Saving Sentient Beings with a Compassionate Heart

Revealing the facts of the persecution to Chinese People in Italy

Soon after the ”April the 25th” appeal in 1999 in China where Falun Gong practitioners gathered to peacefully and lawfully appeal for a stop to the persecution against Falun Gong, practitioners introduced Falun Gong to one hundred doctors who attended a seminar of natural therapy in Biella, Italy in May of 1999. The practitioners also clarified the truth¹ of the rumours spread by the Chinese government. The event marked the starting point of the truth clarification efforts made by Falun Gong practitioners in Italy. In the following, we would like to take a retrospect view of what we have gone through and share our experience with fellow practitioners.

Since Jiang Zemin and the wicked Chinese Communist Party started the full-scale persecution on July 20th 1999. Overwhelming lies and slanders pounded Falun Gong practitioners. Together with practitioners in China and other countries, Italian practitioners clarified the facts to the Chinese government and all of the countries in the world peacefully and rationally. ”Validating the Fa with rationality, clarifying the truth with wisdom, and spreading the Fa and saving people with mercy.” Italian practitioners strode forward vigorously in helping Master to rectify the Fa (Law or Principle, the teachings in Falun Gong).

During the past six years, we have clarified the facts through various channels and in various forms. We clarified the truth to the President, Prime Minister, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Internal Affairs and the police departments to rescue fellow practitioners who were persecuted in China. We also held press conferences at the parliament building so that more parliament members would recognise our need and offer their support. We clarified the truth to non-governmental organisations, political parties and civil associations. As a result, practitioners were invited to introduce Falun Gong so that numerous people had the opportunity to understand the truth. We also set up information booths in local health expositions to spread the word. The truth clarification was also made available to the news media so that they could correct their erroneous news coverage that quoted the falsified information provided by the Chinese Communist Party. This has helped to prevent the general public from being misled by the lies fabricated by the Chinese Communist Party. The mainstream news media published positive articles and photographs about Falun Gong; Radio and TV stations broadcast the truth of China’s persecution against Falun Gong. Practitioners also successfully filed a lawsuit against the Chinese media controlled by the evil party. The truth clarification to lawyers and the law community has made the vicious people unable to spread the lies and keep poisoning Chinese people. Italian versions of the Falun Gong books, China Falun Gong and Zhuan Falun were also published. This has enabled many pre-destined Italian people to understand Falun Gong.

Through interviews, letters, phone calls, faxes, e-mails, seminars, truth exhibits, painting exhibitions, art performances, torture exhibitions, signature collections, peace appeals at the Chinese consulate and distribution of truth materials on the streets, practitioners clarified the truth to the general public to awaken their conscience and compassion. The truth clarification efforts provided the general public with an opportunity to recognise and support Falun Gong so that they could position themselves well for a bright future. Several hundred thousand copies of Falun Gong related materials have been distributed to the people of Italy. The sound of Falun Gong spread all over the country. The banners of “Falun Gong” and “Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance” were hung in St. Peter’s Square Vatican city. The truth materials were delivered to the Pope several times. Falun Gong was also spread in the small villages like San Marino located in the mountains.

According to the actual distribution by practitioners, we have been clarifying the truth and spreading the Fa at the major scenic spots in Rome and Milan in the past two years. Other practitioners toured around the country to introduce the truth to many more people. The material was prepared in different languages so that tourists from various countries would not miss the opportunity of hearing about Falun Gong.

Falun Dafa practitioners are a unified body. Although there are numerous practitioners in certain countries, the number of practitioners who stepped forward to validate the Fa was still very limited. Some projects called for cooperation from all of the practitioners. For example, the efforts made by all the practitioners to the EU parliament members has prevented the enactment of Article 23 in Hong Kong’s Basic Law. When the head of the 610 Office (An agency specifically set up to persecute Falun Gong) and Jiang Zemin took state visits to the USA and Germany, practitioners cooperated with one another to send forth righteous thoughts within a short distance. Filing lawsuits against the head of the evil and high-level officials of the Chinese Communist party is without any doubt an aspect of cooperation concerning all practitioners.

Seeking out the precious Chinese people

It is estimated that there are about two hundred thousand Chinese residents in Italy and so we wondered how we could contact them all. There are a lot of people who practise Falun Gong in Italy, but only a few participate in activities to let more people know about the persecution. They live far apart. A distance of 100~200 kilometres is not unusual. At the beginning, we looked up the addresses in Chinese telephone directories and sent materials via post. Practitioners also clarified the truth to the Chinese people in the neighbourhood of their residence. However, the number of Chinese people we were able to find was very small.

In the winter of 2001, Italian practitioners got in touch with many Chinese people when we clarified the truth to the Chinese community in Milan. The environment back then was extremely harsh and evil. This Chinese community was heavily controlled by the Chinese consulate. On one occasion when practitioners spread the Fa outside a Chinese restaurant, the store owner was intimidated by the Chinese Consulate and wouldn’t allow us to hang the banner on the wall. With two practitioners holding the banner, the remaining practitioners demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises and clarified the truth to the passers-by. The officials of the Chinese Consulate, the leaders of the Chinese community, and the editors-in-chief of a local Chinese newspapers all came to the scene. They took photographs and videotapes. The officials of the Chinese Consulate intimidated the restaurant owner to expel the practitioners. Several people carried buckets of dirty water and splashed it towards the practitioners in the guise of window washing. As practitioners had filed an application at the police station and obtained permission beforehand, plainclothes policemen stepped forward to protect practitioners. The police reprimanded and fined those people involved in the wrongdoing. Practitioners’ continuous efforts in introducing Falun Gong to the Chinese community in recent years have made many more Chinese people understand the truth.

There are more than two thousand Chinese in Turin. Our truth clarification during the past years has made the Chinese people in the vicinity of Turin understand the truth. Many Chinese people work as quarrymen in western Italy near the French border. Practitioners also made trips there to spread the truth.

Thanks to information provided by the Chinese people who already knew the truth, practitioners were able to locate the Chinese communities in Rome, Prato, Bologna, Florence, Naples and Venice. Practitioners went to these cities to reveal the facts and sent Falun Gong related materials to factories, stores and households.

The publication of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party has fully exposed the political autocracy and the ferocious rogue nature of the Chinese Communist Party. The Nine Commentaries hit the most vulnerable parts of the Chinese Communist Party and made it powerless to respond. As gods want to eliminate the Chinese Communist Party, withdrawal from it is the only way to ensure ones well-being. Practitioners distributed the Nine Commentaries to the Chinese people in various ways so that people could recognise the true nature of the evil party and make the right choice for themselves.

To allow more precious Chinese people know about the truth, practitioners have covered the entire territory of Italy, from the Alps in the north to the Sicily in the south and from Venice and Bari on the coastline of the Adriatic Sea in the east to Naples on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea in the west. Although practitioners spent most of their time on the road and had to endure severe weather and hardships, our hearts were filled with solidarity and happiness when people in the world understand the truth. We feel honoured to have the opportunity to help Master in rectifying the Fa and saving more sentient beings.

Lawsuit against the Chinese media and persistence in clarifying the truth at the Chinese Consulate

In 2002, Falun Dafa practitioners went to the Chinese Consulate in Milan to clarify the truth to the Consul General and other Chinese officials. At that time, they indicated that they also understood that Falun Gong is good. Disregarding the facts, however, they chose to act as accomplices of the evil and engaged themselves in spreading rumours, persecuting practitioners and holding photo exhibitions and conference to defame Falun Gong. They also published articles and made speeches to the local Chinese media to attack Falun Gong. The Chinese consulate even instigated local Chinese people to intimidate practitioners by making harassing phone calls. They also distributed materials and played CDs in the Consulate to slander Falun Gong, and refused to issue passport extensions for practitioners. To stop their continuous poisoning, practitioners decided to sue China’s General Consul in Milan, the Chinese media and the leaders of local overseas Chinese in early 2002. The lawsuit was effective in restraining these conscience-lacking people who followed the steps of the evil party closely. It made them understand that everyone has to take responsibility for his words and deeds and nobody can escape from legal redress. At present, the case has been accepted by the judge and the legal procedure is underway. The leaders of the overseas Chinese indicted in the lawsuit admitted that their wrongdoings originated from the instigation of the Chinese Consulate, but not their personal intention.

On April 25th 2002, practitioners gathered at the Chinese Consulate to commemorate the third anniversary of the peaceful appeal in Beijing. The Consulate summoned the police to interfere. With immense compassion in their hearts, practitioners initiated a long-term appeal at the Chinese Consulate in Milan since July 20th 2002. They wished to expose the persecution truth of Falun Gong to the precious Chinese people and introduce Falun Gong to all of the passers-by as well as the people who came to the Consulate for business.

In the beginning, it was very hard. The pressure imposed by the evil was great, too. In late July of 2002, practitioners decided to go on a four-day hunger strike to rescue the practitioners who were being persecuted in China and to express our opposition against China’s unreasonable persecution. The time was in midsummer. The burning sun in the daytime and the mosquitoes in the night were a great tribulation to practitioners. We continued to study the Fa and send forth the righteous thoughts. On July 31st when practitioners were sending forth righteous thoughts, black clouds suddenly covered the entire sky. With thunder and lightning, torrential rain started to fall and the temperature plunged. Although we were all wet and shivered because of the coldness, we knew we were experiencing a grand battle between the righteous and the evil. In the rain, practitioners continued to send forth pure, steadfast righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil. The heavy rain lasted for more than two hours. After the rain stopped, everyone felt extraordinarily relaxed. A policeman who was on duty that evening happened to drive by. He pulled over, got out of the car and shook hands with every practitioner to thank them for their devotion. Ever since then, the truth clarification at the Chinese Consulate has never encountered interference again. On one occasion, a group in support of Tibet held activities around the Chinese Consulate on the same day as our truth clarification. Under the pressure from the Chinese Consulate, the police asked the participants to back off by fifty meters. When the police recognised us as Falun Gong practitioners, they said we could stay where we were.

Our efforts at the Chinese Consulate never stops as long as the Consulate opens for business. Participants include Chinese and western practitioners. While some live in Milan, some live in places one hundred kilometres from Milan. These practitioners have to spend three-hours on the road every time.

Every time when we promoted the Fa at the Chinese Consulate, we hung Chinese banners “Falun Gong is good,” “Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance,” “Bring Jiang Zemin to trial,” and “Bring Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Liu Jing and Zhou Yongkang to justice” on the fence across the street. We also displayed the photographs explaining Falun Gong’s popularity in the world and the persecution that practitioners suffered in China. Practitioners persevered in sending forth righteous thoughts and clarifying the truth. Many passers-by stopped to watch and asked for materials. Some others expressed their interest in learning the exercises and reading Falun Gong books. On one occasion, a policeman indicated his intention of learning the exercises. Through practitioners’ truth clarification and reading the truth material, many people obtained a positive understanding about Falun Gong.

The number of Chinese people that came to the Chinese Consulate exceeded one hundred each day. In a certain period of time, the Italian government offered an amnesty for illegal immigrants. The number of the Chinese people that came to the Consulate for passport renewals exceeded one thousand in a day. Practitioners clarified the truth to them while they stood in the waiting line, The outcome was excellent. We didn’t have to look for them elsewhere. Instead, they all came to the right place to receive the truth. Practitioners felt very lucky and relaxed even though they developed sore throats because of talking too much.

In addition to clarifying the truth at the Chinese Consulate, practitioners also helped in maintaining the cleanliness of the surrounding area and the sidewalk. It received warm praise from local residents. The owners of the stores nearby and the residents frequently came to say hello to practitioners. On rainy days, they would invite practitioners to find shelter in their places or sent over rain gear. Some people would stop their cars and left water bottles to practitioners when they drove by. A black gentleman left money, asking practitioners to buy flowers to mourn the practitioners persecuted to death. Some people sent over food. Many people expressed their admiration for practitioners for their selfless devotion after they understood the truth of the persecution. Some people said, “Thank you, Falun Gong.” Police also came very often to enquire if practitioners had encountered any difficulties.

Through various trials and hardships, the truth clarification at the Chinese consulate has been ongoing for three consecutive years. It has made more and more people understand the truth. Some people even started to practise Falun Gong as a direct result of our efforts outside the Embassy. In the course of things, we have confronted intimidation, invective and photos being torn up, etc. However, practitioners explained to the offenders with compassion in their minds. As long as the persecution of the evil party continues, our truth clarification will not stop.

To this day, our journey has gone through many hardships and challenges. We have been witnessing Falun Dafa’s wonderfulness and magnificence all the time. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Master’s compassion and Buddha’s infinite grace. In the Fa-rectification unprecedented in history, Falun Gong practitioners are realising the grand vows we made before history. In the remaining journey of Fa-rectification, we should cultivate ourselves, strengthen our righteous thoughts and do the three things² well.

Notes:

1. Because of the persecution in China and the unrelenting hate campaign carried out by China's state-controlled media, Falun Gong practitioners have been actively "clarifying the truth" -- explaining to the public the facts about Falun Gong and exposing the persecution. Truth clarification activities include face-to-face conversations with people, posting notices and posters, handing out flyers, and hanging banners. Outside of China, where Falun Gong is freely practised, practitioners further expose the persecution through anti-torture reenactments, art exhibits, Internet websites, books, magazines, newspapers, movies and letter writing. The goal of clarifying the truth is to help people understand Falun Gong, to dispel the lies of the communist regime in China and to raise public support to end the persecution. (Variations: "clarifying the truth", "truth clarifying", "truth-clarifying", "truth clarification", "truth-clarification", "clarifying the facts", "clarified the truth", and "clarified the facts")

2. The three things Master Li asked practitioners to do are to study the Fa, send forth righteous thoughts and clarify the truth about Falun Dafa and about the persecution to the world's people.