By a practitioner from California

(Clearwisdom.net) This past week I went to New York. Together with fellow practitioners, I clarified the truth about Falun Dafa and the persecution and sent righteous thought in the financial district of Manhattan. Below are some of my personal understandings of clarifying the truth.

1. Most New Yorkers and tourists are very sympathetic toward Falun Dafa practitioners' situation in China. Many passers-by stopped at our anti-torture exhibition site and asked us why such a brutal persecution is happening. In order to explain to them Jiang Zemin's brutality, madness and irrationality, I explained about the Chinese government's giving awards to Falun Dafa before the persecution and the wide-spread, large-scale suppression that later began in 1999.

2. Some tourists asked, "Is this kind of effort you are making here going to help end the persecution that is happening in China? How can I help you?" I told them, "The evil is just afraid of being exposed. If you can help us spread the truth about this persecution against Falun Dafa to your family, friends and congressmen, then you are helping us."

3. Two German tourists said they knew that Falun Dafa is good and that they heard that Falun Dafa was a religion. I explained to them that Falun Dafa is a meditation and physical exercise practice. I also asked them, "Do you think yoga is a religion?" The tourists replied, "Yoga is of course not a religion." They seemed to come to understand it. Then, they said with a smile, "So, yours is meditation and exercise."

4. Two tourists from Mainland China asked us if we were involved in politics. I explained to them that our Teacher Li has never allowed students to get involved in politics. I said, "In China, practitioners have no place to turn to after so many of our fellow practitioners have died, therefore, we have no choice but to go out into the street to clarify the truth. We are not able to clarify the truth in Beijing. What do you think we should do?" After hearing that, they could not think of any other good solution. They comforted me and said, "Jiang has stepped down; things will get better for you now."

5. I took the subway from Jersey City to New York. Upon entering the subway station, I saw the Mayor of Jersey City and other people distributing flyers for the mayoral election campaign. I told him that I came from California. He smiled and wished me a good visit; he then turned to ask others to support his re-election. As I walked down the platform, I thought that I ought to have given him truth-clarification material and told him about the persecution against Falun Dafa. I turned around and thought, the Mayor is still there, why let this opportunity pass by and instead why not turn back and fix it. So I quickly walked back to subway station's entrance and said hello to the Mayor. I also told him that I was there to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa, and gave him some truth-clarification material. He said he had heard about what is happening to Falun Dafa and that he would definitely read the material I gave him. We wished each other good luck and said good-bye.

6. Aspects that fellow practitioners can improve in: On some streets there were a lot of fellow practitioners gathered around. On these streets there were seven or eight practitioners within less than one hundred meters. Such a high concentration of practitioners handing out flyers very easily desensitized passers-by, and then they tend to reject our flyers. Also, we should not just put our flyers into people's hands; we should have kind thoughts and show our goodness. We should not be forceful if a passer-by does not show interest.

I've run into many very remarkable fellow practitioners during my trip to New York. Some of them have cultivated very well and the field around them is very righteous; they were not necessarily highly educated but their conduct displayed the demeanor of a Falun Dafa practitioner. Yet, examining myself, I noticed that when I meditated I felt unbearable pain, when I practiced the exercises I fought with all sorts of distracting thoughts and when I studied the Fa I did not completely put my mind into it. Teacher wants us to rectify ourselves. Indeed, there are a lot of areas where I need to cultivate.

We Falun Dafa practitioners are here to save sentient beings, oppose the old forces' arrangements and resolve many things benevolently. This matter is not over yet. If I have a chance, I hope to come back to New York again.

The above is just a small portion of my personal experiences. Please correct me if there's anything improper.

Posting date: 10/14/2004
Original article date: 10/13/2004
Category: Practitioners' Insights
Translated on 9/30/2004
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2004/9/27/85139.html

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