Russian Experience Sharing Conference: Travelling to the Far East of Russia to Expose the Persecution

The three of us – all female Falun Gong practitioners from Kotlas Town in the Arkhangelsk Region of Russia, journeyed to the Far East of Russia in July of this year to let the Chinese people, working in construction sites of Irkutsk and Chita, as well as to Chinese tourists in those areas learn the truth about Falun Gong, having been deceived by the Chinese Communist Party's propaganda.

This was the first time we had set out specifically to expose the lies to the Chinese people and our first considerable and independent trip. At the start everything was unclear as we didn't know which city to go to due to our financial difficulties, but the three of us were very sure of the necessity and importance of the trip. We all understood the responsibility for the mission that we were about to undertake. I personally was hindered by the human habit of having a leader and did not have full confidence of my own abilities. I found that I could no longer hold this attachment during our trip, because in many situations I had to make my own decision based on my own understanding.

From the very beginning I had to overcome a lot of things: attachment to comfort, having my own way, showing off, poor coordination amongst the group, fear of officials, attachment to result, etc. Each one of us understood that if we did not make an effort and failed to eliminate those attachments that they will serve as serious obstacle. In this sense it was a very good environment to improve our characters.

We were inspired and encouraged by the importance of the task at hand and we felt Teacher’s support, protection and compassion during the entirety of the trip. We met very interesting travellers, with whom we shared understanding of morality and righteous belief, and when we clarified the truth about the persecution to them they often came to a clear understanding and in-turn supported us in our wish to help stop the persecution in China. One of them offered us his help and protection, when he found out the mission we were going to carry out at the Chinese border. At the end of the trip that person took a copy of Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party in Russian and Chinese from us, as he was going to China.

In Irkutsk we distributed Chinese editions of the Epoch Times and the Nine Commentaries in the markets and construction sites of the city. We noticed that over here the Chinese held a different attitude. The construction workers seemed more open and friendly. Many of the Chinese living here worked like slaves in difficult conditions to earn their living because back home they were deprived of the opportunity to work. Of course, the reaction to our appearance was different. However, more often than not I saw excited faces, sincere interest and even joy when they were taking our newspapers, many of them would immediately start reading them. I saw their isolation from the home country and the hard life, that their country was making them lead. At that moment I gained a deep understanding why it was necessary to save Chinese people here in Russia and in Mainland China. Compassion emerged in my heart and helped me to overcome my insecurity, fatigue and the language barrier. Many Chinese people asked questions, that unfortunately due to not knowing the language we couldn’t answer.

While distributing newspapers in the markets we felt a different attitude to our materials and we understood, that those people were badly poisoned by the overwhelming propaganda circulating through China. Some of them refused to take the materials because the were prohibited to, some said that we were working for money, that we had been hired, that Falun Gong is bad and that we would be arrested and sentenced to jail.

We travelled as a group from Irkutsk alongside some of the local practitioners to the border with China in the City of Zabaikalsk. Practitioners from Irkutsk supplied us with various materials in Russian and Chinese languages, about 4000 copies in total. On the train we occupied the whole compartment. We felt very encouraged and realised our mission to save people. We hung up a big poster with information about Falun Dafa and exercise pictures on our window. In the morning we visited all the carriages on the train to distribute the newspapers and copies of the Nine Commentaries. There were many Chinese people on that train and almost all of them took the newspapers, including the train personnel. There was a feeling that the train was like an arrow – carrying information about Falun Dafa through Russia.

In the carriage we sent forth righteous thoughts, and when we stopped for a long time we would practise the exercises outside. Our exercise demonstration would create interest and curiosity from many Russians, we were even photographed. It also caused agitation among some of the Chinese people who stood close to us, shouting out “Falun Gong”, anxiously waving their hands and with some of them trying to touch us. We could feel a very strong field, protecting us and purifying the surrounding area. After we did the exercises, some people came up to us and asked questions about the practice, then, when they learnt about the persecution in China and our mission they would express their support and wish us success. We were planning to spend one day in Zabaikal’sk and then three days in Chita.

Apparently, our activity on the train had provoked some what of a response, as when we arrived to Zabaikalsk, there were eight officers from the road police waiting for us on the platform. In the police station they asked us about the purpose of our visit. We told them about our practice, the persecution in China and that we came to spread the truth among Chinese people in the markets and at the customs. They listened to us very attentively and in a friendly manner, and then asked us to leave a copy of the material we had.

The taxi driver, whom we also told about our mission also took an active part in helping out and even took on the role of a guide, driving us though all the markets and to customs. At a big wholesale market our newspapers were very welcome, while at the customs many were afraid to carry them back to China, they would just read them and throw them out of the window of the minibus, but still we managed to leave some materials at customs. In the end within four hours we had covered almost the entire Chinese population of Zabaikalsk. At the exit of the last market police and Security service were waiting for us again. They enquired persistently about the details of our trip. One of the Security Service people, who was talking to us and studied our materials, said that she actually understood very well the true reasons of the persecution in China – those were the different fundamental principles of Communist ideology and Falun Gong.

Unfortunately, in such a short time, we failed to dispel completely the fears of Law enforcement services, and we were asked to leave the city due to strict limitations of the borderline area.

In the morning of the following day we arrived in Chita. Having settled in a small hotel in the outskirts of the city, two of us went to the nearby Chinese construction sites, and the other two went to the city administration with copies of The Epoch Times newspaper. We took out a pass and gave out a few newspapers, when security services interfered with us again. As we understood from the words of one of them, that “caution” towards us was due to the upcoming summit. For the remaining time every step of ours was constantly accompanied by security personnel, right until we departed on the train.

We understood that the evil created a serious obstacle for us because of our loopholes. Although on the surface I did not feel any fear while talking to the security service, and had an open and honest conversation with them, but apparently deep inside this fear was in me, manifesting in insecurity of my own abilities, legal ignorance, trust for officials, obedience and fear of punishment.

I also understood that the key to our success in clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings was in our firm belief in Teacher and Falun Dafa, discarding all feelings of hesitation or doubts. And although righteous state and righteous thoughts, without doubt, come first, legal knowledge is also important in our endeavours. We are representatives of the Great Law and should calmly and confidently expose the persecution, rather than prove to the officials who we are and what we are doing. For that we should still be knowledgeable, not to give evil any loopholes, as for the rest, we should comply to the affairs of society as much as possible.

I understand that if our righteous thoughts are very strong, then no evil can interfere with us. But there are still too many uncultivated attachments in us with many of them coming to light during coordination with other practitioners. My own attachments and the attachments of others that seemed at first sight not to affect our trip, contributed to many loopholes that slowly emerged.

All the way through the trip I saw different feelings manifest and so I looked within and eliminated them. My attachment to authority and unwillingness to look bad in other people’s eyes prevented me from always being truthful and always behaving according to the principles taught in Falun Gong. Now, three months later, I have enlightened to the fact that we cannot waste even a minute and that the evil is always looking for an opportunity to create serious interference to our most active practitioners.

We are one body, and each cell in it is precious, we should cherish every practitioner and be compassionate to one another, which means that we should let go of all pursuits of ordinary people.

Getting back to our trip I also wanted to mention that when we returned home, we were called to Security service and the police, where they already had gathered information about our trip to the Far East, although in a distorted version. As a result, we had a lengthy discussion with our local law enforcement services, which gave us a chance to tell them everything about Falun Dafa and the persecution and leave them with some detailed materials. In this case we met understanding and when we waved Good-bye, we heard their words: “If you have problems in the future just let us know and we will do our best to help you”.

Thank you, Master! Thank you everyone!