(Clearwisdom.net) Recently I made some friends from other countries and used my limited English to introduce Falun Dafa and clarify the truth to them. Thanks to the power of Dafa, I was able to overcome the cultural barriers and help them gain a positive understanding of Dafa.
As they were in an unfamiliar place, I knew that they must feel uncomfortable and apprehensive. I used compassion derived from my cultivation in Falun Dafa to think about others' needs first and help them to resolve some of their problems. During the process, my compassion won them over. They felt comfortable enough with me to discuss almost anything, and I took the opportunity to gradually clarify the truth to them.
When I chatted with friends who were Catholic, I asked them, "Did you know that the Communist ideology we learned in our childhood considered religion and spiritual beliefs as superstitions? It said that Jesus was merely a legendary figure that never existed." "Is it true?" They were very surprised to hear that. Then I said to them, "I am very lucky. My high school history teacher had an open mind. She told us that Westerners do believe in the existence of Jesus and they have evidence to prove it." I told them that I had been confused and did not know which to believe until I learned Falun Dafa. "My Teacher told us that Jesus is a great God, a very good God. Only then did I truly establish a correct understanding of the issue." One of them said, "You're really lucky. But some churchgoers haven't changed for the better, and they're just going through the motions." I replied, "Our Teacher told us that Jesus wanted those who believed in him to follow his teachings to conduct themselves. Our Teacher also told us that there is not a place that does not have Gods. They know everything. If you are doing well they will certainly help you." They agreed and asked me about Falun Dafa, our Teacher and the principles of our beliefs. I explained about these topics to them one by one.
One day when we were having dinner together, I introduced the dishes to them. When talking about the bamboo shoots I said, "I have a good friend who is from the southern part of China. He told me that in his hometown there are a lot of bamboos. As a matter of fact, the place is covered with lush, green bamboos. As a child, he would play in the bamboo forest and when night fell, he would bring some bamboo shoots back home." One of my friends said, "That is lovely, I'd like to have this kind of life." Then I told them, "However, this friend of mine is now being held in prison because he is a Falun Gong practitioner. He was sentenced to five years in prison simply for getting together with some other practitioners for dinner." "What did you say?" I could see that they were really shocked. I told them, "The police checked all of his belongings and took away his cash and valuables. They also drove away his car without leaving any record of doing so, and they ended up taking it as their own." One of my friends said, "These policemen are just like thiefs." I said, "No, they are robbers!" "That's right!" they agreed.
I described to them the hard life, the extremely heavy manual labor, the astonishing poor conditions and the tight surveillance in the forced labor camps. I told them that whenever high-level officials or visitors from other countries visited the forced labor camps, they would put on a show to fool the visitors. My friends were very surprised and said sympathetically, "At such a young age, you have already experienced so many difficulties. It's really not easy for you." I told them, "The police locked us up together with drug addicts and prostitutes, and ordered them to monitor us. However, we would tell them the principles our Teacher taught us on how to conduct themselves in society. They said if they had known these principles, they would not have committed those crimes in the first place. Later on when the practitioners studied the Falun Gong teachings, these people would help to watch out for the police on our behalf. When the police asked them if they had been reformed in the forced labor camp upon release, they said, 'you did not change me, but Falun Gong has. When I return home, I will practice Falun Gong too.'" I continued, "When the police mistreated us, we reasoned with them." One of my friends asked, "Do you believe that no matter what one has done, it would come back to him, that good deeds and bad deeds alike would be returned in time?" I said, "That's right. We told the police not to abuse and torture us. It was for their own good. We told them that it was bad for them to torture us. A lot of them have changed their attitude toward Falun Gong practitioners. Some even expressed that they would learn Falun Dafa."
The more they listened to me, the more they wanted to hear. When I described the torture methods the forced labor camp used to deal with Falun Dafa practitioners, they were shocked. They could hardly believe that in today's world there is still such barbaric behavior. They said, "It is like the Middle Ages!" One of them said with a heavy heart, "Before I came to China, my family told me that it was not a good place. But since I came here, everything I have learned from the news is good. I thought the news told the true story, and what had once happened in the history was long gone. I did not expect that such evil things are still happening here today." I said, "Everything has been covered up. The state media's reports about Falun Gong are full of lies." One friend said, "Thank you for letting us know the real situation. I have a friend who is a reporter. When I return to my country, I will tell him what has really happened here in China and let more people know the truth." Another friend said, "Our prime minister visited China a few months ago. At the time a lot of people opposed the visit because of China's human rights situation." I said, "That's right. It is fine if you come to help with the construction of the country or if your investment can have some returns and our economy has been improved. This is a win-win situation. However, did you know that Jiang used one quarter of the national financial resources to suppress Falun Gong?" "One quarter!" They were shocked once more. I replied, "Yes, the prisons and forced labor camps where we were detained were all newly built. They gave large bonuses to the police who are persecuting Falun Gong." One of the friends said, "That much money has been spent on doing such a bad thing--it has no benefit, if this continues, your country will be in trouble." Another piped in, "No one should finance these murderers!" One of them said, "My uncle is an important businessman. When I go back, I will tell him about this and ask him to tell his friends as well. We certainly cannot help a tyrant commit murder!"
During my time together with these friends, I introduced a lot of traditional Chinese culture to them. They were fascinated and asked me, "How come you know so many things. Would you tell us more about it? Have you got books for what you have told us?" I said, "These books might be too ancient, even we Chinese cannot understand all of them." One agreed, "I tried to read some Buddhist books but could not understand it." Then I told them that they could read the books of my belief -- the Falun Dafa books. "The historical figures, the cultivation stories, as well as the principles from the Buddhist and Daoist disciplines are all in the book. This book was written in the modern Chinese language and has been translated into your language. So it should be pretty convenient for you to read." They were quite happy and agreed to read them.
One day I had to change my appointment with them. When we met, they asked me what had happened. I told them, "A friend of mine has gone missing. Her whereabouts are still unknown. I tried to help her." "Is there any result," they asked. "No, not yet," I said, "She is the same age as me and is an easy-going person. During her detention in the forced labor camp, she always helped others. She has a baby boy. Last time when she was arrested, her baby was only one year old. At that time her baby cried for his mother everyday. When she was finally released, her baby was three years old. Now her child is four, and she was arrested again." "How unfortunate she is!" they said and asked, "Does her family know her whereabouts?" I said, "No, they don't! At the time when I was arrested, my family also did not know my whereabouts, so they were very worried. I had no clothes to change into and had no covers for my bed at the detention center. We are really worried about her. Some people's whereabouts remain unknown even when they die." That was the first time I showed my sorrow in front of these friends, and they felt very sad, as well. I said to them, "I don't really feel pain or sorrow for my own suffering, but when I think of other people's suffering I would feel very sad." "Yes," they said, "kind-hearted people are all like that." They really worried about me. One of them said, "It's dangerous for you to stay here. I sincerely hope you can come home with me. How can I help you?" When I told them that my telephone had been tapped, they were surprised, "So there is no freedom of communication here in China?" They began to talk among themselves and after a while they said to me, "We discussed how we could help you. We want to buy you a mobile number in one of our names. In this way the police would not know your number again." I thanked them and said, "I can buy an anonymous phone number myself. Don't worry. I will not say anything over the phone."
After that every time they saw me they would ask how I was. Once I said, "To tell you the truth, I don't feel good." I said, "The police phoned my home and asked if I went to unfurl banners on behalf of Falun Gong. My father was very angry and demanded how they could say that without any evidence." My friends were anxious to know what had happened. I told them, "I returned the phone call to the policeman and told him that my father was hospitalized from worry after he received the phone call from him. I told him that our lives were given by our parents, and asked him not to do that again. I told him what it was like in the forced labor camp and asked him not to send anyone to the forced labor camp." My friends asked me, "What did the policeman say?" "He said he understood, and even asked me to share a meal with him." My friends were very glad and said, "You have done very well!"
One of my friends suffered from a serious illness not long ago. He said he heard about Falun Gong at his country and wanted me to tell him more about it. I told him stories of healing illness and keeping fit in the cultivation of Falun Dafa. He was very glad to hear the stories and said, "They are really amazing!" I told him, "The improvement of health does not come from the practice of the exercises like from physical exercises but from the changes in your mind. After practicing Falun Dafa, you will think about other people first in whatever you do, be kind to others and keep a peaceful mind. This will change you from the inside out. The main book of Falun Gong, Zhuan Falun, explains a lot of principles and can help you to understand things from different angles so that you can adjust your mentality. When you can't control your temper, it's bad for your health. You will benefit from reading the book." "What you said is absolutely true." He said, "A lot of problems have come out of my getting angry. I have always been searching for a way to change my temperament." I told him that regardless of whether he practices, when he comes across something that's hard to bear, just keep in his mind that Falun Dafa and Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance are good, and it will help him. He was really excited. He patted my shoulder and said, "That's great. Thank you very much!"
Then they expressed their desire to read the Falun Dafa book to understand the practice. One of them said that he would practice Falun Gong after returning to his own country. One of the friends was not busy at the time and I had an electronic version of the Dafa book in his language, so I gave it to him to read. Later, he often discussed with me the things he read in the book. As for the other friends, I gave them addresses of the Dafa websites in their languages.
Recently, they have been returning to their countries one after another, and in their e-mails they would tell me, "I cherished the memory of the time we were together. Are things well with you now? You must be careful with your safety. Thank you for your help. I understand your situation very well and sincerely hope I can help you. If you need any help, please just let me know." I felt grateful towards their kind hearts.
I'm not so worried about whether they start cultivating now. The important thing is that they are able to read the Dafa book, so they have laid a foundation for cultivating in the future. It doesn't matter if I have the opportunity to gain their help or not. They have already positioned themselves in a wonderful place by offering help to a Dafa practitioner on their own initiative. Everything we do today is for sentient beings, and we are establishing our own environments when helping others without pursuit.
I know that when I clarify the truth to people from other countries, it may not be done with as well as if I did the same for Chinese people, or if overseas practitioners clarified the truth to them. The reason I wrote this article is because that process was a test for me, and I have broken through the old forces' arrangements.
Because of the terrible persecution in the forced labor camp, I faced many difficulties in a harsh environment, so my mind was always highly alert. After I was released from the labor camp, I was surprised to find that I had forgotten almost every English word I had learned. According to the arrangement by the old forces, I had no chance to clarify the truth using English. However, our Teacher asked us to clarify the truth to everyone we meet, so it is my mission to do it well. At that time I just thought that I must clarity the truth, save sentient beings and nothing can stop the firm thought of a Falun Dafa practitioner.
My friends from other countries found that I was always smiling. When we got together, they would often say, "You have experienced such tribulations, but you still stand firm and keep your self happy. It is amazing, and we know this is because you have a very powerful belief."
