How We Can Respond to All of the Press: SEIZE THE DAY!

The recent abundance of press on Falun Gong seems to have made those precious words become a household name for almost all Americans. The words "Falun Gong" have gone beyond the newspapers and news stations and into pop-culture. A friend told me that a popular television show that airs on Thursday evenings, (the most popular time slot for T.V,) made a reference to Falun Gong and even displayed a Falun (law wheel-the symbol for Falun Gong). Considering this, it occurred to me that all of the press is helping us in our efforts to spread the Fa and disclose the truth of the persecution. Those words, "Falun Gong," heard by more and more people, on an increasingly regular basis, are awakening in human beings a deep curiosity. As particles of Dafa, we must respond to their curiosity by giving them a pure and untarnished presentation of the Fa. In order to do this, another practitioner and I made an effort to post more posters and drop off more flyers in storefronts than we ever had before. And what a response we received from our extended efforts! Below are some of our experiences and thoughts on responding to all of the attention given to Falun Gong. Any suggestions are welcome! We somewhat warily entered a dark and dirty looking tattoo parlor early in the day, half-expecting that the owner wouldn't allow us to put the material there. On the contrary, he was very happy to learn about Falun Gong and a little bit about "that qi stuff," as he put it. He told us that there were probably many open-minded people he knew that might be interested in the practice and said he'd be sure to offer them our flyers. After patiently waiting for a manager to get off the phone and okay our request to hang up a poster and leave flyers, she took one look at the poster and said: "Oh, of course you can hang up the poster. How wonderful! You guys are doing a great job!" In a store right next to hers, we asked the manager if he had ever heard of Falun Gong. He said, "Oh, sure. It's a meditation practice. Teach me one of your exercises." The most encouraging response came late in the day as the sun was setting, the weather was turning colder and we were getting more tired. We walked into a restaurant that did not have any posters of flyers in its waiting area. We thought that they might not accept our flyers but we asked anyway because we knew that it was a good opportunity just to talk to someone about Falun Gong. The hostess' response to my request to leave flyers was almost humorous because she was so enthusiastic. I politely said, "Hi, my friend and I were wondering if we could drop off some flyers on Falun Gong. It's a practice that many people think is similar to Taiji." At first she stared at me with a shocked look on her face without saying anything. Then, she said, "Oh my gosh, YOU'RE the Falun Gong guy!" She then called over several staff people and she said, "guess who's here. It's the Falun Gong guy!" The owner of the restaurant came up to me and shook my hand, saying, wow, it's a pleasure to meet you. You're really remarkable." The hostess explained that she was so happy to see me because she had enjoyed seeing me practice the exercises in the park just outside of her house. "Sometimes I do the exercises with you from my upstairs window," she said. She kidded with the other employees and exaggerated, saying, "This guy is remarkable. He practices outside in the snow with his Falun Gong sign next to him and when he's done all the snow around him is melted away. His movements are so beautiful to watch." The exchange was very friendly and joyful. Many of the patrons overheard the conversation and had smiles on their faces. These experiences and others made us realize that there are an increasing number of people who support Falun Gong and are hoping the persecution will end soon. There are many more people who have only heard a little about Falun Gong but want to learn more, especially from genuine practitioners. To borrow an expression from ordinary society: any press is good press. As more and more people are hearing those precious words, "Falun Gong," we should all take the opportunity given to us by Teacher to inform people of the greatness of the Fa. Here is a brief description of how we distributed literature in storefronts. We carried with us one-page posters that have an introduction to Falun Gong and our practice site information. Where appropriate, we patiently ask the store if we can post the sign. Sometimes it seems it is not necessary to mention the persecution in China. It is often effective to only say, "Can I post this poster for Falun Gong, please? It's for a free meditation group that meets every week." We also carried third-page flyers that have on one side an introduction to Falun Gong and on the other side an introduction to the persecution in China. We found that these flyers are especially effective. Because of their size, even clerks at big chain stores are sometimes willing to put several on the checkout counter. Often times, it is better to ask to put down only 10-15 flyers as stores are usually concerned with clutter. We don't have to purchase something at a store to ask if we can drop off flyers, although we shouldn't let that opportunity go! After making purchases at just about any kind of store, I make it a habit to ask if I can drop off several flyers on the counter. Many times stores are happy to give a favor to their customers.