Shared at 2004 Washington DC Falun Dafa Conference
(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings Master. Greetings Fellow Practitioners. I will talk about, "Learning how to clarify the truth to the government during the Fa-rectification cultivation period."
How should we understand the Fa-rectification cultivation period? How can we actively take part in cultivation during the Fa-rectification? This is the most important issue in our personal cultivation. If one cannot take the task of "saving beings compassionately" seriously in his/her personal cultivation, he/she will not be able to grasp the true meaning of cultivation during the Fa-rectification period, and he/she will not understand how to be an integral part of the Fa-rectification cultivation period.
Part 1. They are waiting for us to save them, not because of their roles in the everyday people's environment, but because it is linked with their fate.
The experiences in Iceland were a great step for me to better understand the significance of clarifying the truth to government. I watched how mainstream media positively covered Falun Gong stories, how the public rallied in front of the building of the premier's office. They asked the government to rescind their decision banning Dafa practitioners from entering Iceland. Not only that, but the people also went to the location where Dafa practitioners were held and organized large-scale protests against the head of the Evil's visit. In places where the evil was unable to manipulate and control, the public actively and bravely welcomed Dafa.
Later on I realized that since people in democratic countries vote for their government, if a government representing the public does not treat Dafa correctly, the future of that country will be affected.
There also was a time in another western country, that when the head of the Evil paid a state-visit, that government treated Dafa practitioners with disrespect. Such an event could determine that nation's future when the Fa rectifies the human world. Later this government apologized publicly in the newspaper. Every nation has a corresponding part in the cosmic body. This is the only time they can be saved and their understanding side is indeed anxious to be saved.
Dafa helps me understand an important issue. The old force intention was to prevent a nation and its people from being saved by corrupting its government. The reason why we clarify the truth to governments is that because it is elected by its people through a vote, therefore that government represents its people. The government's attitude towards Dafa determines the future of the nation.
After I understood the destructive arrangement of the old forces concerning governments in different nations, I found myself getting less frustrated than before, especially when the outcome of my efforts was not as good as I expected. There are groups of nations and their representatives that could have no future if we don't save them. Concepts that were previously abstract suddenly became clear. I realized my responsibility very clearly and there was no reason to not fulfill it.
Looking within, I began to understand the reason why government officials have not understood Dafa yet. The reason is that we have not clarified the truth well enough to them. The scope and strength of truth clarification is far from the requirement of the Fa rectification. On one hand are the old forces, which hold tremendous power and control over everything in this world. On the other hand, we find everyday people who are tempted by various interests and thus abandon their precious conscience. We hope they can deeply understand the truth. Only Master rectifies the Fa. Without Master, there is nothing. A new history and a new future are being created. If practitioners do not clarify the truth of the persecution against Falun Dafa, everyday people in society will remain under the old forces arrangement. Anger and complaining exposed my attachment while I was looking within myself. When I thought about this from the point of view that this is my mission and responsibility to save these people, I could see that much of my work was not done or not done well in this regard.
I recall that when the persecution just began, a practitioner and I often sent materials that explained the facts about the persecution to some government organizations. One official became rather sympathetic concerning Falun Gong. We felt guilty every time we left his office because we always spoke about the persecution, but not about the essence of Falun Gong. We would later regret that we did not tell him more about the practice of Falun Gong. Finally we made the effort to explain what Falun Gong is. It was very difficult for a number of reasons. First, the persecution is very grim. Secondly, there were many lies the Chinese government spread about Falun Gong. And lastly, our English was not good enough to explain clearly about spiritual matters. After we finished our explanation, though with some difficulty, he told us, "You explained very well." It was such wonderful encouragement and we were touched by his compassion and candor. Yet, we understand that it is not our skill that touched him, but a practitioners' pure heart.
Every one of us lives in the same city, the same country and may be a neighbor with someone employed at one of the governmental offices. If we don't want to feel regret at the moment when the Fa rectifies the human world, we should spend a little time, call them and tell them the facts. One day they might ask, your master asked you to save us, did you do it? We would have no response. If one person can spend one hour and call one or two government offices or organizations, the cumulative effect will be immeasurable. Everyday we cover a little more area, our righteous thoughts can solve a big problem, helping government to know the facts at a deeper level and choose the right position for themselves. In the meantime they can accomplish their assigned responsibilities in the international community. For Dafa practitioners, it's just a small thing to do during lunch time every day.
When we admire the compassion of Master who saves us and all sentient beings of the world, and when we cherish the mission to participate and save people, we will have made our point. We will contribute all our efforts to save all the lives of the world unselfishly.
Part 2. It was Dafa that made things possible and not ourselves as individuals.
Sometimes I am very pleased to see a government official or congressman really understand the facts of the persecution. Of course, if I search deep within, the happiness comes not only because this person made the correct choice, it is also a reflection of being satisfied with my work. Why am I satisfied with myself? Isn't it because I took the accomplishment of Dafa work as testimony to my personal cultivation and personal effort?
Whether we can truly and fundamentally understand from deep within ourselves the fact that all things we have done are being made possible by the compassion of Dafa and Master is also a personal cultivation process to merge into the Fa.
Clarifying the truth cannot be achieved solely by applying ordinary techniques and abilities. Here I would like to share with you a lesson I learned.
An American company that made investment in China participated in the persecution of Dafa practitioners under pressure. Many practitioners reported this case to their local congressmen. A positive force was formed at once to criticize this company's violation of human rights. The congressman who was responsible for the district where the company is located found the congressman who was taking the lead concerning the criticism of the company and requested a meeting with our practitioners. A practitioner from his local area flew to DC to join the meeting. Before we entered the office, I suggested that she ask her local congressman to sign a resolution sponsored by the other congressman who had been very supportive of us, right in front of this congressman himself. He wouldn't want to let the other congressman down, right? At the end of the meeting, the practitioner from out of state took out the signature form of the resolution in front of everyone. Before anyone could make out what that was, her local congressman grabbed the form and quickly rolled it up.
After searching within myself afterward, I realized that I was trying to use ordinary techniques, use an embarrassing situation to force him to make his choice instead of clarifying the truth thoroughly and make him understand from his heart. Of course it was useless. This was an important lesson. There is no detour concerning truth clarification. Our path is narrow. The narrower it is the more righteous we need to be. Otherwise it would be treating Dafa tasks like finishing up some ordinary things and being irresponsible to sentient beings.
Looking back, during the past four years, all the correct decisions that foreign governments made regarding Falun Gong were all made possible by Dafa, not us, and definitely not because of any individual practitioner. A fellow practitioner stated it well. What things could have been accomplished with our current abilities and techniques? None. Not a single matter. Our Master did them all.
If we mistook the manifestation of Fa-Rectification in this human dimension as the result of our personal effort, we would treat our projects as being more important than those of others. We would even complain about other practitioners who are too busy to get involved with government work. Likewise, if we also mistook projects done by other practitioners as the result of their personal effort, then we would most likely become critical of their work and start complaining as well. It is more difficult to break through the old force's blockage when we treat others as obstacles to our doing Dafa job. The process of realizing one's mistake and denying the old force's arrangement will be drawn out. When we treat ourselves as obstacles of other people's assisting in Fa-Rectification, we ourselves are walking in circles under the arrangement of the old force. We could not understand the Fa from within the Fa, and in the end, we would not only be incapable of helping others, we could end up falling into the trap ourselves. When we are righteous and pure as a Dafa practitioner should be, we are assimilated into the Fa instantly.
Each of us is protected under the Fa. Master told us the truth of the universe that has not been disclosed to anyone in the cosmos from ancient times. He told us of our origins going back in history reaching to today, lifetime after lifetime, and also our destiny and task. Out of immeasurable compassion, he provided the best chances for each and every one of us. In the lecture "To All Students at the Nordic Fa Conference" on June 17th, 2001, Master said,
"...every student should, in addition to participating in group activities, in his daily life fully take the initiative of a Dafa disciple, establish his own mighty virtue in the process of clarifying the truth, and do well on his own Dafa disciple's path. So in clarifying the truth, don't wait, don't rely on others, and don't just hope for changes in external factors. Every one of us is creating history for the future, that's why everyone is not only participating in group activities, but also taking the initiative to look for things to do. As long as something is good for Dafa, you should take the initiative to do it, take the initiative to work on it. Every person you come into contact with in society is someone to clarify the truth to, and what's manifest in clarifying the truth is Dafa disciples' mercy and their salvation of the world's people. I hope that every Dafa disciple will fully take initiative and fully play his role as a Dafa disciple."
One should not be attached to oneself when cultivating in Dafa. Master stated the fundamentals of cultivation in Chapter One of Zhuan Falun,
"I'll tell you a truth: the whole process of cultivation is a process of constantly getting rid of human attachments."
Being attached to oneself makes it hard to balance the relationship between oneself, Dafa and fellow practitioners well. I'm learning also to acknowledge other practitioners in my Dafa activities. In the past, I was very stubborn. I held on to my own ideas, because I was sure that my ideas were correct. Gradually, Dafa has helped me to see the virtues of fellow practitioners, and made me realize that it is only when we are a whole can we form a powerful body. I became less concerned with the outcome of things and less critical, because I understand that no matter which practitioner has set out to carry out a task, even if the method and result are different from mine, the effect in the long run would nevertheless be the same. It is a process of cultivation and the power of the Fa. It is Dafa that accomplished everything.
Before when an idea was raised that did not conform to my thinking, my first thought that sprang into my mind would be something like: "This is wrong. It is not this way." Once a practitioner mentioned a government did such and such things. I corrected him by saying "No, it is our Dafa practitioners who did such things." After the words left my mouth, I immediately realized that his thoughts were not wrong, then why did I have to 'correct' him and not supplement his words? It was still that trivial self, the shallow concept of individual being that could not encompass other beings. Now when any suggestion comes my way, I think: "Very good! Maybe this point could be of benefit in what I'm doing as well." I once heard a very impressive story from a practitioner. There were three practitioners who went to clarify the truth to an embassy for an urgent matter. The official there was not enthusiastic. The first practitioner then started to slowly speak about the process of how he began practicing Dafa. Another practitioner was worried and wanted to interrupt his speech. The third practitioner stepped on her foot several times to stop her from doing that. Eventually, this official really listened to them, asked many questions directly related to Dafa and even expressed a willingness to further understand Dafa. Practitioners found that everyone has his own way of clarifying the truth and his own starting points. We can supplement each other. It is most effective when we add positive energy to support other practitioners' work.
Some people complained before that the door for government work was not wide open. I tried to improve the situation. On one side I did sincerely hope things could be made easier for others to join this effort, but there was one thought hidden deep inside. I also hoped to stop those complaints and criticism with my openness, when in fact if I indeed possessed great compassion and thought of other practitioners using the principle of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance" as my standard, then those complaints would not even exist. My attachments to sentimentality, my human heart and lack of compassion were exposed. I tried to solve the problem as it was and forgot to use this chance to give up my own selfishness. Finally one day, I was reading Zhuan Falun and came across Master's words,
"If you are somebody who's really determined to cultivate, then I'd say it turns out it's a good thing. If there weren't any disagreements, or if there wasn't a chance to improve your character, you wouldn't be able to go up, actually--you're nice, I'm nice, and all's well... how are you going to cultivate?"
Then I suddenly understood. The situations I had experienced were there to raise up my xinxing (heart or mind nature, moral character). This helped me to see a greater dimension of cultivation and allowed me to search within. When others have an opinion, the very first thing we should look at is where we, ourselves, can make improvements. That is how can we truly function as a Dafa particle in our local area.
Part 3. Fundamentally negate the arrangements of the old forces, and don't cultivate by accepting the tribulations set by the old forces
After listening to Master's Chicago lecture during this year's experience sharing conference, I realized that many times I cultivated within some tribulations. My actions usually followed this approach: whatever I do, I am facing difficulties and obstacles. I break through step by step, and finally we push forward a little as an entire group.
A similar situation occurred when filing lawsuits. When we started the case, all non-professional practitioners had difficulties with details. What's more, our inexperience with the legal system did not turn into our advantage of breaking through these barriers, but became a huge wall preventing us from actively clarifying the truth. We tried to take a more secure route and did not seek to break through. Instead we sought not to make mistakes, limited ourselves to a small circle designed by the old forces and could hardly make a step forward.
To clarify the truth to judges and legal experts, the first difficulty is that there are so many rules regarding this issue. Its easy to get reprimanded since we are not familiar with those rules. When many practitioners who had no previous experience clarifying the truth to governments and important officials actively joined the legal team, they had no limitations at all and were not attached to the results. We broke through the restrictions we set for ourselves in practice and bravely explained the facts to the experts. Then it seemed that there was nothing we could not achieve once we had a clear understanding of our mission.
In another case, while practitioners in one area were breaking through the obstacles and clarifying the truth to the government, practitioners in different areas were still repeating the process. How could we improve our understanding of Dafa as a whole body, so that once one group of practitioners improved, other groups would also benefit and the whole body could improve together?
Master mentioned in " Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago conference" that,
"We negate even the very emergence of the old forces and everything that they've arranged; we don't even acknowledge their existence. We're fundamentally negating all of their things, and all of, and only, the things you do while negating and getting rid of them is mighty-virtue. It's not that you're cultivating amidst the ordeals they created. Rather, you are to walk your own path well while not acknowledging them, not even acknowledging the elimination of their ordeals' manifestations. (Applause) So looking at it from this angle, what we need to do is completely negate the old forces. Dafa disciples and I don't even acknowledge the manifestations of their last-ditch efforts."
Like Master said, "We negate even the very emergence of the old forces", we will not cultivate inside the ordeal arranged by the old force. Master taught us how to break through the old force's arrangement as a whole body, this helps us to let go of confusion, improve together and strengthen our efforts to save the sentient beings. Master teaches us the fundamentals and guides us to save more nations.
Part 4: The great way is extremely simple and easy
It is not difficult to clarify the truth to governments. What's difficult is that:
1) We have to realize, based on our personal cultivation states, that it is our mission as a Fa-rectification practitioner to save sentient beings and the responsibility cannot be transferred to others.
2) Can we step forward and clarify the truth face to face?
3) Can we be persistent?
Unlike other projects, there is no daily progress report and deadline to meet when we clarify the truth to government officials. It's a more dynamic process. You won't see an immediate loss even if you don't do anything on a certain day or month.
Actually if we do not do our job well, the cost is the destruction of gigantic cosmic bodies and the corresponding beings living there. The immense Fa-rectification force determines the urgency and importance of our mission. Master mentions in " Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago conference" that,
"As Dafa disciples have clarified the facts you have saved many beings who were supposed to be saved, but it's not enough. In fact, so far, what you've accomplished is still limited, and in terms of numbers the proportion is still quite small."
Like other truth clarifying projects, the government project is a process of stepping forward. We need to overcome our human concepts, fear, and laziness, and step forward to explain the facts face to face to government officials. When we treat them as sentient beings that have waited for their salvation for thousands of years, we can only feel our responsibility. To complete this responsibility, we can put down losses of our personal interest, and thus we can overcome our shortcomings. When we look inside, what we find are all things that are not pure and places that still need work. Actually what we have done is far from enough. We should put down our fear and overcome all obstacles to accomplish the mission and assist Master.
If we see that a person is on the edge of danger, that he could lose his life any minute, will we stretch out our hand and offer immediate help or wait for someone who has more experience rescuing people. If every one of us makes a phone call each day, a hundred disciples will have contacted a hundred government agencies or organizations, in a 10-day period, a thousand organizations would have been contacted. Every one or two months we can give them new materials which explain the facts about Falun Dafa. Seeing ourselves as particles in Dafa, as carriers of Dafa's compassion, and trying our best to do more, based on our pure minds, we can do everything well. Just step forward and do it: clarify the truth face to face. We'll do it better and better, because Master has given us enough knowledge, wisdom and compassion--Master has arranged all possibilities.
Thank you, Master Li. Thank you, fellow practitioners.
