PureInsight | December 31, 2001
This October I applied to Centre County, Pennsylvania for a proclamation honoring Falun Dafa. Two weeks later, they informed me that they would issue a proclamation for "Falun Dafa Week." When interviewed by a school newspaper on November 2, I told the reporter about the proclamation. Two days after the article was published, the county phoned me and told me that they were canceling the proclamation. Their reason was that Falun Dafa had religious characteristics, and three county commissioners didn't approve of it. I immediately wrote to the Chief of the County Commission stating that Falun Dafa has nothing to do with religion. I didn't receive a reply. I then looked within. I realized that during the process of applying for the proclamation, my heart wasn't clear and calm, and after I was informed about the award I developed a little attachment of zealotry. This kind of attachment could be used by evil to interfere. I thought of what Master said during "Lecture at the Great Lakes Conference in North America," "During today's Fa-rectification the requirements for everything have to be absolutely strict and absolutely upright."
Although I had tripped and fallen, I decided to continue to try hard to eliminate evil. So, I attended county government meetings to further clarify the truth and explain that Falun Dafa has nothing to do with religion. I displayed Dafa's upright and pure nature to the council members so they would have a righteous understanding of Dafa. A new practitioner described how Falun Dafa gave him a new life. This practitioner had been a smoker for decades and couldn't stop drinking alcohol. After learning Falun Dafa, he quit smoking and drinking in a day. The attention that the council members and the audience displayed made me feel that "Dafa Disciples' Righteous Thoughts Are Powerful." The television station recorded everything about our clarifying the truth and broadcast it three times in a week. Citizens in the vicinity had a chance to hear about Dafa. I thought that since Master controls everything, although the evil forces have plans, if the Dafa disciples are righteous in their actions, the nature of the universe "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" will naturally rectify everything.
After I got home, I again wrote the County Commission a letter clearly explaining Dafa and the persecution. I also used the September 11 incident as an example to illustrate that "freedom and peace cannot be destroyed by violence." The Chinese Government's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners is a most serious violation of human rights. I wrote that I hoped the county would issue a proclamation honoring Falun Dafa, thereby supporting justice. This time I prepared even more detailed material for the three county commissioners. During the process I raised my xinxing, proceeding peacefully and calmly.
Two weeks later, I attended the county government meeting again. This time I went by myself. I no longer had the everyday people's notion that I had last time, thinking that I needed to find other people to attend the meeting to create a better atmosphere. Something strange happened before I gave my speech. The paper on which I had written my speech mysteriously disappeared while I was talking with another person. I began to feel very nervous, because I was afraid I would not be able to speak English well without the writing in front of me. I tried to restrain my fear and used very simple words to present the reasons for reapplying for the proclamation. After the speech I asked everyone to give me a minute to display "The Falun Standing Stance." I also showed them more than 5000 signatures, letting them know how many people in the area supported Falun Dafa. I also asked that the commissioners take "The Real Story" videotapes home. They willingly accepted. A week later the Secretary of the Council phoned me, saying that they decided to proclaim from December 3 to 9, 2001 "Falun Dafa Week."
We previously applied for a proclamation from a different city. After two failed attempts, we gave up. The reasons they gave were the same. They didn't want to have anything to do with religion. Because there are so many churches, if a proclamation is issued for Falun Dafa, other religious groups would also want proclamations. This time my thinking changed. I thought that government offices in one area represent the citizens of that area. If they don't recognize Dafa, when Dafa arrives in the human world, what would be their fate? We cannot let evil old forces control people's future. I believe that all people have compassionate thoughts. Only because of the old forces' planning, they were fed a lot of unrighteous notions. If Dafa disciples have more righteous thoughts, use compassion to bring out others' compassion , the evil will die automatically. The evil forces are predestined to be eliminated anyway. After this event, I had an even clearer understanding of being a Fa-rectification Dafa disciple, and I also felt the meticulous arrangements Master has made to help disciples improve their xinxing. Thank you, Master!
Translated from:
http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2001/12/12/12874.html
