(Clearwisdom.net)
Manhattan is Changing
At an experience-sharing meeting before going to New York, I felt that my mind was not genuinely serious about the importance of this trip. I had no clues either about how to do a better job after I heard that many people in Manhattan tend to be cold and indifferent.
The situation at Manhattan is that there are more practitioners during weekends and fewer during weekdays. What touched me the most was that even though we have fewer practitioners at this major event, we did not wait, depend or expect other practitioners to plan and arrange everything in advance. We also did not complain about the deficiency of cooperation. Several days later, as our righteous thoughts grew stronger and stronger, Dafa disciples formed a clear picture about our tasks in this major battle of the cosmos and how to dissolve the indifference and coldness of the people in this very special place.
On the street corners of Manhattan in New York, I truly felt that this major metropolitan city, which is a financial and economic center, does play a pivotal role in influencing economics worldwide. Pedestrians on the streets leading to Wall Street flow continuously and many of them do not have time to pay attention to what happens around them. They routinely walk in a hurry, with troubled and serious expressions on their faces.
After arriving at the anti-torture exhibition site, practitioners unfolded and set up banners, displayed the anti-torture exhibits, sent forth righteous thoughts and practiced the exercises. Almost all practitioners are now taking actions in coordinating. After sending forth righteous thought at noon, some practitioners would go on to distribute truth clarification flyers at other street corners when they saw that the anti-torture exhibition did not need more practitioners to help.
During the experience sharing meeting, practitioners all had an understanding that our every thought and impulse should be on being responsible to people. For example, handing out flyers should not be seen as just a routine task of giving flyers to others. We must talk to them and tell them that Falun Dafa is good and about what is happening now in China. A few words will make people's hearts change. We found that no matter whether it was flyers or torture exhibits, if we did not provide an explanation accordingly, many people might not necessarily know what was going on. This may be because these things were brought to them all of a sudden and so tragically. If they only have one chance to meet us, if we do not clarify the facts clearly enough, then their confusion and questions might remain in their minds for a long time. After groups upon groups of practitioners came to New York to clarify the truth, we started to feel that Manhattan is changing daily as well. We have also read many stories about this development published on Clearwisdom.net.
Importance of Face-to-Face Truth Clarification
Clearwisdom.net has an article "Clarifying the Truth to Westerners," and the content is very relevant and practical. The article has addressed many questions that western people commonly have. It would be even better if it could give some examples about how to tell westerners that Falun Dafa is good. To address this question, I often talk about the public introduction of Falun Gong in 1992 and the fact that so many people started practicing because it brought benefits to practitioners as well as the society in many aspects. However, seven years later, one person, with absolute power over the government at that time, suddenly decided to suppress Falun Gong. I also talk about the degree and breadth of the persecution that has been happening over the last five years. After going through these stories to provide others with comprehensive information, I also give others opportunities to ask questions, so that both sides are actively involved in the discussion. We take the initiative to tell them the facts, yet at the same time, we do not impose our views upon them.
Westerners are also very diverse and they indeed all have their own characteristics. A female Caucasian professional I came across in Manhattan asked me, "Do you want Americans to learn Falun Gong as well?" I looked in her eyes and knew that her question was not necessarily as simple as it sounded. I did not have enough time to think about how to explain it, so I quickly answered, "Many Americans have already learned to practice Falun Gong over the past few years. There are anti-torture exhibits here in the US, and there are also anti-torture exhibits in Europe as well." She was very surprised to hear this, but she was also very happy and said, "I will certainly read it attentively after I get back home."
Upon seeing our anti-torture exhibition, some westerners clearly understand what is happening. They admired us very much and said that we were doing a good job. Yet, some others would ask a common question, "You are holding a torture exhibition here; what do you want us to do?" This was the case with the Caucasian lady mentioned above. I understood that she actually asked the same question, "What do you want westerners to do by showing them this?"
Some people have not heard about Falun Gong before or about the truth of the persecution. Some have heard a little bit about Falun Gong, but they don't really know what it is all about. In both cases, they are all willing to listen to us in person.
After listening to our explanation in person, some westerners told us that earlier they could not understand why people were meditating beside the torture exhibition site. They thought that they were praying. They suggested that if half of those meditating could distribute flyers and explain to people what is happening, then, perhaps more people would get to know the truth....
We also met some Chinese people who work here. With an indifferent appearance and attitude, they often did not take our flyers, nor would they look at us. Later, I thought that I should be more proactive. So I passed the booklet to them and gently and politely asked them to take a look. They often would take the booklet, and some would read the booklet while they were walking, waiting for passing cars or traffic lights. Some young people with a Chinese appearance cannot actually read Chinese. Some westerners' spouses are Chinese, and they would accept the Chinese material; they said that they would take it home and give the material to their family members to read.
Importance of Studying the Fa Diligently
The daily schedule for clarifying the truth in Manhattan is often rather tight. We leave our place between 8 or 9 o'clock in the morning and come back after 8 o'clock in the evening. Living as a group is not the same as living at home, and the routine and pace are different. A pressing problem is that the time and quality of studying the Fa cannot be guaranteed.
My mind was slightly distracted and I could not concentrate while studying the Fa for the first few days. Later, I had an idea of taking advantage of the long [transit] time on the subways. Thus, I started to study the Fa on the subway. One time, when I was studying the Fa on the subway, I felt extremely tired and sleepy, something that I have not experienced for a long time. I thought about stopping my Fa-study and started to take a nap on the subway. I then saw with my third eye that two black and evil hands not far from my forehead in another dimension were trying to embrace and block me. I then realized that this tiredness and sleepiness was trying to keep me from studying the Fa. After I opened my eyes, I realized that our every thought and impulse is so important in this righteous battle against evil in the cosmos. Though it seems so natural when it manifests in human society, the remaining evil force in other dimensions is trying extremely hard to block and prevent the righteous thoughts of Dafa disciples from participating in this battle. We cannot handle ourselves lightly; instead we must study the Fa diligently, because this is the essential and fundamental guarantee to enable us to whole-heartedly participate in the battle to assist Teacher in the Fa-Rectification.
