Feeling Neither Discouraged in Difficult Times nor Smug during Smooth Times

Because of the slanderous propaganda of Chinese media when former Chinese President Jiang Zemin began suppressing Falun Gong, the U.S. media were also polluted and had various degrees of misunderstanding concerning Falun Gong. So we also need to clarify truth to the media.

Just prior to the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York, on August 28th and 29th, 2004, reporters wearing press-passes to all kinds of conferences, some carrying cameras or camcorders, could be seen everywhere in Manhattan.

On the evening of Saturday, August 28th, 2004, a banquet to welcome reporters from all over the United States was held in the Time Warner Centre, located at Columbus Circle in midtown Manhattan. Nearly thirty Falun Gong practitioners from all over the world demonstrated Falun Gong exercises and distributed Falun Gong informational materials to the media reporters along Columbus Circle and every street leading to the entrance of the Time Warner Centre. The reporters, all wearing press-pass badges, hurried to the banquet, most of them refusing to take our leaflets. Some said that they already had our leaflets, and implied that they didn't want to report about us. Others said that they knew about us, but were in too much of a hurry to attend the banquet.

The next day on Sunday, we took part in Faun Gong activities in midtown Manhattan. Groups of police were everywhere. Reporters were also everywhere. It was about the same as the previous day, in that the media reporters usually refused to take our leaflets, although there were also a few who requested leaflets from us.

Of course, during those two days, we met some reporters who accepted our leaflets. One man in a business suit initially refused my leaflet until I said, "It's been five years, and more than a thousand people have been tortured to death." He immediately showed an interest in reading our material and put a copy of our newspaper in his suit pocket. Many people told us that they already knew about us and had been keeping track of our status.

A reporter from the Voice of America (VOA) said, "I know all about what has been happening to you. In fact, I've written a lot of news reports about you."

A young lady reporter excitedly accepted our leaflet and said, "I already know about you. Your (anti-torture) exhibit at Times Square was very impressive. I've decided to write a complimentary article about you."

Another lady asked for several leaflets, saying, "Trust me. I will tell many people."

On the contrary during those two days, most pedestrians very gladly took our leaflets. Many people told us that they had already gotten our leaflets or that they already knew about it. We often overheard pedestrians mentioning "Falun Gong" or "Falun Dafa" in their conversations. One man in particular came up to me and said, "Falun Gong." Then he gave me the "thumbs up" sign and said, "Keep on with your efforts!" Another man with a European accent told me that he had already read the Falun Gong books and had also seen many Internet reports, and he wanted to learn the exercises. I told him that he could either call the phone numbers listed on the website or go directly to the anti-torture exhibit and ask the practitioners there to teach him. Some police officers also came up to us and requested leaflets. One officer read the leaflet and then returned for the newspaper. As I was leaving, I noticed him talking for quite awhile with a few passers-by, with the newspaper in his hand.

To summarise my experience of taking part in Falun Gong activities in Manhattan during this past month, I feel that we need to maintain righteous thoughts at all times in order to assure that there are no gaps of which could be taken advantage of. Whenever there were no distractions on my mind while clarifying the truth to people, I found that many people would readily accept my leaflets. However, if I was even a little bit distracted, such as feeling hot, tired, thirsty or distressed, the environment was immediately affected. Clarifying the truth is saving sentient beings, so we must maintain righteous thoughts. We should treat every passer-by equally. In "Touring North America to Teach the Fa," when Teacher talked about some practitioners who had ordinary human attachments regarding certain Chinese leaders Teacher said,

"But what's crucial is how Dafa disciples look at things. If one or two people think this way it's not a problem. But if all Dafa disciples think this way, then that's a problem. Do you remember how before April 25th of 1999 that Premier of China said positive things about Dafa? When our students went to appeal on April 25th, he met with some Dafa disciples and said good things. After the persecution started, this caused some of our students to develop a lot of ordinary human thoughts, thinking: 'I hope the chief of the evil in Mainland China dies soon. I hope he falls from power so the premier can take his place. And if the premier is in power, won't our name be restored?' Didn't it cross your mind: this is the Fa of the cosmos, so if humans want to attack it, you think they can just attack it? And if human beings want to restore our name, you think they can just restore our name? Humans aren't worthy of that! How could you pin your hopes on an ordinary person? You are Dafa disciples! Each one of you Dafa disciples represents a large, gigantic dimension. What does mankind amount to? It's only that the old forces are using it and have sealed off your greater abilities. How could you think that way about things? If all of you think that way, the old forces will see it and think: 'How can they all have those thoughts? Those thoughts have to be removed, so let's make that premier turn bad.' They would rather make him turn bad in order to get rid of your ordinary human thoughts. Isn't that right? The old forces have no regard for human life--if they want to kill, they'll just kill. Amidst the Fa-rectification they're only attached to their own arrangements" (Touring North America to Teach the Fa, March 2002)

So, when faced with media people that don't understand the truth, it is only with a pure and righteous heart that we will be able to clearly talk to them.

While distributing leaflets on Sunday, I suddenly realised that I felt no disappointment at all whenever a passer-by refused my leaflet. I realised that our state of mind while we were distributing leaflets also reflected our righteous faith and righteous thoughts towards Teacher and Falun Dafa. Besides, some practitioners preferred to distribute leaflets on streets closer to the anti-torture exhibits because the passers-by there were more likely to take the leaflets, while it was relatively harder to distribute leaflets on streets that were farther away from the anti-torture exhibit. When a passer-by says "No" to you as you try to hand him a leaflet, from the perspective of saving sentient beings and personal cultivation, do you regard your pride and feelings first or do you feel sorry for him because he has dismissed an opportunity to understand the truth? The deeper aspect of this issue is a question of righteous faith. Just as other practitioners described after having clarified the truth in Lower Manhattan for a month, huge changes have occurred. The number of leaflets distributed has increased from around a dozen per day, at the beginning, to a few thousand per day now. So lets take a look at our state of mind. Did we feel disappointment a few weeks ago when the people in Manhattan were cold to us? On the other hand, did we feel smug when the situation completely reversed itself after a few weeks? If we firmly held righteous faith and righteous thoughts, then we would have felt neither disappointment nor smugness. Instead, just as some practitioners have said, we should have had faith that Fa-rectification in Manhattan would surely succeed. Keeping our hearts unaffected, whether in difficult times or smooth times, is a manifestation of righteous faith and righteous thoughts.