By Zi Wei in Mainland China

(Clearwisdom.net) A while ago I heard some non-practitioners say that some people disliked phone calls and emails from Falun Dafa practitioners outside China. Some people didn't like seeing Falun Dafa practitioners when traveling outside China, including some to whom we had already clarified the truth and who had sympathized with Dafa. Of course, we will continue to clarify the truth to these people, but I just want to share some of my personal understandings and some things I do to clarify the truth to foreigners in China.

Undoubtedly, because of overseas practitioners' actions, the persecution against Falun Dafa practitioners in China has been somewhat alleviated. As a practitioner in China, I thank these fellow practitioners for their efforts. Today, I lay out my thoughts in hopes that we can all do better and improve together.

Several examples: some people saw practitioners chatting when no one else was around. I think they were sharing experiences, but a non-practitioner would not think so. These practitioners demonstrated the Falun Dafa exercises when people came, and they started talking to each other when people left. Non-practitioners think these practitioners were putting on a show. Some practitioners disliked the flyers given to them by fellow practitioners in a certain region, and they felt the "Jiang trial" was useless.

I think since we are "clarifying the truth", we should use our mouths to do it, because it's the easiest way to help people understand and learn the truth. We also must pay attention to the other person's ability to accept our words and we should impress them with our fine manners and noble attitudes. Since we have already spent the money to print the flyers and have devoted our time and energy, why don't we use a little bit more from our heart? The formality is only a material base. What truly changes another person's heart is our heart.

Although "saving people" sounds grand, we still need to take solid steps and do things one by one. I really like to read success stories about overseas practitioners making phone calls and chatting on the Internet and helping people learn the truth. Although they may only be able to talk to a few people in a day, these people have truly understood the facts once we have done the job thoroughly. There are only seven billion people in the world, so on average, how many people will each practitioner have to clarify the truth to?

When we hand out flyers, we are not giving out mere pieces of paper. Perhaps we can say a few words about the flyer, but we should use simple words for explanations. Even a polite greeting and a sincere smile would allow people to understand our intent. Otherwise, he would think he was pushed to take the flyer, and may misinterpret our intentions and take the flyer with a negative frame of mind. Some practitioners look sad when they pass out flyers. How wonderful Falun Dafa is! We represent Dafa, so we must be sure to display its grandeur to the world's people. In contrast, overseas practitioners live in a relatively normal environment - their environment is better than ours in Mainland China. An optimistic attitude and a happy mood are most contagious. Non-practitioners pay lots of attention to our physical appearance, including our dress. We hope overseas practitioners can truly represent the image of Falun Gong to the world's people well.

Moreover, if we want to clarify the truth to the Chinese people, we must first learn what prejudices they have toward Falun Gong. This may be difficult for overseas practitioners, because mindsets here in China are quite different. At a minimum we should tolerate their notions and then break through it with the Fa and principles they can accept.

For example, sometimes when I told them about "Jiang's trial" as a third person, I know the Chinese people don't have the tradition of suing a national leader, so I would first say, "I went to many different places in the world and I felt like a stranger. The Chinese government banned Falun Gong, but Falun Gong could be seen in lots other countries. They put pictures of Falun Gong practitioners who were tortured to death in public places and mourn their deaths. They also filed lawsuits against Jiang in local courts. Think about it: a former U.S. president was impeached because of his personal lifestyle. It does not matter what kind of government official you are. They can still sue you!" So I first got them to understand the notion that high-ranking officials should be punished for their crimes, like everybody else, so they won't use the wrong, traditional Chinese notion to judge other countries. The result is that some good people would immediately agree that Jiang would have been sued countless times if China had the same system as the U.S., and others wouldn't still think that there is anything wrong with filing lawsuits against Jiang in other countries.

Since China was a closed nation for many years. Many people think no matter what happens abroad does not affect China. Jiang would still enjoy his power and the lawsuits are futile. I would say, "Maybe right now those foreign governments would not succeed to have him extradited, but he cannot go to any country in which a lawsuit was filed against him, because if he goes there he would have to go to court first!" They laughed and no longer argued about whether Jiang would be punished. However, I had to say more, "That's why he's scared to death. He wrestled with Hu Jintao for power during the Sixteenth Congress and tried to obtain immunity as a state head. He didn't care about SARS. How many Chinese people died during the epidemic?" When they heard about SARS, they would agree, "That guy! He didn't do anything good during his terms in office and he still tries to stay there!" I said, "He even sent diplomats to lobby the U.S. government, saying anything will be possible if the U.S. government could dismiss the lawsuits against him. The American people say the relationship between the U.S. and China is not dependent on the relationship between the U.S. and Jiang Zemin." At this time, some good people would say, "That is so right!" I would say, "What does he mean by 'anything can be done'? Doesn't that mean he would sacrifice the interest of the Chinese people?" At this time, almost everyone would say, "That's right! That traitor!" Chinese people have patriotism in their blood.

Of course, we should intertwine these things with the facts about Falun Dafa. I spoke mainly talked about the "Jiang trial" above because I want to show overseas practitioners what kind of notions Chinese people may have. If I first told them "we are suing Jiang," they may object. We should achieve the right things before their notions kick in, and we should be careful not to say things that are directly against their ingrained notions. Fa-rectification is progressing constantly, and the requirement for us is becoming higher and higher. Previously perhaps we would "score" if we simply passed out a flyer, but now we must do it in a deeper manner.

When clarifying the truth to people with completely different mindsets, it's necessary to understand the other person's mindset. After all these years, I truly think no matter what tribulations I have undergone, I will never regret them or complain. The reason we tell people about the truth is not to cry out about the wrongs we suffered, but to help the world's people obtain a bright future. There is no need to strongly express that we must do something. If we simply give them what they need in a way they can accept, they will naturally understand us. The people's understanding of us can only be based on our understanding of them.

Let us attract the world's people with our wonderful image, touch them with our sincere words and actions and awaken them with our compassionate, kind thoughts. Approach our people and enter their hearts: Dafa practitioners inside and outside of China, let us join hands and fulfill our great vow to show people a way to salvation!

Posting date: 2/9/2004
Original article date: 2/8/2004
Category: Practitioners' Insights
Translated on 1/22/2004
Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/1/19/65235.html

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