Hongfa in Atlanta

Our teacher came to the human world to save all sentient beings with his great compassion. There are many, many people on the earth who can behave according to the principle of "Truthfulness, benevolence, forbearance", and thus become truly good people. Dafa disciples are able to deeply touch others with the spirit of selflessness and altruism. Their stories can sometimes amaze even the heavens and the earth. This is the greatest and most concrete manifestation of Dafa in the human world. Master Li once said: "Everything in history has its future, except this one." Our current understanding is that this future is up to practitioners to create, to take every step solidly, and to establish the majestic and everlasting mighty virtue for Dafa and its cultivators.

Master Li said: "Dafa has perfected and harmonized everything in the cosmos." We don t know how our great teacher rectified the many layers and layers of dimensions that had deviated from Dafa. We don t know how much our teacher has endured for us, for all sentient beings. As disciples, we should clearly put our full effort into promoting and protecting Dafa, to "assist our teacher in the human world."

Recently, practitioners from the Atlanta area actively stepped forward to reveal the truth of Falun Gong to everyday people via various means. During these activities, we realized that there are still so many people who do not know the truth, so many people who have not heard about Dafa. One practitioner said: "When I was distributing the newspaper at the entrances of Chinese supermarkets, my heart was breaking upon seeing the indifference of some people. At that time, I really wanted to tell them: please wake up!" We clearly realized that currently it is our absolute duty to clarify the truth of Falun Gong and introduce Dafa to people. At the same time, we also experienced the sublimation of our hearts through the tests we encountered in our work of Dafa promotion. Here, we would like to share a little bit of our experience and some of our understandings.

1. Clearly distinguish the evils that destroy Dafa from personal enemies in our cultivation

Some practitioners have said that as cultivators, we should love our enemies. Their intention is to allow those enemies into their own paradises in the future. In "Lectures in Canada," Master Li said: "The enemies that people define are merely enemies of human beings. However, think about it, those are not enemies of cultivators. You are supposed to surpass everyday people. Can gods regard people as enemies? People who are above everyday people would not regard them as enemies. Therefore, I tell you, if you cannot love your enemies, you will not be able to reach Consummation. Only the demons that destroy Dafa are the exceptions."

Certain wicked people have used the most vicious means in human history to harm our teacher, to damage Dafa, and to persecute Dafa disciples. The Dafa has created our very lives. Kindness toward the evil is the same as being cruel to us. Don t we position ourselves on the opposite side of Dafa with such an intention? They are not our personal enemies, but the enemies of the Dafa. To eradicate the evil is genuine kindness, which is also following the will of the gods.

Master Li addressed the issue of Cibei (Mercy) in the "Lectures in Switzerland" many times. Everyone in the human world has the right to choose whether to ascend back to their own paradise or to create unforgivable karma in a frenzied manner so that they will face complete extinction of both body and spirit. Where people end up is the vivid portrait of what path they chose in their lives. Those wicked people are the demons that interfere with the Law of the Universe at the human level. They are bound to be completely eradicated. The miracles that are happening or are soon to happen in the human world will let the people in the Dharma-ending period, who have already lost their belief in karmic retribution, witness the real manifestation of "kindness will be rewarded with kindness, evil will be paid back with evil; it is not that there is no paid-back; it is just not time yet. Once the time is right, retribution of everything will be carried out."

2. Use all kinds of means to completely expose the vicious persecution.

Since last July, the Chinese government has carried out a full-scale crackdown against Dafa and its disciples, using every indecent means to spread the lies and slanders. The magnitude of the viciousness has covered the whole world. Therefore, many people were misled; even people with great predestined-relationship with Dafa lost the precious chance to attain Dafa.

It is darkest just before the dawn, and it is the hardest moment to endure. The practitioners in China are being tested with unprecedented brutality. On August 13, CCTV (Chinas state-run TV station) broadcast live footage of the crackdown on a cult in the Philippines. The police madly shot at the ordinary, unarmed citizens, including women and children, whom they labeled as "members of cult." There was news from China on August 22 indicating that the Chinese government is plotting to secretly execute a batch of Dafa practitioners who are firm in Dafa and will not yield to the evil. It seems that the broadcast of that live program is to pave the road for their public murder of Dafa practitioners.

We cannot let the brutality continue any more! It is our urgent task to completely expose the vicious crackdown by various means. Let the evil have no place to hide. Master Li said in "Rationality": "the actions they are now adopting in the persecution of Dafa and its practitioners are extremely wicked and shameful, and they fear these will be exposed. Their evilness must be made known to people around the world -- this is also offering people salvation. While the evil is being eliminated, you are consummating yourself in cultivation and strengthening the Fa s manifestation in the world."

"Dafa has created a way of existence for mankind at the lowest level." Then, various behaviors at this level are forms of existence that Dafa gives to mankind. Recently, many media have begun to reveal the evil and darkness, which is a manifestation of cooperation from the human world. We think that Dafa practitioners should not only create their own websites, newspapers and radio stations purely for Dafa, but also utilize websites, newspapers and radio stations that face everyday people, as long as we have the ability. During our promotion of Dafa, we found that the everyday peoples newspaper that carried articles about Dafa was quickly taken by people. Because these newspapers cover other topics that interest everyday people, many people naturally take it to read. These people don t have the stigma and preconceived notions generated by the vicious Communist Party propaganda when they read the articles since they regard it is an everyday newspaper. In this way, they are able to know the truth of Falun Gong. This is to give people a chance, the manifestation of the Dafas benevolence toward people.

Master Li said in "Using at Will:" "Dafa is also creating a new humankind, and will likewise bring to humankind a new culture." Once Dafa and its disciples utilize this kind of everyday people s newspaper, this form of human communication will be enriched with brand-new inner meanings. This will be a newspaper for a new mankind, instead of a newspaper for corrupted people in this Dharma-ending period. All the propaganda and commentaries will be presented to people with a new and righteous face. We cannot wait to do this after history has begun its new era. The filthy stuff that has been piled into everyday people s minds needs to be quickly cleaned up. The society needs to be quickly reverted to a genuine human environment that the Fa has created for people. Let us start to do it today.

3. Assist the teacher in the human world starting from our own environments

When we all realized the demands of Dafa from our hearts, we spontaneously stepped forward to promote Dafa at every opportunity. Practitioners took part quietly after overcoming various difficulties. For some families with tiny infants, the moms would take part in the activities while pushing their strollers. A young pregnant lady who was very close to her due date also went to meet congressmen and senators, driving all day long for several days. She also persists in driving to the practice site by herself to promote Dafa every weekend. Some practitioners are very busy on weekdays, so they use the weekends to distribute Dafa materials to car dealers, gas stations, restaurants, and stores. Some practitioners distributed flyers and introduced the exercises to everyone in the same apartment complex. Some practitioners also contacted a Chinese supermarket and regularly displayed posters in the supermarket to introduce Dafa websites, news, or the true story of the brutal persecution.

One practitioner is an African American. He goes to a park to practice and promote Dafa to people every afternoon after work. That area is always crowded in the late afternoon, so everyday there are many people asking about Falun Gong and learning it. He wrote in his diary that: "I know Im helping such a great master and a great law, I long to go to the park every day. What is more meaningful than this?"

One practitioner is a piano teacher in her sixties. She was born with severe near-sightedness. The doctor said that she would be blind after reaching 50, so she bought very expensive insurance for her eyes. However, after practicing Dafa, she quickly cancelled all the insurance. She said that she believed her eyesight problem was caused by her own karma. Due to her deteriorated eyesight, she hardly left the house even to go shopping, and lived a very isolated life. After she read Master Li s article entitled "Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)," she instantly realized her attachment: In order to reach Consummation earlier, she had hidden herself in her apartment as if it were a prison. She had no contact with society, and no hobbies or interests. Now she has let go of this attachment and has broken through the limitations of concentrating on self-cultivation. She has overcome the solitary and introverted character she established over so many decades and eliminated the mental block of being afraid to associate with people. She wanted to make her contribution to Dafa promotion, and would do whatever she could to help. She asked other practitioners to prepare hongfa materials and to give her a ride. Then she made phone calls to representatives in the house and senate and made appointments to meet with them personally. The practitioner who accompanied her said that she could not see the facial expressions of the people she met, but she could tell their attitude and make great conversation with people. Its hard to imagine that shes the same old lady who lived in isolation for so long. Now she is busily in communication with Amnesty International and other groups.

In one of the Chinese schools in Atlanta, the volunteer parental supervisors for several classes are all Dafa practitioners. They work hard without any complaints. They are all very well received by the school and the parents. They also took advantage of this good opportunity to promote Dafa to these parents and teachers. With the positive impact of their own behavior, people gradually came to know more about Dafa and changed their attitude from disliking Dafa to being willing to discuss it. Some parents even asked for Dafa books to read. Once, one couple saw the Dafa newspaper displayed on the table when they tried to register their kids. They said some very rude words to a practitioner. This practitioner kept her smile and calmly explained the true story of Falun Gong to them and told them that the Chinese government was spreading lies. She also suggested that they to read our materials first before any discussion. Later, when she saw that the couple was not familiar with the new surroundings, she actively ran around helping them solve their problems. So, the couple s attitude gradually changed. Later, they were both willing to volunteer to take care of the class for this practitioner. They could never make any connection between the slander put forth by the Chinese government and these kind parents who volunteer to help. The lies naturally crumbled.

In Atlanta, some shops are exceptionally busy on the weekends, so we picked a place that Asians frequently patronize. After we got consent from the owner, we prepared materials in different languages and started to display posters. We also did the exercises in front of the shops, in the places that would not block the sidewalks. Because it is near an intersection, many people and automobiles pass by. Many people stop and ask questions, read our materials or enjoy watching our practice. So, practitioners quickly learned to greet people in different languages, actively distributing materials to them and teaching exercises to those interested.

We have also found good opportunities to promote Dafa at community activities and have gone to distribute materials on-site. Once, while we were on our way to distribute materials before a Chinese show, we came across a big public concert using the same parking lot and taking the same routes. Therefore, practitioners volunteered to direct the traffic for parking. At the same time, we distributed the materials to every car passing by. Some practitioners also obtained a permit to distribute flyers along with the program at the music hall. We saw many people actually reading our newspaper before the show. Sometimes, the opportunities just come to us without our searching for them because many friends bring all kinds of news to us.

Our great teacher has suffered all kinds of hardship and has experienced all danger. He quietly endures unimaginable tribulations in the human world, in the invisible dimensions in the multitudinous layers of the cosmos. We cannot merely appreciate the boundless benevolence and grace of our master; we have to take up our current duty to clarify the truth to the world, since we are all particles in the process of rectification of the Fa in the human world. Let us all give up our human opinions, break through the hard shell of human thinking, let go of all our human sentiments, try all we know, and utilize all appropriate forms in the human society to promote Dafa and eradicate the evil. Working from our own environment, let us assist our teacher in the human world with a compassionate heart for everyday people.