Lately, the evil forces have become even more rampant in persecuting Dafa in the last desperate bid before they are eliminated. While intensifying their efforts to detain, beat, and brainwash Dafa disciples, they have also beefed up their propaganda operations, including touring exhibits, selling slanderous materials at bookstores, etc. They have even put those vicious fabrications into textbooks for elementary and middle schools and included them on exams so that the students are forced to answer along their lines. All these indicate that their tentacles have reached those innocent young students--and all their innocent families. Under these circumstances, the public seems to have become numb to the persecution; many would rather turn a blind eye to it. This has made it even harder to clarify the truth. Actually, the grim and complex situation only shows the higher standard to which Dafa has held us. The more difficult the situation, the more we should be in strengthening our righteous thoughts and being clear-headed. Based on the principle of looking inward, we should also be more serious in improving our understanding on the Fa and developing rationality. Only by doing these can we "clarify the truth thoroughly, eliminate the evil with righteous thoughts, save all beings, and safeguard the Fa with determination," (from "Dafa is Indestructible") when we "validate the Fa with reason, clarify the truth with wisdom, spread the Fa and offer people salvation with benevolence" (from "Rationality").

Personally, there are still several issues to be addressed amidst our efforts to tell the truth and offer people salvation. Discussions about these issues are welcome among fellow practitioners.

First, we should harbor no mentality of showing-off or zealotry. If we put on airs like we're a savior, those ordinary people who have received many years of atheistic education will react in a reverse manner, and thus it will achieve a negative result. We will never recognize the heretical teachings of ordinary people that turn a blind eye to gods' existence. Nor will we accept their grudge against the principle of "good will be rewarded with good, and evil with evil." Meanwhile, we will never compromise with these warped notions, which are things we are going to rectify. In all, never, ever should we allow the evil to take advantage of our loopholes on this particular issue. This, however, doesn't mean we can embarrass our audiences by pointing out most directly their fallacies. We should, and are able to approach each person in a way acceptable to him and inspire his benevolent part by making arguments that will engage him--so as to fulfill the purpose of clarifying the truth. This also is our opportunity to further develop mighty benevolence and mighty forbearance.

Recall when we just obtained the Fa, which of us was not harboring a heart of an ordinary person? Was Master critical of us and not accepting of us then? I trust every one of us has been able to experience the indescribably mighty compassion of Master during our cultivation practice; we should learn to develop the same compassion in saving the world's people.

Second, in the process of clarifying the truth, our goal is not to demonstrate to everyday people how noble and grand we are--because history will make the judgment in time. Instead, our goal is to save the world's people, and let them know Dafa is good. It is also our goal to assist Master in Fa-rectification: When the hearts of ordinary people are rectified, the evil will have a hard time selling itself. To this end, we should put ourselves into the shoes of those beings and exhaust every possible means to awaken their benevolence, as long as it still exists. We should speak in a language that is comprehensible to that being, to take the form acceptable to him, and to persist in working on this continually. Meanwhile, we will send forth righteous thoughts anytime to eliminate the evil that is behind him.

Moreover, although we can sometimes accomplish something in truth clarification, we must truly understand from the bottom of our heart that it is Master and the Fa that is really rescuing the world people. The process of telling the truth to rescue the world's people is a process by which the Fa manifests its magnificence to human beings through us practitioners, and a process by which the mighty compassion of Dafa and Master be bestowed upon humankind. In "A Heavy Blow," Master says, "No matter how much work a person in charge has done among everyday people, he is working for Dafa out of his own will. The success of his work is only a form of manifestation among everyday people. It is the mighty power of Dafa itself and the specific arrangements made by my Law Bodies that enable people to obtain the Fa and spread the Fa widely. Without my Law Bodies doing these things, even protecting the people in charge can hardly be ensured, let alone spreading the Fa widely. Therefore, do not always think of yourself too highly. There is no fame, self-interest, or official titles in Dafa, but only cultivation practice." During this process, we are not being respectful of Master and Dafa if we carry on with a human, impure heart, or if we either purposefully or unwittingly give prominence to ourselves. Indeed, those impurities will diminish the effectiveness of the truth clarification and can possibly be taken advantage of by demons, thus bringing damage to Dafa. áTaken all together, our first priority is to position ourselves well in Dafa, especially to handle well the relationship between the Fa and us.

Some people relate to ordinary people the battle between good and evil in the cosmos as well as the process of Fa rectification; I don't think this is proper. What Master told us is the Fa, which is intended for cultivators only. From the lowest to the highest, the Fa encompasses most profound mysteries of nature and inner meanings, some of which we can understand while some of which we cannot understand. Therefore, during the process of telling the truth, we should always keep in our mind the principle that various levels have various Fa and display to the world's people the magnificence, greatness, and sacredness of the Fa in a progressive manner consistent with their level of comprehension. On the other hand, if we share casually with ordinary people the Fa and nature's mysteries of such a high level as propagated by Master himself, it is the same as revealing the heaven's secrets to everyday people and being irresponsible to everyday people. Dafa is most serious, incomparably majestic and magnificent--if ordinary people don't treat the Fa this way, it would be the same as blaspheming the Fa. The purpose of our clarification campaign is to rescue sentient beings rather than provide them with chances to incur more karma.

We ought to demonstrate our pure benevolence when clarifying the truth. Only with the pure benevolence as bestowed upon us by Dafa can we really strike the heart of our audiences. Especially when we are attacked by the evil via the mouths of deluded ordinary people, we should be all the more rational, cool-headed, and detached. We have the duty to let the people understand the principle of "good will be rewarded with good, and evil with evil." Meanwhile, the message should be delivered in a way that the audience will naturally feel our benevolence when we tell them this principle--and will feel we do this entirely for their benefit.

In our individual actions and mentalities in safeguarding Dafa, there are both positive as well as negative elements. At the 1998 Fa Conference in Switzerland, somebody asked such a question, "Since resolving my problem at the root, I've felt my blood boil as soon as someone mentions protecting Dafa. Master, is this a correct state?" Master replied, "No, it's not right. It's not right. Everyone must be sure to pay attention to this! Just now I mentioned the matter of there being a positive side and a negative side. As the negative side gets to the level down here, it becomes the bad side; while the positive side, as it gets to the level down here, is the good (shan) side. So I'm telling you that in the society of everyday people we absolutely can't do things like everyday people. We should always let our good side be in command." If due to our lack of benevolence, the truth clarification is affected or somebody loses the opportunity to better understand us, it will be our crime. We should let the ordinary people not only experience the mighty compassion in Dafa but also its inviolable majesty, so as to keep them from committing crimes against Dafa, to change their understanding and be rescued.

Another issue we should be aware of during the truth clarification pertains to the fact that we tend to get irrational when we hit a snag in our interaction with people--for instance, we blindly attribute all the setbacks to the persecution by the evil without looking within for causes. As it happens, we draw conclusions about a particular person because of a setback even before we have time to validate the Fa to him. This has deprived some people of their opportunity to better understand Dafa. This, I believe, is a display of our compassion not being great enough--actually, frustration itself is a kind of human emotion. During our cultivation, we could not have made it to where we are today if Master had given up on us due to our poor enlightenment quality. Even though we do the Dafa readings continually, we still are not able to guarantee that we are in the Fa at every moment. Sometimes, we even have a relapse--let alone those ordinary people soaked in the filth and mire of ordinary human society. As for those ordinary people, we should try our best to clarify the truth continually through different approaches and from different angles. It is irresponsibility towards a being to casually think of somebody as being impossible to be saved, even if it is only a thought. Only the Fa is capable of giving a verdict regarding whether a person can be saved; we don't have the right to draw such conclusions. In addition, truth clarification is a long-term task. As long as the colossal momentum of Fa-rectification is yet to reach the human world, we should not have the thought of giving up on anyone.

Obviously, it is important to let the world's people know of the persecution against us by the evil, because it can maximally suppress the evil and evoke the sense of justice of the world's people. Nevertheless, if we discuss this only from the standpoint of the sufferings the persecution has inflicted upon us, people will become inured to it when it persists for an extended period. Some people, in order to expose the evil, would play up the viciousness of the evil--only to be met with more skepticism that either Jiang Zemin or we are only telling a one-sided story so it would be the best to stay neutral. As a result, their sense of righteousness and justice is not fully awakened. It is our responsibility to change people's hearts and rescue sentient beings through truth clarification. Our own stories are a good example to demonstrate to them the majesty, greatness and solemnity of the Fa. It is not our purpose to let the people understand the persecution against us; what is most important is let the world's people experience the power of Dafa from us. "The Lord of Buddhas, whose mercy is incredibly immense, has left the Buddha Fa to man. The universe is giving man another opportunity, allowing the mighty Buddha Fa once again to reveal the actual reality of the universe to the human world, wash away all filth and ignorance, and use human language to recapture its brilliance and splendor" (from "Remaking Mankind"). "If every one of you can understand the Fa from the bottom of your heart, that will truly be the manifestation of the Fa whose power knows no boundary--the reappearance of the mighty Buddha Fa in the human world!" (from "Cautionary Advice")

We have received some common feedback on our daily contacts with everyday people. For instance, we sometimes seem to be eager to have quick success and instant benefit, in the sense that there is only one topic on which we will dwell at the meeting regardless of others' reactions or tolerance level. I think this also reflects our deep-seated Xinxing problem. In order to clarify the truth within the short span of interactions with everyday people, it is not enough to be enthusiastic and excited about Dafa. On the basis of Dafa, we must maintain a rational stance throughout, observe the changes in the thought processes as the truth is clarified to our audience, and closely study whether every piece of truth clarification material is appropriate for him. We also must be vigilant about the comprehension level of the audience, avoiding pushing them too hard or forcing them to make clear their stance, which will only achieve the opposite result. The fact that we are not attached to the effect of truth clarification doesn't mean we do not care about its consequences. We must not be carefree about this issue lest it provide a loophole for the evil to take advantage of.

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