Clarifying the Truth Well and More Deeply: Experience Sharing on the Lawsuits Against Jiang
By Minghui reporter Su Jing
(Clearwisdom.net) "At present, in addition to a Dafa disciple's own, personal
cultivation, you need to do a large amount of things to clarify the facts. So
I think that for Dafa disciples clarifying the facts has become a unique way
of cultivation for you cultivators today. This has never, ever happened
before. And it can be called Dafa disciples' magnificent feat of validating
the Fa and saving sentient beings during the Fa-rectification." (From
"Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference") On May 27, the first oral arguments for the case against Jiang were made
before the US 7th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals. Before that we
had undertaken many truth-clarification efforts, including staging an
anti-torture exhibition for three consecutive days at Thompson Center Square and
at Federal Plaza in downtown Chicago. After the exhibition, practitioners
continued to clarify the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution in China.
While taking legal action, as Fa-rectification Dafa disciples, how then do we
look at the lawsuit against Jiang with a compassionate and peaceful mind and
strong righteous thoughts? How do we continue to follow Teacher's requirements
to more extensively and deeply clarify the truth about Falun Gong and the
persecution? Fellow practitioners met to share their thoughts on this issue.
Below are excerpts from the discussion. Practitioner A: The Lawsuit Against Jiang Has Something to Do with Every
Practitioner In the course of clarifying the truth for the lawsuit against Jiang, we have
learned some lessons. In the beginning of November 2002, a large group of Dafa
practitioners died as a result of the persecution. In the beginning of 2003,
practitioners in different areas around the world used various means to call for
the stop of the persecution and made group efforts to send righteous thoughts.
On January 15, 2003, with the help of the strong righteous thoughts of
practitioners across the globe, an initial scheduling conference for our lawyer
and the judge went smoothly in the United States District Court of the Northern
District of Illinois, and the judge also discussed scheduling the next
proceeding. With the first step completed smoothly, we became overly confident and
slacked off a bit. Laziness manifested, and we hardly made any
truth-clarification efforts to the judicial community anymore, with only very,
very few practitioners continuing with diligence. When the scheduled day for the
next proceeding approached, most people had almost forgotten about the important
case in Chicago. Looking back now, at the time practitioners were very passive
and many practitioners made truth-clarification efforts as if they were doing
some kind of a job, thinking: "I'll go if I'm told to, and when it's over
I'm done." One can imagine the effect of such truth-clarification efforts. We came to realize that when our one whole body has loopholes or our energy
field is not pure, the old forces can take advantage of us. When we encounter a
problem, we get back on our feet after we stumble. Through numerous sessions of
in-depth discussion after group Fa-study, more and more practitioners became
aware of the following: This legal case does not just concern one or two
practitioners who have a good command of English or professional knowledge of
the law. It is a responsibility that every Falun Gong practitioner shoulders in
the Fa-rectification. History has bestowed this responsibility upon Dafa
practitioners, and we should live up to our title [of Dafa practitioners]. After
a long period of experience sharing, we adjusted our mentality, and more
practitioners started to clarify the truth to the judicial community in earnest. The lawsuit against Jiang is not an issue that just concerns a few people,
nor is it the work of just one area, or a new project. It is a new stage in the
course of Fa-rectification that has something to do with each and every one of
us. The goal of clarifying the truth to the judicial community is not for the
sake of the legal case itself. In terms of the legal profession, people in the
judicial community all know that we have been using this case as an opportunity
to clarify the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution in a more detailed and
in-depth manner, and especially to clarify the truth to people in the judicial
community whom we seldom had the chance to come into contact with in our daily
life. Many cases against Jiang are in progress around the world. We can look at the
judicial community in this ordinary world's level like a human body, with law
schools, law academics, lawyers associations, judges, etc., like small joints
and acupuncture points in this body. If we can start clarifying the truth to the
judicial community on a large scale in different areas, not limiting our efforts
to explaining the facts to judges, we can open up each joint and acupuncture
point, so to speak. With people's sense of justice emerging, this big whole
system will then be unblocked. Since here we have a field of justice, people
will have just thoughts. Practitioner B: Problems Encountered in our Truth-Clarification Efforts While clarifying the truth to the law profession, I encountered the following
problematic questions. "How is this persecution different from persecutions
happening in other areas of the world? There are many cases of human rights
abuse in different areas of the world with many death cases, why should we care
so much about the persecution against Falun Gong?" "This only
constitutes a case of human rights persecution, this does not amount to
genocide." These are indications that the world's people do not have a
clear understanding of the facts, or of the systemic nature and evilness of the
persecution. This phenomenon is directly related to how much we ourselves understand the
persecution. We should ask ourselves if we are able to feel from the bottom of
our hearts this most systemic and evil persecution ever encountered in human
history. Otherwise, we will not be able to clearly explain this to everyday
people. Recently, I reviewed the "Illustrations of the Systematic
Persecution of Falun Gong by Jiang's Regime" (http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/6/24/49020.html)
and benefited a lot from it. I realized that I didn't really understand the
systemic nature and evilness of the persecution. It is hard for many people to imagine the wide-range, the depth and systemic
nature of this persecution. For example, whether it is the media fabricating
lies, other propaganda tools, or the cruel treatment of practitioners during the
persecution, there is an escalating process happening in a systemic manner.
Cruel tortures, forceful brainwashing, hypocritical and deceiving methods have
been widely used in prisons and labor camps in different areas. The torture
tools and cruel methods are very similar among prisons and labor camps in
different areas. The entire persecution has been going on secretly, progressing
systematically and escalating step by step. Jiang is responsible for initiating
and executing this persecution. Through contact with my American friends, I discovered that many people have
heard or read from the media about Falun Gong and the persecution Falun Gong
practitioners have endured, but the majority do not know that Jiang is the major
culprit behind this persecution. This indicates that we were not thorough enough
in our truth-clarification efforts. When more people are aware of Jiang's crimes
and find him guilty in their minds, they will form a big, strong field of
justice, with a just sentence by the court being the natural result. As a
government by the people, the American government will be guided by the people's
will, rather than being manipulated by Jiang and his group's intimidation. From
now on when we clarify the truth, we should let more people understand that
Jiang is the major culprit of this persecution. When we talked about putting World War II Nazi war criminals on trial, there
was no difference of opinion. People's hearts were also for the trial against
Milosevic who committed genocide in recent years. Why? It is because their
crimes were widely known by the world's people, who came to have a detailed and
shared understanding of these trials. Only by clarifying the truth in a deep,
far-reaching and detailed manner in order to let people understand the evil
nature of Jiang's persecution against Falun Gong, can the world's people make
the right choice, in a clearheaded way. I remember back when the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China
just started, we felt as if we were personally being persecuted. However,
as time went by, that feeling gradually faded. I remember when I saw torture
exhibition for the first time in the New York parade, although it only
demonstrated a fraction of what practitioners in China have suffered, I was
still very shocked. Actually, it was because I had become somewhat numb toward
the persecution. The processing of the lawsuits against Jiang is a long-term
challenge to Dafa practitioners. From submitting the case to the step-by-step
legal proceeding¡ªit takes a very long time to process the lawsuit. Our true
goal is to clarify the truth and save sentient beings. We also want to be able
to maintain righteous thoughts on a long-term basis, and infuse this in our
truth-clarification efforts. This requires our clear understanding of Fa
principles. Practitioner C: Clarifying the Truth in a Comprehensive Manner Pictures and the torture exhibition help people understand the persecution
through direct visual images and perception, but this large-scale genocidal
persecution has broad implications. Although viewers are left with a deep
impression after seeing the pictures, if they have not already seen our
truth-clarification material, they might not understand what they've seen.
Properly explaining to individuals allows them to have a clear understanding of
the facts. When practitioners held the anti-torture exhibition in Chicago, I explained
the following issues systematically, just saying enough to make my points to
Westerners who came to see the display. Sometimes I started by talking about the picture or torture tool a viewer was
looking at, specifically explaining to the viewer that the extent of cruelty
inflicted on practitioners by the use of the tiger bench is far beyond what a
picture can portray. This approach deepens their understanding of the truth.
Then, I talked about statistics, shifting the focus to the whole picture by
giving the death toll resulting from the persecution, or the number of people
having been detained. I also cited specific cases that I thought would touch the
viewer, based on their character. I spoke about cases involving practitioners of
different professions, ages, and gender to help them see the depth and extent of
the persecution. At that point, people became anxious to find out why this persecution had
happened. I followed their thinking and first gave them a simple answer; saying
"There is nothing more absurd than this persecution and we too have been
asking ourselves why, yet, who can explain clearly why Hitler felt he must get
rid of Jews?" I continued to elaborate on the topic of genocidal persecution and other
related truth clarification, providing a positive message. I was careful to let
people understand that this persecution targets one hundred million good people
who practice Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance, emphasizing the extensiveness of
the persecution, and also providing more positive messages: "Why did these
people come to learn Falun Gong? It was spread by family members and friends
through word of mouth and heart to heart from people that understood Falun Dafa
was good; it was after our parents told us Falun Gong was good that several
friends of mine and I myself started learning Falun Gong. After practicing Falun
Gong, our health improved greatly and we became more decent and honest people,
daring to follow the principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance"
to become truly good people. Through this process, and according to these
principles, hundreds of millions of Falun Gong practitioners have been able to
step forward under enormous political pressure to speak the truth and reject the
persecution. I also revealed who started this absurd, evil and cruel genocidal
persecution, who implemented the information blockade to keep the persecution
going, who fabricated and distributed copious lies to slander and defame Falun
Gong, who staged the so-called "Tiananmen self-immolation" and other
tragedies in order to incite people's hatred toward Falun Gong. Then, very
naturally, I pointed out to them that this persecution had twisted people's
spirit and destroyed many people's conscience, because it not only affected
hundreds of millions of Falun Gong practitioners and their family members, but
also the entire Chinese population and people worldwide who had been
contaminated by lies. While making the comprehensive explanation to people as concise and vivid as
possible, I made sure to take the opportunity to tell people that Jiang Zemin,
the culprit of this persecution, had been sued in the U.S. and that the United
States District Court of the Northern District of Illinois thought the former
Chinese President Jiang Zemin was entitled to immunity. I asked them what they
thought about that? I hoped that they would support our appeal and support our
efforts from their hearts based on morality and justice. When I said that,
people demonstrated their righteous thoughts and gave me their best and kindest
answers and expressed their encouragement and gratitude to our Falun Gong
practitioners. This gives proof to the power of clarifying the truth
comprehensively. Practitioner D: Each Cultivator's Mentality is Very Important I think maintaining a cultivator's mentality is very important. Are we doing
this for an expected outcome, or is it truly without pursuit? Is it only for
exposing the evil, or are we are really thinking about saving sentient beings?
Do we get all worked up to fight a battle, or do we consistently clarify the
truth in a calm, mature and wise manner? These are all things that we need to
cultivate. Some practitioners still do not truly and fundamentally have a clear
understanding of the significance and effect of the lawsuit against Jiang in the
Fa-rectification period, nor do they know what to do as a cultivator. Some
practitioners are only concerned with the specific projects they are working on,
and have the misunderstanding that the case against Jiang is something that
practitioners with knowledge of the law should be more concerned with. They
usually are not concerned with the lawsuit against Jiang and only use the case
as material to clarify the truth. They do not really care about or support the
lawsuit from the bottom of their hearts. This will indeed weaken our strength as
a whole. If we ourselves still do not clearly understand the significance and effect
of the lawsuit against Jiang in the Fa-rectification, it will be very difficult
for us to explain to people the true facts of the lawsuit. I think when anything occurs in the Fa-rectification, it presents us an
opportunity to clarify the truth and save sentient beings. The same is true for
the case against Jiang. Have we really used this opportunity well to clearly
explain the truth that we are supposed to in a comprehensive, detailed, in-depth
and solid manner? Have we explained it properly and effectively? Practitioner E: The Best Way to Help the Lawsuit Against Jiang is to Solidly
and Consistently Clarify the Truth Jiang Zemin initiated this suppression against one hundred million Falun Gong
practitioners, which not only violates international human rights laws, but also
severely tramples the Chinese Constitution. Bringing Jiang Zemin to justice will
not only help to end the catastrophe as soon as possible, but is also important
in powerfully exposing and restricting the evil and saving the numerous sentient
beings who have been deceived. The case against Jiang is not an issue of a specific area, or an issue of the
legal team, nor is it a simple issue of a legal proceeding. As a practitioner
who is not in the law profession, I think the best way to help the case is to
clarify the truth solidly and consistently. After people understand the facts,
they will make the right choice. Last June I went to Washington D.C. to look for and clarify the truth of
Falun Gong to related congresspersons, hoping that they would support the
lawsuit against Jiang. Before I left I contacted their offices and staff
members, but I had to leave before they responded to my request. One morning I
went to a congressperson's office for four or five times, yet I could not get an
appointment with the specific staff member. After lunch I went to the
congressperson's office again and waited. An elderly staff member walked out, so
I stepped up and told her that I had come all the way from Kansas City just to
meet that staff member and that I was a Falun Gong practitioner. Then I took out
a copy of Witness to History magazine and briefly explained to her
the truth about Falun Gong. After listening to me carefully, she apologized to
me and told me that she was a supervisor of the congressperson's office. After
asking me to wait for a while, she went into the office. In a short while, the
young staff member who I had been waiting for finally came out. At the beginning
she was very reluctant and told me that she could only give me five minutes
because she was very busy, to which I agreed. I began by telling her that my
husband and I had improved our health by practicing Falun Dafa, that Dafa had
spread widely around the world and how Jiang started this bloody persecution
against Falun Gong. I explained to her as I flipped through the "Witness"
magazine while she listened quietly. I told her of the tragic death of Wang
Lixuan and her 8-month old son as a result of the persecution. I told her, one
word at a time, that Jiang had committed the crime of genocide, torture and
crimes against humanity and we had brought Jiang's case to the court. She
immediately said, "Good." She asked me how she could support us.
Afterwards, this congressperson signed all the related resolutions that
supported Falun Gong. This experience made me understand what Teacher told us: "It's like a master key, unlocking that old-force factor that seals
the world's people off and prevents them from learning the Fa. Only your
clarifying the truth can do this." As Fa-rectification disciples, the degree of righteous enlightenment we have
reached based on Teacher's Fa, and the strength of our righteous thoughts all
directly relate to the effectiveness of our truth-clarification efforts and of
our saving sentient beings.
Chinese version available at
http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/6/8/76651.html
Yearly Archive
Printer Version
feedback@clearwisdom.net
|
Related Articles
|