(Minghui.org) I received a phone call one morning in April 2019 from an officer from the county police department, saying that he would like to meet with me. I went there at 5:00 p.m. and learned that a practitioner had been arrested for talking to people about Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa).
This practitioner mentioned my name when she was interrogated. That's why the police wanted to see me.
I only told them about Dafa and how much I had benefited from the practice. I didn't give them any information about the arrested practitioner. An officer told me to sign the transcript of our interview an hour later. Before signing my name I wrote “Freedom of belief – our faith is legal.”
Three officers arrived at my house the following morning at 9 a.m. I opened the door, pointed to Master's picture hanging on the wall in the living room, and said, “This is Master Li Hongzhi. No one should touch this!”
I stood in front of the picture, put my hands together in front of my chest, and silently asked Master for help. “Master, please strengthen my righteous thoughts, eliminate the old forces' interference, and save sentient beings.”
I bowed respectfully to Master, then turned to the police and said calmly “Master and Dafa saved my life.”
The policemen showed me their search warrant and began to rummage around my home.
I sat on the sofa and sent righteous thoughts. A policeman was reading “On Dafa” that was hanging on the wall.
The officers didn't touch the framed pictures of Master, the Falun emblem, or the “On Dafa” on the wall. Because my thoughts were righteous, Master was able to restrain the officers from committing a sin.
I was driven to the police department, and interrogated. It started at 12:40 p.m.
The interrogating officer asked me, “When did you start to practice Falun Gong? What are the benefits of practicing?”
“Falun Dafa is a Buddhist practice,” I replied. “It consists of two main components: self-improvement through studying the teachings, and a set of gentle exercises and meditation. I have practiced Falun Gong for more than 20 years. I used to suffer from Meniere's syndrome, and had tried various ways to treat it but nothing helped. However, it disappeared soon after I started to practice Falun Gong.
“I used to be easily irritated. I hated my mother-in-law and complained about her to my husband all the time. I also gave my husband a hard time for not taking care of our child or helping with the housework. We fought often.
“However, I changed completely after I read Zhuan Falun (the main text of Falun Gong). The book requires practitioners to look inward when encountering conflicts and to find their own problems. When I realized that it was all my fault, I apologized to my husband.”
The officer asked, “Why aren't you allowed to practice if Falun Gong is so good?”
I told him that it was then-Chinese Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin who could not stand such a large number of people practicing Falun Gong.
He continued, “Have you ever stopped practicing Falun Gong?”
“I was sentenced to prison twice because I refused to give up the practice,” I replied. “The second time was especially long. The pressure from all fronts was too much after I was released, and I dared not practice anymore.
“But then my illnesses returned, and my health got worse. I suffered from fevers, fatigue, bad eyesight, and poor memory. My speech was also incoherent when I taught my students at school. They weren't happy with me, so the vice principal talked to me about it. But I couldn't help it.
“At home, it was hard for me to take care of myself, not to mention taking care of my mother-in-law and my child. Every 20 days or so, I'd have to lie in bed and rest for a few days.
“Once, my child sat next to me and said, 'Mom, if you fall, our family will fall.' I knew that I couldn't fall down, and that I had to live and be healthy!
“The only way that I knew to restore my health was to practice Falun Dafa. Like this, I resumed my cultivation. And only two months after I went back to the practice, I was able to recover both mentally and physically. I was able to stand on my podium again with a clear mind. I could give lectures and respond to students' questions confidently. Soon, I received good reviews from the students. In fact, I thank Master and Dafa for all I have achieved today.”
The officer asked, “So what do you think we police officers should do?”
“You can show a little mercy. I'd like to tell you a story about the head of a domestic security division. His wife was paralyzed in a car accident. She got to know the facts about Dafa afterwards when her husband read her some of the information that he had been given.
“After that, whenever he got reports of Dafa practitioners distributing materials in a certain area, he sent the officers to search in a different place. This way, he did his job but didn't commit crimes against Dafa. He has chosen a bright future for himself and his family.”
The interrogating officer asked me where the copies of Minghui Weekly I had came from.
“I won't tell you that, don't ask me again,” I replied in a firm tone. “Besides it's not illegal to have these materials.”
The officer passed me the interrogation transcript, and said, “Read this. Write down what you want to add at the end. Then sign it.”
The transcript was brief and didn't have everything I had said on it.
After reading it, I wrote:
“Practicing Falun Dafa can improve one's health and moral standing. To those who have the opportunity to come across Zhuan Falun, please give it a read and see what the book is about. Find out why so many people study it and why they are determined to cultivate. Dafa disciples are telling people the truth about Dafa with their lives. 'Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.' Please don't be someone who knows the law but then breaks it. I hope each one of you will choose a bright future for yourself and your family.”
I then signed my name at the bottom.
The officer went out of the room with the paper, and returned a while later. “You said what you wanted to say. You didn't say anything you didn't want to say. You can go home now.”
I thanked him and left. I was escorted out of the police department, and told how to get home.
I was previously arrested in late September 2003 and held in a detention center for eight months. My school withheld my salary from the second month of my detention.
After my release, I asked the principal to reinstate my job and salary, but he refused. My husband divorced me two weeks later. They both feared retribution from the authorities because of me.
In November 2004, I told my then ex-husband that I would send our three-year-old daughter to live with him, and I would go to Shenzhen City to work there.
He reported this to the county leaders, who then talked with the school principal. The principal then agreed to pay me only a living cost of 400 yuan a month starting from January 2005, but still wouldn't let me return to work at the school.
However, the principal stopped paying me in November that year. I went to talk to him, and met a teacher along the way. She told me to just come to work, and forget about whether the principal would arrange classes for me or not.
I followed her advice and went to work the following day.
The school did not arrange any work for me, so I just found work to do on my own. I cleaned the office building every day.
After a few weeks, the teachers noticed what I was doing and assigned their students to do the cleaning work.
I wandered around the campus when I had nothing to do. It was cold in the winter, so two teachers invited me to use their office to keep warm. However, when the principal found out, he threatened me. “Don't come to school anymore. Stay at home. I will pay you as long as you don't come here again.”
I didn't listen to him and continued to go to school. I put in a request to resume my job and get my normal salary with the County Labor and Personnel Bureau, and met the director there. After I introduced myself, he stared at me in surprise and said, “I heard that you were mentally ill because of Falun Gong.”
“Do you think I am mentally ill?” I asked.
“No, No! Not at all!” he replied.
After I briefly explained my situation, he said that he would bring it up at their next meeting.
I later learned that I would get paid my old full salary again.
I went to the principal's home before the Chinese New Year and asked him to reinstate my job. He beat around the bush and refused to respond directly.
That same evening at home, I wrote a letter to his wife. I told her, “Falun Gong practitioners are innocent. Sooner or later, the truth will come out. I don’t want to see your husband's name on the list of bad people to be punished. I will be really sad if that happens. I hope you can talk to him and persuade him to choose a bright future.”
I sent the letter to the principal's house the next day.
Two days later, the principal and the school's office director drove to my home, bringing rice, cooking oil, apples and two hundred yuan. The principal said that he would sort out my job after the Chinese New Year.
I thanked him and felt happy for him.
I was reinstated with my full salary in June 2006, with all of the back pay.
Master taught us to have the righteous thought:
“"I'm Li Hongzhi's disciple, I don't want other arrangements or acknowledge them"--then they won't dare to do that. So it can all be resolved. When you can really do that, not just saying it but putting it into action, Master will definitely stand up for you.” (“Fa-Lecture During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference”)
I gained a deeper understanding of Master's teachings after breaking through this financial persecution. Thank you Master!