1. After Dialling Through the Same Phone Number 31 Times...
When I tried to call the director of the police department in a city of Henan Province, my thought was to continuously call as long as the other side did not turn off his phone. I recorded the number of times I connected. I firmly believed that each time I dialled would be like a convulsion to him. I also sent forth righteous thoughts to clear out any interference behind him. During that whole time, I could feel the interference getting stronger and stronger. I would feel dizzy. I also get a headache or would get very sleepy. At the end, when I tried to dial a number, I had to struggle to find the telephone number. I almost passed out, closing my eyes with the telephone in my hand.
I would put the telephone down to sent forth righteous thoughts for ten minutes. Then, I would resume dialling. He finally answered the phone. Before he talked, I said, "A big man like you being a director of the police department dare not to answer a phone call. Are you afraid?" He laughed, "What am I afraid of? You are just Falun Gong." I said, "I am telling you that someone has reported you." He replied, "Hah-hah! It doesn't matter where they are reporting me. What can you do about me?" I told him, "Not only are the problems of your economic corruption and your adultery, but your persecution of Falun Gong practitioners have also been reported overseas. If you keep persecuting Falun Gong practitioners, we will tell your family, co-workers, friends and neighbours about all the bad things you have done to let them see exactly what kind of people are persecuting Falun Gong."
This time he hesitated, "I am just a worker obeying the orders of my superiors." I said, "Whoever is involved in the persecution of Falun Gong, we will tell the truth to you. As a police director, you did not try to protect the people in your district but rather persecuted those good people who cultivate Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance. Is this what you call serving the people?" I then told him the oversea Falun Gong practitioners are suing Jiang's regime. What would be the end results for those who follow Jiang? He listened quietly and kept saying, "Ah, I see. I see."
At the end, I said, "Do you know how many times I tried calling you? This is the 31st time. Even your good friends may not do such a thing for you. The reason I kept calling you is truly for your own good. I hope you choose a good future for yourself. Of course, where you want to go is still up to your own decision." Upon hearing that, he seemed to be moved. He paused for a moment and said, "Hi, thank you. All right, all right, I see."
After I hung up the phone, I looked inward and felt I achieved less than ideal results. I felt I was lecturing and frightening him. I should have spoken to him with pure compassion, directing him to come to his own understanding, and encouraging his righteous thoughts. After my realisation, I further eliminated my competitive mentality. The results of my phone calls became much better.
2. Police Learn the Truth
Once I called a policeman's home who had persecuted Falun Dafa practitioners. After his wife picked up the phone, she was very angry. She was complaining about receiving these unwelcome phone calls every day. She then hung up. I called again and said peacefully, "Please, do not be angry. I truly do not want to disturb you. I do not know when it is a better time to call you. If you are busy, I am only asking you to please tell your husband to be lenient when he deals with Falun Gong issues. If he is cruel and persecutes Falun Gong, when the Falun Gong matter is redressed, it will not be good for him." I then told her about the lessons from the Cultural Revolution and the lawsuits against Jiang Zemin. During the whole conversation, I spoke to her just like a friend. She was not angry anymore. After listening to me, she questioned the government propaganda and expressed her misunderstanding about Falun Gong. I simply said, "First of all, Falun Gong practitioners should be good people and role models, not only at home, but also at work. In the books of Falun Gong, it clearly states that practitioners absolutely cannot kill, nor can they commit suicide; otherwise, they cannot practice anymore." After I finished saying these, her attitude changed immediately. She said, "If it is like what you said, then Falun Gong is truly good. Well, sometimes it is difficult not to execute the orders. However, we can be lenient just as you said." She then had to go to work and asked me to call her later.
When I was calling a police station, I asked, "How are you. Can I speak to ...." The person on the other line said no. I then asked for several other people. That person replied cautiously, "No. Who are you? Why are you calling them?" I continued as if talking to a friend, "This is a long distance call. I saw their names on the Internet. I am calling to tell them to be lenient in dealing with Falun Gong matters." It is easier for the other party to continue the conversation if expressed this way. She had many bad impressions about Falun Gong. I simply shared the basic principle and conduct of being a Falun Gong practitioner. She immediately questioned, "Is Falun Gong truly that good?" I then told her why Jiang's regime confiscated all Falun Gong materials and had forbidden people from knowing the truth, etc. I talked to her for more than half hour. She hoped that I would call her again some time.
I simply shared the basic ways of Falun Gong practitioners. I do not expect their attitude to change quickly. Also, their knowing side wants to assimilate with Dafa very much. I enlightened regardless of the environment and their attitudes, as long as we have strong righteous thoughts and a pure heart to provide salvation to people while clarifying the truth, the results are always good. Just like what Teacher said,
"As you clarify the truth, the words you speak and the energy you emit have the effect of intimidating and eliminating the evil. You are crucial in determining whether the beings in this world stay or get eliminated. If your words are pure and righteous they will really go right into the innermost part of people's thoughts, and instantly make people understand."
(Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference)
For the first time, I experienced the profound meaning of the two words, ‛pure' and ‛righteous'. When pure and righteous factors manifest in our tone, compassion and words, the listener on the other side will immediately understand the truth.
When I called the family member of a cruel police officer in Daqing City the second time, she told me excitedly, "Thank you. I know you are doing this for our good. I already told the management of his work unit that we do not want this job." When I called the head of a "610 Office"(1) after explaining the facts to him on the other end, he asked me, "Then, what should I do?" He said, "Ok, ok. Thanks!" Once, I called the director of a forced labour camp, he listened for a long time until his cellular phone ran out of power.
3. Treating Different Attitudes with Compassion and Wisdom
Once, when I called a family member of the police in Tuanhe Forced Labour Camp in Beijing, she asked me, "We don't know each other. Do you think it is proper for you to call me like this?" I said, "I am sorry. If you do not like to listen to me, just regard this as a New Year greeting from me to you." She laughed, "It's now passed January 15 in the lunar calendar. What is your New Year greeting about?" I said with humour, "According to the custom of my hometown, any New Year greeting before June is regarded as an early greeting. Even after June, when one says 'Happy New Year', the others will still smile. Time is not important. Greeting friends is important." While joking, I clarified the truth to her.
Another time when I told the listener all I wanted to say, he suddenly asked, "Aren't you tired after talking so much?" I answered, "If you could understand the truth and realise that I am truly telling this for your own good, then I would feel worth it no matter how tired I am." He thought about it for quite a while then said, "Well, all right!"
When clarifying the truth to different people, we can interrupt the topic and answer their questions with compassion, rationality and wisdom. A bit of humour will help to break the ice between people and create a relaxed atmosphere for the conversation.
Once, I called a police station. After saying a few words, the other side started to curse. He laughed with his co-workers and then hung up the phone. When I tried calling them again, he kept cursing. Since he did not let me speak, I did not say anything. I kept sending forth righteous thoughts. When he finished cursing, he said, "Go ahead, talk. Why are you not speaking?" I said, "Can I ask if you are really a policeman? Is every policeman in China the same as you?" He felt ashamed and hung up the phone.
When I called again, the situation changed. I said, "Hello. Could you have that gentleman who was cursing over the phone answer please?" The attitude on the other side was obviously much better. He lied, saying, "He just stepped out. Can I take a message?"
I said, "I remember when I was in China, I used to see big posters saying 'the People's police are to serve people' and 'Anyone needing help, please come to your police'. I always had a good impression of the policemen in China. Today, I am cursed many times for calling to inform the policemen about some matter even though I do not have any difficulty or need their help. So, I doubted the gentleman who had answered the last phone was really a policeman."
The other side explained, "Cursing is wrong. What matter do you want to inform us about?"
I then said, "When you carry out your orders, you must inevitably encounter the matter of Falun Gong. I hope you treat this matter with care..." When I finished, the police said, "Please wait, I will call another person to listen to you." The second policeman did not say anything but listened. When I finished talking, he did not hang up. It seemed like he wanted to hear more. So, I continued for a little while asking him, "Do you understand what I said?" He said, "Yes, yes." From his sigh, I felt he was deeply moved and eager to know the truth.
Then, he let the third policeman listen. He was the one who cursed me. I talked to him whilst smiling saying, "Falun Gong practitioners are all good people who won't fight back when beaten or cursed. I was not angry when you cursed me. That was before I had a chance to tell you the truth. When you understand what I am saying is truly for your own good, I believe you will no longer curse me. Is that right?" He said with shame, "Ah, we were also forced to do this. We all have wives and children. We have to support our families. We cannot disobey orders." When I told him in detail that persecuting Falun Gong practitioners would bring misfortune to himself and his family, he accepted my opinion.
4. Issues to Pay Attention to In Truth Clarification
In truth clarification, we treat people with compassion and tolerance. Our ultimate goal is to save them. Teacher said,
"Whether they're receptive or not, you should always treat them with compassion, and you can't get competitive with ordinary people or look at sentient beings with human thoughts." (Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Washington DC Fa Conference).
Rather thinking of them as not savable, have we examined whether we have clarified the facts clearly when treating people with a bad attitude about Dafa. Simply telling them, "Good is rewarded with good and evil meets evil" can easily influence people to reject Dafa. Not only would that fail to achieve the intended results of clarifying the facts, it could also increase difficulties for other practitioners who may call them in the future.
I often hear the following feedback. When I tell the facts to those who had often persecuted Falun Gong, they say, "I like talking to you. You are not like the others. They always said my family would receive karmic retribution. How can they claim to be compassionate?" Some of them told me, "What you said is acceptable. Some of the others calling often began saying we would receive karmic retribution..." Actually, when we clarified the facts sufficiently, they will understand that misfortune can happen to them and their families if they continue to persecute Falun Gong. They understand the principle of "Good is rewarded with good and evil meets evil." If we simply say these words alone, people are not able to understand and think that we are cursing them. It is difficult for them to accept it if we only tell them not to persecute Falun Gong without telling them the facts. Their mentality is, "We are following orders. Why should we listen to you?"
Therefore, truth-clarification is not about how well you can speak, nor about lecturing people. The key is to communicate from heart to heart. When we gradually tell the listener the truth with pure, serene and compassionate energy; when he truly feels that we are doing this for his benefit, we can lead him to make the right decisions. Only the principles in people's heart can really regulate people's behaviour.
If we really meet evil beings who are truly unable to be saved, we may give them up. Since they do not want a future, nobody can do anything about it.
"There will be people who can't be saved. You don't need to worry about people who can no longer be saved, you don't need to stubbornly debate with anyone, and you don't need to try to silence them either, because there are ways to deal with those who are really unsalvageable."
(Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference)
The above is my personal understanding and experience. My fellow practitioners, please be kind enough to point out any errors in it.
(1)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. * * *
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