Clarifying the Truth and Gaining Support for Resolution 188 at the Workplace

I have been working for the same high-tech company in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 9 years. I started as a student intern then continued on part-time and then full time in 3 different positions. During the 9 years, and in the different organizations, I ended up knowing a lot of people in the company quite well. As I am quite friendly, I developed friendships and acquaintances throughout.

Fairly soon after practicing Falun Dafa in January 2000, I became less interested in spending time with co-workers, as I had less and less in common with them. The everyday activities most of them were involved with seemed uninteresting to me. So, to some degree I lost touch with a few people.

As time passed and my understanding of the Fa broadened, I again became friendlier to people and paid attention to their concerns and tried to help, even if only a little bit. From Teacher's new articles I realized more and more how nothing is coincidental, and how we can take advantage of any opportunity to reveal the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong, and the truth about the practice itself.

It was hard though to get started, to approach people and out of the blue to start talking about Dafa. Even though I did a few times, it didn't seem smooth at all, and because of my attachments and lack of deeper understanding, people showed no interest in discussing or asking any questions.

Then, an idea came to me to use a signature form to get people's support. This enables every day people to show their support for Dafa, and therefore for their own futures, as well as potentially engaging in discussions about the practice itself. I took the signature form (an Amnesty International petition asking the Prime Minister of China to stop the persecution) and got 3 signatures. It was quite cumbersome and difficult. A few people did not want to sign, being wary of their name and address recorded on a form that would go to the Chinese government. And inside, I did not feel very strongly about this myself, with respect to how much of a difference it would make and so on.

Another month or more passed, and then Resolution 188 was introduced in the House. All of a sudden I felt better about approaching co-workers with this petition. It is of course easier, because it already expresses the sense of at least a few members of Congress that the persecution is wrong. I have such deep admiration for the practitioners who have since the beginning of the persecution clarified the truth, to what was at the time a quite hostile audience. Their quite remarkable efforts were able to create today's environment. That was such a great thing to do. As Teacher said at the 2001 Washington DC experience-sharing conference:

" Outside Mainland China, few people besides Dafa disciples knew what Falun Gong was all about, and all the governments and media around the world listened to the groundless propaganda from Mainland China's media. People listened to China's deceitful propaganda and believed it, and so they had a bad impression of us. So why do you feel that today's environment has become easier? It's because in your clarifying the truth you've clarified the truth of the persecution against us to the world's people, to the media, and to governments around the world; and it's also because your kindness and compassion in the ordinary human society and your righteous, Dafa disciples' performance have both been affirmed by the people of the world and been affirmed by Gods. These are what make the environment we have today possible. Remarkable--truly remarkable. You've withstood the slanderous propaganda from the propaganda machine of an entire nation and an enormous government--a government that's manipulated by the most scoundrel and most evil ones".

So even though the path that is arranged for me is easier then for the ones before me (at least for now) I feel I still have to do my best to fulfill my role. There is a reason why I have been with the same company for so long, why people know me well, why they trust me, and why they have a good image of me. I decided to talk to everyone I know well (over 200 people) and ask them to sign the petition. It was and is a great cultivation process. Some people are extremely supportive and encouraging, while others may yell and be upset about approaching them. The majority (75%) have signed the petition. There were discussions lasting anywhere from 1 minute to 30 minutes, in which I could clarify the truth to them, because they were asking details about Falun Gong in general, as they were about to sign the petition. There were cases where originally the person was quite negative about Falun Gong due to some article they had read. In one case I spent over half an hour with a lady who literally hated Falun Gong because she thought many people just practice to get a visa to stay in the US. After a lengthy discussion her mind saw the truth and she was happy to sign the form. The signature in itself may not look like much here, but in other dimensions I think it is huge -- while also having her mind change to having good thoughts towards Dafa I believe is manifested greatly in other dimensions.

After a while I decided to approach the Vice Presidents. Out of about 10 that I have approached so far, half have signed and the others have been supportive as well. Only 2 of the 10 had a definite no. I have sent righteous thoughts before approaching people, and I could notice a better result. I just wish I had done this earlier. I also ventured to go talk to the company spokesperson who is also an advisor to the CEO. After telling him about Falun Dafa and how support for the resolution from the company would have more weight, he mentioned that contacting the Industry association would have an even bigger impact, as it would represent many companies, not just our company. He was happy to provide me with the contact information of someone influential from the Industry association.

I do not want to mention the name of any people or the Industry association itself to avoid interference from the evil, but it is a very influential one. I wrote an email to the person from the association, and he called me back in the same day, which is surprising given how busy these people are. I talked to him maybe 30 minutes on the phone, clarifying the truth about Dafa, about the practitioners and their greatness in China, and briefly telling him how I came across the practice. He was quite interested and asked a lot of questions. Even though he said he could not make a statement on our behalf right then he welcomed the information and I told him to contact me in the future if he has any more questions about the practice or about any news article that comes out.

I felt again the tremendous power of the Fa in clarifying the truth to a very influential person in the business community in this ordinary human society.

I will continue to ask co-workers to sign the petition, as well as approach executives to do so as well, as they represent a particular organization, In the case of the CEO, he represents the entire company. As I do it, I can feel changes both within me as well as in the environment. Coworkers seem nicer, more peaceful, and look at me with even more respect then before. Some even mention they wish they had such an interest themselves in a noble cause. I know they are establishing themselves for the future.