(Minghui.org) I am a retired teacher and am just under 70 years old. In 2000, my then-22-year-old son was arrested and sentenced to 12 years in prison for practicing Falun Gong despite his excellent character and academic ability.
So that my son could read Master Li Hongzhi's writings, I took more than 640 train trips over the course of nine years to take copies of them to him in prison. While en route to the prison, I managed to persuade countless people to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. I thought that when I had saved enough people, the Falun Dafa practitioners held in the prison would be released.
Master's Writings Encourage Detained Practitioners
I didn't really sleep for two months after my son was arrested. At that time, I was still teaching and was well-liked by students. However, because I practiced Falun Gong, I was criticized at school meetings and denied bonuses; I was followed, monitored, and nearly arrested. I lived in fear every day.
My son was first taken to the detention center, where he was tortured and had all the money and items I'd given him taken away. The detention center was filthy and full of insects. Because of that, my son developed scabies all over his body that later became infected; his legs also became swollen.
When he was there, every time I visited, I gave him poems from Master's Hong Yin that I had hand-copied for him to memorize. With faith in Master and the Fa, my son was able to overcome the tribulations.
He was later taken to the biggest prison in the province. While he was there, he was forced to do hard labor for 17 hours a day and punished if he couldn't finish. He had to eat moldy buns and bread and drink vegetable soup with a layer of worms floating on top and a layer of sand at the bottom.
I was afraid my son would be persecuted to death in the prison and visited him every month to bring a few poems from Hong Yin for him to hang up.
With help from other practitioners, Master opened up my wisdom, and I was able to use a cleverly hidden method to get Master's writings, copies of Minghui Weekly, Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, and Chinese and English versions of Zhuan Falun into the prison.
Because the prison held over 80 practitioners, I felt that Master might have arranged this path for me to take. So I brought in articles that Master had written every month, year after year, regardless of the weather. With Master's protection, my son also passed the writings on to other practitioners after he read them.
Once, when the prison refused to let me visit him, my coordinator told me that the practitioners in the whole city would send forth righteous thoughts for me. However, my non-practitioner daughter and I were still not allowed to see my son when we got there.
I refused to give up as we had spent quite a bit of money on our 12 round-trip train tickets. The prison shop clerks suggested that we give what we'd brought to one particular guard. I spent over 200 yuan to buy him two packs of good cigarettes, and he took the things that contained the writings inside to my son. That was a close call, and I knew that it was Master's arrangement.
Every Dafa practitioner in the prison saw Master's writings during the nine years I delivered them. Later, the prison suspected that I was the one who was responsible and wanted to search through the things I brought for my son. At the last second when the guard was getting ready to check my things, someone started to shout, diverting the guards' attention, and my things were never checked. I was later afraid that both my son and I would be in danger if we were found out.
I thought it was too dangerous and decided not to deliver the articles anymore. However, on the day I was to visit the prison, other practitioners gave me the copies they'd made. They fell on the ground because I didn't want to take them. When I picked them up and looked at Master's picture, I heard Master saying, “You have to go! Many of my disciples are in there!”
I cried and decided to take them.
When the prison no longer allowed us to send in items, my son told me to find someone on the prison staff to help without letting him know that there were writings inside.
Another time, when it was snowing heavily, the train stopped halfway and couldn't continue. Suddenly, I heard someone shouting, “There's still one more seat!”
I went over and saw that the train traveling toward the prison was looking for people to board, although the ticket cost more. Recalling this incident, I now know that this was Master's arrangement.
With Master's protection, I was able to get copies of the writings into the prison until my son was released. I am so thankful to Master.
I would also like to especially thank the practitioners who helped print the writings and send forth righteous thoughts for me. It was because of everyone's faith in Master that I was able to continue to do what I did.
Master said,
“What's important for cultivators is righteous thoughts. When you have strong righteous thoughts, you are able to withstand anything and do anything. That's because you are a cultivator: someone who is on a divine path and who is not controlled by the factors of ordinary people or low-level principles.” (“Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles”)
Thank you, Master! I have understood this Fa-principle. At that time, Master also helped remove my attachment to fear and other human attachments. Thank you, Master!
After my son was released, many of the practitioners who were still incarcerated with sentences of 6 to 15 years called to thank me for bringing the writings.
Those imprisoned hoped to continue to see Master's writings, and I think that Master would arrange for others to deliver them.
With faith in Master and righteous thoughts, we have overcome many tribulations.
Master said,
“Dafa disciples are magnificent, because what you are cultivating is the ultimate Great Fa of the cosmos, because you have validated Dafa with righteous thoughts, and because you have not fallen during the massive tribulation.” (“The Disciples’ Magnificence,” Essentials for Further Advancement II)
How precious it was for the Dafa disciples in the prison to receive Master's writings.
Master said,
“Even if the sky were to fall, a cultivator's righteous thoughts would stay unshaken--that is cultivation, and that is remarkable. (Applause) A cultivator is not attached to anything in this world.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Meeting with Asia-Pacific Students,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. VI)
Dafa disciples' righteous thoughts struck fear into the old forces and the prison. As I wrote this part, I started to cry. I knew that everything was done by Master and that I was just following Master.
Overcoming Difficulties to Deliver Master's Writings
It was not easy for me to travel to the prison. It took six trains and three days and two nights, round trip.
I taught 7 classes and 14 lessons per week as I was well-liked by the students. However, I was not allowed to take leave for my monthly visits to see my son. I had to arrange with the head teacher to teach in advance or have make-up lessons after I returned. I once fainted on the athletic field because I was so tired from the journey.
I clarified the truth to my students nearing the school holidays. The school security department soon learned of it and asked that I be dealt with.
One administrator said, “Don't bother with her. Her home would be empty if she were arrested too.”
Master has always protected me.
Traveling to the prison all year round used up all our money. My daughter complained that I didn't use oil to cook and that she had to use salt to season the food. When she asked me for 20 yuan, I had none to give her. Later, I borrowed from other practitioners (the funds have since been returned).
I had to set aside funds for the train tickets, accommodation, and food for the journey and for my son when I was paid every month. My daughter and I had to live on whatever was left.
Despite being strapped for cash, I never stopped giving money to material production sites.
I suffered a lot while on the road to the prison: I stayed in cheap, cockroach-infested hotels with restrooms down the hall; I had fevers, went hungry, and froze on the train. Once, I felt the world spinning when I got home, and I just crawled into bed. I recovered the next day and knew that Master had removed my karma for me.
A practitioner said that I lived like a monk. Things got better after my salary increased.
Clarifying the Truth En Route
I clarified the truth to people as I traveled to and from the prison. Buses, train stations, trains, waiting rooms, prison interview rooms, hotels and motels are all good places to do that.
There were a few times when I walked from the first to the last car on the train to clarify the truth. Many times I was chased off the train for clarifying the truth but just boarded another car. On one trip, I clarified the truth to 166 people. Usually I could talk to between 80 and 110 people per trip.
Master said,
“Not omitting a single area where there are people.” (“Let Go of Human Attachments and Save the World’s People,” The Essentials Of Diligent Progress Vol III)
When I was at the Harbin train station, I would talk to the people in the waiting rooms about Dafa.
Once, I was eating in a restaurant just outside the prison and told the other customers about the CCP harvesting organs from Falun Dafa practitioners by force. A guard's relative owned the restaurant, and I was followed when I left.
I asked Master to protect me: “Master, I haven't delivered the writings yet. I can't let anyone take them. I don't want to be arrested, or my son in prison will have no one to care for him.”
The people who had come after me combed through every room in the hotel but mine. I had many narrow escapes due to Master's protection.
I would buy seeds and other snacks before boarding the train and take out them out for everyone to eat on the journey. I talked as everyone ate and could quickly persuade six or seven people to quit the CCP before changing my seat. If there were young children, I would take out the snacks for them to eat, and their parents who understood the truth would quit the CCP.
If someone spilled water or needed a tissue, I would hand one to them, and things would be easy when I asked them to quit the CCP. If no one else was in the compartment, I would go to the other compartments and continue to clarify the truth.
Once, I met an elderly woman who had difficulty opening her eyes due to pain after cataract surgery. I told her to recite “Falun Dafa is good,” and tears immediately rolled down her cheeks. She could open her eyes! She happily thanked me and didn't want me to leave. She was very accepting of Dafa.
Another time, a woman sitting next to me said that she'd taken the wrong train. After I told her about Dafa and she had quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations, she got off at the next stop.
Another time, when a train stopped at the platform, I rushed over and saw no one. As the doors were closed, I wondered if I was on the wrong platform.
At that moment, the door closest to me opened, and the conductor put down the ladder and told me to quickly get on board. The train started moving just after I boarded it. According to the rules, passengers are not allowed to board the train in the few minutes before departure. It seemed that this train had been waiting just for me.
Many miraculous things happened during my nine-year journey to deliver Master's writings to the prison.
I filed a criminal complaint against former CCP leader Jiang Zemin for persecuting Dafa disciples and received a receipt that it was delivered. To assist Master in rectifying the Fa, I must do what I have to and also cultivate myself well, because Master has already paved the path for me and is waiting for me to follow it.
Thank you, Master!Thank you, fellow practitioners!
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
