(Clearwisdom.net) Recently I read on the Minghui website (Chinese version of Clearwisdom.net) that some teachers who are practitioners were reported for clarifying the truth to their students. The teachers were thus persecuted. This really troubled me. I would like to share in detail my experiences of clarifying the truth in classrooms. I hope it will become helpful for practitioners who are teachers in their efforts of clarifying the truth in their classrooms.
I started practicing Falun Gong in September 2003. That same winter I started clarifying the truth to my middle-school students in class. I have clarified the truth to 2nd and 3rd- year middle school students.
1. Studying the Fa well is my first realization
No matter whom we are clarifying the truth to, the most vital thing is that we must study the Fa well! Because in the Fa we all understand this principle: Everything is from the Fa ¡V the pure mind, the wisdom and the righteous thoughts we have while clarifying the truth are all attributes Master granted us because we study the Fa well.
Within a few months after I started practicing Falun Gong I read through Master's lectures, including the lectures before and after July 20, 1999. When reading Master's lectures, my mind was pure; my noble thoughts of respect toward Master and Dafa had suppressed all my ordinary people's thoughts, and ordinary people's thoughts continued to diminish. Whenever I read the Fa, no matter how long or brief, I maintained a pure mind as much as possible. Occasionally, when it became difficult to calm down I would read the Fa out loud in a low voice, and my mind would soon calm down. At that moment, all I felt was the manifestation of Master's Fa before me. Frequently, when I finished the reading, all distractions of ordinary people's thoughts were gone and my mind was pure and clear. I would make sure to read the Fa more when my mind was distracted by ordinary people's thoughts.
When studying the Fa well, one naturally knows what to do and how to do it.
2. My state of mind while clarifying the truth to the students
While clarifying the truth to students, I speak from the standpoint of compassion, to offer them salvation. When I consider the students, a thought always comes to my mind, "You are here to listen to me clarify the truth to you. If you do not listen to the truth, and if you still have the poison in your minds that the evil Party has forced into your mind, history will eliminate you. If you can become a Dafa practitioner, it will be your greatest fortune that you could have earned through various lifetimes in history, and the greatest opportunity Master could have granted you."
Before I clarify the truth, human notions would sometimes also intensely sneak into my mind, "Will I be reported to the authorities? Will I be persecuted?" I then would think, "These are not the pure thoughts from my true nature! These are human notions! This is thought karma." I would then eliminate these distractions with righteous thoughts. If I still could not eliminate these thoughts after a long time, I would then realize that these are interference from old, evil forces. They are deeply buried in ordinary people's thoughts and are attempting to magnify the thought, to stop me from rescuing lives. I would then mentally tell them, "Stop interfering with me! You can also hear the Fa taught by Master. This Fa is not only for Dafa practitioners! If you want to enter the new universe, you also have to assimilate to this Fa and follow Master's teaching! You can only help me to rescue lives and to eliminate the bad things in the human dimension to help save them. If you continue to act adversely, I will not let you go; my Master and righteous heavenly beings will also not forgive you." After such thoughts, these human notions were reduced to a point of being ineffectual. I would then ask Master to strengthen me when clarifying the truth in the classroom and I could obviously feel the energy field around me and in the classroom, strengthening all the righteous factors.
3. The content of truth clarification and the starting point
Prior to the publication of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, I had talked about the truth of Falun Gong. After the Nine Commentaries were published, I also spoke about them. While clarifying the truth I focus on two points, that Falun Dafa is good and that Falun Dafa is being persecuted. When speaking of the goodness of Falun Dafa, I tell the student of Dafa's miraculous effects in healing illnesses and improving health, as well as the noble character of Dafa practitioners.
One time I told the students, "If you say Falun Gong deceives people, then give me an example of how any swindler around you can deceive people for so many years! Moreover, Falun Gong practitioners persist in practicing Falun Gong, even under such brutal persecution! All these facts confirm that Falun Gong does have superior power in healing illnesses and improving health. Everybody has the ability to think independently, so think it over." After that, any student, no matter how stubborn he was, could think about it with a calm mind. About Dafa being persecuted, my focus was the deceit of the "Tiananmen Self-immolation Incident." By explaining how the self-immolation incident was fabricated, other rumors the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had made up would collapse on their own.
I generally choose two ways to start explaining the truth ¡V one, to start from a related topic, and another method is to begin the truth-clarification topic directly.
Starting from a related topic: For example, when I was teaching the students about forming images using a convex lens, after the focusing lens had formed an image on a wall, I then said to the students, "The experiment is completed. Now, let's think about an ability-stretching question. Everyone one think about whether the Tiananmen Self-immolation Incident is real or a lie." Some of the students said it was real, while some other students said it was a lie. I then asked both sides to explain their viewpoint. Then I firmly told them, "It is a lie!" Some of the students were surprised. I then explained why it could not have been true, using various aspects including camera focusing, footage from different locations and close-up footage. I also referred to some questionable points. Following my explanations, the students understood completely and condemned the CCP for its shamelessness.
Starting on the truth clarification topic directly: For instance, when the Nine Commentaries was just published, I told the student in a self-study class, "Over the past couple of days I have read a book, a very good book, called the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. I do not know which kindhearted person sent it to me!" The students wanted me to talk about the book right away. Initially I said I would talk about the book later. After the students' curiosity was aroused I then briefly introduced the Nine Commentaries. Having finished the introduction, I told the students, "Do not talk about this carelessly. Keep it to yourself, your family and your friends." Clarifying the truth should start naturally and should arouse students' interest. It can then achieve a much better result.
4. After clarifying the truth, we should pay attention to sending forth righteous thoughts
After clarifying the truth I send forth righteous thoughts again. When I sent forth righteous thoughts I kept thinking, "Stop any evil from interfering. Strengthen the students' righteous side so that they will share the message with their families. The people who hear the truth must only have a positive response and spread the truth to more people, so that they can make up for the karma they created when they did not know the truth and unknowingly insulted Dafa. Let them establish for themselves a good foundation for entering the future!" Sometimes, when my mind was not steady because of the evils' interference, I would continuously send forth righteous thoughts for as long as nearly one hour after school.
5. The frequency and duration of clarifying the truth
There were occasions where I clarified the truth for more than ten minutes during a class, and there were also occasions that my truth clarification lasted for the whole duration of the class (normally during self-study classes, but sometimes also during the regular classes). I do not worry about my teaching results, but my teaching results have been quite good (when the students like to listen to you for the truth, they will also listen to you for your teaching). In one semester I clarified the truth in a class more than ten times.
6. The angle I take when clarifying the truth to the students
I have often taken the role of the third party and usually say, "My friend who practices Falun Gong told me ...." Sometimes my students asked me, "Teacher, do you practice Falun Gong?" I then answer them with smile, "When the persecution is over I will practice Falun Gong openly" or "Don't think about me, but my friend does practice Falun Gong!" Because letting the student understand the truth is important, whether or not they know that I practice Falun Gong is not important.
7. Dealing with interference during truth clarification
When I was clarifying the truth, the evil sometimes made use of some individual students to interrupt the class and interfere with other students' listening to the truth. If this happened I would tell the student with a solemn attitude, "You can have a nap if you don't want to listen my talk, but don't interfere. Other students are waiting to listen!" Other students would then start to criticize the interrupting student verbally and that student would finally calm down; he might even feel grateful to the other students for correcting his behavior, rather than feeling criticized by the teacher. There was one student who still did not understand the truth at the end and still spoke the evil CCP's lies. I then said to him in front of all the other students with a feeling of deep sorrow for him, "All along I have spoken so clearly to you, and you still won't let go of those lies, it is really ... " The student lowered his head with embarrassment, and I also stopped talking about him. Afterwards he brought some truth-clarification materials he had picked up outside to circulate in the class. He completely changed his attitude and started to have a righteous understanding about Dafa.
8. Dealing with the interference from outside
One time a teacher whose mind was deeply poisoned by the evil Party and who harbored a "strong Party spirit" reported me to the school authorities. The school authorities did not directly look for me. Instead, they threatened me at a school meeting without mentioning my name. To be honest, it was really difficult for me at the time. I was worried and my fear surfaced. These attachments formed a huge cluster and soaked through my entire body. I did my best to send forth righteous thought diligently, frequently and for a long time. With my best effort, I calmed my mind and read the Fa. I then discovered my attachment to zealotry that I had developed for clarifying the truth well in the classrooms. After I found that attachment, I sent forth righteous thoughts with my best efforts to eliminate the attachment. While I was sending forth righteous thoughts I kept one thought in mind, "Even if I have shortcomings, you are still not qualified to interfere and persecute me. All you can do is destroy people. You cannot save people. All your interference is evil and I do not acknowledge it! I am a Dafa practitioner. My Master is taking care of me and saving me!" I kept reading the Fa diligently. The attachment to fear was then eliminated and I kept clarifying the truth in the classroom as usual.
One year later I learned that the evil had made use of a middle level official at the school, although fellow practitioners had explained the truth to him many times. However, he acted one way in front of people and a completely different way behind their backs. He had collected material against me during that period. He asked the students to write information to prove that I had slandered the evil Party! But the students and teachers refused to cooperate with him. The issue was eventually dropped.
Many times when our fellow practitioners were persecuted, on the surface, it looked like the practitioners were reported by vicious people for clarifying the truth. But actually it was because the practitioners had attachments that were taken advantage of by the evil forces. If our every thought were based on the Fa, or even if we might not at first realize that the evil forces were taking advantage of us, and if then we could make an immediate change for the better while studying the Fa and sending forth righteous thoughts, it would really be as Master said,
"A great Arhat walks the earth,
Gods and demons fear with awe."("Benevolent Might" in Hong Yin, Translation Version A)
"Calmly reflect on the attachments you have
Remove your human thoughts and evil will naturally die out"("Don't Be Sad" in Hong Yin II, Translation Version A)
The evil forces would then really not dare to touch you, and they would not dare to continue persecuting you.
