(Clearwisdom.net)
1. Validate the Fa with Righteous Thoughts; Deny the Old Forces' Persecution
I was most delighted to have obtained the Fa in May 1997. After the Chinese Communist Party started to suppress Falun Gong in 1999, I traveled down to Beijing from Liaoning Province four times to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. As a result of exercising my constitutional right to appeal, I was imprisoned and tortured during my illegal detention. The police tortured me with a leather whip, force-fed me with wine, put cigarettes in my mouth [knowing that Falun Gong practitioners do not touch alcohol or cigarettes], made me stand still for long hours while balancing a wine glass on top of my head, making me wear handcuffs for long hours, etc. A policewoman jeered me when she was beating me, "Cursed old woman! I will have you practice Falun Gong in a crematory oven!" On my third trip to Beijing by bicycle, the police extorted 4,150 yuan from me.
On December 26, 1999, I was sentenced to the Fushun City Forced Labor Camp in Liaoning Province for 66 days.
On March 1, 2000, all the female Falun Gong practitioners imprisoned in the Fushun City Forced Labor Camp were transferred to Masanjia Forced Labor Camp in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province. At the time, the female practitioners incarcerated at Masanjia Forced Labor Camp included a lot of intellectuals and professionals from around the country. There were college professors, instructors at the Air Force, translators, senior-level engineers, a local government propaganda official, and even a county mayor. I stood out as a lowly factory worker that did not even finish elementary school. While I was imprisoned in Room One of Building Two at Masanjia Forced Labor Camp, 80 percent of the female practitioners there were either managers or college students. One of them was a physician in the army.
After my third attempt to appeal for Falun Gong, I was fired by the security department of the factory. Because I had not been able to read Teacher's new articles for a long time, I handed in a button with the words "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance" that I used to wear on my jacket.
As soon as I was released from the camp on August 6, 2000, I went looking for a copy of Zhuan Falun. Fellow practitioners called on me and brought me a copy of Teacher's three new articles, including "Drive Out Interference," "Rationality," and "Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)." In "Rationality" Teacher said,
"Stepping forward to validate the Fa using many different approaches is a magnificent act, but this absolutely does not mean that you have to be arrested by the evil." (in Essentials for Further Advancement II)
In this article, Teacher pointed out that it was wrong for me to cooperate with the police when they tried to arrest me and that we ought to validate the Fa rationally.
But it was not until Teacher published "A Suggestion" on April 10, 2001 that I truly realized that I had been wrong to play with words to pretend to renounce Falun Gong in writing at Masanjia Forced Labor Camp, thinking I did not actually renounce Falun Gong and it was all pretense.
2. My Solemn Statement and Another Trip to Beijing to Validate Falun Gong
After four months of Fa study and cultivation, as well as encouragements from fellow practitioners, I wrote a solemn statement to declare my words and deeds at Masanjia as null and void on December 22, 2001. I then left for Beijing for the fourth time to validate the Fa on December 28, 2001. I went to Tiananmen Square and unfurled a banner. I shouted aloud from the bottom of my heart, "Falun Gong is good! Falun Gong is good!" I hung the banner on a pine tree near Tiananmen Square before I left and took a train back home that day. At noon of December 29, I arrived home safely under Teacher's protection.
3. Validating Falun Gong and Clarifying the Truth in Every Environment and Occasion
Since January 2002 I have posted Falun Gong truth-clarification materials on the streets. I started by posting one to five copies and then ten copies. Similarly, I started from distributing one truth-clarification pamphlet to five, and then ten copies. I started from hanging three banners I made on the streets, to hanging all the banners I got from truth-clarification materials production sites. I rode my bicycle and hung the banners along the streets or along the railways.
The most memorable experience I had was when I hung a banner at night in September 2002. It was a large banner one meter in width and nine meters in length. I hung it in the recreational area in my factory. The message on the banner was, "Falun Gong Saves People." Nobody knew who did it, but someone hung a string of fireworks next to the banner, which corresponded to the theme of celebration on the banner.
After I published my solemn statement, I went to the local truth-clarification materials production site about twice a week until Teacher published a new article entitled, "Tathagata" on May 13, 2002. I divided the materials into two piles—one pile for fellow practitioners and the other for me. I put the materials in a plastic bag and carried them with me at all times, along with two pieces of chalk and a red marker, so that I could validate the Fa at opportune occasions.
This is how I clarified the truth: I would clarify the truth to people when I was doing errands or going out for a walk, by walking along with them on the streets. When I saw a utility pole or a large tree, I would write, "Falun Gong is good" on it. When I saw a utility pole or a tree on a small trail, I would hang a few truth-clarification pamphlets, VCDs, or Falun Gong amulets wrapped in a plastic bag in case of rain. There are mostly pebbles and rocks on the roads, and trees, even small ones are rare. I would write "Falun Gong is good" and "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance is good" on small trees and smooth rocks. In some villages and mountains, the roads are very clean. Cow herders usually lean on a large tree while the cows graze. They have a lot of free time. I put new materials on the trees every day and every day these cow herders would go pick up the materials and read them while the cows grazed. After they returned to their villages, they spread the truth for us and praised Falun Gong for its magnificence and miracles. During the spring and autumn, the farm fields became an excellent place to spread the Fa and clarify the truth. Farmers' weddings also provided excellent opportunities to clarify the truth. Village weddings usually run for three days. If you are originally from a large clan in a village and go home to attend your niece's, nephew's, or other relatives' wedding, you will be able to spread the truth to the entire village and even neighboring villages during the two nights of your stay. You will be able to clarify the truth and distribute truth-clarification materials in person.
Next, I would like to share how I clarified the truth in the urban areas. In 2002, my factory decided to relocate to the city. I sent forth righteous thoughts when I looked for a new home in the city, since saving sentient beings is my top priority, followed by housing. With every house I looked at, I sent forth righteous thoughts.
During the house-hunting process, a seller obtained the Fa. (Later, he was illegally detained for three days for practicing Falun Gong.) I also met a lay Buddhist, who had read Zhuan Falun before the persecution of Falun Gong started in 1999. She knows the truth about Falun Gong. In fact, I had lunch at her home once and sent forth righteous thoughts at noon there.
In May 2002, fellow practitioners in the city reported a shortage of truth-clarification materials. How could we pass on materials to those fellow practitioners in the city? I volunteered for the logistics function. It was 220 miles between the village and the city, but I have never procrastinated in the weekly delivery of truth-clarification materials because of weather. During the process of delivery, I get to exchange cultivation experiences with fellow practitioners, and we help solve each other's cultivation problems and elevate together in cultivation practice.
4. Helping Fellow Practitioners with a Setback
A veteran practitioner in his 70s used to be a Falun Gong volunteer assistant before July 20, 1999 (when the persecution began). Due to a variety of reasons, he had not stepped out for the Fa for a long time. As a result, all his sickness karma returned. He had been admitted to the hospital a few times already, but the injections he received did not help. His wife once ran into me and invited me over. He told me, "I don't have any gong left. I am done for." He briefly gave me a litany of his illnesses. Before he continued, I told him, "Why don't you find a few fellow practitioners to send forth righteous thoughts for you and eradicate the evil elements interfering with your body? A cultivator does not have any illness. The symptoms you are experiencing are nothing. 'A tiny finger will be more than enough to crush it.' ("Spirit or Animal Possession" from Lecture Three of Zhuan Falun) I will tell fellow practitioners about your situation when I go back home and ask them to send forth righteous thoughts for you. You should tell fellow practitioners in your area as well." Two months later, his wife ran into me again. This time she told me excitedly, "Since he got well, I often go out with him to distribute truth-clarification materials. I worry about him if he goes alone." Although she did not practice Falun Gong, she has been clarifying the truth about Falun Gong and distributing truth-clarification materials.
As Falun Gong practitioners, we must be more diligent.
Please allow me to share a passage of the Fa. Teacher said,
"A Dafa disciple should put the Fa first in everything he does--whenever you evaluate something you have to consider the Fa first." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston")
Due to my lack of education, I hesitated for a long time to write this article. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate in my understanding.
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
Category: Clarifying the Truth
