(Minghui.org) When I was talking to someone about Falun Dafa, he said some things that really got my attention.
He said, “I admit that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is bad and I used to sympathize with Falun Dafa and its practitioners. But all you people say is, 'Falun Dafa is good. Heaven will eliminate the CCP. Quit the Party to be safe.' But why? I don't know why Falun Dafa is good. You're a practitioner, so of course you think it's good. But when you try to foist your opinion on me, I can’t accept it.
“The same goes for quitting the Party. I don't know how I can be safe by quitting the Party. Maybe you say that because you simply don't like the Party. When that's all you say and you give no explanation, to me, that’s just dumb. Yet you think you're wise because you cultivate.”
What he said really made me sad. I looked inward for my own shortcomings and for ours as a whole. Maybe some practitioner saw messages on parade banners at a gathering outside of China or heard other practitioners say that, so they borrowed those phrases and use them when they clarify the truth.
However, we really should pay more attention to where our audience is coming from and their mindset. Only when we know what they need to hear, can we clarify the truth effectively and not push them away or provoke their negative thoughts.
In fact, if we have time, we should first find out what this person cares about or is most concerned with. From there, we can talk about commonly shared complaints and social problems.
The elderly nowadays are more concerned with welfare, retirement pensions, and medical insurance; middle-aged people care more about food safety, pollution, high housing prices, and the corruption of Party officials; the younger generation is interested in getting into a good college, finding a job, and buying an apartment. At the very least, everybody can see how increasing social and environmental problems are affecting our health.
Of course, we can also focus on their occupation and talk about issues specific to their field. Let them express their feelings about these issues, then guide them to the subject of Falun Dafa.
Some people think that Dafa only has a history of a few decades and is not part of our traditional culture, so they don't accept it no matter how we explain it. However, if we talk about our ancestors' words of wisdom and ask them to quit the Party, they are more likely to agree to it. Talking about the persecution then becomes much easier.
Of course, nowadays many people place fame, money, and lust above justice and conscience. They don't want to get involved if it's not their business. To inspire their inherent goodness, I try to make it clear that persecuting Falun Dafa violates our rights to information, to freedom of speech, and to freedom of religion. It affects everybody today, as well as our future generations. This way, people can easily see the connection and see that it has something to do with their own interests, which can inspire their sense of justice and kindness.
As for the CCP, many people think that because it governs China, they do not want to accept the fact that it's that bad. I usually tell them that this divine land of China has been the center of the world since ancient times and that our ancestors originally created a culture of cultivation and left behind many stories and relics.
Traditional Chinese culture is deeply rooted in righteous beliefs, yet the communist party started by destroying enshrined gods and their temples. Its ultimate goal is to firmly establish atheism and destroy the goodness in people’s hearts. To people with higher education, we can also talk about all the reprehensible things the Party is responsible for.
I also sometimes talk about other groups of people that have been targeted by the Party, such as intellectuals, college students, or the victims of involuntary home demolitions. We can use any of these groups as an example so that people can realize we're not just focusing on our own ordeals, that we are concerned about other targeted groups and the victims of previous movements and repressions.
Of course, the most important thing to get across is the truth surrounding the persecution and what Dafa really is, and how we talk about it is very important. We should look at things carefully and talk about them from the other person's perspective.
If we only think about how we feel and ignore their feelings, we will push people away. As Dafa practitioners, we need to use the wisdom and kindness that we have gained through cultivating in Dafa to save people effectively.
