A Trip to Washington D.C.

About a month ago, a western practitioner and good friend, asked me if I wanted to go down to Washington D.C. with two other practitioners, who had been going to D.C. frequently, to attend various meetings. I was a little scared and hesitantmy first thought was, "I don't know the details about the situation in China and I'm really lost when it comes to politics, so what good would I be? I'll probably just mess things up".

Up until about 2 months ago, if I were asked the same question, I would have instantly replied with a big no. I was slow to figure out Master Li's message about telling the truth to people about the situation in China. I was in an interesting situation where almost all of the practitioners in our English speaking reading group were heavily involved, ever since the initial crackdown. Over the past year, whenever the U.N. or D.C. would come up after the reading, I would usually get up and go home. My hesitation, however, seemed like a mix of my attachments and partially because I just wasn't ready to be involved at that time. Around the beginning of spring, all of sudden, I felt that it was time to start getting involved. Oddly enough, my load at work dropped suddenly, so I had much more free time.

I decided that I should just go on the D.C. trip because otherwise I would never get the experience and understanding just avoiding it. Also, I imagined that just by having another practitioner, especially an American Caucasian practitioner, in the meetings would help the politicians to see that we are just normal people.

A couple of nights before leaving, I became a little anxious, having that, "What did I get myself into?" feeling, and quickly several attachments popped up. I have always had a fear of talking with Important people' and being scrutinized because I didn't know what I was talking about. I was basically scared of being a failure. I also went through the what am I going to wear' syndromeI was worried that I wouldn't fit in.

I decided that in preparation, I should read through the articles in the Falun Dafa Quarterly, in order to be able to speak intelligently about some of the political issues. We decided to take the train from NYC to D.C. and thus I thought I would be able to read the quarterly. However, we ended up talking the entire time. I learned a lot about each person who we were meeting with and various other details about the relationships that had been established in D.C. I didn't even open the Quarterly.

After arriving at the Train station the four of us went for dinner to discuss the next day's events. Even though many political terms flew over my head, I eventually got the big picture and an idea of what we were trying to accomplish. One very assuring thing that one of the practitioners explained was that even if some of the politicians might have different reasons for why they are associating with Falun Gong, just the fact they get to be involved is a great blessing for them when seen from a higher level.

The next morning we got ready for our day of meetings. I made sure to wear my best business suit and look very professional. When we met up with the other practitioner in front of the Dirkson build, he jokingly said that we looked like professional lobbyists. Our first meeting was with Mark who is an aid to a senator. On our way into his office, I quickly realized that a lot people were dressed in business casual'. For some strange reason, I imagined that we would be criticized and questioned. I decided that I would basically just try avoid saying anything and nod a lot so it would look like I was following along.

I was first of all surprised that Mark's office looked like a college professors office, with a lot of memorabilia all over the walls. It was somewhat comforting. The four of us entered and the meeting quickly began. As the meeting progressed, I was happy to find out that Mark was very interested in hearing our latest stories from china, and was interested in including us in some of their media events. The meeting ended and I was relieved as we walked out of the office. It was really strange how many misconceptions and unwarranted fears I had about the entire situationnow that they I had taken the step forward, they all vanished

For our next meeting, we rushed over to another Senator's office in the Capitol building to meet with, Bill, one of his aids. The focus of this meeting was to discuss if the Senator was willing to support us. Bill seemed to be uncertain about his stance on our issue, and thus he started to ask questions about the current situation in China. Eventually the discussion led into the political history of China. Bill was very interested in this subject, whereas I was totally lost, and started to become sleepy. I glanced over at my friend and noticed that he was nodding off. Unfortunately the meeting ended, but it didn't seem like Bill was very interested in the situation in China right now.

Our next meeting was with Joseph, a congressman's assistant, who helped write the proclamation last year. One of us quickly began to give Joseph details about the latest events and gave him a copy of the Falun Dafa Quarterly, which he liked very much. After some discussion about what he felt was the best way to proceed, he began to explain to us that he doesn't have any real, true evidence that proves that we are not a cult'. I was somewhat surprise to hear this, however, he continued to explain to us that we don't really have any detailed, professional documentation that refutes the Chinese Government's claims. He said that he wanted a frequently asked questions' document and we showed him the one in the back of the Quarterly. He stated that this was too simplistic for him to really answer his questions. He said that just because we don't charge money and we don't have any temples, doesn't really mean that we are not a cultsince many cult organizations in the past will use this same argument up front, but yet eventually it becomes less true when you dig down deeper. Joseph continued by explaining that we claim that we don't charge any money, but yet, we surely do appear to have some money in the organization because of the brochures and the very nice looking Quarterly report. Thus, he recommended that we create a very detailed rebuttal' of the Chinese government's claims and that a lawyer or other professional should do it.

After lunch, we hurried over to the State Department to meet with 9 people that represented the China-desk, the Religious Freedom group, and the INS. We began the meeting by announcing the Falun Dafa Quarterly and then presented the latest facts from China. Immediately after there was a barrage of questions and it was obvious that they had been closely following the events in China. However, it was surprised to find out how much they didn't know about what Falun Dafa really is. A man from the Religious Freedom group asked us if we could explain the metaphysical' side of Dafa. We explained that the focus of the practice is to remove attachments and to constantly upgrade yourself, become a better person and try to follow the principles truthfulness, benevolence and forbearance as much as possible. Also, he had read in the New York Times about the Interracial Marriages' and Aliens' and asked us to clarify these issues. We explained that the Author of that article seemed to have an alternate agenda and was using Teacher Li's words out of context'. He then said, "I understand. If I always were to believe what the New York Times says, then I'd jump out of a 7 story building". A different official asked us about the "Hong Kong" incident. We explained that they could possibly be motivated by the Chinese government and that basically they were not Falun Dafa practitioners.

One younger woman asked us, "Why don't the Chinese practitioners just practice at home instead of going out to Tianamen Square?" One of the veteran practitioners answered by providing a rather long description that involved a lot of Chinese history and culture. I actually was thinking about a different way to answer this question by relating the practitioners in China to Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement of the 60's, which most Americans easily relate to. However, I was scared that I might mess up and remained silent. In turns out that after the meeting, while in the cab, I mentioned my idea to the veteran practitioners, and he said that it would have been an excellent answer and that I should have brought it up. He added that we should speak up when appropriate because as Americans our explanations are often easier to relate to.

The final meeting of the day was with named Sam, an assistant to a Senator. I was a little surprised when we first him, since he was a very soft-spoken guy from Taiwan, who appeared to be the same age as myself.

Apparently Sam had been helping us since the beginning of the crackdown and thus was well aware of the situation in China. We presented him with the latest materials and began to discuss various ways to get the Senate to act. Then, practically in the middle of a sentence, Sam turned to me and asked, with a puzzled look on his face, "how did you get involved in Falun Gong?" I tried my best not to look so surprised and briefly stated, "after seeing a friend at work benefit greatly from Falun Dafa, I decided to ask him about it. Eventually, I looked into it on my own and found it to be very good." He then asked me what benefits I have gained from it. I said that physically I feel great and I haven't been sick since I started practicing. I then explained that since Dafa focuses on removing attachments, such as jealousy, pursuit, and greed, I now feel very relieved, because I have been able to remove several bad habits that I always knew about, but could never let go of.

He then asked me what the ultimate goal of the practice was. Since he was of Asian decent, I assumed that he probably understood some basic principles of Buddhism, so I explained that in Falun Dafa, we aim at continually elevating our level until becoming enlightened'. He seemed to understand and then asked more questions. Somehow the discussion led to the question of whether it was okay for people of different religions to practice Falun Dafa. We basically said that it's fine, since Dafa is like an umbrella that covers all religions. I explained how Falun Dafa is good for people of all ages, walks-of-life and backgrounds. I continued by telling him how I'm "about as American as they get" and that I was captain of my high school football team, studied molecular biology in college, and I am now a Falun Dafa practitioner. I finished by mentioning that once you get beyond the Chinese wrapper of Dafa, then you quickly see that it is a universal practice. He seemed to get excited about Dafa and it looked like he was interested in trying it out. We asked him if he had the book, which he did, and then left it at that.

The meeting switched back to business for a few minutes and then ended. I felt that this was a very successful meeting, not because we accomplished anything specific regarding the Senate but because we helped somebody who can have a lot of influence understand who we are and what Falun Dafa is about. It was basically a great Hong Fa session.

Lessons Learned

Looking back, I am very happy that I went on this trip. On a superficial level, it was fun to take the day off work to go visit the capitol and talk to politicians about Dafa. Yet, on a deeper level, it seemed to free me of several doubts and fears that I've had stored in me for a long time.

One important thing I learned is that the government officials in Washington D.C. definitely do not understand the spiritual side' of Falun Dafa. They seem to understand the situation in China fairly well, but they are almost scared to help us because they don't understand the spiritual' side of Falun Gong. Dafa is a very foreign concept to most westerners and I think they are somewhat hesitant in supporting us because they fear that we could turn out to be a bunch of kooks'.

So, even though I didn't offer much in terms of political positioning, etc., it seemed that I had a positive impact just by being there and smiling a lot. I think that the more levelheaded, kind, happy practitioners that the government sees, they will quickly realize that they should have no doubts in supporting us. It is especially important that they speak with and see more western practitioners, because it is then easier to personalize' the issue and they can relate better to the situation.

In terms of telling the truth' to the people of the world, it seemed to me that talking to government officials is the best way because they have a lot of influence and have the ability to large numbers of people. Of course on the other hand, we have to be extra careful, because small mistakes can have a large negative effect. I now see how important the efforts in D.C. are and how much work there is needed. The politicians need answers from practitioners, otherwise they will just go by what the press says or the Chinese government tells them.

It is easy to just sit back and never go through challenging situations, but ultimately we have to step forward and overcome all of our attachments. My trip to D.C. was a very quick way to discover and eliminate several attachments.