Shared at the 2005 Chicago Falun Dafa Conference

(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings to our Honorable Master! Greetings to fellow practitioners!

My topic today is, "Experience sharing by elderly practitioners who have clarified the truth in Manhattan."

Since August of 2004, the Falun Dafa Association of the Central United States has rented two apartments in New York, where practitioners can stay while clarifying the truth in Manhattan. Naturally, most practitioners who are able to stay there long-term are older practitioners. Elderly practitioners from different states take turns coming to New York. They stay there from two weeks to several months. Some have been there since last August. These practitioners are very happy to have this opportunity to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa. Except for a few, most of us are limited in some way. Why do we say this? Because we do not speak, read or write English, plus, we do not know how to drive. Therefore, we are very limited in this English-speaking society. Master told us to do the three things well. How can we clarify the truth in Manhattan when we cannot speak English? Actually, we can do a great deal. We can hand out truth clarification flyers, send forth righteous thoughts at the Chinese Consulate and take part in anti-torture exhibitions. Our senior practitioners come to New York with our spirits high and feel that we are very useful.

Many people ask this question. An elderly practitioner from Michigan answered with this story about his participation in an anti-torture exhibition in Serena, Georgia. A middle-aged American man came over while he was demonstrating the torture of being hung up. He asked, "Why do you want to do this?" The practitioner answered, "My wife suffered from this torture in China. Policemen also shocked her with high-voltage electric batons. Her body was black and blue after the torture. It is very painful." This American man was very shocked and asked, "Is this all real? Is she in the U.S.?" "Yes, she is in the U.S." After hearing this, many people started to discuss it among themselves. They said, "His wife is a Falun Gong practitioner and she suffered from this torture. It's hard to believe." Many people came over to take truth clarification materials and take pictures. The practitioner's story had quite an impact.

This couple has stayed in Manhattan since last August in order to participate in truth clarification activities. This practitioner said, "Every time I think of the practitioners in Mainland China suffering from torture, I feel very sad." His wife did not come out of the tribulation easily. He always remembers the day he went to the prison to bring his wife home. He brought a bunch of fresh flowers for her. When his wife came out of the prison he was shocked. She was badly disfigured. They both cried very hard at the entrance to the prison. From first-hand experience, they understand the brutality of the persecution very deeply. They can demonstrate the torture vividly. Many people can see the brutality of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP's) persecution of Falun Gong through the anti-torture exhibitions. They understand the truth about Falun Gong and can recognize the evil nature of the CCP. People are extremely disturbed that this is still happening in China.

Staying in New York to clarify the truth for a long time is not easy. If we did not have a strong determination to save sentient beings, we could not continue. Every day we get up before 5 a.m. to send forth righteous thoughts. Then we meditate for an hour. After breakfast, we go out into the streets of Manhattan to hand out truth-clarification flyers and do the anti-torture exhibitions. We come home after sending forth righteous thoughts at 5 p.m. Some of us hand out flyers after 5 p.m., during the rush hour, and then return to the apartment. Then we must start cooking, washing, and cleaning up before group Fa study. Then we send forth righteous thoughts before bed after 11 p.m. From morning until night, it is about 18 hours without any breaks. If we were not practitioners, we could not keep this up for very long.

In the morning we need to bring lunch, water and flyers for the whole day. In the winter, we also need to bring heavy winter clothes. We walk for 15 to 30 minutes to reach the subway station from the apartment. There are about 100 steps we go up and down in the subway. There are two elderly ladies from Chicago who are over seventy years old. They have a problem walking, as one has a corn on her foot and the other has swollen legs. Every day, it is painful enough just going up and down the stairs, but they also want to do the torture demonstrations. One of them did not say a word when she learned that her mother passed away in China. One had a high fever and swollen legs before the Chinese New Year, but she still carried the truth clarification materials to Manhattan every day. The blowing snow hurt their faces in the cold of winter.

An older lady from Windsor, with a corn on her foot, finds it quite painful to walk. One day, when she finished demonstrating the torture of being hung up, she found her legs frozen from the cold. It made it even harder to walk, but she did not say a word in complaint. Another senior could not hold her urine in any longer during the torture demonstration and had to urinate in her pants. Although the weather was cold in New York during January and February, she still waited until the demonstration was over before she took care of herself. The makeup that practitioners wear during the anti-torture exhibitions freezes on the face and is painful to remove. At lunchtime, our food is frozen and the drinking water is cold. Practitioners with thermos bottles offer to share their warm water with others. Under these conditions, we encourage each other and endure so we can save sentient beings.

Master said in "Righteous Thoughts and Righteous Actions."

"A Great Enlightened Being does not fear hardship
Having forged an adamantine will
And with no attachment to living or dying
He walks his path of Fa-rectification openly and nobly."

Manhattan is a place where evil gathers. After coming here, we all feel that we need to have righteous thoughts all the time. If we slacken even a little, the old forces will take advantage of our loopholes. If we maintain righteous thoughts, nothing can stop us.

An elderly woman from Michigan suffered from serious heart disease before she started practicing Falun Gong. In Manhattan, the evil interfered with her, but she still went out to do the anti-torture exhibitions. One day it was really cold, and later it started to rain very hard. She sat in the cage for several hours, because it is hard to rotate people in the rain. She came out of the cage when the rain stopped, and others asked if she was okay. She said, "I am fine. My clothes are still dry." Righteous thoughts can change everything!

One morning our way to a truth clarification site, an elderly practitioner had diarrhea and had to run to the restroom several times. Fellow practitioners asked whether she could make it that day. Without hesitation she answered: "Of course! I must go! I cannot leave this group." She was fine when we reached our destination.

The weather in January is very cold. One elderly lady who was doing the anti-torture exhibition in Union Square thought about the practitioners in China who were forced by policemen to walk barefoot in the snow. She did not feel cold any more, but had a fever when she got home and relaxed. She said, "Once you slacken up a little, the evil takes advantage of you. It's so obvious."

Many older practitioners have problems taking the subway because they cannot read the maps. If no one guides them, they can easily get lost. One of these practitioners has only a three-year elementary school education. She said, "I must learn to read the map, because I cannot wait for others. If I get lost, I will find the way back." Several maps have been worn out, but she can finally read a map. Later, she went home and showed her daughter the map. She said, "You see the subway has three levels and if you are not careful, you can easily get lost." "You know that line going to downtown is pronounced like "Dang Tang"(DOWNTOWN) and the line coming back is called "You Pi" (UP). I just need to remember the first letter of each station's name. Now I can go to Manhattan by myself and come back by myself." Her daughter asked, "How did you learn to read the map? The names are all in English." She answered, "This is not a big deal. If we make the effort, there is nothing we cannot learn. We are Falun Dafa practitioners."

A seventy-year-old practitioner from Michigan can speak a little English. She saw young practitioners clarifying the truth to people in English. The effect was good. She also tried to use English to clarify the truth. Even though her English is not fluent, Americans are willing to listen and encourage her. "We understand you. Your English is good," they say. Some of them give her the "thumbs-up" sign to encourage her.

During the Fa-rectification activities in Manhattan, older practitioners place great emphasis on handing out truth clarification flyers. They believe that when more people read them, more people will be saved. We are busy all day long. In the morning we eat Chinese buns and eat the same thing when we come back, in order to save time. Then we study the Fa and do the exercises together. Some of the older ladies thought that this kind of lifestyle would be hard on some of them, and that they would not be able to hold out very long. So they started to take care of the grocery shopping and cooking for the group. They balanced the eating habits of the north and south of China. They come home a little early in the afternoon and cook. They wait until everyone else finishes their meals. Then they eat the leftovers. Some take care of cooking and shopping and some take care of cleaning. The environment is very harmonious. Every one does housework. Some practitioners use their money to provide better meals. The practitioner's selfless efforts make it possible for everyone to have enough time to study the Fa, do the exercises and continue to do truth clarification in Manhattan.

Everyone knows their cultivation state at home. Once we started living together in New York, we all felt that we were far behind our fellow practitioners in terms of cultivation. Some practitioners still had a lot of things they could not let go of when they first came to New York. They often talked about the conflicts with their children and could not go of it. Seeing other practitioners so light hearted, they became anxious to change.

A seventy-year-old practitioner from St. Louis uses her free time to study the Fa. She goes out early and comes back late, walking at a brisk pace. Her skin color is fair and she is always happy. She says, "Time is so precious in this period of Fa-rectification. How do you have time to think of these things? Your children are helping you to improve your xinxing, but you still do not enlighten to this. Every attachment is a mountain to suppress you. If you let go of this attachment, you will feel more relaxed." In this cultivation environment, we all look inward during experiences sharing. Some said, "I did not pay much attention to the small things; please forgive me." Some said, "I am too attached to sentimentality." Others said, "The biggest enemy of my cultivation is selfishness. If I can think of others all the time and not myself, I will succeed in my cultivation." Everyone agrees that this experience in New York is very precious and that we have learned a lot.

For some time, we noticed that most of the people who took our fliers were blue-collar workers and woman with children. More than 70% of the white-collar workers did not take our fliers. These white-collar workers were very cold. If we said, "Hi" to them, they did not even reply to our greetings. Not many Chinese people take fliers, either. Many of them have been poisoned by the CCP's propaganda. They even respond to us with a curse. We want to change this. We realize that we need to send forth righteous thoughts before handing out flyers. We have to maintain righteous thoughts all the time. We come here to save people, so we should be patient and compassionate. The elderly ladies who do not speak English have learned how to say, "Falun Dafa is good." Some practitioners who speak English will point toward the anti-torture exhibition and say, "Please see what is happening in China." One time, an older Chinese man scolded the young female practitioner in charge of coordination. "You abuse seniors and let them do this?!" The practitioner explained to him that these seniors have volunteered to do this. She told the man, "Some of them were very ill before, but after practicing Falun Gong they became healthy. You see the older gentleman playing the role of a policeman? His wife actually suffered this torture in China. Uncle ["Uncle" is a respectful term used when addressing an elderly Chinese person], please understand. Please stop cursing. You are losing virtue. It is not good for you." After half an hour of explanation, the old man was very touched. He replied, "I scolded you so badly, but you are still very respectful of me and call me "Uncle." I can tell that Falun Gong is good." He also left his daughter's phone number and asked the practitioner to call his daughter and ask her to respect and take care of him.

Later on, some new fliers arrived, stating: "The Chinese people in your company are poisoned [by the lies of the CCP]; they are poisoning you." Several days later, things started to change. Some white-collar workers came to see our exhibition, signed petitions to support Falun Gong and many asked questions. Some suggested that we talk to the Chinese Consulate, some were very touched by our truth-clarification efforts and said they would write the U.S. government to ask for help. One person came over and patted a practitioner's shoulder. This person said, "I admire your Falun Gong. Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance are good." Some people gave us the "thumbs-up" sign. Drivers passing by gave us the "V" sign for victory and said, "Falun Gong will succeed." We are so happy for these kind-hearted people.

One time, two elderly ladies were doing an anti-torture demonstration. A well-dressed American lady, in her fifties, sat nearby for half an hour. When one practitioner came out of the cage to switch places with the other, the American woman clasped their hands tightly and put her face next to theirs. Tears fell from these three ladies' faces. No words were necessary.

Another time, I was sitting in the cage in the rain with my legs crossed and conjoined hands. An elderly woman dressed in a dark suit came over and said very gently, "Take it easy. If you sit too long, you may not be able to take it. I have already brought up the persecution of Falun Gong in the Senate and President Bush knows about it, too." I was very touched and I thanked her with tears in my eyes. I am happy that people are waking up. The efforts over the past several years to clarify the truth are having an effect. Master said, "Mercy can dissolve heaven and earth, bringing about spring; Righteous thoughts may save people in the world" (from "Fa Rectifies the Cosmos," Hong Yin II, provisional translation)

Finally, I want to use Master's words from "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York" to share with everyone.

"You all really have worked hard. The weather is getting colder. During the summer when you clarified the truth and validated Dafa in front of the consulates, on the streets, or in other settings, even though it was hot, it was still bearable. When the weather gets cold, the climate poses a certain degree of challenge for you. Even so, you haven't let the harsh conditions stop you. Quite the opposite, you are still working hard and haven't let up. That's truly amazing, and the beings of the future and the world's people in the future will thank you, because the people that will remain here in the future will owe that fact to you. (Applause) The world's people are in delusion. Dafa disciples are the ones going through so-called tests, while all sentient beings are lost in a state of delusion. But in the future, everyone will know who the Dafa disciples were. They will all know the greatness of Dafa disciples, and those who remain will feel gratitude toward Dafa disciples."

Thank you, Master. Thank you, fellow practitioners.