PureInsight | October 7, 2002
My recent truth-clarifying experience has inspired me a great deal and further steeled my righteous thoughts and righteous faith in the Fa, so I would like to share my experience with everyone.
In Germany, there is a major news outlet that persisted in referring to Falun Gong as a "XX" (slanderous word). Dafa practitioners have made countless efforts to persuade them to use the correct terminology. Western practitioners had even tried to clarify the truth to all German reporters stationed in Beijing twice during their trips to peacefully appeal in Tiananmen Square; however, the reporter from this major media outlet declared that he would stop using the term "religious sect," but insisted on using the term "XX." I contacted the chief editor and the president of this outlet, and mailed truth-clarification materials to them. The chief editor agreed that they didn't have to use that term and wanted to help us, but then he gave in to the stubborn reporter in Beijing and decided not to fight over terminology with him. Thus, all news from this news outlet still referred to Falun Gong as a "XX." There was a period of time when I really felt discouraged, as if I was helplessly trying to climb over a gigantic mountain before me. Some practitioners advised me not to contact the outlet anymore and we should not put too much pressure on them. The practitioners suggested that we should patiently wait for that reporter to change his mind voluntarily. Although I did not agree with the suggestion, I could not think of any other ways to solve this problem either.
One day, when I saw the new outlet again using that evil, slanderous term to describe Falun Dafa, I realized that our passive consent to their wrongdoings had led the evil to behave even worse. I immediately wrote a letter to the president to express my concern. The president did not reply, and the term was still used. Shortly after that, I wrote another letter to the president, but still didn't get any response. Finally, I picked up the phone and called the president. His secretary said that all of my letters had been forwarded to the chief editor since the president didn't deal with issues at this level of detail. So I called the chief editor's office. His secretary told me very coldly that this issue was not under the jurisdiction of the chief editor and the legal department would take over the matter. She also told me not to disturb the chief editor for this issue anymore. When I insisted on faxing a letter to the chief editor, the secretary said, "Do as you please!" and hung up on me. I faxed the letter anyway.
Right afterward, I shared my experience with other practitioners, hoping to solicit everyone's support in sending forth righteous thoughts together. However, I immediately received feedback contrary to my expectation. Some practitioners decided that we did not clarify the truth in depth. Some thought that the result so far might not necessarily be as negative as it appeared. Others were shocked with disbelief that I had pushed the outlet to such an extent that they were now resorting to legal action.
I realized that no matter what others thought, I must keep righteous thoughts and a clear understanding of this issue. Most importantly, I must understand the issue from the Fa and keep a heart of compassion. It was a most righteous mission for me to clarify the truth to them and to ask them to not refer to Falun Dafa as a "XX." Just because one reporter was under the influence of Jiang's evil propaganda, the newspaper failed to report Dafa fairly and honestly, thus contaminating countless readers and misleading them in their understanding of Falun Dafa. Wasn't it serious that they jeopardized the future of countless readers? As the management of the newspaper, they were obligated to correct the reporter's mistake rather than passively consent to his wrongdoing. Besides, we were giving them a chance to position themselves correctly.
As Dafa disciples, we must eliminate the evil and clarify the truth to the people worldwide in order to offer salvation to sentient beings, yet we must always be kind and benevolent to everyone. Moreover, Teacher has taught us to walk our own righteous paths and to set good examples for the future generations of people. If I caved in when that news outlet threatened to take legal actions, how could I possibly validate the Fa? Wouldn't I be declaring that what I did wasn't righteous? If the outlet truly resorted to legal action for the inappropriate use of a term, it would only be creating more opportunities to let the truth about Falun Dafa be known during the legal process. Nothing bad could ever come out of learning the truth about Falun Dafa.
Teacher has also taught us to first look inward whenever we encounter a problem, and then to eliminate the evil factors behind it. I did recognize that my competitive mentality, combined with a lack of compassion and weak righteous thoughts, discounted the effect of clarifying the truth and eliminating the evil manipulating the staff of the news outlet. Only after I improved myself regarding all these issues would I be able to do everything in a pure and righteous way.
Upon arriving at these understandings, I became calm and peaceful in my heart. I knew exactly what to do so I would never cave in even if I encountered new challenges. I would fortify my righteous thoughts and respond to everything calmly. So, for the several days that followed, I put more time into studying the Fa and sending forth righteous thoughts aimed at this issue. Meanwhile, I started to call the critical departments of this media outlet and clarified the truth to them. One day, when I felt myself in a very good cultivation state, I had the smoothest dialogues with several key staff members. Not only were they more than willing to listen to what I said, but they also gave me the contact information of the decision makers for this issue. Finally, I called the chief editor's office again. This time, the secretary, who was once so tough in her attitude toward me, recognized my voice and kindly said, "Just a moment please. I will transfer your call now." The assistant chief editor told me very sincerely, "It was wrong to use the word. From now on we will no longer use the term." He also added that he would notify all related departments of this decision, and then thanked me for my call.
I felt the gigantic mountain that was in front of me had just disappeared. I had arrived at a deeper understanding of Teacher's words, "steel righteous thoughts"[1], "It's like sharp swords shooting out together from their mouths,"[2] and "follow the righteous way." [3]
Reference:
[1] From "Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A."
[2] From "Hurry up and Tell Them."
[3] From "Spirit or Animal Possession" in Lecture Three of Zhuan Falun.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2002/9/8/18459.html
