A Few Notes on "Not Going to Extremes" in Geneva

When practitioners sometimes don't use their wisdom in planning ways to tell the truth and spread the Fa, they receive hints from the environment. In Geneva, local laws place restrictions on activities in public places involving the organizing of large groups of people or publicizing a message. While in Switzerland, practitioners from other parts of the world had to adapt to the local conditions and modify or let go of the methods that they successfully use elsewhere. These methods that they had to let go of include large-scale group practices and handing out flyers in public places. What works well in one place and at one time in letting people know the goodness of Dafa may not work well -- or even be counterproductive -- in another place or time. More practitioners are taking to heart the old motto in English, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." In the article "Sober-minded," Teacher says, " all activities should be organized according to local conditions." One good idea in Geneva had to be abandoned because of a hint from the environment. Practitioners thought about riding around the town on bicycles wearing yellow shirts and holding up small balloons with messages on them. The people of Geneva would be able to see the words "Falun Dafa" and feel the positive energy of practitioners as Dafa particles scattered here and there in the city. It would be a good way to conform to local conditions, as some people get around town in Geneva on bicycles and it's a recreational activity that people there enjoy -- in small numbers. As interest among practitioners in this creative approach grew, the idea got too big: they wanted to ride around in groups of nine practitioners to create a big impression. But they didn't enlighten to the fact that such a large group would actually disrupt the local environment -- besides seeming odd, nine bicyclists together would cause traffic problems on narrow streets and put people in danger. It would cause negative attention to be directed at practitioners, and possibly cause the reputation of Dafa to suffer. One or two bicyclists together might be good, but more would be bad. More is not always better! So on Monday morning -- the day practitioners planned to meet in groups and make a big impression on Geneva -- the weather was nothing but hard, steady rain. The big bicycle ride had to be cancelled. We know that Dafa is "a great way without forms." But haven't we unintentionally adopted certain forms recently? Wearing yellow t-shirts everywhere, marching in parades, handing out flyers -- maybe practitioners need to think about whether or not these ways and others can become forms that place limits on us and sometimes actually inhibit the spread of Dafa. In Geneva, some wise practitioners learned to adapt to local conditions, and do as the Genevans do. Take walks in ones or twos; do the exercises in ones or twos; sit in cafes drinking coffee or tea and reading (Zhuan Falun, of course!) or chatting. Or do things that tourists do, like take a boat ride on the beautiful lake. These practitioners found many times that things happened naturally, and they were able to engage residents in heart-to-heart conversations and share Dafa with them without pursuing and pushing. A local Swiss practitioner said that her friends and neighbors now realize that Dafa practitioners are good people, after the hundreds of practitioners spent time around Geneva in March and April. But this was not due to the massive activities where hundreds of practitioners gathered together in one place at one time. Although they were beautiful and impressive, these big events didn't create the most powerful effect on the majority of the people of Geneva. No, it was because of the peaceful presence of small groups or individuals, acting out of the Zhen-Shan-Ren in their hearts. Some practitioners felt that the city seems to have too many restrictions, and they felt boxed in. But others were able to adapt to this human level of the Fa harmoniously, and showed that a Dafa practitioner can be a good person in any circumstance. In this way, many of the visiting practitioners touched the hearts of the people in Geneva and the visiting diplomats and human rights workers.