Western Practitioner: Clarifying the Truth to the People's Daily

Almost three months ago I started to study the English version of the People's Daily homepage to learn how to get the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong posted there. I saw that the web page made it easy for people to share their views. A message of up to a 1,000 characters could be posted. A forum section was available for longer discussions if needed. I thought from the very first time I saw this website that it was a perfect opportunity to clarify the truth. The first two weeks in September 2002 I wasn't able to get my views posted very easily. However, the more determined I was to find a way in from within the Fa, the easier it became. Once I got to the homepage, I studied the website to become familiar with all of its opportunities to spread the truth about Dafa. I saw eight different sections that we could choose from.

What mistakes did I make in the beginning? I saw in the margins of the website one or two stories specifically mentioning Falun Gong in a slanderous way. At first I tried to only respond to those articles and break the lies. This was too narrow of an approach, I discovered. When I took a step back and saw that opportunity to explain the truth could be found at the end of every article in all eight sections of the newspaper, I realized this was a much better way to reach more readers. The message board will post how many people respond to a headline story. No one but me clicked on stories solely about Falun Gong, I soon found out. I decided to find articles everyone wanted to discuss. Some times as many as thirty readers or a hundred would respond to a story. Many times I was reminded by the newspaper to stay on topic. No one had tried to challenge this environment before. It was a give-and-take situation at first. I had to give the people who censor the articles for posting time to read my messages.

If I stuck to the story with two or three lines and thought about how a practitioner would view that issue, I could get my comments posted. I always tried to say something helpful that was related to the original story but from the Fa's point of view. I could always say something truthful so the readers would see something other than propaganda. I tried to make my responses insightful to give the readers a deeper understanding of Dafa.

I became better in time. If I clarified too much of the truth at one time, my views would not be posted. If I did get through, I would have to wait two or three days to do so again. I would end up in another screen with a message, "Stay on the topic," and "Not allowed to return to the message board." If I posted a message unrelated to the topic, and posted just an information byte about something the police did to a practitioner, the same would usually happen. I had to be responsible for what I said. I always got back on line after looking inside and the people who censor the messages saw me once more.

In time I learned to post parts of articles found on Clearwisdom. After reading an interesting article on Clearwisdom, I would type in part of it on the message board of the People's Daily. Many issues from Essentials for Further Advancement and topics found in Zhuan Falun found their way to the message board. I noticed a decrease in the number of malicious articles about Dafa since September 2002. If I posted my message at five or six in the evening eastern standard time, it would be posted the next day very early in the morning. I found many people want to go on line, so it sometimes is difficult to get a message posted because of the large numbers wanting to go on line during peak times.

I save my messages so I can read them again, trying to make them better. I discussed with both western practitioners and Chinese how to make my efforts better and asking them to join me. This proved very helpful and resulted in more practitioners posting articles in a block so to speak. One People's Daily reader felt our words were "thoughtful." He sent an email from China to let us know. Another felt sad that our views might not be allowed to stay posted. We have just started to explore the possibilities here.

What would I say? I simply started off by saying what any practitioner might say to non-practitioners. I used a little more care in the amount of truth I would say to allow myself to get online more easily. My freedom increased the more effort I put into doing the right thing from within the Fa. I kept it simple and short usually just in the 1,000-character space provided for me.

I told readers I was going to Texas as a Falun Gong practitioner and why that was important for me to be there when Jiang arrived. I expressed my views after I returned as well. It was a very hot topic online. I have asked readers to look for solutions in Zhuan Falun, and to read Clearwisdom. I have shared with them why the principles Master Li teaches have been so helpful to me. I even posted a message about the two thugs arrested in Chicago, and how they ended up in court for their actions. I asked readers to contact Public Security offices or call them about the treatment of Falun Gong practitioners who were killed, missing or mistreated. I let them know that the Chinese regime was trying to break our laws here in America with the persecution of Falun Gong, that practitioners were going to testify in Congress about just these kinds of illegal actions. Their righteous efforts would help inform our government and expose these crimes, thus bringing them to light for everyone to see.

The deeper my understanding of the Fa became the more unhindered I could move through evil's environment at the People's Daily. Master Li said, "Dafa practitioners are now sentient beings sole hope for salvation." ("Righteous Thoughts") The media inside China is like a huge umbrella with many ribs extending from the center. Our righteous thoughts and actions can close this umbrella, stopping it from sheltering evil once and for all. "No matter who a person is, isn't his criticism of qigong from a ordinary human perspective? Can any of mankind's organizations rise above the Gods or Buddhas?" (Essentials for Further Advancement, "For Whom do You Practice Cultivation?") Clarifying the truth through the many forms of media inside China is a great opportunity for us.

(An Edited Version of a Paper Shared at the 2003 Florida Experience Sharing Conference)