Some Understandings about Clarifying the Truth to the Government

[PureInsight.org] Greetings to our most respected Master. Greetings to fellow practitioners.

My topic today is "Some Understandings about Clarifying the Truth to the Government." I started working on truth clarifications to the government at the end of 2000. In the last few years, I felt deeply that clarifying the truth to government officials is a very important part of the Fa-rectification process. The attitude of the government officials towards Dafa not only affects their own future, it also relates to the future of the beings in their district. At the same time, their support to Dafa has suffocated evil forcefully. The followings are my experiences and understandings. Please help me by pointing out anything impropriate.

1. Get Rid of Attachment and Cultivate Benevolence

How to clarify the truth to government officials has always been a difficult task for me, because the people I meet are all in the field of politics. If my thought is not righteous, their human notions can easily stir up all my attachments, then I will not be able to achieve the effect of telling the truth. Master said in Lecture One of Zhuan Falun:

To tell you the truth, the entire cultivation process for a practitioner is one of constantly giving up human attachments.

So working with the government is also cultivation, we have to continuously work on getting rid of our attachments. When I was working at the city and county level, because I was working with other practitioners, I did not feel a lot of pressure. But when I started working with state and federal representatives, the pressure became bigger. As I have to use phone and email a lot for communications, I started to feel my English was not good enough, so fear crept in. As soon as I would call the representative's office, I got nervous and I would get tongue-tied. I would forget all the things I had prepared to say. Sometimes I sat in front of the computer for 2 or 3 hours, I could not think of what to email to the representatives. These difficulties depressed me more and more, and I lost confidence in working with the government. I did not feel I was fit to deal with the government and wanted to quit. Later I read an article on Minghui, which stated when practitioners in China heard that the United States and other governments were supporting Falun Gong strongly, they were very encouraged. They will use that message as material to clarify the truth to people in China. I was very touched after reading this. I thought practitioners in China could clarify the truth without fear for sacrificing their lives, so why was I fearful when I just ran into a little difficulty? Fellow practitioners also encouraged me: It is okay even if your English is not great. People already know you are from abroad and as long as you can express what you mean clearly, it is good enough. I said to myself, they are right. Those working in the representative's office are very polite. They wouldn't hang up on me even if I could not speak well.

But there are real difficulties dealing with state and federal representatives, especially congressmen. They are usually very busy, and it is difficult even to get in touch with their assistants, let along the congressmen. But a lot of things in Fa ratification happen suddenly, and need resolutions in one or two days. It is common after making phone calls for a whole day that nothing would happen. When things do not progress smoothly, my mind gets bothered and my attachment of fighting creeps up. One time I wrote to a representative asking him to sign a resolution. After a few days, I heard nothing. So I called in to ask but got no answer. I figured if they don't answer me I would call in every day and see how they react. It turned out whenever they heard the call was from me, they would transfer it to an answering machine. In the end I did not accomplish the task. Failures make me start to fear difficulty again. Especially after I heard that the big special interest groups all use professional lobbyists for this kind of work, I was more disheartened. I thought that my English was terrible and that I was lacking in language skills. Who would listen to me when I go lobbying? The more I thought, the less confident I became.

Because my state was not good, the effect of my work with the government degraded. Normally I didn't want to contact those government officials. Only when emergencies happened, I would email or call the officials I was supposed to contact. And I always wanted response immediately. After many times, the result was getting worse and worse. Often I got no response from my request. The email and fax I sent got no response. And when I called, I could only leave voicemails and got no returning calls. When there was no resolution to the problem, I blamed the practitioners who work with government officials, saying that they did not coordinate the work well. Once when a practitioner who coordinates government work asked me about the situation with the representative in my district, I told her the work was very hard to do. She said: "Really? The representative in your district used to be very supportive of Falun Gong. You should look for reasons." I was a little shocked after I heard that. She was right. The practitioner before me had done a great job working with the government. How come after I took over, everything went downhill? Was it my English or was it my ability? I started to rethink the problems I had since I started working with the government. I found my method was always the same. Every time an emergency came up, I would email or fax them asking the representatives to do this and that. No wonder one of us joked, "Our representatives are like our secretaries, we think of them when something is happening, we forget them when nothing is happening." When I thought about this I realized all my problems. To only think of somebody when you need them, that is not good for even ordinary people, let alone for us practitioners. More importantly, the work we are doing with the government is to clarify the truth and save sentient beings. Master said in "Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference:"

...so you have to do well clarifying the truth. Don't just go to talk for the sake of formality. Whenever you talk to someone you need to have him understand.

So when we work with governments, we have to be deep and thorough.

Master wants us to be better than a good person among ordinary people. So as a voter in a district, we have the right to ask our representative to serve us, at the same time, we also have the responsibility to support them and care for them. Master wants us to be kind to others all the time. So as a practitioner, shouldn't we treat our representatives with a compassionate heart? Then how do we show we have a compassionate heart? I thought of Master's words, Master told us that practitioners should always think of others. But when I was doing government work, I seldom thought of the representatives. I only put my requests in front of them. So I started to change my way of doing things, beginning with the small staff. Every Christmas I would send each representative a Christmas card; I would always remember to send them an invitation whenever there are big shows in the community. Before their reelection campaign, I would ask them if they needed any volunteers. After they are reelected, I would call to congratulate. Once when we heard two representatives who were very supportive of us were reelected, we hurried to their victory party to congratulate them, thanking them for their support of Falun Gong. They were both very happy to see us and said they would continue to support of Falun Gong. Of course I won't forget to continuously update them with new situations in the persecution of Falun Gong, which is different from the past where I would only write to them when we needed them to do things for us. I realized that doing government work is a long and constant task. We have to be persistent. Every time they do anything supportive of Dafa, I always write a thank you letter to them. Sometimes they give no response to my request, and I do not care about the results like I used to. I think, as long as they can feel the kindness in Falun Gong practitioners, they can understand the truth of the persecution against Falun Gong. Then my work is not in vain. Clarifying the truth emphasizes the process, not the result.

Last June, there was the 6/23 incident. Falun Gong Practitioners demanded that the court punish the violators. I wrote a letter to the attorneys who were responsible for this case in the New York court, and I faxed this letter to my state representatives. I only wanted to let them know about this incident. I thought that, since this happened in New York and I was not directly involved, I would not ask them to do anything. But to my surprise, my three state representatives wrote a letter together to the responsible attorney expressing their concerns. This episode deeply touched me, it made me understand further the deep meaning when Master says we should ask for nothing but will attain it automatically.

2. Using Media to Work with Governments

Though I had made some progress at the state government level, I had not done as much at the federal level. But the work at the federal level is very important, because resolutions in congress represent the voice of the Unites States government and the U.S. people. Their support of Falun Gong represents the support of the government and its people for Falun Gong. This is what the evil fears the most. It is also the reason that they will do everything to stop us. Moreover, the old forces also interfere, damaging the communication channel we have with government officials, stopping our truth clarification materials from getting into the hands of congressmen and people in charge. Several times, I found that the fax I sent to congressmen disappeared. One of my fellow practitioners also told me that she had sent a lot of materials to a congressman but she never heard anything. Later on, she ran into the congressman and asked about this and found out that the congressman had never received the materials. So how to clear the communication channel with government officials is something we need to deal with immediately.

At the end of 2003, NTDTV was preparing the New Year Gala. NTDTV was hoping to interview some congressmen, and asked them to say New Year's greetings to the Chinese people all over the world. At the beginning, I was hesitant and not sure if I should invite the congressman in my district for the interview, being afraid he would reject the invitation. Later when I read the invitation letter from NTDTV, one sentence enlightened me. It says: "NTDTV's mission is to establish a bridge between the eastern and western culture." I thought, as a congressman, he must want to communicate with as many people as possible, including the Chinese people. The Chinese community in America also wants to get the attention from the main stream in America. If the congressman says New Year's greetings to Chinese, it would lift up the social status for Chinese and also spread the name of NTDTV. This is really one stone, three birds. So I called my congressman's office right away, the worker there told me that I needed to contact such and such and they transferred me. I got to a voicemail like usual. But this time I was full of confidence. I left a message saying: "I am a volunteer for NTDTV, and NTDTV is preparing a New Year Gala, and we are inviting the congressman to say New Year's greetings to the Chinese population in the state of New Jersey." I then said: "In recent years, there have been more and more Chinese moving to our district. If the congressman can give New Year's greetings to the Chinese community though television, it would be very encouraging to the Chinese in our area." Maybe it is my speech from my heart that moved the lady in the congressman's office, she called the second day telling me that the congressman was very willing to accept the interview and say New Year's greetings to the Chinese population. So I set up the interview time right away with her. On the day of the interview, staff from NTDTV and I both went to the congressman's office. After the interview, I told the congressman that I am a Falun Gong practitioner and expressed my gratitude for his efforts in rescuing Falun Gong practitioners in China. Later I called the lady in the office, thanking her for arranging the interview for us. I asked her if she would come to New York to see the show. She said because she lives in DC, it was not convenient for her. Then I told her if we have a chance to do the show in DC, we would definitely invite her. At that time, I did not think NTDTV would actually have the show in DC

When I was talking with the congressman in his office, I found out by accident that Chinese diplomats and officials often invited him or visited him. At the time I was very worried. I thought, they would slander Falun Gong in front of my congressman. What could I do? I could not ask him not to go see Chinese officials. From another point, he is a member of the Foreign Relations Committee. Meeting with foreign officials is part of his job. Later, when I was studying Master's "Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference," one paragraph by Master enlightened me, Master said:

Your intention to safeguard Dafa's dignity is correct, but how do you safeguard it? Do you shut their mouths? Do you debate with them? I'm telling you, just treat all beings with compassion, and just clarify the facts to people with compassion, and you will be safeguarding Dafa's dignity, and you'll be able to safeguard Dafa's dignety.

I understand that if I want the congressmen to support Dafa day in and day out, we will have to let them understand the beauty of Dafa and the truth of the evil persecution. No mater what happens, I am only doing what a Falun Gong practitioner is supposed to do.

After the TV interview, I thought: the number of Chinese who can watch NTDTV is limited, especially the Chinese in New Jersey. How do I let more New Jersey Chinese know about the New Year's greetings from their congressman? Suddenly, I thought of the Epoch Times. So I wrote a report to the New Jersey Epoch Times, and I attached a picture of the congressman's interview. After the article was published, I translated it into English and sent the article and the picture to my congressman. I sent him these along with my letter, which says: "In order to let more Chinese in New Jersey see the New Year's greeting from their congressman. I made the effort to publish it on a New Jersey Chinese newspaper." Not too long, the congressman sent me a New Year's card, saying thank you. On the envelope, it is written "To Falun Gong Practitioner so and so."

Master said in "Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference:"

Actually, with a lot of things if you calmly and gently talk to people and handle those things rationally, you'll find that your wisdom will flow forth like a spring...

Through the episode of inviting the congressman to give New Year's greeting to Chinese, I realize that when we really do our work with governments calmly and gently, and handle things rationally, difficulties will melt away.

Since that interview, I have established contact with the congressman's office. My work with governments has become easier. Our truth-clarifying material gets into the hands of congressman and the officials in charge in time. This February, in order to urge the US government to resubmit the resolution demanding China to improve its human rights at the United Nation Human Rights Committee, U.S. Congressman Smith drafted Resolution 530. If half of the congressmen in the foreign relations committee co-signed the resolution, it would pass the Foreign Relations Committee and that would speed its passage in the congress. And my representative is a member in the Foreign Relations Committee and a senior congressman, so whether he would sign or not was of great importance. So I wrote a letter and faxed it to the lady in the office with whom I kept in touch. I intended to call the next day to ask her. To my surprise, the next afternoon, a fellow practitioner told me my representative has already signed it. I was surprised and delighted at the news. I called right away to that lady to express my gratitude. Because of everybody's effort, a dozen congressmen in the Foreign Relations Committee signed, and the resolution was put to congress. It was passed with 420 to 2 just before the United Nations convenes. Because I have a clear channel of communication with the congressman's office, the effect of clarifying the truth has increased greatly. The passage of Resolution 530 paved the way for the US government to resubmit the resolution demanding China to improve its human rights at the UN Human Rights Committee. No doubt, this was a huge blow to the evil, and once again it established a beautiful future for the American people.

This February, NTDTV decided to have a Gala in DC. I suddenly recalled that I promised the lady in the congressman's office. Although I only said it out of politeness, I thought as a Falun Gong practitioner, I should keep my promises. So I called to tell her that NTD will have a Gala in DC, I asked her if she wanted to come. She accepted the invitation happily. During the conversation I found out she is the director of legislation for the congressman's office. I was very surprised, sensing deeply the power and magic of Dafa. This made me feel once again, when we put off our notions and just do Dafa work, the result is often more than what we can expect. After the CD of the New York Gala came out, I thought of my congressman who could not attend it in both cases because he was busy with work. And I have only invited the director of legislation for the DC show, none of the other staff had the chance to see it. So I sent two copies to the director, one for the congressman, one for her colleagues.

Though these all seem to be trivial matters from the surface, through these trivial matters, I brought them the beauty of Dafa and kindness of Dafa Disciples. Day after day, I can sense their support of Dafa has become stronger and stronger. Recently, out of my expectation, my congressman voluntarily signed Resolution 304 condemning the Chinese government's persecuting Falun Gong and extending its crimes to America's border. When I wrote to the director of legislation to say thank you, she replied: "We are happy to be of assistance!"

Master said in "Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Midwest-U.S. Fa Conference:"

But under normal circumstances none of the things we do when we're validating the Fa look like miracles or divine occurrences. They're all just human in form on the surface. That's why with lots of things it looks like we're doing ordinary human things. And especially when it comes to all those people who don't know much about Dafa, they think that all we're doing is ordinary human stuff. But in fact it's different, it is fundamentally different. Our starting point, our goals, and the objective we want to achieve are all different from those of ordinary people.

Like Master said, when we are dealing with government officials, our way is totally different than ordinary people. They use the method of lobbying while we use benevolence. We use our great compassion to wake their notion of kindness to support Dafa. So we have to tell them our suffering from the persecution, at the same time we have to show them our compassion and kindness. This way, their support and help to us does not just stop on a human moral ground, it is from their heart, out of their support to Zhen Shan Ren and their despise of the evil. This is what evil fears the most. Because when a righteous person really knows the beauty of Dafa, his support for Dafa cannot be shaken by money or benefit. I read a story on the web that the evil force, in order to get to US congressmen, sent a group of people to work on them. What about the result? Judging by the voting record of resolutions 188 and 530 in the Congress, we know that evil failed completely.

Master said in "Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston:"

No matter what methods the evil uses or how much money they spend, they can't achieve what they want to achieve in damaging Dafa. We're doing these things with our hearts, while they're doing things with money--they could never compare.

Thank you, everybody!