Clarifying the Truth with Our Dafa-Endowed Wisdom (Part 1) A Dafa Disciple in the U.S.A. [Series note: In the brutal persecution of Falun Dafa and its
practitioners, lies from the evil forces have poisoned Chinese people. They have
been deceived and don't know the true situation. It is crucial that we use our
rationality and wisdom while clarifying the truth to the precious Chinese
people. We will have a direct impact on those who can be saved if we clarify the
truth in a way that they can accept and understand more easily. We hope we can
share our Dafa-endowed wisdom obtained from clarifying the truth and from
sharing experiences with other practitioners.]
(Clearwisdom.net) I would like to share with fellow practitioners my
understanding and experience from clarifying the truth to precious Chinese
people through the Internet.
Master has told us to "clarify the truth with wisdom," (From
"Rationality" in Essentials for Further Advancement II). During
truth-clarifying efforts I understood more deeply that all we have is created
and endowed from Dafa, including our wisdom. The prerequisite, of course, is
that one has to study Fa well. On a daily basis I usually read one chapter of Zhuan
Falun after I get home. Then I work on Fa-Rectification projects, and,
finally, I will manage to squeeze in some time to clarify the truth via the
Internet.
A. Treat people with compassion and always think of others first
Since I am slow at typing, instead of talking to people directly in chat
rooms to clarify the truth, recently I have often gone to Internet forums.
Sometimes I meet other practitioners there, including disciples from Mainland
China. I have come to realize many of my shortcomings from them. When they
clarify the truth, their tone and compassion move lots of readers who, as a
result, get to learn the truth. In comparison, during the past I used a harsh
tone when clarifying the truth. Nevertheless, they might get to know the truth
as a result, but they would still, on an emotional level, feel reluctant to
accept it. Gradually I was able to treat others with more genuine compassion and
think of their mood, mindset, and environment by putting myself in their
position. I am finding it much easier to communicate with them.
I learned that thinking of others first when clarifying the truth must also
include considering problems from their points of view.
1. Others do not necessarily know what we know
An example is the "1,400 cases." Dafa disciples know right away
what it refers to [Note: this refers to the fabricated claim by the Chinese
government that 1,400 people died as a result of practicing Falun Gong] and
no further explanation is needed. But do non-practitioners know what the
"1,400 cases" refer to? The evil lie producing propaganda machine in
China doesn't always use the figure of 1,400. Their numbers are always changing.
Sometimes it's 1,600. In addition, ordinary people probably don't automatically
associate the "1,400 cases" with Falun Gong. I recently watched a
computer flash program made by practitioners, which compares the normal death
rate with the 1,400 cases to reveal the truth behind the 1,400 cases. But the
program never once explained what the "1,400 cases" was all about. It
just assumes that people already know about it. So after watching it, many
people don't understand what the point of the program is. Similarly, everyday
people do not understand numbers like "4.25" and "7.20"
(translator's note: 4.25 refers to April 25, 1999 when over 10,000 Falun Gong
practitioners gathered in Beijing asking the Chinese government to allow them to
freely practice Falun Gong, and 7.20 refers to July 20, 1999 when the Chinese
regime began a full-scale crackdown on Falun Gong). Generally, people do not
know who Wang Jindong or Liu Chunling are (they were the actors and actress's
names in the staged "Self-Immolation" case). Most people can only
remember the young girl, Chen Guo (Translator's note: please refer to http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/special_column/self-immolation.html
for a detailed explanation of the truth behind the "Self-Immolation").
These are some things we should take into consideration when producing truth
clarification materials.
2. Respect others and be considerate of their emotions: do not force your
ideas upon others
For instance, sometimes other people's arguments are based on faulty logic.
We should not always take advantage of their loopholes, since we are not engaged
in a debating contest. Our purpose is to clarify the truth and let people
comprehend the truth. For some people, if you yield a little maybe the outcome
will be better, though it is not always the case. Some carry an arrogant air and
will not listen to our reasoning. It would be great if we could pinpoint their
errors and make them calm down. But, it is more important to let others feel our
compassion. On the other hand, we should affirm and encourage their compassion
and good points, even if they just have a little bit of it, and then we can try
to guide them to think things over and recognize the truth. If we really expose
their loopholes, we should give them a hint and spare their feelings. They will
understand and this will make it easier to communicate with them next time.
Once I was able to refute all the points that a person made. He still refused
to give up and admit he was wrong. Everybody knew he was irrational. I decided
to let it go since his arguing wouldn't mislead others any longer. I said,
"Sir, I give up. You are truly good at making your points known to
people." After that, whenever he visited the forum, he no longer posted
anything against Dafa.
The following is a part from a Chinese martial arts novel that I used to
read: Two masters get together and fight to decide who is better. Both of them
are totally relaxed. They laugh and chat with each other while exchanging just
one fighting move between each other. The winner removes a button from the
loser's clothes. But then he pretends to be hit by the loser and sincerely tells
the loser how much greater of a martial art master the loser is and how he
greatly admires him. When the loser sees he has lost the button and the winner
still spares his feelings and compliments him, he does nothing and is secretly
overwhelmed by the generosity of the other person. We are practitioners and we
are to be even more compassionate. Common people cannot really comprehend our
compassion, but they do understand our polite manners, consideration and
earnestness.
Additionally, usually our affirmation of people's kindness will calm them
down and make them more rational. The clear sides of their minds will take over.
For example, when people are exposed to the truth, their nationalism might be
invoked. They can become irrational and become very defensive. I do not touch on
their attachments, but affirm their strong points. I would say, "It seems
you are patriotic. It is very nice to talk to you. Actually, every Chinese
person is patriotic and is proud of our five thousand year history." Then,
I would say, "But those who accuse people of being anti-government and
traitors only because they point out some Chinese leaders' wrongdoings, are
naïve. Singing the praises of somebody is an easy thing to do. Nobody will
curse at you and you'll win some brownie points with the leaders. Everyone knows
how to do that. But those who are really patriotic will think of their fellow
countrymen, will help them overcome difficulties and love ancient Chinese
culture. This is real patriotism, isn't it? Shouting slogans like 'down with XXX,'
hacking American websites and applauding the fact that Americans died in the
Columbia Space Shuttle accident will not make China a wealthy and powerful
country. Patriotism does not mean blind enthusiasm. We should point out and
expose the problems of our country and society, and then face them in order to
overcome them. Concealing and covering-up will make things worse. It will only
make the officials look good, which is not good for our country and our people.
It's not that important how foreigners look at us. It's much more critical for
us to make unremitting efforts to improve ourselves. It's really lamentable that
the Chinese government conceals its problems to make itself look good. In
reality this is actually weakening the country.
After being presented with that, some will accept our truth more easily on an
intuitive level. Further communication then becomes easier.
B. Remember: when explaining the facts, our purpose is to offer salvation to
sentient beings
1. If people's false notions do not stand in the way of them from learning
the truth about the persecution, we do not have to question those notions with
them.
While clarifying the truth, we must remember our main goal. We do not want to
debate with or convince people to believe everything we believe. We should
present them with the truth and remove any hatred acquired from government lies
and propaganda. If people's notions do not prevent them from learning the truth
of the persecution, we should leave those notions alone.
For example, a lot of people are poisoned by atheism. Do we really need to
convince them that gods exist? I do not think so. As long as they know that
believing in gods or Buddha is not something stupid or ridiculous and will not
lead science and societal development to regress but that actually the
persecution of those who believe in it is the real regression of our society and
our civilization, that is enough.
When I encounter those who are deeply against theism, I would say, "As a
matter of fact, in modern western society quite a few scientists are theists.
Believing in god hasn't resulted in a decline of western society and scientific
development. On the contrary the development of European and American countries
and the advancement of their sciences rely heavily on their respect for the
individual. The inherent differences in individuals makes the world look
marvelous and has enabled humanity to invent many things. Actually, the
persecution of Falun Gong is unreasonable and is against China's constitution.
It is a regression of the rule of law, and a strangulation of people's
creativity."
When we avoid debating details with people, we do not need to make our points
explicitly and strongly, although we know that they are the truth. This is so we
can avoid getting stuck in minor details. Master in his lectures always uses
words like "it is possible...;" "just a joke" [Note: both
quotations are unofficial translations] and other light comments. For
example, in the Jinan Lecture, when Master mentioned other ways in which people
cultivated their assistant consciousnesses, he used a conservative number, 98%.
In fact, we know that since the genesis of the universe, it is has only been
Falun Dafa practitioners that cultivate their main consciousnesses. This is a
hint for me, a hint about how to clarify the truth.
Similar topics include anti-U.S. sentiments, and misunderstandings of freedom
and human rights in western countries. We don't need to convince people to drop
all their notions. As long as we can invoke their compassionate thoughts and let
them know that we are being persecuted unjustly and that all the propaganda is
fabricated by the Chinese regime to cover up their crimes, I personally think
that is enough.
Of course, some people hold negative thoughts toward Dafa precisely because
of these aforementioned notions, but that is a different story. 2. Any topic could be an opening to explain the facts about the persecution
In fact, any topic of interest of everyday people could be an opening to
clarify the truth. We can lead them to the truth naturally because as Master
said, " 'The Buddha Fa' is an insight into all mysteries." (From
"LUNYU" in Zhuan Falun) Of course we should have confidence in
Dafa and Dafa will endow us with wisdom.
For instance, I once encountered a person who just wanted to have a good
time. He said to me, "I will not be a Party member. But I do not want to be
a practitioner, either. I just want to eat, drink, play and be merry since
everybody is going to die anyway. You think you are a god, actually you are
nothing -- you are only looking for something to lean on."
I replied, "It is fine if you don't want to be a Party member or a
practitioner, but do not sell out your conscience by accepting these lies. It is
fine that you want to eat, drink, play and be merry since everybody is going to
die anyway. I can accept that. But as you said, 'since everybody is going to die
anyway,' what is the point of having a good time? No matter what you eat, no
matter how happy you are, you will end up dead. Who will still be able to eat,
drink, play and be merry in a coffin? So these things are things that YOU are
leaning on."
Then I introduced to him the truth of Dafa. I picked up one paragraph from a
disciple's article and adapted it a little bit. It read:
"Human beings have a brain and they can think. They also have limbs and
desires. The brain dominates limbs and desires. However, currently, beer and
desires always take control and human beings become slaves of their desires.
Isn't it sad? Life is short and full of uncertainties, and time flies. We are
busy every day. Who knows what we are busy doing? What is the meaning of our
life? A Great Architect created us. Does he intend to let us pass away and
disappear completely from the world? Is life merely such a meaningless tragedy?
What should we do and pursue while we are alive? Think about it -- why are Dafa
practitioners, who had been suffering tremendously, willing to sacrifice so much
to defend the truth? Why are they so calm and steadfast? Do you think they
really understand the ultimate meaning of life?"
C. Dafa includes infinite wisdom
Master said in "Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan
New York Fa Conference," "Actually, with a lot of things if you
calmly and gently talk to people and handle those things rationally, you'll find
that your wisdom will flow forth like a spring, and every sentence of yours will
get right to the point, and every sentence will speak the truth. As soon as you
become attached or anxious, though, or have some strong intention, your wisdom
is gone, and that's because at that time you've come over to the human side
again, right? You should try your best to use righteous thoughts and try your
best to be in the state of a cultivator, and the results will be
excellent."
If I study the Fa well and my heart is pure enough, I feel my wisdom flows
like spring water. Once a long-forgotten story in a book I had read ten years
ago came back to me. I found that it was a very good example to use in
explaining the facts. Another time, when I was trying to find literature on a
certain topic in a search engine, I suddenly saw an article on another topic,
which was more appropriate for that scenario. My responses to others during
factual conversations are convincing, but not boring. They are vivid, but not
meaningless. This way, people will realize that Falun Gong practitioners are not
simple-minded people who can be easily deceived . Because of it, they are able
to unconsciously remove some of their notions. After reading my replies to
others, one person said, "You are a profound thinker. If you were a writer,
your novels and essays would be good. Please write more and I will definitely
read your comments." Actually, I am a science major. If I hadn't practiced
Dafa, I wouldn't dare write anything.
All of these things are happening because of the power of Dafa. Sometimes I
feel a book I read and some of the things I experienced when I was not yet
practicing were actually preparing me for today's truth-clarification, and were
arranged by Master a long time ago. So, we should be proud that we have the
opportunity to practice Dafa and that we are Dafa disciples during the Fa-Rectification
period. All of what we have was prepared for the Fa. Master has arranged certain
knowledge and experiences of everyday people for me to use in truth
clarification, including many trivial things.
To cite just one example - I can talk clearly about various religions and
obscure disciplines while explaining the facts. Actually, before I obtained Fa I
could only understand tiny bits of books in those areas. After cultivation,
since our practitioners should not undertake two schools of practice at the same
time, I could barely remember those things. But in truth clarification, as long
as my heart is pure, that knowledge comes back to me naturally. When I am not
sure if my memory serves me correctly, I double-check it on the Google search
engine and always manage to find something unexpectedly, such as a more suitable
example or story. On certain occasions, I am presented with questions that are
very hard to answer. If that happens, I just go back to studying the Fa and put
the question aside temporarily. If I study the Fa well, wisdom automatically
comes.
[To be continued] Posting date: 8/28/2003 |