Shared at the 2004 Canada Falun Dafa Conference
(Clearwisdom.net)
Part I: Mao Fengying's Experiences
Dear fellow practitioners,
Compassionate Master Li!
My name is Mao Fengying. The Toronto telephone group takes this opportunity today to share its experiences in using the telephone to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa and the persecution to people in China.
1. Encouraging practitioners to take part in telephone truth-clarifying activities.
Following Teacher's words, "Lose no time and save them, hurry up and tell them." ("Hurry Up And Tell Them"), we engaged in making phone calls, solidly and consistently, with all our hearts. We share the work and coordinate with each other. Besides our group members making phone calls, we encourage other practitioners in the greater Toronto area to participate in this activity. We also went to the different practice sites to study the Fa (1), exchange experiences and gave phone-call-making demonstrations as examples for others to follow. By doing so, we interested many practitioners in joining us in this activity, especially practitioners who recently arrived from Mainland China, and also new practitioners and elderly practitioners. Through the telephone calls, the truth of Falun Dafa is spread to China day and night, to thousands and thousands of Chinese families. We are also a part of the worldwide telephone group and take a keen interest in coordinating and communicating with other telephone groups. Our telephone group comes together once a week to study the Fa, send righteous thoughts, exchange experiences and make telephone calls as examples for others. All practitioners who participated in this kind of environment feel that they have elevated very rapidly and could in a short time break through the mental barrier of the fear of picking up the telephone to clarify the truth. Those practitioners who did not know how to clarify the truth over the telephone at the beginning eventually became better and better at clarifying the truth.
2. Pay more attention to the effect of clarifying the truth.
We understand that clarifying the truth by telephone is not merely a formality, nor simply completing a duty, but is one part of our Dafa-validating activities. It is Dafa that gave us power to offer people salvation and it is even more a process of solid cultivation, as long as we can let go of our ego and thoroughly abandon our human notions. It is also the proof of whether or not we as Dafa disciples manifest compassion. The listeners must be able to feel our benevolence. They will not accept our words if we are not compassionate. Teacher said in "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference,"
"Dafa disciples should do everything cool-headedly and with Shan thoughts. Whether you're clarifying the truth to people or participating in an activity, you should always have people see the goodness and kindness of Dafa disciples. Absolutely don't do anything that's too extreme. When you save beings and clarify the truth, if you speak in an extreme way it won't have a positive effect. That's because when you lack Shan you won't disintegrate the evil elements that exist in the minds of those people who have been poisoned, so you won't be able to achieve a positive effect."
The following are some examples:
A. A young male practitioner wanted to clarify the truth to Mainland China's police by telephone, but he always regarded them as evil persons and wanted to put them down. As a result, every time he called, he ended up arguing with the other side and could not clarify the truth. Since he joined the telephone group and exchanged experiences with other members, he realized that his attitude and manner of speech were not correct; he did not have compassionate thoughts and therefore the police could not accept his truth-clarification. After he adjusted his attitude and manner of speech and whole-heartedly thought about offering salvation to the other side, the results became better and better. The police could also accept his words. He recently made a phone call to a person who is in charge of a "610 Office" (2). That person asked our practitioner to tell him more about the truth in the next phone call. A few days later, though, that person was transferred from this "610 Office" to another bureau. Then this practitioner clarified the truth to a labor camp officer, telling him that Falun Dafa is good and can improve the mind and body of the practitioners and help sick people recover from illness. The officer wanted to talk to a practitioner who had the above-mentioned experience. When one of these practitioners talked to the officer about his own experience, the officer said, "I understand."
B. Another practitioner made a call to a police officer in one city to clarify the truth and awaken his compassion. The police officer shouted abuse. The practitioner showed her compassionate side cultivated from Fa study, and said calmly and kindly to the officer, "I spend time and money to tell you the facts, only for your own good. I do not feel that it is a waste; on the contrary! You get the best thing without paying even a penny. Why are you so angry? It is your loss if you don't want to listen; insulting people is also a loss for you. These losses cannot be compensated with any amount of money. You will regret it if you lose this opportunity." At that moment the officer stopped his shouting and listened to the practitioner quietly until our practitioner finished clarifying the truth. When the practitioner finished, he did not hang up immediately. He waited a while before hanging up.
C. One "610 Office" hired some young unemployed men as hatchet men to brutally beat detained Dafa practitioners. A practitioner made a phone call to one of these men's home and told his mother, "Your son acts as a hatchet man for the Security Bureau and does so particularly to beat Dafa disciples. He has savagely beaten many of our friends. We don't hate your son, but we are worried about him, because all Falun Gong practitioners are good people. The persecution is totally wrong, and in the future, justice will certainly be returned to Falun Gong. Your son has to take the responsibility for what he is doing today. Please, advice your son not to make himself regret his deeds and hate himself for the rest of his life simply because of one moment of confusion." The mother accepted the advice. Several months later our practitioner made a phone call to the mother again. The mother said happily, "Please do not worry anymore. My son has changed and has stopped doing such things a long time ago. I am deeply touched by your compassion and am now a Falun Gong student like you."
Part II: Gao Jing's Experiences
My name is Gao Jing. I obtained the Fa two years ago. At the beginning I telephoned once in a while clarifying the truth, which lead to regularly making several calls every night. Later, I ended up making calls in the mornings and evenings, making 20 to 30 calls daily.
Once, I got a line through to one bureau in Shenyang City. A lady took my call. After she listened to a few words she said to me, "Please wait a minute." I thought at that moment, no matter who comes to take this call, I will clarify the truth to them. After a while, a man's voice came through the line on the other end. He interrupted me after I only spoke two sentences, and began to say some unjust and perverted words about Dafa. At first I tried to clarify the truth to him based on what he was speaking, but he did not stop, talking long and extensively, not giving me a chance to say anything. I realized that he must be the special person who was in charge of persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. I thought for a while, and then I spoke to him rapidly and in a calm tone while sending righteous thoughts. In the following one or two minutes, there were our two voices simultaneously on the telephone line. Then his words became less and less, finally only my voice could be heard. I asked him if he had any questions before I finished and wanted to put down the telephone. He kept silent for a few seconds and then said to me in a soft voice, "Thank you!" That experience was the first time I felt the great power of a Dafa disciple's righteous thoughts.
I was often faced with a simple but difficult question during telephone truth-clarification: "You say Falun Dafa is so good, but actually, what really is Falun Dafa?" It is not easy to explain this in a few sentences to the person who does not understand what cultivation is, and who doesn't believe in a God. Once while having a conversation with someone, I encountered the same question again. Suddenly I had an inspiration and told him, "If you want to know what Falun Dafa is, you can try to understand first what the people who practice Falun Dafa are like. Our teacher has written a poem named 'Zuo Ren,' (Being a Person). It is used to teach practitioners how to be a human being. Then I recited the poem to him from memory. He listened very seriously, but suddenly he interrupted me in the middle of the poem and said, "Wait a minute please! The poem is very good, I want to write it down on paper so I need to get a pen and paper." Then he wrote down the poem while I recited it word by word. He wrote down very exactly and even asked me what "ye" (karma) is and how "ye" is written in Chinese. I told him the correct word. After that I told him briefly what Falun Dafa is. He asked a few more questions during my explanation and I answered them. At the end of our conversation he asked me how he could learn more about Falun Dafa. I got his name and address and sent him all the Dafa books and flyers on hand that day. The next day I called him again and told him that I had already sent the Falun Dafa books to him. He was quite touched and asked me repeatedly to call him around the time he would receive the mail.
Since then, I often used Teacher's lectures during telephone truth clarifying. Another time for example, I made a telephone call to a police officer who specialized in arresting Falun Gong practitioners. I said first, "I am a Chinese living overseas and I love my country. I know your job is to maintain public security, and I am very concerned about my motherland's public security. I have an article to help upgrade people's moral standards. I have selected a paragraph and want to read it to you. It might take you two minutes." The police officer did not say yes or no, but also did not hang up. So I began to read from the last lecture of Zhuan Falun,
"And we've said, too, that if every one of us cultivates inward, if every one of us examines his own character for causes, if when we don't do well we look inside ourselves for the cause, and we try to do better next time, and if we think about other people first any time we do something, then the world will change for the better, morals will go back up, people's civility will improve, and crime will go down. Maybe we won't even need policemen. There will be no need for things like neighborhood watch, and everyone will watch over himself, and they'll look inside their own minds to fix things. Wouldn't you say that'd be great? We know how laws and regulations are now getting more and more complete and tight over time. Then why do people still do bad things? Why don't they follow the law? It's because you can't police their minds, and when nobody is watching they'll still do bad things. But if everyone were to cultivate inward things would be totally different..."
After I finished reading I asked him, "Do you think this paragraph is right or wrong?" He said, "It is right." Then I asked him immediately, "Do you know where this paragraph comes from?" He said, "I don't know." Then I spoke to him kindly, "Let me tell you, this paragraph is from Falun Dafa. This is our great Teacher, Mr. Li Hongzhi, telling the practitioners how to become a good person in society and also how to be of benefit to the society. Actually, there is a reason why I am making this telephone call to you today." After I said that I told him how, from the beginning, Jiang has misled the Chinese police about Falun Gong and that later, at the end, they would have to take the responsibility for their criminal acts. He did not utter a single word until I finished. After I finished he said it to me but it seemed he was murmuring to himself, " I know, thank you!" But he did not put hang up telephone. I felt he remained there stunned. Finally, I put down my telephone lightly.
Part III: Qu Xiuyi's Experiences
My name is Qu Xiuyi. Before I became a Falun Gong practitioner, due to head injuries, I lost the ability to think like a normal person. I did not recognize people or directions. I could not converse normally with people. It is our great and compassionate Teacher who gave me a totally new life and made me a really healthy person.
In the telephone group we use the wisdom and ability cultivated from Dafa, and with Teacher's help, clarify the truth by telephone, accompanying Teacher in the Fa rectification and in the salvation of sentient beings.
I live in a friend's house. I have to make the telephone calls before my friends come home from work in the evening. In the morning when I made telephone calls, I need to think about those who have to work late at night and rest during the day. In order not to disturb others, in the early mornings I make telephone calls in the garage. The garage is very cold in the winter. It does not matter how much clothing I put on, after a period of time my hands, numbed with cold, could not even hold the telephone. I overcame all kinds of difficulties and each time I sent righteous thoughts to purify myself before I made the telephone calls. I tried to make good use of all my time and all my efforts to clarify the truth by telephone to those predestined people in Mainland China
The people who receive my telephone calls work in all kinds of different fields and are of varying ages. Some really want to listen to me but do not dare say anything. They often hold the telephone and listen to me for a long time without hanging up. Some not only listened but also asked questions. I would try my best to tell them more. In order to get good results and make these phone calls efficient, I usually have an outline in my hands so I can talk to different people with different words and emphasis. I always use different approaches to begin the conversation.
I usually start by telling them to remember, "Falun Dafa is good," "Zhen, Shan, Ren is good" and that it will bring them a wonderful future. I thought, even though they did not want to listen to the truth of Dafa or did not dare to listen to the truth, those words would still have a good effect on them. I would never leave even one predestined person out; all those telephone numbers I got belong to those to whom I should clarify the truth. Some telephone numbers I tried a dozen times, but to no avail. Occasionally I could only get hold of the person after trying more than a dozen times.
One day I made a telephone call to a male chief administrator of a higher-learning youth camp. The moment he heard that I was from Falun Gong, he shouted and yelled and would not let me speak. I kept on clarifying the truth to him while sending righteous thoughts, "It is for your own positive predestined fortune that you received this telephone call. Falun Gong is a very high level moral instruction that tells people how to follow compassion and become good persons. As an older, well-educated youth leader as you are, you have internalized many lessons during the Cultural Revolution in China. Can you imagine why the evildoing Jiang started the persecution due to his selfish reasons and thought that he could eliminate Falun Gong within three months? I want you to think carefully! Now it has been almost five years since the persecution began. Not only are there more and more people practicing Falun Gong, but it has spread to more than 60 countries around the world and been honored with over 1,200 awards. Falun Gong practitioners in Mainland China take the risk of being captured, beaten and losing their lives to tell you the truth, just for you."
Later I called that administrator several times again. He changed a lot, not only in the way he talked to me, but also in his attitude toward Falun Dafa. He said that he is not against Falun Dafa. I told him that as Dafa practitioners, we want to tell all Chinese people who have been misled that, "Falun Dafa is good."
Notes
(1) Fa: Law and principles; the teachings of Falun Dafa.
(2) The "610 Office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.
