PureInsight | August 31, 2013
[PureInsight.org]
Greetings to respected Master! Greetings to Disciples!
Scottish practitioner:
Since the second half of last year, Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH) launched a global petition campaign to stop the live forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners. I visited one of our Members of Parliament in Scotland. Not only did he sign the petition against forced organ harvesting by the CCP, he submitted a motion to the Scottish Parliament to stop the persecution (Motion S4M-04684).
Although this MP initiated this motion, he was challenged by other politicians who, for whatever reasons, were reluctant to believe the CCP was killing for profit. This righteous MP was also unclear about some facts, for example, why the CCP is so ruthlessly cracking down on Falun Gong practitioners and how they have utilised state machinery to systematically commit genocide against Falun Gong practitioners. It became very obvious we needed clarify the truth further to these politicians.
With this one thought, Master arranged an opportunity for us. We received information that the two Davids - David Matas and David Kilgour - would be in Europe in mid-April. Thus, we quickly organised a presentation at the Scottish Parliament on forced organ harvesting on the 24th April 2013.
A question immediately arose – the two Davids were going to be speaking at the Scottish Parliament, what about the British Parliament in London? At our VIP team meeting, this issue prompted much debate with two distinct views emerging.
Some practitioners thought the two Davids should return to Canada once they had spoken at the Scottish Parliament. Common sense told that we should give at least one or two months’ notice before inviting the British MPs, it was too late now. Also, previous experience had taught us that events held at the British Parliament were never ideal, with few MPs in attendance.
Other practitioners believed that we shouldn’t waste any opportunity to save sentient beings. Time was not the critical factor; “Cultivation is up to you, gong is up to the Master”. The critical factor was how determined we were to save sentient beings.
CAROLINE:
I have a job and a non-practitioner husband who resents my intense focus on projects for extended periods. So should we only have the Scottish event or arrange a tour of organ harvesting presentations in the UK in a few weeks’ time? I felt tremendous pressure because we were short-handed as well as short-timed. In the past, UK government work was done by a few people; we have never been able to engage the one-body and our effect was minimal.
The task was very daunting and I had a lot of doubt in myself as well as others. But I felt the severe urgency of Fa rectification. How many more chances will we have? Was I putting my whole heart into government work? No, I wasn't. I had always been asked to do government work, so I did it. This wasn't good enough. So I decided I needed to put my whole heart into this task.
The team did not really have a central coordinator. It had a group of core team members who really had the heart to clarify the truth in this area. We worked together mostly for the first time. There was a lot of sharing from the Fa and a lot of Xinxing tests among us but I have to say that it was a solid team because we all came from our understandings of the Fa and really stayed focused on the task at hand.
In my understanding, as cultivators we needed to expand our hearts. One time the pressure was far too much and I asked for someone else to take over my whole role. I cried. I wasn't crying out of relief from the pressure. I was crying because I knew this task was part of my vow but I was allowing my human notions to bind me from fulfilling that vow. I calmed down, studied the Fa and rejected those notions.
The final results were very positive indeed. The truth clarification probably reached thousands of UK nationals, hundreds of MPs, and hundreds of Lords. We had the best support we have ever had in Parliament by far. Also we have now awoken MPs who declared to push the UK government to take action against China's forced organ harvesting.
Scottish practitioner:
At the second VIP group meeting, the practitioners had reached a consensus. Following the encouragement from fellow practitioners in the UK, this opportunity to save sentient beings in the UK had unfolded under Master’s direction.
Leeds practitioner:
How were we to invite MPs to the seminar? We decided to utilise a new method of petitions, which after several trials in various cities proved effective, and which was introduced firstly to other countries in Europe and then to Australia.
Why did we need a new approach? Previously, we had collected hundreds of thousands of signatures, which were sent to the Prime Minister’s office, yet to no effect.
Western MPs care very much about the views of their voters. If many constituents raise the same issue with their MP, there is greater encouragement or pressure on them to take action. There are comparatively few practitioners in the UK. If we only relied on each practitioner to contact their own MP, we would at most only cover a few dozen, whereas there are more than 600 in the UK as a whole, many of whom are difficult to reach.
We acted as the bridge between the MP and the voters, feeding the views of the voter back to their representative. This also broke through the barrier of being unable to contact MPs other than your own. Chinese and Western practitioners cooperated; English-speaking and non-English speaking practitioners cooperated. Many practitioners who didn’t speak fluent English went petitioning on the street and collected many signatures.
This method allowed us to cover around 400-500 MPs in the UK. Upon receiving the letter, MPs treated this issue very seriously. In order to attend the seminar, he/she must confirm attendance with the sender. Some agreed to attend the seminar.
Scottish practitioner:
Aside from the two parliamentary speeches, the two Davids had a few free days in the UK. As such, we had hoped that other practitioners in cities such as Oxford, Cambridge and Leeds could organise similar activities. At the time, the practitioners in these cities had, at maximum, 3 weeks in which to find a venue and invite guests. We can imagine the intense pressure.
Cambridge practitioner:
I am a practitioner in Cambridge. At the time I felt duty-bound to accept the responsibility of becoming a coordinator of a seminar to expose the evil CCP’s live organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners.
I contacted the chairman of Cambridge’s Amnesty International to ask if she would like to host the meeting. At the start, this lady believed that time was too tight and refused. After she read the truth clarification materials I had sent, she was shocked. In the end, Cambridge Amnesty International and the Cambridge University Amnesty International Society decided to jointly host the seminar.
The chairman of Cambridge Amnesty International worked diligently on this project and would often call me past midnight after her children had gone to bed. After the event, she said that of all these years in her fight for human rights, this was the most sacred and the greatest event. She felt very honoured.
Over the course of this activity, I have the following thoughts and experiences:
1. The CCP’s live harvesting of organs from Falun Gong practitioners is immensely evil. This shamed evil has already been exposed for 6-7 years by the investigators David Matas and David Kilgour, whom have been campaigning worldwide. However, many people are still sceptical, including the UN. Governments have also shown themselves to be numb to the news. There are British MPs who have expressed scepticism. Doctors and lawyers have more insight, however the majority have not realised how great the sin is and how evil their nature is. This is how the old forces try to suppress the truth. We cannot be numb; we cannot be suppressed; we must be clear.
2. Once we have clarified the truth, the vast majority of British society will be very shocked and enraged; many people will be willing to help.
3. From the determination of the two Amnesty International Presidents, I realised that some ordinary people have their missions too; they may have vowed to come out to oppose the persecution and we need to find them and lead them to complete their missions.
4. There will be a time when ordinary people rise up to oppose this persecution. We Dafa disciples should use this CCP’s crime to stimulate the world’s people’s consciences and lead the world’s people to be against the evil persecution.
5. Master said in Fa Teaching at the 2013 Greater New York Fa Conference:
“Think about live organ harvesting, for example. Back in ancient Rome even at the height of the persecution of Christians, there was nothing so evil."
It is time for Dafa disciples to clarify the truth further and expose the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong in-depth. As Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples, it is our duty to seize the opportunity.
Oxford practitioner:
For many years, Oxford practitioners had been hoping to have the authors of Bloody Harvest to speak at Oxford University; now the chance came.
We had less than a month to prepare. We knew that Master had His arrangements and we only had to take appropriate actions and we would be on the right path. We started by contacting the college professors. Far from ideal, without a set date and venue, it was hard to persuade people to even attend so we decided to book a venue ourselves and then invite people to come. Despite being one of the larger universities in the UK, it was extremely hard to find a suitable venue for any given date in Oxford. Every telephone call made led to truth clarification. Soon a lecture theatre was found in the city centre and we were then sure the presentation at Oxford would take place.
One practitioner worked tirelessly in front of the computer and produced a large data bank of academic contacts who we should invite. Despite practitioners already having huge workloads on their shoulders, they helped to send out thousands of invitations to the college tutors and medical professionals. During this time, two local practitioners took to the streets to inform the public of the presentation at Parliament hoping they could urge their MPs to attend. They also put up posters in the colleges. Through their efforts, two medical professionals and an international lawyer asked for invitations to be sent to them.
The day was drawing near yet not many replies had been received. It became obvious that calling up the invitees as well as personal visits to the teaching hospital were necessary. So a number of practitioners offered to help with calling; some of them even took time off work. Two London practitioners offered to come to Oxford and went to the college teaching hospital to invite people.
The joint effort brought in more positive responses. On the day, approximately 20 guests attended the presentation. They listened intently to the speeches and raised many relevant questions.
Throughout the whole event preparation we felt great compassion from practitioners. They were always ready to give advice, encouragement and most importantly, practical help. Without these and a mutual trust in Master it would have been extremely hard to make the event even possible. Then again, we know we are fulfilling our promises made a long, long time ago.
Leeds practitioner:
Leeds was the final stop for the forced organ-harvesting seminar. We really wanted to host the event at Leeds University, however didn’t know how to get in contact with them. Master helped us to find a predestined person. This university had a student who voluntarily agreed to act as a liaison. However, just two weeks before the experts were to arrive in Leeds, the situation changed. The political science professor who had originally agreed to host the seminar received a letter written to him by some Chinese students. He immediately panicked and decided to renege on his earlier decision and pull out of the seminar. The co-hosts, Amnesty International, also began to have doubts. Through sharing between practitioners, the situation was turned around. However at this point there was only one week to promote the seminar.
We had originally intended to spend money on advertising the event on the university webpage. Unfortunately, the technicians told us they would need several weeks in advance and that it was too late. I was not moved when I heard the news, and thought: “The old forces have blocked these effective methods of promotion with the excuse of allowing practitioners the opportunity to build their mighty virtue. In reality, this is hindering the progress of Fa rectification. If this road is blocked, there is another way. Dafa disciples must be able to find a path to save sentient beings.” I immediately felt that this thought was not right. Am I not complicit in the old forces arrangements? What right do they have to block the most effective path? Aren’t we not even acknowledging the old forces?
After a few days, the students told me that our advert had already been posted to the university homepage. Upon further questioning, it turned out the political science department had learned the truth and incorporated the seminar into their departmental lecture series. As a result, we didn’t have to pay a penny or give several weeks’ notice.
During the promotion process, an idea lingered in my mind – I was concerned that too few people would attend. Upon further inspection, I found that behind this fear was the attachment to validating myself. I was worried that if no one came, I would bear the brunt of other practitioners’ blame and pointing.
Master said in Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York:
“It's very simple—it is a question of whether you are validating the Fa or validating yourself. If you are validating the Fa, no matter what another person says about you, you won't be affected inside.”
Consequently, I sent forth righteous thoughts to try and abolish these thoughts of validating myself.
On the day of the seminar, interference ‘inevitably’ cropped up. Within the space of one day, one practitioner felt physically unwell, another practitioner who was in charge of transport had burst a tyre on his car and couldn’t make it over, and another practitioner’s child felt ill…
Regardless of whether the old forces were taking advantage of a practitioner’s sentimentality or whether it was just unwarranted persecution, it all acted as interference for this activity. As I listened to the string of ‘accidents’, I couldn’t help but feel helpless. This time, Master’s words in Expounding on the Fa appeared in my mind: “You should also be clear that “natural” does not exist, and “the inevitable” has reasons behind it”.
I immediately became clear in my heart. If there are loopholes created by our attachments, we should immediately correct them; if it is imposed interference, we should immediately eradicate it! As for my own situation, I had provoked Practitioner A. As such, Practitioner A had publicly chastised me. At the same time, I received a phone call from a non-local practitioner, Practitioner B, who also wanted to attend the seminar. In the past, Practitioner B had always been very cold to me, had hurt me before and always held me at arm’s length. I would never have thought that at such a time, I would consider quitting.
I was very clear that this was using practitioners’ barriers and attachments to act as interference for this activity, allowing us to make a mess of the situation ourselves and reduce the effect of saving sentient beings. When Practitioner A chastised me, I was not moved and thought that in future I needed to be more compassionate when talking with her. Then, I found a secluded place and sent force righteous thoughts to disintegrate the resentment and discontent I held for Practitioner B. Only upon reaching a pure state could we maximally save sentient beings in this seminar.
In the process of collaborating with practitioners, this seminar represented the best example of cooperation amongst practitioners in the last few years. Everyone acted as one – as soon as there was something to be done, it was immediately undertaken, without doubt and without discordance; only active cooperation and humble support. Several times I wanted to hug all the practitioners in attendance - thank you everyone! One practitioner’s quote made me shed a tear. He said: “Without Master, we are all nothing”.
During the course of this activity, the local fellow practitioners gave out several tens of thousands of flyers and collected several thousand signatures, clarifying the truth on an enormous scale. Additionally, through flyering on the streets, we came into contact with people from all walks of life – representatives from national refugee organisations, doctors, lawyers, and various student organisations. Many of these people actively helped us to clarify the truth; others spread our information on Facebook. Our local newspaper and radio station both covered the seminar on forced organ harvesting. Through their articles and broadcasting, they also helped to clarify the truth locally.
Scottish practitioner:
Looking back along the path that we have walked, practitioners have broken through barriers, been concerted in our efforts to clarify the truth and allowed us to once again see that we can be the five fingers clenched into a fist of tremendous power. Over the past few years, I have been prejudiced towards the local Western practitioners, believing them to be timid and unable to bear any pressure. Each time I thought about this, I would feel hard done by.
Master said in Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the US Capital:
“When there are many many attachments that can't be let go, your [cultivation] environment won't be good. If the opposite is true, then it will be excellent. If you don't search inward when certain problems and conflicts surface, they will intensify, and it happens because of your own attachments. Some become more and more intense, and they're in fact caused by the person's not having cultivated well.”
Master has arranged for Chinese and Western practitioners to work together. What does this allow us to cultivate? Chinese practitioners can bear hardships, act quickly and when facing situations will rush forwards. However when my fellow Western practitioners encounter a situation, they consider carefully and examine it from all aspects before taking action. At every possibility, they raise many questions. In fact, they are actually helping me to look at problems from another perspective. I found that having answered these questions and considered more carefully, the decisions we jointly made are often the best option available. I also found that compared to me, Western practitioners were more tolerant and considerate. This led me to feel ashamed.
I realised that in addition to helping Master rectify the Fa, Master gives us opportunities to discard the old cosmos’ selfishness and habit of attachment to self, and lets us adopt the selflessness and tolerant way of thinking required by the new cosmos. Every step forward and every retreat in helping Master in the Fa-rectification process is a reflection of our own personal cultivation.
In 20th Anniversity Fa Teaching, Master states:
“I have told you previously that whether or not a Dafa disciple cultivates well determines his power to save sentient beings as well as his ability to be successful in fully cooperating, here in the human world, with the Fa-rectification.”
The universe is vast and complex. We cannot see the true face of any situation. Moreover what we see is limited by our understanding of the Fa. I have come to realise: do not be attached to your own ideas, learn to listen, assimilate, and trust your fellow practitioners. As long as you hold the Fa as your Master, practitioners will ceaselessly correct themselves in accordance with the Fa. This way, as one body, we can exert our strength in saving sentient beings, and change what ordinary people believe is impossible, into the possible.
Leeds practitioner:
Although we had some breakthroughs this time, with the best turnout of MPs and their representatives in recent years, there are a lot more people who haven’t heard the truth, or haven’t understood the truth thoroughly. We are far from what Master requested, “to play a leading role”. Our sharing is just for your reference and please kindly correct what is inappropriate with your great compassion.
Thanks to Master, Thanks to fellow practitioners!
(Speech at 2013 European Falun Dafa Experience-Sharing Conference in Copenhagen)
