(Minghui.org) I began Falun Dafa cultivation in the spring of 1997. For more than 20 years, I’ve steadily walked the Fa-rectification path in the knowledge that I am guided by Master Li, the founder of Falun Dafa (also called Falun Gong). I never lost my faith, despite experiencing ups and downs and other events that have left an indelible mark on my memory.
Validating the Fa
Falun Dafa teaches people to walk a righteous path and to be good, which has brought tremendous benefit to society without causing any harm. It’s a truly virtuous Fa. However, since July 1999, the practice has been subjected to a cruel persecution perpetrated by the regime of former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Jiang Zemin.
Back then, I didn’t understand how Dafa came to be persecuted. I didn’t understand what we should do about it. I was at a loss. After careful consideration and sharing with fellow practitioners, we agreed that Falun Dafa practitioners should step forward to validate the Fa. Thus, at the end of 1999, some fellow practitioners and I decided to go to Beijing to validate the Fa.
After an intense internal struggle, I was able to step forward and go to Beijing to validate the Fa. I was on my way to the railway station to go to Beijing, when it felt as if someone was pushing me from behind, making me walk faster than usual. I knew it was Master encouraging and protecting me. Suddenly I felt a strong sense of confidence and became very calm.
I knew that I was doing the right thing, but making that first step was rather difficult. At that time, the situation in my family was that my son was studying for his college entrance exam. My elderly father had developed a cerebral hemorrhage and lost some of his mobility; my wife developed serious heart disease, and therefore, she couldn’t do laundry, nor was she able to do any heavy lifting. What would they do once I left? At that time, almost every practitioner who went to Beijing was arrested. I thought: what if I were to be sentenced or lost my job? I was deeply concerned and torn.
Through studying the Fa repeatedly, I came to realize that Falun Dafa is the truth of the universe. Thus, safeguarding Dafa is a practitioner’s duty. If I couldn’t validate the Fa, nor safeguard the Fa, I wouldn’t have fulfilled the responsibility of being a practitioner. How could I carry on with my practice?
In addition, Master said, “The Buddha-light illuminates everywhere and harmonizes everything.” (Lecture three, Zhuan Falun)
So it wasn’t a question of whether Dafa could safeguard me or not, but rather whether I could do well, or cultivate well if anything bad happened. Thus, I made up my mind to go to Beijing to validate the Fa. Before I left, I didn’t dare inform my family. If I were to tell them anything, I wouldn’t have been able to leave. So I calmed down and decided to let go of everything that was bothering me.
One day in mid-December 1999, I and many other practitioners, including those from all over the world, went to the high places of Beijing’s Badaling Great Wall, where there were the most tourists, and displayed many large-size banners which read: “Falun Dafa is wonderful!” “Falun Dafa is a righteous Fa,” and other messages. Then over 70 of us lined up in an orderly way to do the exercises. The scene was quite magnificent. When we finished the exercises and I opened up my eyes, we had been surrounded by over 100 police officers.
I was taken to the local detention center by the local liaison office in Beijing. A few days later, I was released unconditionally. Everything was normal at home. My family was just a bit scared. Six months later, my son was admitted to his desired university, and my wife recovered from her illness. I understood that Master had protected me. Dafa has displayed the principle that when one person cultivates, the whole family benefits.
Clarifying the Facts: Illegally Held and Opposing the Persecution
In October 2019, three practitioners and I were studying the Fa together at a practitioner’s home. Suddenly several people broke into her house. They were all in plainclothes. Among them, one who was a bit older shouted that they were officers from the police department’s Domestic Security Division. Then they quickly showed their I.D.s, saying, “You are gathered here illegally; you all need to go to the police station to report on what are you doing.”
We practitioners clarified the facts to them, saying that we were doing nothing against the law; we simply study the Fa and try to be good people. Without saying anything, they took the four of us to different police stations. Meanwhile, they also ransacked our homes.
They had confiscated a lot of things from my home. My home was also a truth-clarification materials production site, which had run for over 10 years. I have produced DVDs, truth-clarification journals, Dafa books, truth-clarification calendars, and all kinds of brochures. I was well-equipped. I had quite a few printers. I was very sad at that time, as I thought that this must have happened because of an issue in my cultivation. I thought that my loopholes were seized upon by the evil, and used to persecute me, thus causing such a big loss. However, as to what the problem was, I didn’t know. I thought that what I needed to do now was to clarify the facts to the police officers compassionately.
In an interrogation room at the police station, two officers from the Domestic Security Division sat across me. One of them said, “I’m in charge of your case. Your case is very serious. You need to work with us.” I said, “If you want to interrogate me, I won’t work with you, answer any questions, or sign anything. But, if you want to share and discuss some questions about Falun Gong, that’s okay.” Then he was open to my sharing.
I said to him, “You are a police officer who works for the Domestic Security Division and have been in touch with Falun Gong practitioners. Practitioners are not greedy nor possessive; do not steal, nor rob, or gamble; do not fight, nor curse, or tell lies, or deceive others. They work conscientiously in the workplace. They are considerate of others, look for their own shortcomings when they encounter problems, and strive to be good people. They follow the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.”
The officer then repeated what the CCP said to defame Falun Gong. I responded, “Falun Gong is a Buddha-Fa cultivation practice, it’s a righteous Fa. It was labeled an evil cult by Jiang Zemin. But Falun Gong is not one of the 14 evil cults recognized by the Ministry of Public Security or the State Council. In addition, we never violated the law. If you were to lay out every law and check them one by one, you’d see that Falun Gong practitioners abide by all of them.”
He said, “You handed out Falun Gong materials and talked to people about quitting the CCP, weren’t you against the Party?” I said, “We are not against the Party; rather, we are against the persecution. We are saving people. Let me give you an example: This building is about to collapse, but you are standing right by it. I ask you to step forward a few steps so that you won’t be under it when it falls down. Isn’t that a good thing?
“This Party has been involved in all kinds of movements over the past few decades, such as the Land Reform, anti-rightist movement, and the Great Leap Forward, which caused the Great Famine. Then came the Great Cultural Revolution, the June 4th massacre, and the persecution of Falun Gong. Through all these campaigns, the Party has killed tens of millions of people. Will it not receive retribution? Especially the persecution of Falun Gong. Falun Gong is a Buddha-Law cultivation practice. Persecuting Buddha-Law goes against heavenly principles, which is committing a great sin. So, you police officers need to think it over. You should be clear-minded in the face of good and evil.”
At that moment, the officer said, “Hearing what you said, I seem to understand something. Let’s stop here for now.” Right then, another police officer came over with a piece of paper, saying, “I’ve summarized a few points based on what you said. You can take a look and sign it.” I said, “I don’t want to see that, nor sign it. If I were to sign it, it would become another piece of evidence for you to persecute Falun Gong with.” Then both of them smiled and said, “If you don’t want to sign, then forget it.” Then they just left.
The next morning, the deputy head of the Police Station and a police officer took me to the detention center. On our way, I clarified the facts to them. They said, “We don’t have a say in your case, so please don’t blame us.” When we got to the detention center, they took out documents. It looked like an arrest warrant for me to sign. I said I wouldn’t sign. I also said, “You are persecuting good people. I didn’t violate the law, nor commit any crime. I will not acknowledge this kind of persecution.” They said, “It’s fine if you don’t want to sign. You’ll need to take care of yourself in here.”
A jail guard on duty led the way. He grabbed some living necessities, a duvet and a prison uniform. After we passed a big iron gate, he took me into a cell where there were about a dozen people. He said, “Can you put this uniform on and sit as they do?” I said, “I can’t. I didn’t violate the law, nor commit any crime. I’m innocent. I will not acknowledge this kind of persecution.”
He said, “This won’t work. Wearing a uniform is our rule. Since you are here, you have to follow that.”
I replied, “If I were to put on these clothes, it would be the same as acknowledging the persecution. Practicing Falun Gong is absolutely legal. Falun Gong practitioners didn’t commit any crime.”
He was floored. “The monitoring system here connects to everywhere in the Police Network in the city,” he said, “which can even be accessed at the provincial level. What do you want me to do? You think I can’t do anything about you?”
I said, “I’m not targeting you. In terms of Falun Gong opposing the persecution, you’d better not intervene.” He slammed the door and left.
I was mentally prepared. I thought to myself: In this place, for one to persist in opposing the persecution, will require powerful righteous thoughts. As the evil factors here are more than those on the outside, I must continue to recite the Fa, keep sending forth righteous thoughts, and maintain strong righteous thoughts at every moment. Thus, in the following few days, every morning after the guards changed shifts, they always fought with me, trying to force me to put on the prison uniform using various means. However, I just held onto my righteous thoughts. I wasn’t moved, nor did I cooperate with them.
On the seventh day, a jail guard appeared who seemed to be very vicious. He said, “If you still won’t wear it today, people in this whole room will be in trouble with you.” He shouted, “Get up everybody! Put it on for him! See what he can do.” Right then, a few of them stood up and moved forward. I shouted, “Please don’t move. Falun Gong is a Buddha-Law cultivation practice. Are you trying to go against the Buddha-Law? Are you not afraid of receiving retribution?” Those people instantly sat back in their seats.
A couple of days later, the two Domestic Security Division guards who talked to me before came to find me to talk again. The guard in charge said, “Your matter is very serious. You should be clear on how many things were confiscated from your home. Those printed materials were bulky. We found hundreds of informational materials at the site where you were arrested. You provided all of them, right?” I said, “If you were to ask me, then I would have refused to answer any questions.”
I continued, “The mission of a practitioner is to validate the Fa and save sentient beings. I cultivate Falun Dafa in this life, and I have not regretted it. On the contrary, I’m worried about you. Look, what kind of thing are you doing? Sending good people who abide by Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to prison? I’ve talked to you from the context of current state law; persecuting Falun Gong is illegal. Now, internationally, the persecution of Falun Gong has been labeled as a crime against humanity, which is the same crime Hitler committed, and must be investigated to the end.”
I then reminded him, “Good will be rewarded and evil will be punished. I won’t mention how many people in the country have received retribution due to persecuting Falun Gong. In our area alone, how many of those received retribution? About a little over ten years ago, in one police station two people in charge died. What they had in common was that they both actively participated in arresting Falun Gong practitioners. Didn’t such-and-such team leader in the municipal Domestic Security Division also develop cancer? The Deputy President of the Police Department persecuted Falun Gong very viciously; didn’t he die at an early age? Since you are young, you might not be aware of these cases. If you were to ask around, you would find out. The issue of the persecution will be settled one day.”
That night I had a dream. In my dream, I walked out of a big dark house. One door after another opened for me, and I walked from the inside to the outside. After I woke up, I felt that Master must have resolved the tribulation for me.
Persistently Stepping Forward to Clarify the Facts to Save Sentient Beings
When I was illegally detained, I reflected on the reason why I was persecuted and looked inward. I saw that many of my long-standing attachments had not been eliminated, such as the show-off mentality, jealousy, attachment to leisure, lust, attachment to self-interest, and so on. In addition, for the materials production center to be undermined, it also had to have something to do with my thoughts being unrighteous. I found the attachment to doing things. I felt that I made materials very well. The more I did, the better I felt I cultivated.
In terms of clarifying the facts face-to-face, I was a bit hesitant and felt that I wasn’t good at it. Perhaps because of those areas being not on the Fa, I was taken advantage of by the evil, resulting in the production site being negatively impacted, which was a very painful experience.
After returning home from the detention center, I wanted to buy a printer. My non-practitioner family members objected to it. They said that when our home was ransacked, it created a lot of noise and was observed by neighbors. If it were like before, when I always went out with big bags of materials, it wouldn’t be safe. Thus, I temporarily dropped the idea of making the materials. I thought I could put in more effort into clarifying the facts and saving people face-to-face.
I have an introverted character, and I didn’t feel comfortable speaking to people whom I didn’t know. I knew that if I were to clarify the facts face-to-face to people, I must overcome this difficulty. So I started with an easy approach; by going to places like parks to find people of similar age to chat with, asking how old they were and how their health was. When we talked a bit more and became more familiar with each other, I said, “Before that, when I worked, I was a cadre of an enterprise. I built relationships, treating guests and giving gifts through the back door. I went along with corruption. Later, after I started to practice Falun Gong, I knew I was destroying myself by committing bad deeds. I returned to a righteous path to be a good person. Thus, I stopped myself from falling down. Otherwise I could have been brought to justice. Now, my health and family are doing very well.”
I realized that the majority of people could accept that, and they decided to quit the CCP in the end. The only thing was that it took a while to finish talking to a person. But the benefit is that I could clarify the facts thoroughly, and people would have a correct understanding of Falun Gong. Thus, people were usually able to accept what I was saying.
For over a year, I have gone out to clarify the facts to people persistently. I have talked to hundreds of people and helped about 300 people quit the CCP. Some of them told me that they never joined the Party organizations or had already quit. They also listened to the truth. The process of truth-clarification is also a process of improving oneself through cultivation. When we ran into all kinds of people and were exposed to all kinds of bad thoughts, we cultivated our hearts, and thus, tempered and improved ourselves.
Thinking back on my cultivation path, I have gone through a lot. I put together this poem to conclude my sharing:
Walking the Path of Cultivation
I’ve come across the once-in-a-lifetime High-Virtue Dafa.Master has paved the way for my fulfillment.I am firmly on this pathI will not turn back
Regardless of the evil persecutionNo matter how difficult and dangerousI overcame obstacles and worked hard to make progressThe old forces cannot stop me
Because I knowOnly by using Master’s Fa to correct myself constantlyCan I walk this path wellI know that as long as I stay on this pathI already have a destination in the new universe.
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