By Falun Dafa Practitioners from Taiwan

(Clearwisdom.net)

1. My Understanding of Clarifying the Truth in Manhattan, New York

I have been to Manhattan twice during which I have gained some experiences and understandings that I want to share with everyone.

It is effective to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa and the persecution in the subway

Before I went to New York at the end of November, I read a fellow practitioner's article commenting that it was very effective to let people know the facts to people while they were on the subway. The practitioner commented that is easier as these people are not walking, allowing them to focus on reading the materials that we give them.

On one occasion when I was distributing materials to people on the train a man standing in front of me said, "Have you read today's 'New York Times'?" Seeing that I hadn't read it, the man told me that the article explained why practitioners hold anti-torture exhibits, and that the article would help lots of people come to a clearer understanding of such activities. As the train was arriving at my station, the man asked people nearby for a copy of the "New York Times." I thanked him and wanted to give him some materials explaining what Falun Dafa is and what the persecution is, he said with a smile, "I already have one." I then proceeded to hand out the materials to the people around us, who all responded with a smile. They told me that they had either already taken one, or had just heard the conversation between myself and the gentleman.

I came to realize that whilst chatting with people those who were nearby could also hear me. Before I got off the train, I felt a very compassionate energy field. Clarifying the truth about Falun Dafa and the persecution in the subway trains is a very effective and is something that we should use to its fullest extent.

Compare ourselves with fellow practitioners, abandon our notions, pay more attention to our mindsets whilst letting people know the facts

I left where we were staying early in the morning and returned in the late afternoon. In the evening I joined group Fa study and experience sharing with other practitioners from Taiwan and North America. I find group study really beneficial.

Seeing fellow practitioners' pure and righteous attitude in validating the Fa and their deep understanding of the Fa, I came to realize the notions I still held onto. For example, for two consecutive days, I was told to distribute Falun Dafa related materials at the same location. This made me feel awkward as I didn't want to distribute materials to the same groups of people. With the absence of my righteous thoughts, I did not distribute a lot of materials that day. During the experience sharing, a fellow practitioner mentioned that what we are doing is the most righteous thing and commented that the compassionate field we have when we clarify the truth benefits every single person who meets us. I suddenly enlightened to the fact that I had forgotten this basic point of saving sentient beings. On the next day, I was again assigned to the same location which was at the entrance of the subway station. With a righteous mentality, I found many people who had previously refused to take the materials had changed their attitude and accepted them.

Another practitioner was talking to someone who knew the truth about Falun Dafa and the persecution. In the past, whenever people asked me how to help us, I usually repeated what I was told, "You can write to your president and congressmen and senators, ask them to help to stop the persecution of Falun Gong." After that, I did not have much to say. Then one day, I met a lady who was saying that she had many friends from different groups who can write to senators and congressman. I asked her, "Would you like to have a bunch of flyers for your friends?" which she gladly accepted. Now my attitude towards clarifying the truth is very flexible.

It has been five months since practitioners from around the world have started to hold activities to let people know the truth about Falun Dafa in the Manhattan area of New York. Although many people understand the facts of Falun Gong and the persecution, lots of white-collar people still don't. I hope that we can work harder and do better on the three things we are requested to do. I hope that we can have greater wisdom towards our activities and stronger righteous thoughts so as to save more people.

2. Experiences of Taiwanese Practitioners Who Took Part in Activities to let More People Know the Truth About Falun Gong in Manhattan (Pictures)

Falun Dafa Practitioners' Determined Hearts and Persistence Awakens People in Manhattan

Practitioners revealing the facts about Falun Dafa and the persecution on the streets of Manhattan

People read the posters exposing the truth of the persecution

Right before the Thanksgiving holiday it was raining. A person did not want to take a flyer that I was offering him, but after hearing "Falun Dafa is good," the person stopped to take the flyer, while someone else asked what Falun Dafa is. After the practitioners' explanation, the person took the flyer. Another who had earlier passed by then returned to get a flyer. Another came and left several times before finally deciding to take a flyer while on other occasions someone carefully read our posters and then asked for some flyers.

A lady asked me, "Why are so many Falun Gong practitioners here in Manhattan?" I said, "We want people in Manhattan to know that Falun Dafa is good and to highlight the brutal persecution against Falun Gong that is happening in China. The principle of Falun Dafa is 'Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance,' when this is truly followed in ones everyday life it has a profound effect on ones health. Falun Dafa is now practiced in over sixty countries, but in China, people are brutally persecuted for practicing Falun Gong and lots of people have being tortured to death. We hope that people can learn the truth and that together we can stop the persecution." She then asked, "Why does China persecute Falun Gong?" I said, "Falun Gong is very good, so there are lots of people practicing Falun Gong. The number of people who practice Falun Gong exceeds that of members of the Chinese Communist Party this then made the former leader of Chinese Communist Party, Jiang Zemin, extremely jealous provoking him to launch the persecution." She said, "Now I understand. Thank you very much."

No matter what the time, no matter what the weather, there are always Falun Gong practitioners on the streets clarifying the truth to people, telling them that Falun Dafa is good and talking to them about the persecution. It is the compassionate and persistent heart that Falun Gong practitioners have that move and awaken the people in Manhattan.

Lots of people who did not want to take our flyers returned later to take them. Many others asked us about Falun Dafa and the persecution. Some told us, "I already got one yesterday," "I got one on the other street," "I support you," "I already signed [to stop persecution of Falun Gong.]" "I will tell other people [about the truth of Falun Gong and the persecution.]" "Take care," some thanked us for telling them the facts, some wanted to take more flyers to give to their friends, some wanted to learn the exercises etc..

The purpose of clarifying the truth is to save sentient beings

The presence of Falun Dafa practitioners clarifying the truth is now a natural scene on the streets of Manhattan. On the surface, what we do is somewhat like ordinary people's activities, but our purpose is different than that of ordinary people. What we are doing is saving people.

At the crossing of 8^th Avenue and 34^th Street, a worker who cleans the street thought that because we distribute leaflets it has increased his workload. I said to him, "Sorry! We just want to let people know that Falun Dafa is good." I invited him to look at the posters we were using for our Falun Dafa display. Upon looking at the pictures, he said, "Don't worry, I know." I passed him a flyer, which he carefully folded and put into his pocket. Since then, whenever we met, we greeted each other like friends.

At a busy cross road, when the traffic lights turned green, many people crossed the street. One man walked to us from the crowd and said to us, "I got your materials yesterday, thank you." At a subway station a man said to us, "Falun Dafa," then he showed us the second exercise of the five Falun Gong exercises. On 5^th Avenue, two children pressed their hands together toward our practitioners who were demonstrating the exercises, and then started to learn the third exercise. At Penn. Station, a youth greeted us saying, "Falun Dafa is good."

With a compassionate heart, practitioners greet people on the streets, tell them the facts about Falun Gong and demonstrate the five sets of Falun Dafa exercises. Falun Dafa practitioners' sincere and persistent hearts awake people's consciences allowing more and more to learn the truth.

Posting date: 12/29/2004
Original article date: 12/28/2004
Category: Cultivation in Persecution
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2004/12/7/90864.html

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