(Clearwisdom.net) Several days ago, a gentleman talked to me about Falun Gong. Below is part of the conversation (edited) that I want to share with fellow practitioners and friends.

Q: Christianity and Buddhism revere deceased people, but you revere a man who is still alive.

A: When we believe in a theory or principle, we mainly look at whether the theory or principle itself is good; if it is worthy of people's faith, it is not necessary for people to wait for its creator to pass away to believe in it. The Buddha and Jesus had large groups of followers when they were still alive, and after they passed away, their followers spread their Fa and principles. If no one believed them when they were alive, then their words would not have been passed down.

Q: Falun Gong claims that it doesn't have an organization, yet you register for associations. For example, there is a Falun Gong Association in Japan. After you successfully register, practitioners and associations in many countries send congratulatory statements. Obviously, you care very much about whether you are registered.

A: If a government approves Falun Gong's application for registration, it shows the government's attitude towards Falun Gong. Practitioners all over the world practice the same Falun Gong, and all countries welcome and acknowledge Falun Gong. Only the dictator in China persecutes Falun Gong, which also says something. However, registration and cultivation are two different things. Even if we are registered, the administration is loose, and there are no orders and no name lists. This is a fundamental rule for cultivation. For a cultivator, orders are meaningless.

Q: I think Falun Gong is not Buddhism, Taoism or qigong.

A: You are right, Falun Gong is just Falun Gong. This form of cultivation cannot be described by any name we have right now. When people have some knowledge and some living experiences, they tend to judge things they encounter with this knowledge. However, for Falun Gong, this kind of knowledge is not applicable. Nowadays, people encounter too many bad things on a daily basis. They take these things for granted and have a low moral standard, so they tend to think of things they do not understand with a negative perspective. For instance, once I told a lady that we voluntarily distribute Falun Gong newspapers and do not get paid for doing it. She swore that she would not believe it no matter how I tried to explain. Why? This was due to her own level and choice, and her decision has nothing to do with Falun Gong.

Q: You always expose the dark side.

A: Those bad things are not supposed to exist. In order to get rid of bad things, we must first recognize them and face them head-on. What we are doing is exposing the evil and directing people toward goodness.

Q: Several decades from now, how many of your Dafa practitioners will enter the local mainstream society and become successful?

A: I think we should discuss this issue from two sides. Right now, many of our fellow practitioners are already successful people in society. Furthermore, how can you say who is more successful, you or a Taoist monk? People have different beliefs and pursuits, so the standard of judgment should also be different.

Q: Reincarnation does not exist.

A: In fact there have been many scientific studies regarding reincarnation. In the U.S., many books on this subject have been published in the past two decades. Some children's memories of their previous lives and many cases of people looking back at their previous lives in deep meditation have convincingly proven the existence of reincarnation. Many participants of these experiments did not believe in reincarnation at all beforehand, but after they were able to look at their previous lives in a meditative state with the doctor's instruction, they became firm believers.

Q: You say that Gods and Buddhas exist-- have you seen them?

A: I can't say this to you because you don't believe in it. You will take it as a joke and that's a very bad thing. I can tell you that Falun Gong practitioners in China still firmly believe in Falun Gong in such a difficult environment, and practitioners abroad persist in spreading Falun Gong and calling for an end to the persecution by overcoming numerous difficulties despite their comfortable living conditions. If they had not witnessed the truth of Falun Gong, it would be very hard to do what they do. Modern science has not yet proven reincarnation, but it cannot refute the existence of reincarnation and higher dimensions. Recently, the Superstring Theory [a new theory in Physics that postulates the existence of more than three dimensions] has pointed out the necessity of other dimensions' existence.

Q: You mix with anti-Chinese government groups.

A: We are not against the government, nor are we against any country or party, but we firmly oppose this persecution against Falun Gong. We have suffered from tremendous slander and illegal persecution, and there should be some place where we can express our opinions. The virtues of Falun Gong and the persecution it has suffered in China are ironclad facts, and we welcome any kind-hearted person who wants to stand up and speak a just word. If a politician or some other person stands up and condemns this persecution in China, we will welcome his opinion on this issue. If all people oppose and help end this persecution, we will welcome it even more. However, practitioners never take part in politics, so we will never have any political dealings with anyone. We are walking our own path.

Our standpoint has always been clear: we are not against the Chinese government; we oppose Jiang's persecution against tens of millions of Falun Gong practitioners in China. Jiang persecuted Falun Gong practitioners out of jealousy; he harmed so many innocent Chinese people and is creating conflict for the Chinese society. If he realizes his mistake and corrects it himself, that would be best; but since he persists on walking down the wrong path, we must point out the facts and principles so that people can make the right decision. This is also a form of promoting goodness. We advise everyone in the world to remember Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance. That will benefit mankind tremendously and bring no harm at all.

Q: Some of the people who support Falun Gong have personal goals.

A: That would be their personal decisions. We cannot force other people to give up their motives and we do not give prerequisites to people who support Falun Gong. We thank them for their act of justice. Their actions out of conscience and a sense of justice have enabled them to build a bright future for themselves.

Q: What is the issue of sending forth righteous thoughts?

A: Sending forth righteous thoughts is eliminating evil in other dimensions. Think about it, why would a police officer beat to death an unarmed elderly woman? Isn't he possessed? Why would he do such an inhuman thing? Our practitioners know that there are evil elements in other dimensions that are manipulating him, and that is why he acts so bestially. In order to stop him, we must eliminate the evil in other dimensions that is manipulating him, so that he will awaken and control himself. This is also saving him - people have to pay back for whatever bad things they do, and that suffering will be tremendous. If one creates too much karma and cannot repay it, he will be annihilated.

Q: Why does the Chinese government treat Falun Gong more and more harshly although you send forth righteous thoughts?

A: Different regions have different situations. The persecution as a whole is very evil; based on this, the persecution in many areas has actually weakened to a certain extent. Since the evil was eliminated in large amounts, they cannot take care of as large an area as before. The evil is still trying its best to protect some special places such as some very wicked labor camps. We have eliminated large amounts of evil, and the evil will use reserves to uphold the situation. So we will continue to send forth righteous thoughts until all evil is completely eliminated. Sometimes, the change is not obvious from the surface, but that doesn't mean that there is no substantial change. The evil will keep decreasing and one day in the future, the evil will be completely eliminated. That's when the Truth will be known.

Q: Will I live to see that day?

A: Please allow me to be frank. If you don't persecute Falun Gong but treat Falun Gong with kindness, you will see that day.

Q: What if I can't see that day?

A: Indeed, not everyone will be able to witness history, but history cannot be stopped by anyone.

In the end, I advised him to read Dafa books and not suppose that he could learn about Falun Gong from propaganda materials made by the Jiang regime. Furthermore, I told him that many of my answers were based on my personal understandings and cannot represent Falun Gong.

Above are my personal understandings. I welcome fellow practitioners to benevolently point out anything improper.