Meeting members of the state parliament at the state exhibition

Dear Master, dear fellow practitioners,

I am part of the team that engages with politicians, and in that team, our thoughts are focused on meeting these people in person to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa. This year’s State Exhibition in Lower Austria – the federal state in Austria that I come from – runs from March to November 2026, and provides a good opportunity to meet members of the state parliament at the various venues hosting the exhibition. Right at the start of the exhibition’s grand opening ceremony, I wanted to meet our State Governor to present her with the Shen Yun leaflet on transnational repression. I had planned to call her a few days later to request a face-to-face meeting. So I arrived well in advance at the large marquee where the opening ceremony was to take place. It was not even open yet, as it was due to open at 11 o’clock sharp. By being early, I couldn’t miss anyone important.

As planned, the marquee began to fill up from 11 a.m., with several invited guests for the opening speech and an enthusiastic audience of between 800 and 1,000 people. My thoughts were focused the entire time on which tables would be seating the members of the state parliament, the mayors, the directors, and the other distinguished guests that had been invited. Several had been invited onto the stage, but the State Governor, whom I had hoped to meet, wasn’t there at all. This completely disrupted my plans. How could it be that the main person wasn’t even present at such a major opening ceremony? Thoughts of indignation, complaint, and discontent arose, encompassing every negative emotion one could imagine.

My negative thinking began to undermine my righteous thoughts. The next doubts that arose were: how and when should I hand out leaflets? There were eight people sitting at each table. If I gave one person something but not another, that might look a bit odd. As I had been solely focused on the State Governor, my thoughts kept wandering further and further off track: now, after the opening speeches, everyone was having their meal, and some of the family of the members of parliament and mayors were also present. I felt overwhelmed at the thought of going over there, so I waited until after the meal, but the challenge didn’t get any easier. Why was it so challenging for me? I’d attended events with politicians many times before – why was this so different? One thought that bothered me was: lots of people here know me, as this is the town next to where I live. What would the mayors, who know me, think – what was I doing up there with the members of parliament? They might find it inappropriate and regard my presence as a nuisance. At the table where I was sitting, it was then explained to me that the State Governor had delivered a private opening speech to the invited guests the previous day.

That was when I recognised my attachment to stubbornly focusing solely on one particular person whom I “absolutely” wanted to meet, rather than focussing more widely. Master said in the Fa Teaching Given at the 2016 New York Fa Conference: “But whatever the case, Dafa disciples are not to be selective—you have to save all of the beings before you.”

Once I’d realised this, it was easier for me to think about my task again. On further reflection, the strategy of approaching the tables where members of the state parliament and mayors were sitting didn’t seem quite right to me. It didn’t feel entirely appropriate.

A few weeks later, at the opening of a children’s playground as part of the State Exhibition, I had another opportunity to meet members of the state parliament. This time, I had changed my mind and my approach, and positioned myself at the side where the speakers were coming down from the stage. I handed one member of parliament a business card for the Falun Dafa Information Centre. He glanced briefly at the card and said: “I know what this is. I always receive a newsletter from you. I’d been wondering why I keep getting this newsletter.” We then agreed to arrange a time to meet. In the hour that followed, through an acquaintance, I had the opportunity to hand the business card to another member of the state parliament to arrange a meeting.

My realisation was the same here: when guided by righteous thoughts, everything works out. Master says in Zhuan Falun Lecture Four: “We have said that good or bad comes from a person’s initial thought, and the thought at that moment can bring about different consequences.”

It is interesting to note the member of the state parliament’s initial reaction, and the fact that he immediately knew that he was familiar with it. And also how he reacted straight away, saying: “I was wondering why I always receive this Falun Dafa newsletter.”

We in the “politicians team” have often asked ourselves which members of parliament actually read the Falun Dafa newsletter that we distribute in paper form to the state parliament, or whether they perhaps only glance at the headlines, or simply note that they have received it.

As we want to reach all of the members of the state parliament with the newsletter, keeping them informed and up to date, this is also an important question for us. How can we find out more? The idea was to call each person to ask whether the newsletter had arrived, or to ask whether they would like to continue receiving it by post or only online, as a way of staying in touch. That way, we could also find out who is actually engaging with it. Is it the office assistants? Or is the newsletter handed directly to the members of the state parliament themselves?

The reaction from the member of the state parliament mentioned above confirmed that he had received the newsletter directly, in person. However, it became clear that a face-to-face conversation was necessary, as he wondered why he was receiving this newsletter. We were able to arrange an appointment for a face-to-face meeting.

The Day of the meeting

The preparation for this meeting was different to previous meetings. Before I went to the meeting, I recited “Falun Dafa Hao, Zhen, Shan, Ren Hao” in the car for a few minutes. I realised that this was a deeper, inner preparation for me that was filled with the Fa and with a sense of calm I had within me. At the start of the meeting, I brought up the Falun Dafa newsletter. The member of the state parliament asked: “Who funds these printed materials? Are you an association, or who pays for them?” He was keen to find out more – namely, who we are and what we do. I realised that, on the one hand, the meeting was about what I said to the member of parliament and how I said it, but on the other hand, these questions were also a hint from Master to me on how to understand them from the perspective of the Fa.

It is important to explain the facts about Falun Dafa to the members of parliament with compassion, so that their hearts are moved and their true selves are touched. Forbearance helps me to avoid pressuring them and to explain things calmly, so that it is clear and understandable to them. During this meeting, this member of the state parliament was truly moved to the core. He said twice: “I didn’t know that, and I’ve never even heard of it before.”

He even asked, in shock: “What – they take the heart too? That’s unimaginable! A deliberate killing?” He looked at a picture showing a practitioner sitting down, with their organs labelled with price tags. That left him speechless.

During the meeting, I also explained to him what “transnational repression” is, and handed him the Shen Yun leaflet entitled “The True Story of Shen Yun”. I realised that this topic was a different matter again. The member of the state parliament had never seen Shen Yun before, so I had to explain many things to him in greater detail: China’s 5,000-year-old culture, the Shen Yun artists, why they tour the world with this show, and why they are unable to perform in China. Master explains in his article The Ordeals Our Spiritual Discipline Faces (2024): “It was destined that Dafa practitioners would join me in saving lives at this historic moment. You vowed this before history began. To fulfill that vow is a magnificent and sacred honor like no other since the creation of the universe. However, what it entails is difficult, trying, and perilous. It is hard for mankind to realize what extraordinary compassion has been shown by Dafa practitioners in the human world.”

The very idea of a bomb threat against a cultural event is also highly unusual, and can be difficult to understand. In these threatening emails, which are addressed directly to the theatres, the theatres are urged not to allow Shen Yun to perform, and to cancel all of their performances. The Chinese Communist Party’s fear arises precisely from this Shen Yun show, where everything that is happening behind the scenes in China is clearly shown to the audience without words. Therefore, the Chinese Communist Party will stop at nothing to prevent the shows from going ahead. Some theatres then find it difficult to make the right decision, and begin to waver.

This explanation of transnational repression was a further step for the member of the state parliament towards gaining an understanding of what is taking place in his own country as a result of external influence. He said: “China is no longer as far away as one might think.” I realised that much of this was having an effect on him in ways he would never have imagined before. And so I left it at that, and did not press him any further than necessary. It was important to me to explain everything to him with compassion and truthfulness, and to let it sink in. We said our goodbyes, and he said he would take the booklet with the exercises home to his son, who also meditates. Our next meeting with him, centred on the film Unbroken, is already planned.

For me, the whole meeting reflected a process in which, on the one hand, I was being evaluated by this person sitting opposite me, and on the other, how I responded in terms of my understanding. For me, it was like a test of my maturity, to see how well I had cultivated myself to be able to handle this conversation on my own. Up until now, two practitioners had usually attended such meetings together.

It was an opportunity for me to let go of attachments and notions such as the desire for recognition, the pursuit of results, and my fear of losing face. I asked myself: “Am I good enough?” And also: “How seriously do I take my responsibility towards the sentient beings that are waiting to be saved?” And: “How well and consistently am I studying the Fa, so that the effect of the Fa can unfold during the meeting, and I can remain focused?”

After the meeting, which lasted over an hour, I was left with a profound impression: “Yes, it was a test of my maturity as a cultivator the whole time. If I study the Fa consistently, then I will have a foundation: I will have the Fa itself as the foundation I need to carry out the tasks in this project to help save sentient beings well.” In the Jingwen Critical Times Reveal One’s Spiritual State (2025), Master said: “So no matter what issues arise, all the more so should you approach things with a spiritual frame of mind; put Dafa before other things; and keep at the forefront of your mind, and make a singular focus of, safeguarding Dafa practitioners’ initiatives and ensuring that they achieve the success that they should in saving lives.”

I still have until November to meet members of the state parliament in order to fulfil my aim of speaking to as many of them as possible during the State Exhibition.

Organising an Appropriate Venue for the Austrian Fa Conference

When tasked with finding a suitable venue for last year’s Fa Conference in Austria, I asked a hotel with a conference center to provide us with two quotes – one for renting the seminar room only, and one for seminar room hire including lunch. The seminar room at this hotel and conference center was well suited, though there was still the matter of clarifying how many participants would be eating at the hotel. This hotel was normally geared towards offering a complete package for seminars, including lunch, drinks, and coffee breaks. We also wanted to hang pictures on the back wall of the seminar room – but the two ladies I was dealing with found this difficult to understand. A clearer explanation was therefore needed.

We asked for a quote including lunch but excluding coffee breaks and drinks, which in turn made the quote for lunch alone very expensive. The hotel management explained that a buffet lunch had to be charged at a higher rate. Otherwise, it would not be cost-effective for the hotel, given the staffing costs in the kitchen. As no other seminar was scheduled at the hotel that day, the kitchen costs would have to be added on as an additional charge.

We then wanted to find out how many practitioners would be having lunch at the hotel. Very few people signed up, because it was simply too expensive. So I politely enquired once more whether it would be possible to change the menu and adjust the price accordingly. The reply was: it wasn’t possible to make the meal any cheaper. We should let them know a week before the conference exactly how many people had actually signed up for lunch. As I had been in contact with the two ladies both by telephone and by email now, it wasn’t exactly easy to find a good solution. In the end, very few people signed up for lunch, so everyone else was advised to look for affordable restaurants nearby or to bring their own food.

The day before the Fa Conference, one of the two hotel managers called me and asked: “Where will the majority of your participants go for lunch, if only about ten people have registered to eat with us?” I replied that it was up to each individual. I said: “We don’t charge any seminar fees. This is a free event, so everyone is free to decide for themselves.” The lady then became somewhat brusque in her tone and remarked that it could have all been organized differently. She said they could have offered just a main course with salad or soup, without any dessert. My reply was that I had already asked if there was another option. To which the other lady had told me, twice, that the price would remain the same. With their answer, the two ladies had put the ball in my court. But I had been too soft and wanted to avoid a conflict with the hotel manager in charge, so I had always tried to find a peaceful solution and contented myself with the fact that I had tried several times. But now I realized that I hadn’t made myself clear from the start. I also realized that I hadn’t wanted to get into an argument with the strong-willed hotel manager. Master said in the Fa Teaching at the 2019 New York Fa Conference: “Sometimes you aren’t calm when friction with others arises, but then you calm down and reflect on it, and realize, ‘I do spiritual practice. It was wrong of me to be like that, and I didn’t pass the test well.’ It was surely a test, as you know. That’s because, as I have taught, there is a reason for everything that you experience in life once you become part of our spiritual community, and all of it is for your growth.”

I had also been shown the other side of the story. I hadn’t thought of the others first – neither of the hotel nor of my fellow practitioners. Had I taken the lead from the outset, the hotel could have done more business, and the practitioners could have gotten a better price too and wouldn’t have had to go to all the trouble and spend time finding somewhere else to eat. Master said in Teachings at the Conference in Switzerland (1998): “But what I want you to do is to truly, purely, and unselfishly Consummate with the real righteous Fa and righteous Enlightenment—only then can you achieve eternal non-extinction. So I’m telling you that you have to consider others first in everything you do.”

I was so full of regret on the day of the Fa Conference when I had to watch most of the practitioners leave the hotel to find a cheap restaurant nearby for their lunch break. It showed me once again how important it is to always think of others first. If I’d acted correctly, everyone could have stayed there together. As it was, it cost most of my fellow practitioners extra time to find a place to eat about 10 to 15 minutes away.

I am very grateful to Master for these two cultivation experiences – my mistakes of trying to avoid conflict and of failing to think of others first.

I thank our benevolent Master! I thank my fellow practitioners!

 

（Submitted to the European Fa-conference 2026）