a congressman's assistant as he was watching many practitioners perform the exercises in the state capitol. He told us that people would never think we were as awful as Jiang's scoundrel gang portrayed us, because the U.S. government would never allow those groups to hold any activities in a government building.

Now I bring the book Witness or the book The Historic Witness with me to clarify the truth by "Learning to understand with the aid of pictures" to Chinese or Westerners whenever it is convenient. It is a truth-clarification activity in which everyone can participate. As Teacher says, "When you have all the people of the world, and all the people of China, see this evil drama for what it is, could the evil still have any effect? It will collapse." ("Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A")

Posting date: 5/21/2002
Original article date: 5/21/2002
Category: Views on Cultivation
Translated on 5/16/2002
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2002/5/6/29605.html

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