The 56th World Congress of the Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum was held this week in Dublin, Ireland.
At the beginning we did not have a clear idea of how to approach this event, or what was the best way to clarify the facts of the persecution to people. We just thought that since a lot of people had to go to work or college during the day, it would be sufficient for several practitioners to distribute materials outside the Congress. However, when the media and VIPs, including the Prime Minister of Ireland and human rights activist Bono from the band U2, arrived to make speeches we realized that this was a golden opportunity to let people learn more about the persecution of Falun Gong in China. It was an exceptionally important occasion. We met mid-week and decided to focus on clarifying the truth to people there. At this point, only one day was left until the end of the Congress.
After twenty-four hours of intense activity, the entire truth-clarification activity proved to be a success. Everything that we had planned to do turned out very well and went smoothly, including contacting the media, preparing information packs to be given to the reporters and making banners.
At 12 o'clock, the first batch of practitioners arrived at the site where the Congress was to be held. They set up banners, arranged display boards and began distributing information to the Congress participants who were coming and going continuously. At the beginning the security guards looked indifferent, but, after we told them what we were doing, they became quite friendly. Everything was carried out in an orderly manner, such as practicing the exercises and handing out information.
On occasions such as this, it's very important for us to send forth righteous thoughts frequently. A sentence from our Master's recent article often comes to mind: "When you can truly be tranquil, one thought is more than enough to shake Heaven and Earth, there's nothing that it can't do." The media has been a major target for us to explain the truth to, and it is also a medium that the Jiang regime uses against Dafa. Therefore, we used every opportunity to clarify the truth to them.
Banners are very important. As they were bought in a hurry, we had little time to amend them or
fix them to some stocks for support. Because of this, the banners were held by practitioners. When I
was holding a banner, I was very solemn and thought clearly about the power of Dafa and what
happened when a group of western practitioners held the banner reading, "Truthfulness,
Benevolence, and Tolerance" on Tiananmen Square. The characters on the banner that read,
"Chinese Press Abused to Persecute Falun Gong," were chosen after careful discussion; it
clearly stated who we are and why we were outside the Congress. All the Congress participants could
not avoid reading our banner as they left at the end of the conference, many took photographs, and
others stopped to take a look.
Our information packs contained material regarding the Chinese government's abuse of the media to
persecute Falun Gong, as well as materials about rescuing the two Irish students Liu Feng and Yang
Fang, who have been forbidden from returning to Ireland to complete their studies because they
practice Falun Gong. Information about the lawsuit against Jiang was also included. 150 information
packs were distributed in half a day and many more VCDs were handed out. Not only this but when
people came over to view the display board, we directly clarified the truth of the persecution to
them. Very few people refused materials and some people specially came to talk with us or to view
the display board. At least they all saw the clear message delivered on the banner. Those who came
to talk with us included people from the UK, the United States, Sweden, Brazil, Spain, Korea, and
Ireland. Some said that they understood our situation very well and have reported on Falun Gong
frequently. Others said that this was the first time that they heard about the persecution of Falun
Gong.
After the conference, we took a short break and went to study the Fa together. This day we did the three things that are most important-- to study the Fa, send forth righteous thoughts, and to clarify the truth.
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