(Minghui.org) The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) branch committee in my county and the 610 Office asked the heads of each county-level department to force Falun Gong practitioners to sign certain documents.
One of those documents was a “guarantee statement,” which claimed that lodging criminal complaints against former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin—for his role in the persecution of Falun Gong—was in effect “framing” or making “false accusations” against Jiang.
All the practitioners who were asked to sign this document had good paying jobs, kept a low profile, or had previously signed a guarantee statement.
When the practitioners in my county heard about the situation, we collected the contact details of the relevant authorities and uploaded them online.
Practitioners across the world began calling these officials, which played a huge role in helping to contain the situation.
We then began exposing the illegal actions of these officials and raising awareness of the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong.
Overnight, letter-size labels were posted along main thoroughfares in our county, including in the hometowns of these officials' parents. Some practitioners hand-delivered letters to various governmental agencies.
As the labels began catching the public's attention, people stopped to read them. Some were shocked by Jiang's role in directing the persecution and agreed that he should be charged for his crimes.
One official at a bank told a practitioner, “I help you people out so much. Yet, you still post bad things about me!”
Not only did we refuse to back down, but we also remained unmoved by the mounting pressure that different officials began putting on us.
Shortly after, we posted a second round of labels. Some practitioners went to the bank to talk to the official who had complained about us. After they told him more about Falun Gong and the persecution, he not only stopped complaining but also refused to take part in the persecution.
Many officials said that they really didn't like participating in the persecution and would not fire the practitioners, nor would they hold back their wages.
Due to our efforts, most of the practitioners resumed their jobs, and the officials stopped asking them to sign any more documents.
However, I feel that we, as a group, had a lot of shortcomings, some of which I list below.
The Content of Our Labels and Letters
I thought our labels and letters focused too much on the different social changes happening in society and not enough on the basic facts about Falun Gong.
We should use societal issues as a way to complement our main points about Falun Gong, not supplant them.
Master taught us,
“If you want to introduce Dafa in a direct manner, your informational materials should explain the most simple and plain points, such as what Falun Gong is. Talk about Falun Gong at a simple and basic level, such as how to conduct yourself and how effective the exercises are. No matter how many years you spend clarifying the facts, that is the most fundamental content that you always need to explain. Many people don't comprehend what Falun Gong is about due to their lack of basic knowledge, and so this will always be something that you need to explain.” (from “Fa Teaching Given at the Fa Conference Marking the Tenth Anniversary of the Minghui Website’s Founding” in Teaching the Fa at the Conference X)
Master also said,
“We have to inform people about Falun Gong. The most basic things, like what Falun Gong is, should never be left out. We must talk about it. People who haven't heard the truth and don't know what Falun Gong is, or people who are prejudiced against Falun Gong, don't know about or understand things on a most basic level, and their biases were caused by the wicked CCP's indoctrination. So you do still need to inform them about Falun Gong, and in fact, you should make this a focus.” (from “Fa Teaching Given at the Fa Conference Marking the Tenth Anniversary of the Minghui Website’s Founding” in Teaching the Fa at the Conference X)
Master reminded us,
“If our efforts to stop and expose the persecution by evildoers and the CCP are now being labeled as getting political, then we might as well spell things out completely—like what Falun Gong is, what the malevolent CCP is, and why the malevolent CCP wants to persecute Falun Gong.” (from “We Are Not 'Getting Political'” in The Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol III)
If we clarify the truth according to Master's teachings, we'd be able to harness the mighty power of Dafa, thus changing people's hearts and saving them.
In addition, the changes that are taking place in society are due to the Fa-rectification and Dafa practitioners' truth-clarification efforts. They're not random events brought about by human beings themselves.
Competition, Grievances, and Seeking Results
I also think our labels and letters placed too much emphasis on the persecution, including deterring others from getting involved in it.
Instead, our materials should have effectively clarified the facts and compassionately offered salvation to those who were unwittingly duped by the CCP.
In addition to exposing these officials, we should have targeted these people's true selves, or their knowing sides.
Some practitioners refused to participate in the project, saying that the labels lacked the pure compassion needed to save the beings who were reading them.
In effect, our group lost an opportunity to cooperate and improve together as one body.
Some practitioners who were harassed and suffered financially participated in posting labels. They had attachments of fighting and seeking results. There were even some practitioners who wanted formal apologies from all of the offending officials.
However, I think we had lost sight of the fact that the main purpose of posting the labels was to expose the persecution and use the opportunity to save sentient beings.
This included those who had actively participated in the persecution and those who were ignorant of the facts surrounding the persecution.
In reality, the purpose of exposing these officials had little to do with preventing persecution of local practitioners.
All of our attachments might have been taken advantage of by the old forces, which diluted the effects of our efforts.
Being Moved by Everyday People's Words
Some officials boasted, “I'm not afraid of being exposed by your labels. The more you post about me, the better it makes me look. It's an indication that I'm doing a good job!”
In fact, our purpose is to save sentient beings, not to make them fearful of us. His adversarial response indicates that we had indeed missed our mark, in one way or another.
Some officials claimed that they had in fact “protected” practitioners.
“The police would've taken you away if we hadn't asked you to sign the document,” they explained. “As your colleagues, we should protect you. Asking you to sign the document solved the problem!”
These officials were deceived into carrying out their wrongdoings. After we had exposed them, they stopped participating in the persecution. Actually, it was us who were “protecting” them from future consequences.
Family members of some practitioners sought connections to relieve the persecution. As a result, a handful of officials not only prevented practitioners from resuming their jobs but also exerted pressure on these family members.
In the beginning, these officials were afraid of being exposed by our labels. However, they later became indignant, as if to say, “How dare you try to intimidate me. You can't push me around so easily!”
Some practitioners became worrying, saying, “Stop posting labels about them!” and suggested that we “not bring out the negative side of their beings.”
Master taught us,
“So, don't be intimidated by those evil things, and don't fall prey to the lies they use to confuse ordinary people. There's talk of how ordinary people have certain opinions on this, but what about that? Ordinary people have all kinds of opinions. You are the ones saving them, so you need to be clear on what you are doing and working toward.” (Fa “Teaching at the 2008 New York Conference” in Teaching the Fa at the Conference VIII)
Not Paying Attention to Sending Righteous Thoughts
The persecution is being carried out by the old forces, who are directing dark minions and rotten ghosts in the other dimensions to interfere with Dafa practitioners.
Only by relying on Master and the mighty power of Dafa can we eliminate these evil factors by sending righteous thoughts.
However, it appears that some practitioners in our group may have overlooked the power of sending righteous thoughts.
One group of practitioners was assigned to send righteous thoughts once a week, in close proximity to where the bulk of our labels were posted.
However, as the number of practitioners participating in this endeavor dwindled, the old forces brought various troubles to bear on our group, which in turn affected our ability to validate Dafa and save sentient beings.
In conclusion, I feel that some losses can be averted if practitioners take into account the lessons that our local group had learned.
