English Minghui.org

January 09, 2001

Thoughts About My Responsibilities as a Practitioner in America

Ever since Master' lecture in Michigan, I have been pondering my role as a Westerner within the "Fa rectification". He said there is a reason we obtained the Fa [law and universal principle] overseas (outside of China) and that nothing is accidental. And since there are relatively few of us here in America, I' been thinking that there must be something unique about each and every one of us that we can contribute. I speak English, so obviously that allows me to hongfa [introduce Falun Dafa] and clarify the truth to people here in a language that they understand. Westerners are more able to relate to me and understand that the Fa is for everyone, not just for Chinese. I am also a part of this society in a way that a Chinese person will never be, so I have lots of connections through friends and family. I can' even imagine what it would be like if the roles were reversed and I were to go live in a Chinese society where everything and everyone is foreign to me. More importantly, there' a lot more in my culture and educational background that allows me to look at things in ways that can help the Chinese practitioners around me step out of their own stubborn concepts. I learn from them, and they can learn from me. I think that' why Master said that there are advantages and disadvantages to certain traits, like being introverted. By being together, I think Westerners and Chinese can help balance out the more ordinary aspects of our behavior. Today I realized that one of my most important assets is my American passport. With it, I can travel virtually anywhere in the world -- I' always thought a '' was a credit card until I saw my Chinese friends having to apply for a visa before they could even set foot in Canada! Now I' hearing that there' an important conference in Hong Kong on January 13^th and 14^th. It' only a few days away, but I feel strongly that it' my responsibility to attend. Holding a Falun Dafa conference there is very symbolic because Hong Kong is now part of Chinese soil. It is, however, supposed to operate under the ' government, two systems' rule. That' why Falun Gong is still legal there. I read in a news report that the Hong Kong government is lending us a large auditorium in City Hall for this conference, despite the displeasure of Beijing. It struck me that Hong Kong is positioning itself in a most courageous way. Many Taiwan practitioners had wanted to attend this conference, but they no longer can because they have been denied visas to enter Hong Kong. I don' know why they would have been denied entry since Hong Kong has always openly welcomed tourists ?they say it has great shopping and fantastic food. But no matter what, I, as an American citizen, can simply ask for a couple of days off work, buy my ticket and go. It would take so little for me to go, but it would be so meaningful. I think I could be part of the message to the overseas Chinese community that Falun Gong is not anti-China and that we aren' any of the bad things that Jiang Zemin forces the propaganda machines to say we are. All eyes will be on Hong Kong to see how China responds to this conference. As for when I return to the U.S., all I' need is a driver' license and I' be able to go to the Florida conference on the 27^th of January. I won' even need to take any time off from work to attend since it' just the weekend. I also think this conference is important to support because it' the first large-scale Westerners' conference ever. The general public is warmly invited so it' good for hongfa, too. This will be the time to exchange experiences of how to deal with issues that are specific to Westerners and that Chinese people may not have a good understanding of. Since the Western practitioners are scattered all over America, this will also be a rare opportunity to get to know each other and create our own meaningful cultivation environment. Going to a conference may not seem like we' really doing very much, but in reality, it can do a lot to '' our environment. It' like the issue of whether a practitioner should just practice and read at home or if he or she should consistently attend a reading group once or twice a week. On some level, it may not seem that crucial of a decision, but on other levels, the difference is immense. Reading together isn' just reading together. Anyone who has been to a really good group intensive reading knows that it' a wonderful environment for discussions to become increasingly deeper and where practitioners sometimes seem to break through many levels of understanding within the space of a few seconds. A reading group is also another way for practitioners to keep in touch during a time when the tests may not always be so easy. Master has said that the practitioners in China and the ones overseas are one body. Their fates and our own are linked. They as particles are confined, yet we are free to move around and interact with others. We should make use of this freedom to go out and tell the world the truth about the situation in China and help other particles to start moving closer together, too. We in America are touched when we read about the courage of practitioners in China, but I think they are also touched to hear about Westerners giving a selfless effort to do something for the Fa. Ultimately, the heart is the same. We should never underestimate the potential that is within each practitioner ?Western or Chinese. Even a little atom contains so much power. But it seems to me that to have an impact in this human dimension, the atoms have to join with others to form molecules. For example, a little carbon atom can' do much here in the world, but when combined properly with more carbons and some oxygen and hydrogen atoms, together they can form all sorts of things that are complex and imbued with life. This is just my own understanding, but I think that only by joining together and enlightening to our special roles during this process can we ultimately achieve something that is greater than the sum of the parts. Only when we live up to our potential and the wisdom that Master has given us will we be truly worthy of the Fa. A Western Practitioner

Two Arrested Practitioners Relentlessly Suffocate Evil

[Minghui Net] Xiao Rong and Ah Yu (pseudonyms) went to validate Dafa in Tiananmen Square on Dec. 31^st, 2000. They couldn' stand to see other practitioners being arrested and beaten up only because they spoke the truth: "Falun Dafa is good!" Ah Yu spoke out loudly: "We should rescue our fellow practitioners!" Then she took the lead to stand in the way of the police vehicles. The policeman viciously beat them but they caught hold of the vehicle tightly and didn' allow themselves to be taken away so easily. As a result , seven or eight strong policeman had to spend five minutes in order to put these women in two separate vehicles. Risking their lives, Xiao Rong and Ah Yu didn' cooperate with the police while inside the vehicles. They spoke out "Falun Dafa is good!" and attempted to exit the vehicles. The police kicked Xiao Rong on the chest to the ground, but she got up immediately, and was kicked down again. Again she stood up, never bearing the ordeal passively whenever she had the strength. When the vehicles arrived at the Tiananmen security sub bureau, they refused to get out: "We didn' commit any criminal acts, why do you arrest us?" Several police had to lift them out of the vehicles. In the yard of the security sub bureau, several hundred practitioners were detained there and they recited the poems in Hongyin (the poetry of the teacher, Falun Dafa' founder) and the articles of the teacher. When the police interrogated Ah Yu, she replied that she wasn' a criminal, they should not question her, she reserved the right to remain silent. Then she was tortured such that her head started to bleed, but she kept saying loudly: "Falun Dafa is good!" The practitioners outside also responded with "Stop beating!" That night Ah Yu was released. Xiao Rong was sent to XX detention center. She almost fainted when she was dragged by the neck into the vehicle by the police in Tiananmen Square, and still felt pain in the throat. Xiao Rong always assumed that she would surely get out since there are so many significant things waiting for her. So she didn' answer a single word when being questioned. She was asked during a medical examination: "Are you very sick?" She felt strange and said: "I' not sick at all." It may be the beatings that had distorted her appearance. When the doctors measured her blood pressure, hers was extremely high and the detention center dared not take her in. Then she and other five female practitioners were gathered together and told: "All of you are very stubborn, and didn' tell your names, we will send you to Xinjiang (a very remote province in northwest China.) But Xiao Rong wasn' moved at all and the policeman got annoyed: "Whoever gives your name and address, I' release you right now!" A female practitioner from the same city as Xiao Rong gave her information and was supposed to be "released". Xiao Rong understood at once it was a test, so she told the police: "I don' trust you, our kindness has been taken advantage of by you many times in order to deceive us." Then the remaining five practitioners were taken by jeep to the police custody. At that time, it was already the morning of the New Year day. When the jeep set off, Xiao Rong had the only thought in mind that she didn' want to be taken away by such wicked people, so she asked: "Where will we be sent?" The answer was: "To the place where they want me to go." "You must tell us what the place is!" "No, it' impossible!" Xiao Rong opened the door: "I' jump off if you don' tell us." The other four practitioners behind her also wanted to jump off and this really scared the driver: "Stop it, don' embarrass me!" "No, we are innocent. If you don' say, we will do it." "OK, I' stop driving." Therefore, these five practitioners all went free. They were all very grateful to our teacher after escaping and also came to be enlightened that we shouldn' cooperate with the police right from the first moment in Tiananmen Square. For if we did, it would be the same as passively enduring as discussed in the article of the teacher: "this is just the way it is, thereby developing a passive and pessimistic attitude." The evil persecutors will be able to explore this loophole in this way and an extra test will be added by ourselves. But if we don' cooperate in anyway from the beginning to the end, and actively suffocate the evil, then we can genuinely reach the state "A great Arhat in the world, is feared by Spirits and ghosts the most." Afterwards, some of these practitioners went to Tiananmen Square again, and some stayed in Beijing to receive practitioners from other cities. Xiao Rong returned back to her city to fulfill her duty as a Dafa particle. However that practitioner who gave her name and address to the police has not been released as of this date. The practitioners in Mainland China January 5, 2001

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