Reflections from Conducting a Falun Dafa Day

Having a Falun Dafa Day is for the purpose of clarifying the truth, exposing the evil in a way that people understand, and helping local citizens and government officials to get to know Dafa. This great and joyous day is celebrated around the globe.

Two years ago, every district had a Dafa Day. I remember my thoughts: We must hold one in our city, but we have to comply with a number of requirements. We have to find a good location so that as many people as possible can learn what Falun Dafa is; We must conduct ourselves in an upright manner. We must get the media to broadcast the news about Dafa Day to as many people as possible, inviting them to join in the event.

Some practitioners thought that it would not be wise to publicize the event as the evil would know what we intended to do. Then they would put pressure on the local council or government to withdraw their support. I was not thinking that way. I realized that a single upright act will suppress hundreds of evil ones. I absolutely do not recognize such persecution. If they dare to expose themselves, the public will recognize their motives. The evil is afraid of the truth; Dafa practitioners are not. I have organized many such activities before, and I had always informed our practitioners about those activities through our Australian website. I have never encountered any opposition. On every occasion after my announcement, the Chinese Embassy phoned or wrote to the respective councils demanding that the Dafa activity be denied or ignored. On every occasion, the council concerned deliberated and concluded that Dafa practitioners are good citizens, and that supporting them was the right thing to do.

Last August, I thought the time was ripe for us to proceed. In our city, we had been teaching the exercises at the practice sites since 1996, and had participated in activities organized by the city council and public organizations. Every month we introduced the Fa at various well-known locations in the city. We often used the city library for Fa study and invited the local citizens to join us. As I see it, from an ordinary person's point of view, the Dafa practitioners had already made many contributions to the local region. Seen from the angle of Dafa, this region had already improved through its upright actions, while the evil had diminished considerably. I thought we could therefore proceed, so that the public would understand the truth better, and more of the evil would be eliminated.

A practitioner made an appointment for us to meet with the mayor. The meeting was to include Western practitioners. On the morning of the meeting, I received a message that the Westerners were unable to be at the appointment. It was too late to contact other practitioners. I had never been involved in meetings with government officials, so I did not have any materials to bring to the meeting. I phoned our Association to ask for assistance. They e-mailed some materials, but for some reason, I was unable to receive any of them. I had no alternative but to take a few 'Introduction to Dafa' flyers, some 'Testimonials for Dafa' from other regions, and a few letters of acknowledgement from organizations whose activities we had joined with me to the meeting. I wondered why this was happening. Was it interference by the evil? Was it something I had to understand? What, I pondered, was the right direction?

Why was my heart not calm? Why did I feel panic? Was I afraid that, being Asian, others might snub me? Was I even suitable to be at this meeting? Was I afraid of presenting the wrong materials? Was it because I had no one to rely on, and might say something wrong? Because all of these thoughts came to me, I decided to settle down and think deeply about what attachments were disturbing me. Being a Dafa practitioner, I have a Master, and I have the Fa. It was only necessary for me to become tranquil and discard those disturbing concepts and emotions. I was sure my ability would see me through.

Regarding what to say and do, if I stand firmly on the foundation of the Fa and speak in a manner that an ordinary person can understand, how could anything go wrong? All strength comes from Dafa, and I am not trying to accumulate any virtue (De) from it. I have absolute faith in Dafa, and in Master. If I communicate how totally pure Dafa is to the mayor, without any personal attachments, he, and any other person with a compassionate heart, could not possibly be against what I have to say. I thus became calm and went to meet the mayor.

The mayor only allowed five minutes for the appointment. I briefly introduced Dafa and our practice site, and our benefits from learning the exercises. I requested his permission to conduct a "Truth, Compassion and Forbearance" day in a busy area of the city to let everyone know that "Truth, Compassion and Forbearance" is good, and that Dafa is great. "If the Honorable Mayor agrees, please come to the celebration, and support us. You represent the desires of the local citizens and if you let more of the citizens know about the mighty virtues of the Fa, and live by the principles of the Fa as a standard, it will bring a very bright future to this community." The mayor replied, "Good. Any other requests?" I replied, "I have never been involved in organizing such an event. Could you kindly instruct me how to apply for permits to use a location for the function, construct the stage, prepare for the program, and send invitations to various organizations and the media?"

The mayor immediately appointed an official as liaison with me to provide me with all of the information required to organize the activity. Two weeks before Dafa Day, the secretary to the mayor, and the spokesperson, contacted me about preparing a speech for the mayor. Then they sent a draft copy for us to review. A Western practitioner said in surprise, "In his speech the mayor wants to say exactly what we want to say."

On Falun Dafa Day, the mayor and some council members were present. The mayor made some generous remarks about Falun Dafa and expressed his support for Falun Dafa. He hoped that more and more citizens would join Falun Dafa. He told me he would also visit our practice site. Several other nationalities prepared some entries and joined our celebration. Two of the largest newspapers in the district reported the event. Several Chinese organizations that received our invitation came and sat in the audience as a gesture of support. Later many of my friends informed me that they read the reports in the newspapers, or some of their friends who passed by saw the celebration and told them about it. After the event we wrote to the mayor to express our gratitude for his support. His reply was full of warmth with an understanding of the importance of "Truth, Compassion and Forbearance."

I think that Falun Dafa Day is a marvelous opportunity for clarifying the truth and exposing the evil, that should not be missed. We celebrated the event again this year, and started preparations two weeks in advance. We made sure that the mayor would be free on that day. When we contacted the mayor's office, we found that there was a new mayor. He too knew about Falun Dafa, supported it, and agreed to participate in our celebration. It was ten days before our event with eight working days left. With the assistance of another practitioner I sent out invitations to the media and scores of social organizations. The next day, two newspapers asked us for more details. One of them came that day to take photos and interview us. The reporter told me that by doing that, they could prepare the column the next day, and on Falun Dafa Day, the public would be able to read about it in the newspaper and join us in the celebration. I thanked her for her thoughtfulness. Four days before the event, a practitioner suggested that we request the mayor to give us a testimonial on Falun Dafa Day. I immediately wrote the request on the invitation, and faxed a copy of a testimonial received by another region for his information.

At the appointed time on Falun Dafa Day there was not a single person from the media present though they had indicated that they would come. Because it was a working day the council members could not come. Only two said that they would come, and they had not yet made their appearance. It was very late and the mayor had not arrived. The practitioners started the exercise demonstrations. The various social organizations had also arrived with their prepared program. The crowd was increasing. There were many adults and children in the streets carrying balloons with the words "Falun Dafa Zhen Shan Ren" printed on them.

At the Dafa materials table at the roadside, practitioners were busy distributing materials to passers-by. Practitioners kept asking me why the mayor had not arrived. After 20 minutes, I began to panic. What could I do? If the mayor did not come, how could I explain myself to the practitioners? A practitioner pointed out that if the mayor did not come we could still proceed with the celebration. I realized that we were already demonstrating the exercises and clarifying the truth, the government had built the stage, many people were holding balloons with the Dafa words on them, and many people were taking materials from us. Haven't we done our part in clarifying the truth, exposing the evil, and saving sentient beings?

The sentient beings were already positioning themselves. If the mayor comes, I thought, it would be better, but I should not have an attachment to one person, and I should not place my hopes on one person. It is not being realistic. Once I realized that, the mayor arrived. He held my hands and apologized profusely. He gave me a large yellow envelope and asked if I knew to whom he should give the letter of recognition for Dafa. I looked around and noticed that all of the media representatives had also arrived. The representatives of the various organizations, dressed in suits, were also seated in the audience.

I approached them in recognition of their status, greeted them, and thanked them for their presence and support. The huge red lanterns were already hung up at the sides of the stage. The various organization representatives went on stage to praise Dafa. The dancers who were not practitioners played their drums in celebration. To the sound of the drums and cymbals, the mayor handed the letter of recognition to volunteers from the Association. The mayor had in his hands the introduction to Dafa materials, and expressed that this Council would always support Falun Dafa one hundred percent! The mayor said that he would like to participate in every activity organized by Falun Dafa practitioners. Thousands of people passed by and witnessed this celebration. Some of them clapped their hands in admiration. The air was filled with joy in this city.

Recollecting the two times we celebrated Falun Dafa Day, I remembered that on each occasion I did not put too much effort or spend a long time on it. Though at times I felt time was too tight, and I feared that I could not accomplish my tasks, yet each time the tasks were unexpectedly completed. I recognized that this was the power of Dafa. If we are guided by the Fa and understand everything from the point of view of the Fa, all will be well and our capabilities will rise to meet the occasion.

We should start from solidly clarifying the truth at any Dafa activity, and not harbor any hope for quick returns. We must positively introduce the Fa to the public and not simply use a photo depicting the suppression to elicit sympathy from someone who does not really understand the situation.

If the human heart does not really sympathize with Falun Dafa and does not have a clear understanding of Dafa practitioners when the subject of Falun Dafa is brought up, misunderstandings can occur. Then their sympathy would be the same as that extended to the refugees from other countries. No matter how much effort I put into clarifying the truth, I will not base my efforts on any visible result. We must be within the Fa and be upright. Then those righteous people will be guided by various predestined situations to be on our side. We must not hope for Dafa's progress based on the acts of one ordinary person. We must take the initiative to speak out. Then governments' attitudes will automatically be established in our favor.

I believe that when working in Falun Dafa one must act as a cultivator. His heart must be pure. Under the influence of this pure heart, the person receiving the clarification will have an improved heart. We absolutely should not go by our human hearts or use the negative emotions of an ordinary person to achieve our aim. We can only follow the attachments of the ordinary person to talk to them but not use those attachments to succeed. Otherwise how can we perform this sacred task? How can "The Buddha-light illuminates everywhere and rectifies all abnormalities." (Zhuan Falun, Lecture Three, Energy Field) be established?

Thirdly, I realize if we hope for nothing then there is nothing to fear. We would not falsely establish difficulties, limit ourselves, or recognize the arrangements of the old forces. Master said in Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston:

"The old forces don't dare to oppose our clarifying the truth or saving sentient beings. What's key is to not let them take advantage of the gaps in your state of mind when you do things."

Clarifying the truth is the best thing we can do. If the evil resists us in this universe, then Buddhas, Daos and gods will rectify it (as long as it is within the Fa). I never contemplated who would resist us. When we are faced with such a situation, we must be perfectly pure, and only superficially immerse ourselves in this level of the Fa of the ordinary person. Superficially, it is an ordinary person's purity and compassionate, righteous criterion, and cultivation of Dafa will guide us to clarify the truth in different regions, in different circles, and with different objects.

Fourthly, I think that we must show understanding and sympathy towards each ordinary person, and use the Fa as a link. It is enough that an ordinary person's heart knows that Dafa is good. They should not receive undue pressure. They will be moved by their compassionate understanding and sympathy, and they will quietly and automatically support us. Some practitioners have suggested that we should not refer to "Falun Dafa Day," but should refer call it "Zhen Shan Ren Day." They think that many people will not agree to "Falun Dafa" but "Zhen Shan Ren" will be agreeable to a majority of people. They think that in this way we will gain more general support.

I have looked at the problem from two angles. One is that a Dafa practitioner must stand on a foundation of the Fa. What we want is that ordinary people have a real understanding of Falun Dafa. We should not just tell them what they want to hear and be afraid of telling the facts. Where do we position ourselves if we are shy of speaking out for Dafa? Secondly, we must act responsibly toward these people.

If they only know about "Zhen Shan Ren," but do not know from their hearts that Falun Dafa is about "Zhen Shan Ren," they may still feel negative about Dafa. Then where would they stand in the future? To understand and sympathize with the government is a necessity, but that does not mean that when the evil threatens or entices people, we discard the rights we have as citizens, and compromise with the evil. On the level of ordinary people, and in the face of completely reasonable conditions, to be steadfastly holding on to righteousness is not wrong. But it is absolutely wrong to discard standing on the Fa because one wishes to build a good relationship with the other party. Standing on the foundation of the Fa in harmony, and wisely doing work for Dafa is the essential matter

Fifth, the whole body of practitioners cooperating together and achieving impenetrable harmony is the sacred and magnificent action culminating in the final consummation of practitioner's pure hearts. I have not been advancing as rapidly as I could. I have not been communicating much with fellow practitioners, and I have been even less involved in activities. However, when I proposed this Dafa Day activity, every practitioner silently did his part; everyone treated it as his or her own work, just like a family would. I saw so many pure practitioners with no thought of self-interest all around me. All they thought of was to help each other and to combine their efforts. Under such circumstances, where could the evil find a crack to creep in? Such attitudes are certainly in concert with our accomplishing our great duty.

Clearly practitioners must learn the Fa well. We must certainly be tranquil to study the Fa. If a practitioner cannot achieve tranquility to study the Fa, he loses the power of the Fa. Sometimes, when I am at a loss, the Fa will be there to guide me. It enables my mind to be tranquil, my actions to be decisive, and my attitude to be one of confidence.

Because of sentient beings, because of our great duty, let us ardently remember at every moment that we are Dafa practitioners doing Dafa work, learning the Fa well with a tranquil heart.

The above is only a personal understanding at a limited level. If there are errors, I hope my fellow practitioners will correct me with compassion.

(Shared at the 2002 Australia Experience Sharing Conference)