(Minghui.org) I have been practicing Falun Dafa for 17 years since I was a teenager. Now a father of twin boys, I am grateful to the practice for blessing me with so many wonderful things in life. On the 30th anniversary of Falun Dafa’s introduction to the public, I am sharing my story here in hopes you will also learn to appreciate the greatness of Falun Dafa.
Starting to Practice at a Young Age
I grew up in the countryside of northern China. My family was poor and I lived with my parents and paternal grandparents. I heard about Falun Dafa from a relative.
After reading the book Zhuan Falun, I was drawn to Falun Dafa’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I also came to know the purpose of life, which is becoming a good person and returning to where we came from. I often read Zhuan Falun after school on the hillside behind my house. I often continued until it was dark. Those were the happiest days of my life.
My parents did not practice, although they knew what Falun Dafa is. Due to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s persecution of Falun Dafa, my father was very against it and even beat me for practicing. Other family members – including my mother and my grandparents – were also against my practice since they did not want me to be beaten. I, however, was determined in upholding my faith.
“Becoming a better person by following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is not a crime,” I thought. In fact, it was the CCP that was committing a crime by targeting innocent practitioners and deceiving the public. I decided to tell more people about Falun Dafa and debunk the CCP’s defamatory propaganda. Starting from my family, I spent two years explaining everything. They gained more understanding of the practice and agreed that “good and evil will be rewarded accordingly.”
Because I persisted in my practice, my family gradually became supportive of me. Their attitude towards Dafa changed from indifference to acceptance to singing praises of it. My father clarified to his friends the staged self-immolation incident by the CCP and he also helped produce Falun Dafa materials. My mother read Hong Yin, a collection of poems from Mr. Li Hongzhi, Falun Dafa’s founder.
My family also received blessings. During a major car accident, both of my parents were all right. My grandmother also started to practice Dafa. Her health improved and she no longer needed her walking stick or any medication.
Two Years of Labor Camp Detention
After I told my classmates about Falun Dafa, one of my teachers reported me to the police. I was arrested and sent to a brainwashing center. Because I held firm to my belief, the police kept me at a detention center before giving me a two-year term of forced labor camp detention.
From a student to a detainee in the labor camp, there was a big change and I was often in tears. My sadness did not come from my personal ordeal or the physical pain. Rather, I felt bad for the guards. They clearly knew Falun Dafa practitioners are good people. But with pressure from the CCP and pursuit of their own personal gains, they chose to ignore their conscience and abuse practitioners at will.
During those long days behind bars, I gradually calmed down. To me, those guards had been used as tools by the CCP to persecute the innocent. The illegal detention made me clearer that Falun Dafa is righteous and that I would never give it up.
My family was also suffering. Since I refused to renounce my belief, they were prohibited from visiting me. In the first 6 months of my detention, they did not even know where I was. My mother checked all the detention centers in the city, but no one told her my whereabouts. My elderly grandparents felt a sense of déjà vu, as if another Cultural Revolution was unfolding. My grandfather’s poor health deteriorated and he was diagnosed with heart disease.
Our neighbors and local villagers were also talking about my detention. “This boy is jailed and his future is ruined,” one of them said, “What girl would marry a person like him?” They talked about my family behind my parents, thinking I was hopeless. Some relatives also looked down upon us.
A Happy Marriage
I was already an adult by the time I was released from the labor camp. Without a good education, I found a job at a factory in the city. My coworkers were young people of my age. During breaks, I often shared with them stories of traditional Chinese culture and the facts of Falun Dafa. Almost all of them learned what Falun Dafa is and quit the CCP organizations.
At that time, there was an opportunity of converting us temporary workers to full-time employees. This was important for our job security and income. My manager talked with me, asking me to apply for it and I passed the interview. But when preparing paperwork for the transition, I found myself with no high school diploma.
I talked with my manager and explained how I couldn’t finish schooling because of my detention for my faith in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. She was in tears and said, “I am sorry to hear this. I did not know a young person like you has suffered so much. I think you should spend money getting a fake diploma. You can then work with me as a full-time employee.” I said I would not do that because it is against the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance I follow. I also promised to work diligently regardless. She respected my opinion and promoted me to be a team leader. My responsibility was work scheduling and providing training to new workers.
Because of work arrangement, I came to know another group of workers including my future wife. She was a nice girl and very pure. She was so shy that her face would turn reddish when talking with boys. At work, I continued talking about traditional Chinese culture stories from Minghui Radio and explained the inner meaning of traditional wisdom and integrity.
She liked these stories and we got along well with each other. We also went out together on weekends. After we began to date, I told her my story. I said that I did not graduate from high school because of the persecution of my faith. I also described my family situation. In today’s China, if a family has no car, no house, and no decent savings, it is hard for a man to find a wife. But she said she did not care about these things. “I like you as a good person. As long as we are good people, things will change,” she said. I gave her a copy of Zhuan Falun and advised her to read it. This way she also became a practitioner.
Her family later found out she had begun to practice Falun Dafa with a practitioner as a boyfriend. They were strongly against our relationship and threatened to disown her. My wife knew there was nothing wrong with following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and she believed me to be a good person. So she left her family and came to me. In the end, her parents had no choice but to agree to our marriage. As time went on, they gradually learned what Falun Dafa is and practitioners are the best people. All of her family became supportive.
After getting married, my wife and I lived together with my parents and grandparents. We are happy and never argued with each other. My wife cooks together with my grandmother, and she sometimes helps my parents with the farm work. She respects them very much.
One year after we got married, my wife became pregnant with twins. The entire family was thrilled. Both boys have been very healthy and they are in kindergarten now. My neighbors all said I was so fortunate to marry a woman who did not ask for things from me and cared about the family very much. Plus, we have two sons. “One may not be able to find such a good wife even if spending a fortune,” one of them said.
A neighbor in his 50s often comes to visit me. He was a CCP member but refused to quit it even after other practitioners urged him to do so. After I chatted with him about Falun Dafa and how the CCP defamed Falun Dafa, he understood everything. He said my family is truly lucky.
“Very few wives would live together with in-laws. Plus, with no cars or modern houses, who would marry you nowadays?!” he said, “But now you have everything and four generations live together. I know all these are blessings from Falun Dafa. The CCP should not have persecuted Falun Gong. I support you and will quit the CCP because it is rotten to the core.
A Steady Job
After getting married, I found a job in the city working for a private business. The salary was low in the beginning and was less than 3,000 yuan per month. Because my wife also had a job, we were all right. At my workplace, I was responsible for research and development. It required a lot of patience and a strong sense of responsibility. As a practitioner, I knew I’d be fine.
In the beginning, my coworkers did not know me as a practitioner. Following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, I worked hard and did not argue with others for fame or interest. People liked to talk with me and trusted me. After the CCP started its knock-on-the-door campaign (with police or officials visiting practitioners one by one and asking them to give up their belief in Falun Dafa), my coworkers were curious and asked me about that. I shared my personal experience and debunked the CCP’s defamatory propaganda. They believed what I said and quit the CCP organizations. We also watched videos together either related to Falun Dafa or rejecting the CCP. Some coworkers also began to read Zhuan Falun. Upon hearing us talking about how Falun Dafa was being persecuted, one manager said, “You can believe anyone except for the CCP.”
My supervisor also praised me for my work ethic. “Well done. You have great potential,” he often said to me. He also said my wage was too low and offered to increase it. Some coworkers had worked there for 5 or 6 years without a pay raise. But my supervisor increased my pay shortly after I arrived there.
Later on, the demand for our company’s products increased and my supervisor changed my fixed salary to commission-based pay tied to the number of products I finished. This was an incentive for new workers and meant more income for me. At that time, my monthly wage was over 8,000 yuan. “It is high enough,” I said to my supervisor, “If there are future pay raise opportunities, please give it to my coworkers.”
“You work hard and are very responsible. Plus you have two children to raise,” he explained, “I have talked with the business owner and he said you deserve it. Plus, we need you to train new workers too.”
“While you do not have a high school diploma, what we need here are technical skills that you possess. You won’t make less than those white-collar workers,” he continued.
One year later, my company hired more people and I became a trainer. When the new hires I trained became full-time employees or had a pay raise, I would receive a bonus too. Right now, I am the technical chief of the company. My monthly wage started from 3,000 yuan and it went up to 8,000 yuan later on and now stands at 15,000 yuan, which is higher than the pay for some managers. After the company went public, some veteran employees received shares of stock. The company owner specifically praised me in the employee meeting and gave me shares of stock.
I am an ordinary person and I know all these blessings are from Falun Dafa. Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa, wrote,
“Virtue is accumulated in past lives. Becoming a king, an official, wealthy, or nobility all come from virtue. No virtue, no gain; the loss of virtue means the loss of everything.” (“Wealth with Virtue”, Essentials for Further Advancement)
I hope my story will help you understand Falun Dafa and find a better future.
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