(Minghui.org) I am a college professor teaching a course that focuses mainly on Chinese government propaganda. In recent years, slander targeting Falun Gong was added into the course. I had thought about not teaching the course, but it would have been worse for the students if the class was taught by a teacher who lacked a good understanding of Falun Gong. In the past, I had just skipped the chapter about the Falun Gong issue. Isn't a Dafa practitioner teaching such a course at this special time in history a good opportunity to explain the truth about Falun Gong and save sentient beings?
I began the preparation work last year, once I decided to tell my students what Falun Gong was about. Whenever we come across topics regarding human principles, I use examples in society to teach my students how to be honorable people. As I came closer to the chapter about Falun Gong, I hesitated. Should I talk about it? There was a large amount of interference in other dimensions as well, and many fearful scenes appeared in my mind. Police cars parked on the school grounds, a list of the “punishments” the school would enforce if a teacher says anything good about Falun Gong, and past memories of local practitioners being arrested, among others. I was feeling heavy pressure. Fortunately, Master's Hong Yin III had just come out, and as I was memorizing “Troubles,” my heart brightened,
“Neither heaven nor earth can
block my road of Fa-rectification
But disciples' human hearts can”
(Hong Yin III)
It has been said it very clearly that the universe belongs to Master, and Dafa practitioners play the leading roles. The most important things for us are to assist Master with Fa-rectification and to save sentient beings. In this way, none of the evil old forces can block us. We can only be blocked by our human attachments.
Before the lecture, I increased my frequency of sending righteous thoughts to dissolve all the evil elements opposing Dafa practitioners in the school preventing the students from learning the truth about Falun Gong. I also implored Master and the righteous gods for their support. On the day of the lecture, I stepped in front of the class with strong righteous thoughts in my mind.
I first talked about the current problems within China's education system. I gave many examples. Under the unreceptive and one-right-answer-style teaching method, and compared to youth of the same age educated in western cultures, Chinese students have almost no creativity or ability to make judgments. These differences prove that the education we are receiving here is one-sided and distorted. People who grow up under this education system do not have healthy personalities, and they are unable to form their own judgments. I told my students that we were not talking about politics here, and that we were free to discuss anything. The students shouted, “Yes!”
I continued, “I will give you an example. If a healthy person and a blind person both described a place they had been to, whom would you believe?” The students answered, “The healthy person.” I then said, “It doesn't matter how the blind person describes the scene. He did not see it and only describes what he had imagined. It is like the term 'God' that we see in our textbook. We are listening to someone who does not believe in God talk about God. Isn't that like listening to a blind person talk about someplace he's seen? Can what they say be true? Therefore, we will not talk about the content from the textbook. Turn to the last part of this chapter. It's about Falun Gong. Let's talk about this. Do you know about Falun Gong?” The classroom came to life, and many students shouted out the slander instilled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Some said, “They write on money. They say that the CCP will be eliminated.” I said, “I have also seen writings that say 'Heaven will destroy the CCP, save yourselves by quitting the CCP.' Why is that? Has anyone heard of the 'self-immolation'?” The students said they had. I said, “Let's talk about this first. I just said that Chinese people nowadays can't make their own judgments, they cannot tell right from wrong, and they believe everything they see on TV. Foreigners have watched the same self-immolation video, and they raised many questions and decided that the 'self-immolation' was a hoax. Not only are they not against Falun Gong, but they found the Falun Gong website and learned about how Falun Gong teaches people Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Then they wondered, 'Why would such a good philosophy be accused of crimes?' Therefore, more and more foreigners have paid attention to the persecution. China started to persecute Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. Falun Gong is spreading fast overseas, It has reached over one hundred countries, and its books have been translated into over thirty languages. The attitude toward Falun Gong in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan is the complete opposite of that in China.”
Students asked, “What problems did they see on the self-immolation video?” I answered, “Let's talk about the obvious. Wang Jindong was one of the people who committed the self-immolation. His clothes were charred, but the plastic soda bottle, which he had supposedly put gasoline into, was sitting between his legs unburned. Is that possible?” Some students agreed. I went on, “Do you remember the young girl, Siying? In her video, the doctor said that her windpipe had been cut open. Those with medical knowledge know that a person will be unable to make a sound if his or her windpipe is cut open. However, when the reporters were interviewing her, we could all hear her talk. How can that be?”
Some students understood what I was saying, but some were afraid to believe it. I asked, “Do you all know Liu Shaoqi?” [Note: Liu Shaoqi was chairman of the Communist Party during the 1960s, but was later attacked as a traitor by state media during the Cultural Revolution, only to be rehabilitated after his death.] Some students knew of him. I continued, “When I was in elementary school, I was taught to shout 'Knock down the traitor Liu Shaoqi.' Liu was later declared innocent. Then where did those guilty accusations come from?” Some students answered, “They were fabricated.” I said, “That's right, the CCP will impute and frame whoever they want to eliminate.” A student replied, “Also, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4, 1989 were all wrong. The Chinese Communist Party is so bad and so corrupt.”
Students began to discuss in a more lively manner. A female student said to another student jokingly, “You are anti-communist, I will report you.” I immediately prompted the students to quiet down. To this female student's statement, I replied, “We are in a classroom, and as I said before, we may discuss anything here. When two sides have different opinions, they have a discussion. Let us analyze. The Chinese Communist Party has been persecuting Falun Gong for more than ten years. Falun Gong practitioners have never stopped clarifying the truth about the persecution and what Falun Gong truly is, and they have always opposed the government propaganda. Therefore, it is possible that this is an injustice being done to Falun Gong, so we need to take a fresh look at Falun Gong.
"At the beginning, Falun Gong practitioners went to appeal because they thought the government did not know enough about the practice, so they wanted to tell the government officials the truth. However, the officials wouldn't listen, so Falun Gong practitioners were beaten and sent to prison and forced labor camps. The government's actions tell us that Falun Gong is being persecuted not because the practitioners have done anything wrong, but because the government has its own purpose. The government does not want Falun Gong to exist even though Falun Gong is right. Why is that? During past political movements, when slander and propaganda was displayed in newspapers and on television, the targeted individuals would be knocked down in just a few days. However, Falun Gong is different. Not only has it not been eliminated, but it has spread all around the world. Falun Gong practitioners have always peacefully resisted the persecution and told people the truth. Many lawyers are involved in Falun Gong cases and defend Falun Gong practitioners. Shouldn't the Chinese people reflect on these facts? One must, by all means, not report on others being anti-government without some thought. Do not even joke about it. In this complex society, we can easily get confused and do the wrong thing."
“I want everyone to enlighten to a correct thought process. We are not talking politics here, and we are not against anyone. We only want to learn the truth. Isn't what we have talked about all factual? Let's think about it from a different angle. A government used the lives of innocent civilians to perform the 'self-immolation' in order to tarnish Falun Gong. Can you see its evil intention? It wanted to deceive us and make us hate Falun Gong so that we would stay away from Falun Gong and be opposed to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Those who fabricated the lies and used political power to fool and bully civilians are the ones truly against the government, not the ones who expose the liars, right?" All the students agreed, “Right!”
I also shared a story about my family, “My cousin had kidney failure. His medical expenses drained his family's entire savings, and his family still had to borrow more. One of his relatives heard about his illness and introduced him to Falun Gong. My cousin's wife read Zhuan Falun to him, and a week later his edema was gone. A month later, he was completely healthy.” Some students said, “This book is awesome.” Some students still found it hard to believe. I said, “It is magical. If Falun Gong is not magical, then there would not be so many people who believe it. It is because Falun Gong gave those people a second life.”
A student asked, “Does Falun Gong have political ambition?” I said, “No. The master of Falun Gong warned practitioners early-on to not get involved in politics. Master teaches people Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. It is a Buddhist cultivation practice, and its practitioners will always use the principles to elevate their moral character. Falun Gong asks practitioners to let go of their attachments to fame and material gain. The government has been persecuting Falun Gong for over ten years, and they have not found any practitioners who commit crimes or cause harm to others or to the country. The propaganda on TV is all lies slandering Falun Gong. The government's only reason for persecuting Falun Gong is this, 'Falun Gong is against the law, and you will get arrested and beaten if you say Falun Gong is good.' Let's think about it. The constitution gives citizens the freedom of religious belief. Isn't it against the law to take away the right for citizens to have their own belief? But even the police have put it plainly, 'We don't have to treat Falun Gong according to the law.'”
One student asked, “Why is Falun Gong being persecuted if it is so good?” I said, “Let's compare a family to a country, for they are actually the same in many ways. Here's an example. A husband who wants to sell fake goods beats his wife because she refuses to cooperate. Who is right and who is wrong? The husband is wrong! Another example... At a hospital, most of the employees accept bribes from their patients. One employee learns Falun Gong and recognizes that what they are doing is wrong. She immediately corrects herself and stops accepting money from patients. Now, how would her colleagues see her? All the officials accept bribes except for one because she has learned Falun Gong and stopped taking bribes. Would this official be alienated?” One student shouted, “Just take it if everyone else is, or you will be singled out.” The whole class objected to this statement. I said to this student, “What you are saying is wrong. We should not stop doing good deeds because only a few people are doing good. If our morality continues to decline, our society is doomed, isn't it? Then, wouldn't our country be doomed, too? If one person recognizes his mistake and corrects it, then maybe two more people will also recognize their same mistakes the next day, and then maybe ten more people will recognize their mistakes as well a couple of days later. At this rate, the morality of the entire society would become higher and higher.” Some students said loudly, “That's right,” and they followed it with a warm applause and cheers.
To conclude the discussion, I said, “As we all know, there is a rule in the universe... There exists yin and yang. When there are enormous occurrences of corruption, fraud, and lies in our mainstream society, then the negative energy will gain an upper hand and the positive energy will be suppressed. Wouldn't those who tell lies not want people to speak the truth and expose them? That is why Falun Going is being persecuted. It's because Falun Gong is too good, too magical, and too righteous. Falun Gong is like a mirror. It reflects all the ugliness and evil in our society because it adheres to the characteristic of the universe, which is Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. This characteristic is also the standard every life should abide by. We were all raised under atheism. Atheism teaches us not to believe and respect gods, which causes the greatest damage to our souls. The divine created life, so we should respect it. However, we are used to saying disrespectful things about divine beings. I have said a lot today. I hope you can understand that gods teach humans to be kind and forbid them from doing evil. You will have committed enough crimes to send yourselves to hell if you insult Gods and Buddhas. Therefore, it is always said that people should respect Gods and Buddhas, and kindly treat people who cultivate so that you will be rewarded with good fortune. Remember, good begets good and evil begets evil. Therefore, think before you speak, and remember the old saying, 'A loose tongue may cause a lot of trouble.' Have kindness in your heart and watch what you say."
“I can see that now you have a little understanding of Falun Gong, so don't miss the chance again when you come across Falun Gong truth-clarification materials. They benefit our future.” A student said, “I have seen them. People have placed DVD's and flyers on our doorstep.” I asked if she had looked at them. She shook her head, “No, I was too afraid to.” I said, “How would you know whether the contents were right or wrong? I myself have read and watched them. They are all made to help us understand the truth about the persecution so that we are not deceived. The people who gave us the materials are helping us, aren't they? The Chinese New Year is coming soon. During the holiday vacation, you can visit those who practice Falun Gong and learn the facts. This is the right attitude. One will be easily deceived if he only listens to one side of the story.”
All the students listened attentively. Even the few students who rarely pay much attention during class paid full attention. I know they took it all in.
When the bell rang, I said, “I will stop here, I hope you will learn the truth and choose a good future.” The students applauded. One student stood up and said, “Very good lecture. Please talk about the same thing next time.” Some students stayed after class. One asked, “You want us to remember truthfulness, compassion, and beauty?” I replied “No. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.” “Oh, I remember now,” he said. Another student asked me, “Will there be catastrophes in 2012? I'm scared.” I said, “Don't be. I'll tell you what. Withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party, the Youth League, and the Young Pioneers, and say 'Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good' with a genuine heart. This is the only way to a bright future.”
I thank Master for encouraging me to take this step. I thank Master for his support and protection.
