(Clearwisdom.net) I am 73 years old and I began practicing Falun Dafa in 1996. Before my wife (also a practitioner) and I started to cultivate Dafa, we both had many illnesses. She had severe anemia and rheumatoid, and I had experienced over 40 years of stomach problems. All kinds of medicine and medical treatments had failed us. Other types of qigong provided us with no hope. In this desperate situation, we were very fortunate to obtain the Fa. All of our illnesses have since disappeared without requiring any medicine. We also understood the reason for the many tribulations in life, the concepts of life and death, and the true meaning of life. We have since followed Master on the way back to our original homes.
Master told us that cultivation was serious and hard. We need to study the Fa well, validate the Fa, and cultivate righteously, as well as do the things Dafa disciples should do well. Facing brutal persecution by the evil Chinese Communist Party (CCP), we steadfastly continued our cultivation. The CCP officials have listed us as important persons, and followed, monitored, arrested, and detained us, confiscated our belongings, sent us to forced labor camps and brainwashing centers, harassed us at home, and extorted money from us since the persecution began on July 20, 1999. My wife has been illegally arrested and detained many times. I hardly see her during the holidays at all. The CCP arrested and detained me for a month again in November 2010.
Several practitioners suggested that I share my cultivation experiences. I had never before sent in any articles and felt my experiences were trivial compared with other practitioners. But I have benefited from Dafa. The evil CCP has persecuted Dafa, slandered Master and the Fa, and persecuted practitioners. Many sentient beings are in great danger. So I want to share my experiences with fellow practitioners. Below are my personal understandings. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
1. Consider Fa As Teacher, Cultivate Diligently
On July 20, 1999, the CCP started to persecute Falun Gong. It slandered Dafa and poisoned the minds of sentient beings. Our environment of group Fa-study was destroyed. Overnight, the CCP arrested the Falun Gong coordinators all over the country. In my mind, Dafa is the most important thing in the human world and the whole universe. No matter when or where our friends asked about our cultivation, my wife and I always answered firmly, “We will cultivate Dafa.” Every afternoon we were forced to attend a so-called study with the retirement committee. Once someone there slandered Dafa, claiming that Master said the earth would explode. I replied firmly but calmly, “I have cultivated Falun Gong for a few years. I never heard Master say anything like that in his articles or in audio or video recordings. You should have proof before you say something like that.” That person was the middle level leader in my factory. Since then he has always greeted me. He seemed to understand that the evil CCP's propaganda was just lies.
An official who was in charge of monitoring Falun Gong practitioners once had a conversation with me. I said, “The CCP always likes to suppress, but some things cannot be suppressed.” He was shocked. After a while, he asked what those things might be. I said, “Compassion cannot be suppressed. Peace cannot be suppressed. Heaven cannot be suppressed. Anyone who persecutes compassion must be evil. Good will be rewarded with good, and evil will provoke retribution.” After that, he said nothing more, and he also changed his attitude toward me. I think he also changed his attitude about Falun Gong. He was one of the former leaders of my workplace. After many conversations with me, he understood that the evil CCP was wrong with all its political movements. I was happy for his awakening.
The CCP secretary talked with me and told me to read the newspaper and watch the TV. I said, “All the things that the newspapers and TV say about Falun Gong are false except Master and Falun Gong's name. The Party's goal is to incite hatred and deceive the public, turning it against Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. They are trying to drag the whole country into the abyss of sin. Why should I read those things at all?” She said the newspaper published an article written by a person named Wang, and she asked me to write an article, too. I said Wang's understanding was different from my understanding, and I didn't need to read it or write any article. I would not be used against Falun Dafa. She knew I wouldn't write anything she wanted and had to let me go. Later I learned that the article published under Wang's name was actually fabricated by the local 610 Office and was used to deceive the public.
2. Walk the Path Master Arranged
After July 20, 1999, the evil CCP destroyed our environment of group Fa-study. Some practitioners and I went for a walk on a nearby mountain one Sunday. We gathered together to share our experiences and were reported to the police. Officers from the police station arrested us and detained us at the detention center. I was illegally detained for ten days. They said I had disturbed the social order. I said, “There was no one else on the mountain. How were we disturbing the social order?”
After a while, I received a phone call from the CCP secretary of my workplace asking me to write a self-criticizing letter. I wrote about how I benefited from Falun Gong physically and mentally. I wrote that I now have a healthy body after practicing Falun Gong, and the illnesses, including an over-40-year stomach problem, many years of hemorrhoids, long-term kidney stones, an unexplainable frozen shoulder, and other diseases, have all disappeared. I also improved my moral standard and follow Dafa's requirements to eliminate my attachment to pursuing self-interest. I returned one of the two year-end bonuses that my employer and the retirement committee gave me. I always returned twice the salary that was overpaid to me and explained the reason to the related department. Our Falun Gong practitioners are not involved in any crimes or any evil things. Falun Gong is the only pure land in society. If the government really cared about the people's suffering, they would look at how many people had gained healthy bodies after practicing Falun Gong and the great savings in medical expenses for the country. They should support Falun Gong instead of opposing it. But the reality is disappointing. Why does the CCP not follow heaven and the people's will? It speaks nicely but it is all lies. They've done very bad things. They killed many people during each political movement. They used the people's hard-earned money and directed the state agencies to arrest practitioners, confiscate their property, break the law, violate human rights, and destroy public security. They have now framed our Falun Gong practitioners for “disturbing social order.” Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is a blessing and hope bestowed by heaven. How is it wrong for me to cultivate Falun Gong, believe in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and be a good person? Rational people won't oppose Falun Gong. It is absolutely wrong that the CCP and Jiang persecute Falun Gong. Jiang abused his power as the head of the CCP to turn the entire country against Falun Gong and its over 100 million practitioners. It will bring disaster to the country and the nation. It is not the act of a rational person.
They got really angry after reading my letter, but they had no way to refute me at all. The Party secretary told me to rewrite it, but I said it reflected my understanding and would be the same no matter how I rewrote it.
3. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance Has Boundless Power
My wife and I cooperated together to persuade people to quit the CCP, and most of the time things went well. But we sometimes encountered people who did not accept the truth and criticized us. When this happened, I told them, “You can be against anything else, but you cannot be against Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Humans must have a moral standard. If Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is not good, what is good? Lies, evil, violence, and fraud? Murder, arson, gambling, prostitution, corruption, theft, and abduction?” After hearing this, these people never knew what to say. We then left. We understand that Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are not only the universal spiritual and moral values of the world, but also the Fa of the cosmos. Dafa has supreme supernatural power and no one can destroy it or dare to go against it.
4. Expose Evil in the Local Area, Display Dafa's Mighty Power
One night a few years back, it was said that truth-clarifying messages were broadcast from a hill behind a middle school near my home. The next morning, officers from the police station came to my door. I was the only person at home. I saw they were very angry and insisted on coming in, so I opened the door. They came inside and searched around like crazy, even using a flashlight to look under the bed, but found nothing. I said, “What are you looking for? Do you have a warrant to search my home? What crime did I commit? We cultivate Falun Gong and believe in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to be good persons and have healthy bodies. What is wrong with that? You have harassed me at home at your convenience, disturbing our peace and breaking up my family. If you come to harass me again, I won't open the door at all.” They had to leave without a word. Since then, they have not dared to harass us at home again.
When the 610 Office started to host brainwashing sessions in town, my wife was detained there. A head of the township 610 Office very actively participated in persecuting Falun Gong. He not only detained practitioners, but also covered the windows of the prison with paper, which made the cells dark and airtight. A male practitioner asked that he not cover the windows with paper. The head of the 610 Office went up to the practitioner and tried to strangle him. The practitioner was young and tall. The head of the 610 Office was no match for him at all, but the practitioner didn't fight back. His face turned red and he almost passed out. All the practitioners detained in the brainwashing center went on a hunger strike together. This was quickly exposed overseas. The district government officials were all scared an had to resolve the problem. Soon the brainwashing center was shut down. The head of the 610 Office told me, “The things that happened in our local area and the persons' names were all known overseas. I don't know who did it, but I suspect it was you.” I said, “You could suspect me. I also have doubts about your future, too. Good will be rewarded with good, and evil will provoke retribution. If you did the right thing, why you are so afraid?” He could not say a word.
One morning in November 2010, as I was waiting at the bus station for a bus, I was arrested and taken to a vehicle by four plainclothes police officers. I asked why they were arresting me, who they were, and where their IDs were. But they said nothing and could not produce any IDs. I said they were no different from gangsters. When I was arrested and taken to the police station, they forcibly searched me and took the key to my home. They then used the key to enter and take over my home. They took away my Dafa books, Master's photo, a notebook for cultivation for many years, and other personal belongings. They also took an accusing letter I had written.
They interrogated me about where I was going on the bus, why I greeted others on the street, and asked me to talk about my history of cultivation. I said I was free to go where I pleased, say hello to anyone, and I didn't need to tell them anything about my cultivation. They asked me who gave me the recent Minghui Weekly. I said, “I cultivate Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and I did not do bad things. If I tell you, you will arrest good Falun Gong practitioners and do more bad things. Does it do anything good for you? Why should I tell you?” They could not provide a good reason. They could not do anything, but just balked about following the CCP, and some of evil Jiang's words. I clearly told them, “Evil Jiang said anything written in the newspaper could not be used as legal evidence. You should leave yourself a way to escape. Every time the CCP has persecuted Falun Gong over the past more than ten years, the CCP always said the crime was 'the cult disturbing society.' This has no legal foundation, and all the cases were misjudged. But they will be rectified. What will you do at that time? All we've said and done was to tell people the good things about Falun Dafa, and save them. Think about it. Any person with a little legal knowledge could understand what I said. Human laws only apply to human actions, not people's thoughts. Each crime must have four key factors, including a subject and an object. For example, murder crimes have a murderer and a victim. Falun Gong has not hurt anyone, and it is not responsible for any crimes at all.” They could not find any excuse to accuse me, but they still arrested me and detained me illegally in the detention center.
During my detention, Lai, the head of the police station, along with domestic security official Lu in the police department, took turns interrogating me. During the interrogation, they shouted loudly at the beginning. Lu also scolded me. When I asked their names, they were afraid to tell me. I knew what they were thinking, and I said, “If you're doing the right thing, why you are afraid of telling me your names and being accused by me?” He said it was a career habit to speak loudly, and he immediately changed his rude attitude. I also told them about evil Jiang's horrible fate and wished they would think about their futures. This displayed the mighty power of the Fa that Master taught us about exposing the evil ones in the local area.
5. Cultivate Righteously
Master taught us to cultivate righteously. I think during our cultivation, we should achieve compassion and kindness without unrighteous thoughts, act righteously without fear, have righteous thoughts within the Fa, and follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in our words and actions. The key is to be righteous mentally and physically. We should have righteous thoughts and actions inside and out, which will scare the evil, and make the good people happy.
I once talked with a practitioner who was worrying too much. He said, “I am not afraid of death, but of torture.” With fearful thoughts, he was torturing himself. I told him, “Less thinking, more righteous thoughts.” He was shocked and asked who said that.
I said, “If you understand what Master said about strengthening your righteous thoughts, you will be clear. I was persecuted by the evil CCP. My family was broken apart, and I was at home alone. When I had problems, my human notions and attachments emerged and I had interference from the outside. So I worried and was anxious, which caused me to have headaches and a foggy mind. I could not even sleep well or eat. This state was not good. As practitioners we must adjust our status. Otherwise, how can we cultivate ourselves and how can we validate the Fa? When it happened, I followed what Master said and studied the Fa well. When my mind was full of the Fa, my status changed. So I studied the Fa, practiced the exercises, and sent forth righteous thoughts, and did the three things well every day. If I had time, I read Minghui Weekly and learned from fellow practitioners how they handled their problems. Master said that, on important matters, practitioners should read the Minghui website (Chinese version of Clearwisdom). After I read Minghui, I understood that all the worries and fears in my tribulations were degenerate imagination and evil logic. I targeted those attachments while sending forth righteous thoughts to get rid of them. When I cultivated in evil environments and faced the evil, I did not think of human things, just Dafa related things. But sometimes I could not completely achieve that, so I said, “Less thinking and more righteous thoughts.” Fear is an attachment. The more you fear, the stronger the attachment. Maser said,
“With attachments too strong, bearings are lost.” (“The Knowing Heart,” from Essentials for Further Advancement II)
You lost your bearings in the ocean. Aren't you suffering? Isn't it dangerous? Master said,
“Should you have fear,
it will seize upon you
If thoughts are righteous,
evil will collapse...”
(“What’s to Fear?” from Hong Yin Vol. II)
Fear is a human notion. If you hold onto the fear and don't let it go, you are an everyday person and you will not be protected. Master's Fa body and the gods won't protect everyday people. Certainly the evil will arrest you. If you always think of Master and Dafa, you are a Dafa disciple. Master will protect you, and no one will dare to touch you. When you have strong righteous thoughts, the evil beings will be eliminated when they see you. Without the evil's control, an everyday person cannot touch you at all.”
My wife was arrested and taken to a brainwashing session hosted by the township government. When she was taken to the brainwashing center in the factory car, I went with her in order to learn where the brainwashing center was located, so I could visit her in case something happened. When I later went to the police station for my wife's things, the head of the township 610 Office saw me and said, “I heard you also want to go to the brainwashing session.” I looked at him and said seriously, “What are you talking about? Who told you that? Is that place for people like me? Why do I need to go there? Let me tell you, if evil Jiang did not persecute Falun Gong, I would have nothing to do with you at all. I cultivate Falun Gong and believe in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I have a healthy body and I want to be a good person and do good things. What is wrong with that? For example, once the power generator for one of my factory's machines malfunctioned. The factory tried to fix it and hired a contractor to fix it. They took a long time but still could not fix it, which greatly affected production. This was not my responsibility, and since the salary increase was not fair to me, although I didn't say anything, my leader felt so guilty that he didn't want to ask for my help. But I heard about it and told the workers how to repair it. They followed my instructions and fixed the problem very quickly. If I didn't cultivate Falun Gong, I might not have done that. This is the benefit of cultivating Falun Gong and improving one's moral standard. Did I hurt you? So we have nothing to do with one another. It is all because evil Jiang persecuted Falun Gong.”
I just considered myself a practitioner and acted righteously. I just wished they would realize that Falun Gong practitioners are good people, and that they should not follow the evil CCP and Jiang to do bad things. They had no reason to disagree with me and just listened quietly.
Later my wife was arrested and taken to the district brainwashing center by the police. My over 80-year-old father-in-law (also a practitioner) and I went to the police station and asked them to release my wife. We later went to the brainwashing center many times to visit my wife. I stayed at the police station for an entire day. At first, they acted fiercely and wanted to drive us away. I said, “My wife cultivates Falun Gong and is a good person. There is nothing wrong with that. Without my wife, we two men have difficulty with the cooking and housekeeping. If you do not release her, let us see what will happen.” They said, “The higher authorities gave the instructions that no matter how badly we treat Falun Gong practitioners, it is not excessive.” My father-in-law said, “I am over 80 years old. What am I afraid of? What instructions from higher authorities? How is it not excessive?” They did not dare to answer. I said, “People all have brains. You need to clearly distinguish right from wrong, good from bad, and righteousness from evil for yourselves. You should not follow bad people to do bad things, otherwise when you receive karmic retribution, you won't even know why.” My father-in-law said, “You need to have a scale to measure it for yourself.” Some of the police officers said, “Yes, we should measure it.”
Then someone said, “Why did your Falun Gong have so many people to besiege Zhongnanhai?” I said, “Over 100 million people practice Falun Gong. Only about ten thousand people went. That was not very many. It is only one out of ten thousand. If you had ten thousand people who were not satisfied and you sent one representative to Zhongnanhai to appeal, is that a lot?” None of them could answer. I said again, “All the Falun Gong practitioners were peaceful. They did not hang any banners or shout any slogans. They did not affect the traffic. The police even chatted and smoked on the side. You are police. Would you be so comfortable if you were besieged? When Falun Gong practitioners left, they picked up all the cigarette butts left by the police. Has there ever been a besiege like that in human history? If any of you can find an example of a siege like that, I will agree with you.” No one could answer my question. Then one policeman jumped up, pointed at my nose, and said, “Don't think you're so great and don't be complacent.” I said, “I am a regular person. I came here for this matter. You think it is not excessive no matter how bad you treat me. You think you are great. You pointed your finger at me. You are the one who is complacent.” He immediately put his hands behind his back and stopped his disgusting performance. My mind was clear. I knew I was a practitioner and I believed in Master and the Fa. I remembered, “Cultivation is up to you, gong is up to the master.” (Zhuan Falun) My wisdom came forth non stop. We play the main roles in this last drama of the human world. We stayed from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Since my father-in-law was old and needed rest, I told the police to give me the address of the district brainwashing center. They immediately told me and we returned home. Although we didn't get my wife released, we still clarified the truth.
When we first went to the district brainwashing center, we met director Shuai and chairman Shi, who were the head of the district 610 Office and the chairman of some union in the district. When we told them why we came, they showed me a brochure. I said the brochure attacked Falun Gong and was all falacious. I didn't look at it. They then slandered Dafa with remarks about the staged Tiananmen Square self-immolation and suicide. I refuted them all. Director Shuai still did not give up. He said that in his hometown there was a Falun Gong practitioner who cut his abdomen open to see the Falun. He also said, “If you don't believe something that happened faraway, you should believe the things that happen nearby.” I said, “The Falun Gong book clearly says we cannot kill. Suicide is a sin. Falun Gong does not accept mentally disturbed people. That was done by a mentally disturbed person. There is no difference between using those things to slander Falun Gong and saying Liu Shaoqi was a traitor in the Cultural Revolution. I was deceived for many years by the CCP and I won't be deceived again.” They had no more tricks, but they only allowed my father-in-law to visit my wife. I told them, “I came a long way to visit my wife. It is mental torture that you don't allow me to see her. She was healthy before the arrest. If anything goes wrong later and you say it was because she practiced Falun Gong, I won't accept it!”
6. Walk Well on the Path Master Arranged
I made the decision to cultivate Falun Dafa and follow Master home. I gave everything of myself to Master and I listen to Master on everything. The old forces are to be eliminated. Their display is to interfere with and destroy Fa-rectification, and we must deny it. The evil CCP's persecution of practitioners is a display of the old forces interfering with Fa-rectification in this dimension.
When the evil CCP first started the brainwashing session, they arrested my wife and took her there. The town 610 Office head told me to pay but I refused. He then told my employer to pressure me to pay. Some people from my employer came to me. I told them, “Falun Gong practitioners are good people. Persecuting good people will result in karmic retribution. They arrested good people and also asked me to pay for it. It doesn’t make any sense. I won't pay a penny that I should not pay. You should also consider the consequences in handling this thing.”
Later the Party secretary of the retirement committee called me, “If you don't agree to pay, we will deduct it from your wife's salary.” I told him, “My wife cultivates Falun Gong and believes in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. This is freedom of belief as stipulated in the constitution. It is totally legal. If you want to deduct my wife's salary, I won't acknowledge it. I will see you in court in the future!”
Not agreeing to pay them is preventing them from committing crimes against Dafa and is showing compassion towards them. Their good sides should understand. Soon after my wife was released from the town brainwashing center, she was arrested and taken to the district brainwashing center again. On payday, I went to check my wife's salary. The Party secretary of the retirement committee immediately showed me the salary record and repeatedly said, “We did not deduct the money.” Since then our salary has never been garnished.
My wife firmly cultivated Falun Dafa and her determination could not be moved by the evil. The officials in the district brainwashing center realized that they could not "transform" her, so they transferred her to the city brainwashing center. The city brainwashing center strictly withheld any information about her, and we did not know anything about her for a long time. I called the head of the town 610 Office. He proposed that we have a drink. I visited him personally, and he said we should talk in the garden. I knew he was aiming to get money from me. If I satisfied his financial requests, it would nourish the evil. The evil members of the CCP would benefit from it and practitioners' tribulations would increase. Dafa disciples are a whole body. I am a particle of Dafa and I need to safeguard the whole, not harm it. I should not do anything harmful to Dafa. I told him, “You arrested my wife. Now we don't hear anything about her. You will be held responsible if anything has happened.” Then I left. Later he said I could not visit my wife, but my son could.
When we got the news, it was almost the Chinese New Year. Our relatives and friends from all over the country knew this, and they sent many greeting cards to my wife, which encouraged the practitioners who had been persecuted at the brainwashing center, shocked the evil at the brainwashing center, and also provided our relatives and friends the opportunity to have a beautiful future. The evil officials in the city brainwashing center said to my wife, “We didn't know you had so many people behind you.” Their goal in withholding information about her was to isolate her. They had told her that her family and friends were all ignoring her in order to mentally torture her. The greeting cards totally bankrupted the evil's information blockade and mental torture. They realized they could not "transform" my wife. With Master's arrangement, my wife returned home before the Chinese New Year.