By a Western Practitioner in California

(Clearwisdom.net) Earlier today, I came to an understanding on the importance of following up with the people we clarify the truth to by making a phone call or through other ways. Below is my experience as I recall it.

A few weeks ago I delivered a truth clarification package to the local office of a Congressperson. At that time, I had an opportunity to clarify the truth of the situation in depth to one of his staff-members. It was a casual, yet informative, conversation in which I introduced to him what Falun Gong is, how the persecution came about and its extent, and my personal experiences with the practice and the persecution.

Earlier today, I called this staff member to encourage the Congressman to co-sign a dear-colleague letter to rescue Dr. Charles Li. Immediately he told me that it was good that I called, because he had some questions. Apparently, after I left his office he took a look at the literature I gave him. He then wanted to find out what the Chinese government had to say and so he went to the Chinese Embassy's website. On this website he found a link about Falun Gong right away and by following it he read about the staged "self-immolation". He wanted to know if it was true or just a propaganda lie.

This person's previous notions, and the extent of the truth clarification I had given him got him to the point that he was skeptical of what the Chinese government had to say, but not clear enough to recognize that it was a lie.

I told him: "You are right, it is a lie. People were killed but who killed them?" I said, "I will explain it to you. Without my telling you anything else about Falun Gong and the persecution, through this incident alone you will be able to understand how vicious this persecution is."

I later said: "the teachings of Falun Gong are against killing and against suicide, why would we do such a thing? I myself cherish my life more since becoming a practitioner."

He said: "I understand, it is against the basics tenets of Falun Gong."

I continued to tell him how the so-called "self-immolation" came at a time when Jiang's regime desperately wanted to turn public opinion against Falun Gong, since people knew Falun Gong was good and didn't understand why it was being persecuted. I told him about the many suspicious contradictions in the Chinese government's "reports" about the incident, how CNN's reporters were arrested at the scene and their cameras confiscated, how the United Nations has a document saying the event was fabricated by the Chinese government, and how playing the footage in slow motion reveals that the woman was bludgeoned to death, not burned to death.

He told me: "That makes sense. I didn't know who to believe since the portrayals were so different. So it is simply a propaganda piece. I thought it was strange that they would have it on the front of their page like that."

I said: "What we are used to from Western countries is that they try to hide their human rights abuses. What the Chinese government is doing, however, is trying to justify their crimes against humanity by making up lies."

He had some more questions, which I answered in depth over the phone, while I was stuck in a traffic jam. I told him of details such as the bribery system when practitioners are arrested.

I explained: "Officials at the level of each region, county, and city are given a quota of Falun Gong practitioners from their area that can appeal in Tiananmen Square. If the number of practitioners appealing from this area exceeds the quota the official can get demoted or worse. As a result, the officials bribe the Tiananmen Square policemen not to report the arrests of Falun Gong practitioners but rather to send them back to their local areas. This results in the policemen beating the practitioners madly in order to find out where they are from so they can send them back unreported and collect the bribe. This has also resulted in tremendous financial expenses."

I then continued to tell him how the Chinese government is using 25% percent of its revenue to persecute Falun Gong, to escort practitioners back to their areas, to build concentration camps, manufacture electric batons, and to buy international media. I told him about how BBC shows were taken off the air in China a few months ago after reporting on Falun Gong, showing the extent of the media blockage and the financial pressure exerted by Jiang's regime. I told him that as a Falun Gong practitioner I don't have a stance on trade with China, and I have no problem with building an open relationship with China, but it wouldn't do if I didn't tell him that the money is going towards persecution.

I also told him about the blacklist and how it was used in Iceland and brought shame to the entire country, and I told him how Jiang is a threat to democracy. Thus, I got a chance to clarify the truth to him even more in depth.

Finally, I told him about Charles Li. How the Chinese government is testing the United States to see how much they can get away with when the U.S. is preoccupied with other issues, how they are using the "hostage card" to strike some deal with the U.S. that would compromise U.S. values and laws, how they have no evidence and are only fabricating charges after the fact and using the line of "guilty until proven innocent" which is entirely opposite to the U.S.'s "innocent until proven guilty". I told him that co-signing a letter protecting the rights of a U.S. citizen wrongfully detained in China because of his belief is a simple and straightforward issue.

He thanked me very much for explaining these things to him, asked me for some more information so he could forward it to the Congressman, and said he looks forward to hearing from me in the future.

After hanging up I realized the evilness that had been at work here. The old-forces have created such a vicious test of sentient beings. It was not enough for the old-forces that a practitioner went and clarified the truth in person to this staff-member. They still had him poisoned by going to the Chinese government's website. I had spent an hour previously driving to his office, speaking to him in person, and driving back. How many people have such a fortune as having a Dafa disciple take time out of his busy day to clarify the truth to them in length in person? Isn't this opportunity precious? If all the world's people could have such an opportunity, wouldn't the persecution long be over? But they still poisoned him again. Without any further contact with the truth of the situation, his head would have still contained those lies and his being's future would have been in danger.

I was also reminded that I must equip the people I clarify the truth to with tools to differentiate the reality from the lies. Many educated individuals, such as government workers, reporters, and professors, have a curiosity and a notion of "hearing both sides of the story", even though one side is completely lying. I must warn them in advance about Jiang's lies and illustrate it with examples.

In the past, I used to think that following up with people is for the purpose of getting them to do something -- such as co-signing a letter. Now I realize that it is a matter of being responsible to their beings' future.

Posting date: 2/26/2003
Original article date: 2/25/2003
Category: Practitioners' Insights

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