Clarifying The Truth at Garden Corner in Chinatown, San Francisco

Shared at Salt Lake City 2002 Conference

The San Francisco Bay area has over 600,000 Chinese people. The Garden Corner in Chinatown is a busy business area with oriental architecture and community. Many Chinese media and Chinese community organizations are located in the area, which is densely populated with Chinese immigrants. There is a small park called "Garden Corner" which is considered the center of the San Francisco's Chinatown. Every day many people come to the park to relax and enjoy themselves, including many elderly Chinese immigrants. The park is always crowed, especially during festivals and holidays. Garden Corner is also frequently visited by many Mainland Chinese tour groups.

Since the persecution against Falun Gong started, the park is also where the Jiang regime's lies against Falun Gong are spread. Many Chinese immigrants have been influenced deeply by the propaganda. Dafa practitioners rarely came here to hold large-scale truth-clarifying activities. One time in the fall of 2000, some Falun Gong practitioners went to Garden Corner to clarify the truth. At that time the park had a shroud of evil. The practitioners met people who cursed at and even beat practitioners. Practitioners had their glasses, their clothes torn apart, their cameras taken away and the films and Dafa truth-clarifying materials destroyed. At the time we had difficulties getting permits to spread the Fa and clarify the truth there since some government branches did not know the truth, either. After the practitioners patiently and persistently clarified the truth to the government offices, the problem was solved.

Through studying the Fa, we have come to learn the following. For every Dafa disciple who is fortunate enough to have obtained the Fa, it has become an urgent duty of ours in the magnificent mission of assisting Teacher in the Fa-rectification to clarify the truth to Chinese people. At the same time, learning how to do everything well with rationality and wisdom, and being easily understood and accepted is very important. This is not only a manifestation of the pure compassion Dafa practitioners have towards sentient beings, but also vital in determining whether a person can actually be saved. Furthermore, it is very important to clarify the truth and at the same time eliminate the evil with righteous thoughts.

After careful preparation, we started to clarify the truth twice a week at the Chinatown Garden Corner in late October 2001. Many practitioners joined in the activities, including both Chinese and Western practitioners. The activities included photo exhibits, showing truth-clarification videos, introducing Dafa, demonstrating the exercises, handing out materials, clarifying the truth about the persecution to visitors and tourists and sending forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil. Since there were many practitioners participating in the events and there were many graphic displays, the events attracted a large number of visitors. Through the joint efforts of the practitioners and our sending forth righteous thoughts, the environment has changed dramatically. There are no longer people cursing and ridiculing us. A righteous atmosphere has formed at Garden Corner and the environment has become quite peaceful.

Below are some of our understandings:

1. Maintain a high xinxing [mind or heart nature] level and don't give the evil any opportunity.

Teacher told us, "When we eliminate evil you should keep in mind that if you have the intention of showing off, have ordinary human fears, or have impure thoughts, you won't be able to achieve the goal." ("Fa-lecture at the 2001 Canada Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference")

The first time we came to the Garden Corner, we were faced with angry stares from many Chinese immigrants, especially elderly Chinese immigrants who had been deceived by the evil lies. Some people spat at us to humiliate us. Some tore the material into pieces right in front of our eyes. Some cursed us. It was a test of whether we could follow our Master's teachings, of whether we could maintain high levels of xinxing and whether we could remember we were practitioners.

Teacher has said that cultivators from the past must wander about in the human world. Isn't what we were facing just the same? If we could remember that we were cultivators and maintain high xinxing, we would not give the evil any chance to take advantage of us. We were very calm and peaceful.

Once, right after a practitioner finished shooting some video footage, three people rushed out of the crowd and tried to take away his camera. They were also cursing in Cantonese and asking the practitioner to hand over the tape. Actually the practitioner was merely taping a building across the street. We knew it was legal to shoot video footage on public property, and we patiently explained this to them. They wouldn't give up and started insulting us. Then I remembered Teacher's poem, "Buddha come to journey in this world, Everyday people do not awaken in their confusion, Malicious beings even harm Buddha, Good and evil are already distinguished." ("Clear Distinction" Hong Yin --Teacher's poem collection) There was such a stark contrast between our compassionate behavior and the demonic actions of the beings that were controlled by the evil. But the evil is most afraid of the compassion and kindness of Dafa practitioners. As Dafa practitioners, we are using the compassion we cultivated from Dafa to eliminate the evil behind these people, so we can eventually save them. After understanding this Fa principle, my heart was suddenly very calm, and felt that the evil that was controlling these people was actually nothing. At this moment, some police showed up. Without even asking what happened, they demanded these Chinese people to back off. The police warned them, "These Falun Gong practitioners have a permit to demonstrate here. What they are doing is legal. "Good and evil are truly already distinguished!" Then we sent forth righteous thoughts. I felt that I was standing on the ground and touching the sky, and all the evil that had been controlling people was completely eliminated. We passed another xinxing test.

2. A change of an elderly man

As long as we practitioners have pure compassion, all evil will be eliminated. The pure righteous thoughts of Dafa practitioners will awaken the kindness in ordinary people after we clear the poisoned side of theirs. Let me tell you a story about an elderly man.

This man wearing a black hat appeared at our practice site. He looked quite unusual, short, thin, and with darker skin. We could hear his coughs from far away. This strange man seemed to find our presence quite disturbing. He kept cursing at us and at everything we had, including photos, truth-clarifying materials, even the tape playing the truth of Falun Gong. He also tore our materials into pieces and looked for opportunities to cause trouble. A practitioner was practicing meditation when this old man walked to a bench right behind him and spat very close to his meditation mat. The practitioner kindly told him that he shouldn't do that, used a napkin to clean up the spit, and suggested to him that we Chinese people should observe the customs of American society. However, he became furious and started cussing at the practitioner using very bad language. But this practitioner was able to keep his xinxing and just ignored him. Later, maybe because he also felt that he was inappropriate and boring, he stopped cussing. Once he said, "Do you want to give me money? If you give me money, I will curse at them for you. I will do whatever people ask me to do if they pay." Hearing this, we felt deep sorrows inside. People have deteriorated to such a low level. It's truly despicable and pitiful.

Should we give up on this old man then? After discussion among practitioners, we decided that we couldn't just give up. Being compassionate towards all beings is one basic requirement of ours. The more despicable a person is, the more we should save him; otherwise he would be the first to be eliminated. As long as there is a little hope, we should hold a compassionate heart and do things well. We can't just give up too easily. Actually, those people that have evil thoughts couldn't have many friends, either. Some practitioners talked to him as long as there was a chance, asking about his life and so on. He said he practiced Kung Fu before, and could beat a person to death with one hit. We used this topic to kindly tell him that hurting others would lead to legal consequences. We also said this was because good will be rewarded with good, and evil will be met with evil. We suggested to him that he could use a napkin to clean up after his spit, because a pleasant environment would benefit everyone, including himself. This seemed to have been accepted by him, and he seemed to have felt our kind heart. His oft-depressed face started to show some smiles.

One week later, we saw him again. A practitioner greeted him with a warm smile and shook hands with him. They started chatting. The old man said he came to the United States more than 20 years ago. Because of racial discrimination at that time, his life was quite difficult. He always hoped that China became powerful. He misunderstood that we were against the Chinese government in clarifying the truth. That's why he was very hostile. Now that we had built a more harmonious atmosphere between us, we clearly told him that we were not here to be against the Chinese government. We were merely clarifying the truth and telling people about the persecution of Falun Gong in China. The persecution is only the result of a conspiracy by Jiang and a few other people in the government. He didn't say anything when he heard this. But later, he went on to say some ruthless things about the Teacher. I said to him seriously and solemnly that he couldn't talk like that and this would be bad for him. He then stopped his inappropriate speech. I explained to him the health benefits of Falun Gong, and introduced to him a practitioner who used to suffer a lot from diseases. At lunch hour, I asked him if he wanted to join us for lunch. Another practitioner also offered him some candy. He said he didn't dare to eat with us, because if he ate with us, other older Chinese immigrants would call him a traitor.

A few days later, he saw us picking up pieces of Falun Gong materials that someone tore up and threw to the ground. He looked ashamed and said, "Did you see who did this? This is truly ridiculous." Later he offered us some cigarettes and invited us to smoke with him. We were very happy to see how he'd changed. We thanked him for offering, and told him that Falun Gong practitioners didn't smoke. We also hoped that he could smoke less or give up smoking completely. Since then, this man never cursed again at Dafa or practitioners, nor did he cause any more trouble. Because he was the worst one of the crowd before, his change brought different dynamics to the local Chinese immigrant community at the park. Last weekend, he saw the lotus blossom design on our poster, and liked it very much. We made a poster especially for him, and printed "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance" on it as well. He was very happy with the lotus flower and thanked us for it. This man, who used to be vicious under the influence of the evil, has changed so much. I believe that due to the magnificent glory of the Dafa, he will have a beautiful future.

3. Use photo exhibits to clarify the truth effectively

Photo exhibits are a very good way to clarify the truth. They don't need many words, and a lot of information can be delivered directly. At every exhibit we have about 40 different pictures. There are three components to them. First, the peaceful journey of Falun Dafa. This illustrates that Falun Gong is practiced in over 50 countries and widely loved by people all over the world. Second, the truth about the persecution in China. Third, people and governments all over the world supporting Falun Dafa and praising Falun Dafa. The purpose of the exhibit is to tell people that Falun Dafa is good, the persecution is wrong, and let people know the truth about the persecution. In the last few months, our continuous exhibit at Garden Corner has attracted a lot of viewers, including tourist groups from Mainland China. Many ordinary people learned the truth about the persecution through the photos, and they wanted to say some just words about Dafa. Some people even cried when they saw that so many good people died. Once an elderly woman came to see the pictures. She couldn't read the writing, but could see the pictures very well. Tears fell down her cheek as she was looking at the photographs. Two elderly men from Beijing said, "Jiang Zemin is so evil. He will receive bad consequences because he persecuted good people." An elderly Chinese immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for over 20 years said, "Even the most cruel landlords in old China would not beat a kind person to death in public. This is too cruel." A middle-aged man said angrily, "This is too inhumane." Many other people also expressed anger. Some people changed their view about Falun Gong formed under the evil lies. A 50-year-old woman said, "The Chinese Central TV station spread slanderous lies about Falun Gong. They said that Falun Gong has a lot of money. Everyone is paid 10 dollars everyday for doing the morning exercises. The TV also said there was a family of five that are unemployed. They live on the money they collect from Falun Gong. This is all a big lie! It's absurd!" A Chinese doctor said, "The party government used high pressure and coercion, not allowing people to express any alternative viewpoint. I know all about it. They are fabricating lies to fool people. Now they are doing too much beyond belief!"

A lot of people were surprised to learn the truth about the self-immolations. A middle-aged man said, "I can clearly see from these two pictures of Wang Jindong that these two are not the same person. There are so many loopholes in their lies. My friends have told me that Falun Gong burn themselves. I'll tell them the truth and correct them."

Although organized tour groups from Mainland China don't dare to openly accept truth-clarifying materials, they can see the truth with their own eyes from the pictures. This is not something they could see in China. A lot of people looked for a long time and didn't want to leave.

The photo exhibits dispelled a lot of people's misunderstanding about Falun Gong. They then can develop sympathy, support and respect for Dafa. Many people expressed the willingness to learn Falun Gong, and wanted to buy books and videotapes on Falun Dafa. Everyday we receive many requests to learn the five sets of exercises. Every time we can give out 200 to 300 CDs or videotapes.

These vivid photos in the photo exhibits clearly expose the evil in front of people's eyes. At the same time, they demonstrate the magnificence of Dafa and Dafa practitioners under the evil persecution.

4. "Dafa Disciples' Righteous Thoughts are Powerful."

"The effect you have had in eliminating the evil with righteous thoughts has been truly significant. A great number of evil beings have been wiped out, and some have been partially wiped out. This has knocked the life out of them, has eradicated the evil in many dimensions not yet reached by the Fa-rectification, and has had the effect of eliminating and frightening the evil persons." ("The Effect of Righteous Thoughts")

The scoundrels and deceived people exhibit strong hostility towards Dafa. This is the result of the evil's persecution. As long as we keep sending forth righteous thought to eliminate the evil elements behind the people, evil will not have much power in this human world. Thus, every time when we have Fa-rectification activities at Garden Corner, we keep sending forth righteous thoughts on the way to eliminate the evil and demons there. When we reach the destination, we also send forth righteous thoughts every hour. This has been quite effective. Under the power of righteous thoughts, the people that used to be very arrogant and ignorant to Dafa have now deflated like balloons. That's because the evil that damaged Dafa in other dimensions has been eliminated. The people that used to curse at us are also much kinder. People that used to stare at us with hatred now smile at us.

One day, when we were just starting to send forth righteous thoughts, the evil tried to interfere with us. We heard a very loud radio playing. However, the pure hearts of Dafa disciples were not moved, and kept sending forth righteous thoughts peacefully. The sound of the radio gradually reduced, and completely disappeared within three minutes. The evil's attempts to do damage are all in vain.

Another incident happened on a Saturday. Just 15 minutes before we started sending forth righteous thoughts for the third time, it started to drizzle. Though we thought about the pictures being rained on, we decided to stay to send forth righteous thoughts. Once the Dafa practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts, the rain stopped. When we wrapped up everything and sat in the car, the rain started again.

Another time, when we were doing the exercises, an American man walked towards us and started yelling very loudly. What he said didn't make any sense, and we decided to stop him from interfering with us. When we had the righteous thoughts, we kindly asked him to leave. Before I even finished my sentence, he bowed to me three times and left. Again, I felt the power of Dafa and the strength of righteous thoughts.

As practitioners, we personally experienced the great power of sending forth righteous thoughts. We deeply thank the Teacher for giving us this priceless treasure.

At the Garden Corner, we achieved good results in Fa-rectification and truth-clarifying activities. A lot of people passing by learned that Falun Gong is good. Nobody thinks that the persecution makes any sense and the atrocities being committed against the kind people follow the will of the people. In the demonstration of Dafa disciples' pure compassion, a lot of people truly realized that Falun Gong is good, and came to learn the exercises. An elderly woman who used to practice Taichi said that her many years of practice were not effective. Her doctor suggested that she should learn Falun Gong, and that's why she found us. A lot of people joined in to learn the exercises when seeing practitioners were teaching the exercises

Garden Corner has undergone such a huge change. However, the evil is not completely eliminated yet and there are still some Chinese people who have been poisoned. We can't take the task lightly. We must be extra diligent to speed up our steps in the Fa-rectification and clarifying the truth to Chinese people in order to completely eliminate all evils who damage Dafa and to save the world's people. Let the light of Buddha shine at Garden Corner and into every corner of the world.