(Minghui.org) On the morning of April 26, 1999, a group of young people at the National Information Technology Research Institute of Singapore were having a heated discussion about an incident which took place in Beijing the day before. The whole world paid attention when this peaceful group of over 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners went to the appeals office of the State Council to appeal for justice.
In the early morning of April 25, 1999, an amazing scene took place around Zhongnanhai [the central government compound in Beijing]: the police removed the barricades set up earlier and guided a large group of Falun Gong practitioners from the eastern intersection of the street to the western intersection.
They then instructed the group to move slowly southbound from the north towards the front gate of the Zhongnanhai compound. At the same time, another group of practitioners was guided to come from the opposite direction towards them, and the two groups joined into one right in front of the main gate to Zhongnanhai.
According to media reports, more than 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners gathered there that day. Under the instructions of the police, they stood very quietly and orderly around Zhongnanhai. This was the scene of the April 25 peaceful appeal that shocked the world at the time.
Dezhong, who went to study in the UK in 1994 and came back to work at the National Information Technology Research Institute of Singapore in 1998, did not know anything about Falun Gong at that time. When he heard about the so-called charge of “besieging Zhongnanhai” he became very curious and wanted to find out more about what had happened.
When his colleagues told him what was reported in the media, Dezhong said, “Because I experienced firsthand the June 4th incident when I was in Beijing, how can I still trust what's said in the media? There are Falun Gong practitioners in our institute. I'll go and hear what they have to say about it.”
At lunch time, Dezhong sat down across from a Falun Gong practitioner in his workplace and asked him what this, “Besieging Zhongnanhai was all about and what was Falun Gong?” Dezhong was really curious about Falun Gong, so he really didn't pay much attention to what his colleague said about the April 25 peaceful appeal; instead, he became really interested in finding out more about Falun Gong.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had never expected that their plot to create a disturbance in order to persecute and eliminate Falun Gong actually helped many people learn about Falun Gong. Some even started to practice themselves. The practice further developed overseas.
“Wow, it's so good. I would like to give it a go as well!”
After his colleague introduced Falun Gong to him, Dezhong got very excited, “Wow, it's so good. I would like to give it a go as well!” He purchased a copy of Falun Gong's main book Zhuan Falun and borrowed a video that teaches the exercises. He went home and started to read the book and learn the exercises from the video. He deeply felt the miraculous power of Falun Gong within a week.
Dezhong said, “I got up at 4:00 a.m. the next morning to do the exercises, and kept doing this for the next few days. I felt I was very clearheaded even though I only slept for three or four hours every night. I cannot express the feeling in words. It was such a crystal-clear feeling.”
Dezhong had studied at Qinghua University in Beijing more than ten years earlier, and due to pressure from his studies, he began to suffer insomnia. Later, he started working in IT and continued to suffer serious insomnia, feeling like an old man even when he was in his 30s.
“After I started practicing Falun Gong I felt like I was breathing oxygen and had a clear-headed feeling I had never experienced before. For some reason, during those few days, I felt very peaceful in my heart; when I was walking on the street, I felt everything around me was filled with bright colors,” Dezhong said.
He also had some miraculous experiences while doing the exercises: When he was sitting cross-legged in meditation, he saw energy in the form of a golden color going through his whole body. He experienced many other wonderful feelings that were beyond words.
Existing Knowledge Cannot Explain Supernatural Science
Cultivation in Falun Gong does not stop at just doing the exercises. Most important is to study the Fa principles through reading the book Zhuan Falun and to conduct oneself according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and constantly strive to elevate one's level.
After Dezhong read Zhuan Falun a couple of times in two weeks, he began to focus on doing the exercises and ignored Fa study. Gradually, he started to have many baffling questions in his mind. For example, he often asked himself, “Master has told us to let go of attachments. Then, isn't it also an attachment to keep doing the exercises?” He could not find answers to many such questions. Besides, he was also affected by various material comforts and sentiments. By and by he felt he could no longer require himself to be a good person according to the standards set for a Dafa cultivator at all times.
Although he experienced miraculous changes from doing the Falun Gong exercises, he could not verify these supernatural phenomena with the scientific knowledge he had accumulated in the last few decades and felt really baffled. As the saying goes: Seeing is believing. But Dezhong dared not even believe what he saw, and consequently he gave up the practice in less than three months.
He stopped getting up early to do the exercises and resumed his previous lifestyle. Due to his busy workload, he developed symptoms of heart disease. His heart rate became fast, up to 150 beats per minute. When he went to the hospital for a check-up, doctors could not find what was wrong, but he would experience such symptoms three or four times a year, and each time it would take him a couple of weeks to recover. Because he felt very weak and could not take the heavy workload, he asked his boss not to ask him to work overtime and not to give him too much to do. His boss said he could understand how he felt.
Returning to Cultivation Practice
The last time he had a heart problem was at the end of April 2004. He took a sick leave and rested at home. He thought, “I will die if my health keeps declining like this. What shall I do? The hospital cannot help me. It seems that only Falun Gong can save my life!”
So, Dezhong made up his mind to practice Falun Gong again. He said to himself on May 2, 2004, “I'm going to practice Falun Gong.” He then said to his wife, “I'll start practicing Falun Gong.” It had been four years by then since he stopped doing the exercises and he had almost forgotten them. He only remembered the sitting meditation. So he sat up and started to meditate in bed. He also took out the book Zhuan Falun from the bookcase and started to read the book again.
It was really magical that before he even started to learn the exercises he had forgotten, all his heart disease symptoms disappeared within two days, and all he did was read the book and meditate. In the past it would take him at least two weeks to recover. He was extremely happy as he experienced the miraculous power of Falun Gong once again!
After practicing the exercises at home for about two to three months, he took his wife and child to the practice site to participate in group Fa study and group exercise, which benefited him greatly. He quickly regained his health and understood the importance of Fa study. He browsed the Minghui website and attentively read all of Master Li's Fa lectures and teachings. He untied the knots in his heart and felt rapid improvement in his cultivation, and he also understood the mission of Dafa disciples.
In the beginning Dezhong returned to Dafa cultivation to cure his heart disease. The problem disappeared almost straight away. What was even more magical is that within a short period of just a few months, his stubborn insomnia, arthritis and pharyngitis all disappeared as well.
Helping More People to Benefit from Falun Gong
Dezhong regained his health and no longer needed to spend time dealing with his illnesses. Having suffered so much himself in the past, he truly cherished his good health and kept telling others about the miraculous power of Falun Gong. His boss and colleagues all gained a good understanding about Falun Gong and the lies told by the CCP.
Dezhong also wants to clarify the facts to people he just met. For about ten years now, no matter where he is, he does his best to clarify the facts to people about Falun Gong.
Except for working, sleeping and eating, Dezhong uses all his spare time to tell people Falun Dafa is good and tell them not to believe the CCP's lies. One can see him talking with people with an innocent smile on his face on his way to work and back home, at tourist spots and building sites.
There are many building sites in Singapore, where people from China (more than 100,000) have come to work. The Chinese take turns working in Singapore and they come and go quite frequently. Dezhong takes every opportunity to clarify the facts to them one group after another.
Dezhong also clarified the facts to tourists from Mainland China at tourist spots such as Merlion Park on weekends.
He moved to Canada towards the end of 2006 due to work obligations, and since then he frequently goes to Chinatown, where he gets to talk to many Mainland Chinese. He feels really happy for them when they understand the facts and quit the CCP organizations.
Dezhong is rather reticent when it comes to talking about himself: “There were many things that I felt deeply at the time, but I cannot remember them now. I only remember that I should conduct myself according to the standards of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and check within to see where I have not done well and how I can do better.”
Background of the “April 25 Peaceful Appeal”
On April 23 and 24, 1999, police in Tianjin illegally arrested and beat dozens of Falun Gong practitioners. When other Falun Gong practitioners went to reason with the police and asked them to release the innocent Falun Gong practitioners, the police said, “We're only carrying out orders from Beijing. If you want to express your views you need to go to Beijing.” Upon such advice from the police in Tianjin, many Falun Gong practitioners went to Beijing the next day to appeal for justice. Clearly it was the police in Tianjin that encouraged Falun Gong practitioners to go to Beijing to appeal at the time.
What triggered the illegal arrest of Falun Gong practitioners in Tianjin was that earlier, the Tianjin Education College published a slanderous article against Falun Gong in the “Youth Reader” magazine , in which it said that people would suffer mental disorders if they practice Falun Gong and indicated that people practicing Falun Gong would even lead to the destruction of the country. The article was written by He Zuoxiu, who is an in-law of Luo Gan, the then CCP Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Committee.
Falun Gong practitioners went to clarify the facts to the editorial department of the magazine and told them about their own cultivation experience and the touching stories of how they regained health and elevated their morality. After the editorial department learned the truth, they immediately made a statement to rectify their mistake. However, just at that moment, Tianjin sent out more than three hundred anti-riot police to disperse the Falun Gong practitioners who went to clarify the facts to the editorial department. They beat them and illegally arrested four or five Falun Gong practitioners.