Western Practitioner: Some Thoughts on July 20 Truth-Clarification Activities

(Clearwisdom.net) With another July 20 anniversary of the persecution fast approaching, Dafa practitioners are thinking about and discussing among themselves ideas and strategies for this year's truth-clarification activities, not only in Washington DC, but elsewhere around the world as well. Having participated in many July 20 activities over the last eleven years, I've also been thinking about how we can make them more effective. At times I wonder if perhaps we have become stuck somewhere in our thinking, or if the current state of Fa-rectification is now placing a higher standard on us. Certainly the situation has changed every year, but have we kept up with those changes, or rather, have we gone on "automatic pilot" so that our truth-clarification has become a routine duty and not something we carefully consider and energetically carry out? In other words, are we truly clarifying the truth, or just going through the motions?

In the early years before the persecution, Master Li often started out his lectures by advising students not to let the Fa-conferences become mere formalities, but to strive to make each one an occasion through which Dafa practitioners could truly advance in cultivation. It seems to me that the tendency to let things that are done repeatedly descend to the level of a formality is a characteristic of human nature. Thus, the only way to keep this from happening in our truth-clarification is by taking our human sides out of the picture as much as possible, and making sure our divine sides are in charge. And the only way to do this is to constantly look to the Fa for guidance in everything we think, say, and do.

As long as we strictly adhere to the Fa in our thoughts, words and deeds, what could go wrong? All strategies that are inspired by the Fa and carried out in accordance with the Fa are bound to succeed; conversely, those which spring from a human mindset might fail, or have only temporary success before descending into a formality.

Many of Master Li's teachings address our responsibilities in truth-clarification during the Fa-rectification period. Here, I will point out just a few:

Cooperation

Master Li has frequently pointed out that good cooperation among practitioners is an important component--indeed, a requirement--of any successful project. In "Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference," Master states:

"As long as you do well and everyone can come to good understandings, cooperate and coordinate with each other, and have strong righteous thoughts, then there is nothing that cannot be accomplished, for your starting point is matched by no one--it is to save all beings!"

Avoid Mixing Human Notions into Truth-Clarification

Cultivating as we do in the "big dye vat" of society, it's easy to be led astray by worldly ideas, self-interest--any number of low level things. So, in addition to cooperating well with each other, we must constantly strive to set right our own thinking as individuals by getting rid of these human notions. Our goal is to validate the Fa, not our notions, and if our truth-clarification efforts are not going well, we should look within to see if perhaps improper elements are involved.

Question: "When we don't have any [preconceived] notions or preset plans, the effect of validating the Fa is excellent, and when the opposite is true the effect is poor."

Teacher: "Yes, with a lot of things you do, when you are free of human notions your own attachments won't get mixed in. If, beyond being responsible to the Fa, you have no human attachments, none of your own things, and none of your personal factors mixed in, then you are sure to do that thing well. Whereas once you've mixed in your own factors, then you can't do that thing well." (Teaching the Fa at the Meeting with Asia-Pacific Students)

Reaching Out to People Is Saving Them

Often, it seems we can easily get so intensely focused on the narrowly defined objectives of a project that we forget the broader picture of why we are doing what we do. Whether running a website or a TV network, dancing on stage, or passing out flyers on the street, Dafa practitioners are all involved in one essential activity: saving people. Human rights, freedom of belief, the rule of law--these are all good things, and we talk about them a lot in the process of truth-clarification. But they are only vehicles for accomplishing our missions of saving people. We are not crusaders for the principles and ideals that human beings hold dear, nor should we become attached to them. It's easy to forget this, and in doing so go astray in our thinking, thereby reducing our effectiveness, both as individuals and as a group. Saving people is what we are all about; it's the reason for our existence.

"It doesn't matter if it's seeking help with funding, human resources, or material assistance; clarifying the facts to governments in different countries; making contact with civic groups in society; or communicating with other sectors of society, none of these is for Falun Gong's own sake, nor for your own cultivation. These have nothing to do with what one does in cultivation. All these are for the sake of saving people. When you are reaching out to people, that is when you are saving them. When people give support after becoming clear on the truth, thanks to your clarifying the facts, that is saving people; and the positive results they produce after they come to realize the truth is for saving people. In other words, after ordinary people manage to comprehend things and are able to offer support, the impact of that support can itself save people. You can take it a step further and say that when we do things, whether successful or not, those things are saving people all the same and clarifying the facts." (Fa Teaching at the U.S. Capital, 2007)

"The Appearance Stems from the Mind"

Whatever way we choose to clarify the truth, there will of necessity be a personal element involved, and there will have to be some thought given to the best way to accomplish the task at hand. This is especially the case in face to face conversations, but in fact it is present even when editing articles for a website or broadcasting the news on TV. What kind of mental state we are in, what we say, and how we say it all make a huge difference in people's lives. It is crucial that we maintain righteous thoughts under all circumstances, and not lose a cultivator's perspective while clarifying the truth. People's futures are at stake. In this, Master has also given guidance:

"As long as you come into contact with someone, you are doing something to save him--including when you solicit advertisements. Which side a person stands on, and whether he will make it--these are all things placed along the way as Dafa disciples go about interfacing with ordinary people in various capacities, and you shouldn't attach too much importance to those activities in and of themselves. The bigger you perceive the challenges to be, the harder things will be to carry out, since "the appearance stems from the mind." And so the task will become increasingly burdensome. When I say "the appearance stems from the mind," by that I also mean that the difficulty stems from your overstating the importance of the matter itself and seeing yourself in a lesser light. Don't take any such things to be a big deal, for with something as significant as saving sentient beings you should just do what you are supposed to do, going about it in a composed manner. When you encounter things that don't sound so good or that aren't what you hoped for, don't take it to heart, and just nobly and confidently do what you are supposed to. If you don't let the evil's interference sway you, bad factors won't arise from you, the evil will become trivial, you will become towering and massive, and your righteous thoughts will be ample." (Fa Teaching Given at the Epoch Times Meeting)

Do Not Give Up at the First Sign of Resistance

Truth-clarification and saving sentient beings do not take place in one's head as a result of wishful thinking; they require a conscious effort out in the world. Regardless of how high a level one's understanding of the Fa may be, saving people involves communicating with people at whatever level they are on in such a way that their hearts respond positively towards goodness, and, by extension, Dafa. Even relatively good people can be confused and disoriented by propaganda from evil sources, and not just in China, either. It is rare for practitioners to receive absolutely no resistance to their truth-clarification efforts, even in the West. If, when we meet resistance, we just give up and tell ourselves that "this person is hopeless," then we are not living up to our responsibilities. It may be that we will run into such cases from time to time, but we should not accept that easily. For every locked door, there is a key that will open it. Likewise, for every individual who is not open to the truth, there is someplace where they are stuck. When this blockage is removed, they will have a change of heart.

Master said in "Fa Teaching Given at the Fa Conference Marking the Tenth Anniversary of the Minghui Website's Founding:"

"If you are clarifying the truth on a deeper level, it doesn't necessarily mean that you have found the problem and applied the right solution. Wherever they are mistaken, that is where your discussion should head. There are also some factors left behind by the evil at work as well as lies that have been manufactured during the persecution. Once you find the fundamental block that they have, you will be able to resolve it."

Display a Dafa Disciple's Compassion

Although there are many aspects to effective truth-clarification, I believe the most important is the Compassion of a Dafa cultivator. We may present ourselves well in expensive suits and dresses, we may be sharp in our thinking, speak in eloquent phrases and rattle off fact after fact without pausing. We may be able to fulfill all of the outward requirements for making a good impression on people, but if we fail to display a cultivator's Compassion, our success will be limited.

"So as you clarify the truth, you should do so with awareness and rationality. If you, as Dafa disciples, want to effect change in a person when you clarify the truth and want to save him, you must not arouse the negative elements in that person. You must hold to being shan, and only then can you resolve problems that may arise and save that person." ("Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference")

"When this compassionate goodness emerges, its strength is without equal, and it will disintegrate any bad factors. The greater the compassion, the greater the power." ("Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference")

Do Not Let Up

After eleven years of persistent efforts one might begin to have doubts, thinking, "Is what I'm doing working? Is it having an effect?" Although we've seen many encouraging changes take place in the process of clarifying the truth, without solid faith in Master and in the Fa, doubts about the progress of the overall situation could creep in and with them, the attachment to comfort. This could easily cause us to fail at the crucial last step of our great historical mission.

"In this final phase you should do even better with it, and make it more powerful. You cannot let up. The more circumstances ease up, the less you can let up. The more comfortable things get, the easier it is for you to ease up in your thinking and relax. That won't do. It is imperative that you do well with it." ("Fa Teaching Given at the Fa Conference Marking the Tenth Anniversary of the Minghui Website's Founding")

My hope is that by keeping these and other relevant Fa-teachings uppermost in our minds, our truth-clarification activities will not become formalities, but will remain pure and retain their vitality and effectiveness into the future, for however long it takes to fulfill our mission.

Please point out anything that is incorrect.