Broadening Our Compassion When Clarifying the Truth by Phone

By Singapore Falun Dafa Practitioners

(Clearwisdom.net) Late last year, I started making calls to China to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa. Because my work schedule is very tight with no large blocks of free time available, making phone calls conveniently fits in during my work breaks.

At the beginning, only two out of ten persons I called were willing to listen to what I had to say. I relayed a quick message, "The whole world knows Falun Dafa is great! The Tiananmen Square Self-immolation incident is a hoax. Jiang Zemin has been sued." I found this approach was too rushed. The people who received the call were usually shocked by the sudden urgent message and could not digest the news immediately. They usually hung up quickly, so we weren't able to discuss anything in depth.

Later, I changed my method of clarifying the truth, starting the conversation with a relaxing and pleasant topic then gradually moving on to truth clarification. The situation improved. Sometimes, my daughter would help. She'd start the conversation, "Uncle, how are you! I want to tell you Falun Dafa is great! Many children around the world practice Falun Gong. There are even Minghui schools where children are studying how to follow the principle of Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance!" My daughter's clear, young voice aroused curiosity. I then took over from her and explained the facts about Falun Dafa in more depth, while the person on the other end of the phone listened.

Clarifying the truth by phone at times went well and at other times did not. After I made more calls and read various practitioner's experience sharing articles on the Internet, my righteous thoughts became stronger and my truth clarification efforts by phone improved.

My overall feeling is that the grand tide of Fa-rectification is getting closer and closer, the evil factors are diminishing, and all sentient beings are waiting to be saved, so truth clarification by phone became easier and easier.

A policeman from a town police station listened to my call from beginning to end. In the end, he said very quietly, "I understand your intention."

A prison guard also listened for a long time. He sincerely thanked me.

A leader of labor camp in Xinjiang said, "We don't have many Falun Gong practitioners here." I told him, "You should treat them well." He immediately agreed, "Yes!"

A woman answered amiably, "The telephone number of the bureau of law and justice has changed. The number you are calling is a residential number. We all know that the labor camps are completely evil."

A woman in an office said warmly, "Are you finished? Drink some water and tell me some more, I have not heard enough yet."

A young boy answered the phone once, and I told him, "Please tell your Daddy to be kind to the "uncles and aunties" [term of respect] who practice Falun Gong." The boy's mother got the phone and said, "His father no longer does that kind of work. He has changed jobs. Some of our relatives practice Falun Gong, and they explained the facts to him."

A woman said quietly, but clearly moved and happy, "I am the same kind of person as you. Thank you." This phone call reached a fellow practitioner!

"Ah! Can you call again in the evening?" asked a policeman wanting to know more. "There are too many people around. It is not convenient to talk. I will be on duty tonight, around 9 pm." That evening, he told me that he had read Zhuan Falun. I answered all his questions. He also asked me what kind of person I was. He asked, "Are you married?" I laughed, "We all get married and have children, just like everybody else. I work every day. I cook the meals, wash clothes, and help my children with their homework. I made dumplings for dinner today. I called you right after I finished my dinner." He said, "It appears what the TV said about giving up family and giving up children is not true. It must be propaganda from the government."

The following are some of my experiences when making phone calls to China:

I. Be Truthful and Kind, Forgiving and Understanding

My greatest experience in truth clarification by phone is feeling the power of compassion. Teacher said,

The targets of our truth clarification are common people and deceived sentient beings. Even if they committed some wrong doing, if it was not extremely sinful, we should try our best to use a friendly and sincere tone of voice. Only truthfulness and kindness can break the separation and eliminate the tense confrontation. With a humble and amiable attitude, I told a school teacher, "I am also a teacher, and truly understand the hard work it involves. It is a job of conscience and responsibility to students. If one is not deceived [by the government] how can an upright and kind teacher induce students to defame the Buddha Fa [universal law and principle]?" My sincere tone encouraged the agreeability of the other party.

When reasoning with the people we call, we must first of all understand their difficulties in life and their pain in doing what they have to do [because of pressure from their superiors].

Many police officer's phone numbers were exposed on the internet because they had done something bad, so they easily became defensive and angry. When we explained the facts, we need to try our best to unfasten the knots of their logic and forgive them a little. I said, "Many people may have done something wrong in order to make a living or feed their family under the pressure of relentless propaganda on TV and newspapers in China's totally isolated environment. It is not totally their fault." When the person felt the logic in this, it was easy to engage in conversation. I tell them, "Those who suffer the most during this persecution are common people, who were deceived and don't even know they have done something wrong. I call you with no malicious intention. I just want to explain the facts and hope that you can treat Falun Gong practitioners well whenever you can. People who don't do evil things will be rewarded with happiness and peace."

Fallen Fellow Practitioners Need Our Help

I found a phone number of a practitioner who had gone against Dafa under the intense pressure by the authorities. I called the number and was surprised to hear a young man. I told him I had read about his situation on the Internet and I didn't know much about him. I told him I guessed that Falun Gong must have had some special power to attract him, but there had been some difficult test he could not pass, which made him think the way he did; but that all this was part of the process. Under that kind of evil pressure and cruel environment, not everyone can walk through easily. It is not possible for me to imagine from abroad. But no matter what, I asked him not to say bad words about Teacher and Dafa, as it would not be good for him. I requested that he not be so unfriendly to his former fellow practitioners. My voice was smooth and amiable and made him feel that I understood him and I was not criticizing him. It was like we were old friends discussing a heartfelt problem together. He happily agreed. I told him the grand situation of Fa-rectification, "Falun Gong has been developing over the entire world rapidly and strongly." He expressed his sincere gratitude.

Family Members of Practitioners Subjected to Persecution Need Our Support

A practitioner was arrested and taken to a labor camp. I called his parents. In our conversation, I felt the grief and agony they bore, missing their son and worrying about his condition. His father told me his son had been arrested three times. In the face of slanderous propaganda, they felt shame in front of their neighbors and relatives. I listened quietly and let him release his depressed feelings. The phones we held were thousands of miles apart, but our hearts were connected. I cordially praised his son, "He is really good! He is great!" The old man said, "My son has both high virtue, and high intelligence, and he's also handsome. I was so proud of him. If only this thing never happened...The last few years have been very hard on us. His mother and I were so depressed we didn't want to live anymore."

I said with my deepest sympathy, "You must endure! No matter what happens, one must support family members. There has to be an end to the persecution."

II. Use a Respectful Manner and Appropriate Praises

We must watch our manner and respect the other party when making phone calls. Especially for those authorities like directors of bureaus and divisions and head of subdivisions, who are used to being respected and have a strong sense of authority. During conversations, if I could sense that the opposite party was elderly, I would ask my questions and take care to use the respectful format. If the opposite party was well educated and intelligent, I would ask them to judge the situation with reason.

Sometimes, appropriate praise had a good effect.

A director of a division was quietly listening to me. I praised him for his patience and commented that he must be over 50 years old. He laughed, "I just turned 50. I do believe that good and bad will receive their due." I called a director of a labor camp. I told him I had read many articles about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in his labor camp on the Internet. I read a paragraph for him, which included the names of the offending policemen and the practitioners tortured, the brutal torture methods used, etc. He did not deny anything in the article. I told him that Falun Gong had spread to over 60 countries and had been recognized with over a thousand government proclamations. The movie False Fire that analyzed the Tiananmen Square Self-immolation had won an honorary award at the Columbia International Movie and TV Festival. Jiang Zemin and the heads of the "610 Offices" have been sued in a dozen countries..." He did not have much to say, but his attitude was friendly. I could hear his sigh over the phone. I paused for a moment. Finally, I sincerely asked him, "Director, please tell your subordinates to be more civilized and kind...I know you can do this because they are under your supervision." He answered "Yes!" very naturally.

III. Be patient and Pay Attention to Details, Use Plain Words to Convey Deep Meanings

I also came across people who laughed viciously and cursed wildly at me. They were deeply deceived. This was a real test of my tolerance. Sometimes, I did not do well. The human side of my heart was moved, and the laughing and cursing became even louder. We need to call these people again and again. We need to raise our level to penetrate and melt their hardened hearts.

IV. Get to Know the Person from Their Voice; Clarify the Truth According to the Individual

The difficulty in clarifying the truth by phone is that you can only hear the person's voice, and are unable to make any visual assessment. One must guess what kind of person one is talking to by their voice alone. If you can judge the person's age, personality, rank, and knowledge quickly, you can adjust your angles accordingly, and thereby increase his understanding. For people who do not have much education, you must use plain words and concrete examples related to their life; for those who are well-educated, you can use historical examples and lessons from history.

The voice of a person is like fingerprint. From the tone of the voice, one can easily judge if a person is lying or not. A sincere, trustworthy, and attractive voice brings people good feelings and pleasant imagination. A voice that lacks confidence will not be valued. Voice reveals much about a life and is closely related to personality. Practitioners have power and a serene field. When you immerse yourself in the situation and when you clarify the truth with your heart, your words will gush out like a spring, which can move people's hearts with genuine emotion.

A director from a labor camp in northeast China flatly denied the cover-up of the persecution. I exposed their brutal beating of Falun Gong practitioners during the 16^th Convention of the Chinese Party in order to reach a high rate of "transformation" [forcing practitioners to renounce their belief and acknowledge Jiang's persecution policies as being correct]. An elementary school teacher was beaten to death. My voice and the blood of the practitioner's mother and wife were woven together in that instant. My words sounded like condemnation and interrogation, directly targeting his conscience. He became silent immediately, and hung up after listening quietly for a while.

Teacher said,

Let's overcome any fear of failure, try repeatedly, exercise our will, and do well in the three things to save sentient beings.
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2004/4/30/73456.html

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