(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings to Teacher, greetings to fellow practitioners!
I have been cultivating Dafa since the summer of 2004.
I want to share with you my experience of traveling to Vladivostok.
I had long had the thought to go to the Far East to spread the Fa, even though I wasn’t sure what I could do there. However, I knew I could meet many Chinese people there and I would have lots of time to spend with fellow practitioners and learn from them how to clarify the truth to the Chinese people. I shall point out here that I had limited but unsuccessful experience of communicating with Chinese in the past. I knew that saving mainland Chinese was very important, though I couldn’t realize it well yet back then.
So this summer, due to coordination of practitioners from all over the world, we managed to go to Vladivostok. We went there in the middle of July, and it turned out we had to do something ourselves, without help from other practitioners. Nobody was telling us how we should save the Chinese there.
Fortunately we took the photo exhibition, "Journey of Falun Dafa World", so first we decided to find a proper place for the exhibition. We began our first day there by doing the exercises and studying the Fa together. Next, we casually wandered around the city, not knowing where we were. It just so happened that we stopped at the city center, where we came across the museum and exhibition managers who seemed to be just waiting for us to clarify the truth to them. We asked them where we could hold an exhibition and they showed us around. When we saw that the exhibition hall didn’t fit our needs, they offered to help us find another place. After they listened to us talk about Falun Dafa and the suppression in China, they asked for truth-clarification materials. Some thanked us a lot for telling them about Falun Dafa, and asked us to inform them of the exhibition time and location. The receptionist, to whom we gave a CD with exercises and lectures, was so thankful that she insisted we accept two cans of fish from her.
We happened to be in the center of sightseeing for tourists. Tourists were mainly Chinese, who were walking freely and enjoying the view. We had some Chinese versions of Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party with us, but we had some fear inside about their reaction. So in the beginning we talked to a Russian bus driver, who brought the tourists there. As soon as we started telling him about the Nine Commentaries, he told us he knew about that, as he saw people on the Russian-Chinese Border distributing the materials. He also saw that guides do not let the tourists take newspapers. He suggested we put the Nine Commentaries in a place on his bus that the guide wouldn’t see, but the tourists could still read it. We were very happy to know that our fellow practitioners had done a great job so the bus driver knew the truth and offered to help us. That really boosted our confidence. I understood that even if the Chinese dared not take our materials, the sight of us distributing the Nine Commentaries was more than enough for them to know that in Russia people can freely practice Falun Gong.
So we decided all of us would distribute newspapers to the groups of tourists. Upon seeing us, some of them were crying out: "Falun Gong, Falun Gong!" Some were turning away, while others still took the newspaper carefully. One group of Chinese tourists even took pictures with us. We said we were practicing Falun Gong. Their guide told us practicing Falun Gong would result in jail time, but we could tell he did not support the persecution of Falun Gong.
Later we started distributing newspapers and Nine Commentaries in the market, and also left them in Chinese restaurants. The reaction was different, but mainly positive. We still remember talking to a Chinese woman in the market, who was complaining about the government. We told her we practice Falun Dafa, and she was very happy. She said it was good for one's health. We gave her truth clarification materials, and she insisted on giving us two pairs of socks as presents. Another Chinese man, whom we told about our practice, said, "Ah, it is Zhen Shan Ren." (Truth-Compassion-Forbearance) We said yes, Zhen Shan Ren �" Hao! He repeated with a smile several times: "Zhen Shan Ren �" Hao!"
We found the place for the exhibition the very first day. We came to a museum at the end of the working day. But somehow the manager with her assistant was still there. Having learned about our exhibition, they gladly started at once thinking, how they’d organize it, what media they’d invite, how we’d be teaching them exercises, etc. I noticed the whole conversation was very pleasant.
Several days later we met the manager and her assistant again to discuss the details, including the exhibition schedule and press-release for the media. The manager suggested we not mention Dafa and persecution in the ad. I disagreed but in the end followed their suggestion. We signed the contract and were told their head manager would sign it two days later, after which we would pay the rent. The next two days we worked on putting up the exhibition and clarified the truth to museum staff and visitors. It was interesting that the museum was situated just near a Triumph Arch, where all the tours started, so there were always a lot of Chinese. So in the morning after practicing, we would distribute Nine Commentaries there.
On the eve of the opening day of the exhibition, we sent out a press-release to all the local media. Before going to bed, we rehearsed the press release. We were all very excited, discussing what it would be like the following day. We laughed and joked, and didn’t go to bed until a long time later.
Only much later did we realize that we should have studied the Fa and sent forth righteous thoughts before holding such a serious event. That night I barely slept because I was too excited. I never thought anything would go wrong with the exhibition. Lacking the righteous thoughts that the exhibit was for saving sentient beings, we were taken advantage of by the evil.
On the opening day, when we came to the exhibition, the head manager and other museum personnel were already anxiously waiting for us. They had already taken down our exhibition. They explained to us that it didn’t suit the format of the museum. I couldn’t believe it was happening to us. Nevertheless, I tried to stay calm. The head manager and his assistants talked to us for a long time. They apologized to us and also wanted to learn more of the truth.
We tried to tell them as much as we could, but it was difficult to move their hearts, because they were overcome by fear. The manager was worried after she saw an article called "Shall We Protect Falun Gong?" published in the local newspaper "Vladivostok."
Then there came a journalist, but the head manager didn’t allow him to speak to us. Instead he talked to the journalist in his office alone. Later the journalist asked us some questions. Obviously he didn’t believe the truth about the persecution. He decided not to write anything about us since it was going to be negative.
Later we learned the reason for such a quick removal of our exhibition. Some people from the Federal Security Service had visited the museum early in the morning. The personnel of the museum told us they had never seen such a tumult. They didn’t say anything negative about us or Dafa, but refused to put the exhibition back. They were very scared. Our conversation was still quite calm. We called the museum several times afterwards, as we wanted them to have a good opinion of the Fa.
It was a big test for us. It exposed many attachments of ours. I myself felt helpless. It seemed I couldn’t do anything and the pressure was everywhere. Sometimes I felt all the other practitioners were strong, but I was the only one who was so weak and couldn’t pass the test. I didn’t know how I could continue the truth clarification in such a state. Through looking inside and sharing with other practitioners, I understood that my state was the result of emotions. The cultivator’s field determines his environment, so I may cause harm to other people, and make them miss the opportunity to understand the truth. Also I realized that we should never forget why we do Dafa work, and if there are some aberrant thoughts, we should get rid of them at once. If there’s a hint, I shouldn’t ignore it.
I managed to come out of such a state due to every day Fa study and exercises, and other practitioners’ support. And of course without Teacher’s help, I couldn’t do anything. At that time, I happened to see the picture Teacher took with Russian practitioners, which reminded me of the meeting with Teacher in New York. I felt a compassionate field, which seemed to wrap around me in such a way that I couldn't even imagine any other state. Afterwards, we started to distribute Russian Nine Commentaries in the government, universities, historical museums, libraries, etc.
I want to thank all fellow practitioners who were there with us, and who supported us from far away. And of course to our compassionate Teacher, who helps us see our attachments and waits patiently for us to walk our paths well.
