(Minghui.org) I wrote a letter to the local Social Security Bureau Committee at the end of March 2022, because my pension was illegally suspended. Then, shortly after, in April, my pension was restored.
During the Dragon Boat Festival, I visited the director of the Social Security Bureau and brought sticky rice dumplings to him to express my gratitude. The director accepted my gift happily and said sincerely: “I read your letter, and I am truly touched!”
Below I would like to share the letter with fellow practitioners.
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Greetings, to the director and all leaders of the Social Security Bureau,
I am 60-years-old, and a retired employee from a state-owned enterprise. From April 2021, a total of 12 months of my pension was suspended.
I did not violate any law. My pension was withheld simply because I follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. And I refused to give up my belief. Today I am writing this letter to report my specific situation to you, and talk about why I refuse to give up practicing Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
To understand the situation, I have to answer a question that we can not avoid: “Why is Falun Dafa still standing after being brutally suppressed by Jiang Zemin (former communist party head) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for more than 20 years?” Don’t you want to know the reasons?
I wish very much that the leaders of the Social Security Bureau can take some time to read some of the stories from my 23 years of practicing Falun Dafa. I hope after reading my letter you can judge me without any notions: What kind of person have I become after cultivating in Falun Dafa? Is Falun Dafa good or not? That is the reason I am writing this letter.
Falun Dafa Taught Me to Consider Others First
Human beings are complex. People should maintain morality, which is also the basis of social stability. If one completely abandons morality and only cares about one’s own interests, one will bring harm to society, the country, and the people.
When learning Falun Dafa, practitioners are asked to follow the principles of “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance.” Li Hongzhi, the Master of this cultivation practice, taught us to follow these principles. I would like to share some stories about how I gradually got rid of my selfishness after practicing Falun Dafa and became considerate of others.
Once when touring the Great Wall, I saw a luxury watch at the bottom of the stairs in Fenghuo Cave. I didn’t pick it up, because Master Li told cultivators, “ ...moral standard will also return to that of original human nature.” (“A Brief Explanation of Shan,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
To be a cultivator, I must be a good person first. According to the ancient moral standard, one should not pick up lost things on the road. I am a Dafa practitioner and I should do even better. So I shouldn’t pick it up. If I didn’t practice Dafa, I would even pick up an ordinary watch when I saw it, and I would be happy.
My husband has two brothers and one sister. Both of his parents were retired cadres of the judicial system, with generous retirement salaries. With their life savings, they bought a new house for their youngest son. The wife of my husband’s older brother thought it was unfair. She wanted me to help her fight with our parents-in-law. As a cultivator, I should not fight for personal gain. So I decided not to participate in this family argument.
Not long after, at a family meal, the wife of my husband’s older brother suddenly announced: “The fourth-floor apartment unit where I’m living right now is too high up. Since I have a back problem, I’ve decided to take the first-floor unit, after our parents pass away!”
Our parents-in-law’s current unit has three bedrooms and one living room, with a large backyard. The unit is worth a million yuan. I just smiled and said nothing. If she wants it, she can have it. She indeed has a back problem. And if she’s happy, it will also be good for her health. There’s no need to fight with her for the house.
Later, my parents-in-law gave my husband and me a piece of land in their hometown in the countryside. In fact, my parents-in-law haven’t been back to their hometown for more than 30 years. They were not even sure if they still owned the land. Even if they did, that piece of undeveloped rural land would not be worth much. I don’t care about these things. Not only do I not care about it myself, but when I got home, I privately told my son not to make trouble about the land and house in the future. I believe leaving wealth to a child is not as good as leaving him a good character! Master told us to “...consider others first, so as to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism.” (“Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
I am a Dafa cultivator. I will follow Master’s teaching and consider others first.
If I did not practice Falun Dafa, I would definitely fight for housing. I would definitely want my share, just like the others.
Relationship with Neighbors
My upstairs neighbor had their air-conditioning ventilation box installed inside their apartment. Every summer, all the water discharged from their air-conditioner flowed into my apartment along a plastic pipe on the west side of the balcony. I tied a plastic bag at the joint of the plastic pipe to catch the water. When the water was full, I poured the water out and tied the bag again. Anyway, I thought, the water in the air conditioner is not dirty, and the neighbor didn’t do it intentionally.
One day, the neighbor came to visit and found that her air conditioner was leaking a lot of water into my home. She said, “Sister, why didn’t you tell me earlier?” The neighbor soon found a friend who repaired the problem. I knew this person as well because I hired him for some repair jobs before. When the job was done, the neighbor wanted to pay. I insisted on paying myself. In the end, the man who did the repair did not want any payment and left immediately. I chased him downstairs and gave him a gift that was worth more than 500 yuan. I sincerely thanked him. I believe one should not take advantage of neighbors or friends. Falun Dafa has changed my character and improved the relationship between me and my neighbors as well.
In apartment buildings, usually people only clean up the areas next to their doors. Sanitation in other areas is generally left unattended. I wouldn’t clean other areas either if I did not practice Falun Dafa. After practicing Dafa, I often cleaned the two units and some corners behind the stairs that tend to accumulate trash because of the wind. Doing so involves moving a bunch of bicycles that have almost never been used. The janitor only does the bare minimum.
Especially in the basement, the piles of garbage there have never been cleaned. I went to collect them, filling two large cardboard boxes. I also cleaned up the thick cobwebs which were everywhere. I am very happy that hundreds of neighbors will enter and leave the basement, and will no longer see the place full of rubbish. Some young people mistakenly thought that I was a janitor and handed me their trash bags. I silently took them and threw them away.
Helping Others First
On a morning in November 2021, I received a phone call from the local security office. I was told: “Your pension has been suspended as of April!” I was stunned and I immediately asked, “Why? Who ordered the cancellation of my pension?” The answer was that it was stopped because I practice Falun Gong, aka Falun Dafa. I planned to go to the security office right away to find out the details.
Just then, I received another call: a good friend of mine was ill. I thought to myself: Everything is going wrong - my pension has been suspended without my knowledge, and my good friend is ill, which one should I take care of first?
If I hadn’t practiced Falun Dafa, I would definitely put everything aside and sort out my own affairs first, since it was a major issue related to my survival. But, I am a Dafa practitioner, and Master taught us: “...to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism.” (“Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
So I decided to visit and help my friend first. I went to her home and found that she was in fact very ill. My timely arrival made her feel comforted, brightened her mood, and she was quickly out of danger. Later on, whenever my friend remembered her sudden illness, she couldn’t help shedding tears and thanking me.
When taking public transportation, I always gave up my seat for the elderly or people with children. They often thanked me: “Thank you, beautiful young lady!” I am actually not young. I think kindness is the most beautiful thing, and it comes from cultivation.
No More Hatred
When I got married, my husband’s family did not give me a betrothal gift. They did not even hold a wedding ceremony or invite any guests. Before practicing Falun Dafa, I always felt humiliated and resentful about it. After marriage, because there was no house for us to live in, I had to go back to my natal family to give birth. And in my hometown, there was a custom that a daughter should not give birth in their natal family home, as this was considered bad luck for the natal family. The situation was desperate. I had no choice but to bite the bullet and go back to my mother’s house to have the baby.
My mother lived with my stepfather. When my son was six months old, I had to go back to my in-laws’ house.
My mother-in-law made things very difficult for me. One day, my mother-in-law wrongfully accused me of stealing 100 yuan from her daughter. In the past, the people I despised and hated the most were thieves. She scolded me so much that I felt my blood boil, and I felt a piercing pain in my internal organs and skin. I gritted my teeth and endured with tears in my eyes until my sister-in-law came home from school. In front of her mother, she took a hundred yuan from a crack in the wall to clear up the misunderstanding. This was the second time my mother-in-law had humiliated me.
Things did not stop there. My mother-in-law used my son’s eye problems as an excuse (claiming that it was inherited from my family) to drive me away.
I left my in-law’s house with my 10-month-old son in my arms, carrying 7 or 8 bags of my son’s food, drink, and daily necessities. I began the long journey to my mother’s house again. We had to first take a long-distance bus to Beijing, and in Beijing, I bought a standing ticket and rushed onto the train.
After about half an hour of standing on the train with my son in my arms, my son defecated. The elderly man who was sitting next to me got very angry and scolded me non-stop. At that moment, my heart was filled with extreme resentment toward my in-laws. What went through my mind was:
“My mother-in-law’s family has humiliated me and my son so much, forcing me into such a desperate situation, and causing all this embarrassment! One day, I will have revenge!”
Meanwhile, I broke down with all the grievances and anger inside me. I howled and shouted:
“Uncle, please stop blaming me! I’ve already been so wronged in my life! If it weren’t for my boy, I would not want to live anymore!” I sobbed. “Which child doesn’t poo?”
With my miserable and desperate cry, everyone’s eyes focused on me and my son.
Immediately, someone stopped the elderly man from blaming me. Some people gave me their own toilet paper to clean up my son. Someone gave my son a whole can of condensed milk. Some gave us water and snacks to us. A person even bought an expensive lobster meal from the dining car to feed my son.
The train ride was about 27 hours. People in the cabin held and played with my son in turn. It seemed that everyone loved him. The elderly man disappeared from his seat and never returned, so I got to sit in his seat for the rest of the train ride.
The kindness these strangers on the train showed me and my child was such a contrast to how my in-law's family treated me. I could not understand why my mother-in-law, who was supposed to be a relative of mine, hated me so much.
I described the situation to my mother. I asked her to take care of my son, so I could plot my revenge: I wanted to make big money. When my mother-in-law got old and unhealthy, or when her family got into trouble, I would laugh at them without giving them one cent! I wanted them to feel humiliated, helpless, and desperate like they made me feel!
I succeeded in getting rich in 1998. I had enough money to travel overseas. I had the ability to take revenge, and I was ready!
Just then, on a trip abroad, I read Zhuan Falun.
The book teaches people to be good, noble, and tolerant. A person should be truthful, kind, and tolerant... Before I knew it, Falun Dafa had dissolved my hatred toward my mother-in-law. I experienced the ease and joy of letting go of hatred from the bottom of my heart!
Treating In-Laws with Filial Respect
My father-in-law fell ill and had surgery in 1999. My husband and I paid for it and took care of him. Once my father-in-law had recovered, I bought a cashmere sweater for my mother-in-law and a cowhide sweater for my father-in-law. Both my in-laws had worked hard all their lives and never had any high-end clothing. My mother-in-law had not treated me well in the past. I forgot about it. I am a cultivator, I wanted to be a good person, respect the elderly, and make my in-laws happy.
At the end of the year, we paid a visit to my in-laws. My second sister-in-law told me: “You know, because of the cashmere and cowhide sweaters you bought our parents, they had to spend 36 yuan to dry clean them. Mother said that 36 yuan could have bought two pounds of acrylic wool to knit a new sweater. They were complaining about you.”
If I didn’t practice Falun Dafa, I would be furious upon hearing this. I would blame them for not knowing good from bad. Of course, if I hadn’t practiced Dafa, I would never have bought such expensive clothes for them! I would have taken revenge. I would have intentionally shown off my wealth without giving them one cent.
I practice Dafa, so I must follow Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. I said to my sister-in-law: “Our parents were right. They are used to a simple lifestyle and don’t waste money. I will pay attention to this in the future.”
So, during later visits, I brought them food and the things they can use in daily life. I also gave them cash each time. They were very happy.
One day, my mother-in-law said to me: “You have such a big heart!”
Thanks to Falun Dafa, I understand karmic retribution and predestined relationships, so I can let go of my resentment, improve my temper, and not take revenge.
Help People When Needed
I found out that my brother-in-law’s family was in financial difficulty in 2007. They tried to borrow money from all their relatives. Either they thought they did not treat me well in the past, or they believed what the media said about Falun Dafa and thought I was a bad person, anyway they did not ask me for money. They asked my youngest sister-in-law who was in a very tight financial situation. My sister-in-law lent out all her private savings but there was still an 8,000 yuan shortage.
Seeing how worried my sister-in-law was, I gave her 8,000 yuan, so she could give it to my brother-in-law. I asked my sister-in-law to keep it secret. My brother-in-law, even my husband, never knew this happened.
If I did not practice Falun Dafa, I might be cheering to see my in-laws’ in trouble. No way I would help them!
Be a Person of Integrity
More than 20 years ago, my family promised to give an apartment unit to my youngest brother. Later, due to some complicated factors, the promise was not fulfilled. The unit was not given, but sold to my brother for 200,000 yuan. Although most people would not think my family did anything wrong (it was a very good price for my brother at the time), as a Dafa practitioner who thinks integrity is a good and necessary virtue, I was ashamed my family handled the situation that way. At that time, although my pension had been canceled and my savings were running low, I returned 200,000 yuan to my brother in late November 2021.
It was Falun Dafa that turned me into a good person with integrity. And I felt comfortable giving this money to my brother. People in the bank were very moved when they heard why I was transferring the money.
Before I practiced Dafa, I suffered from Meniere’s syndrome. I often passed out without warning. I also had severe headaches. My head often felt like it was splitting open. After I practiced Falun Dafa, I recovered from all my illnesses. In the 23 years of cultivating, I have never taken a single pill, never had an injection, and my family has not had to take care of me because I have not been sick.
My experience is very common; practicing Falun Dafa can improve people’s mind and body. Falun Dafa is respected and loved by people all over the world, and it has now spread to more than 100 countries. Governments at all levels have awarded Falun Dafa with more than 5,000 awards, resolutions, and letters of support. The books of Falun Dafa have been translated into more than 40 languages.
Falun Dafa makes people healthy, teaches people to be honest, abandon evil and do good, improve their character, respect the elderly, and help others. If this is an “evil cult,” then what is good?
Falun Dafa is a high-level practice of the Buddha School. “Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance” are the characteristics of the universe, and that is the highest Buddha Law. Falun Dafa practitioners are not like monks in temples in ancient times. They cultivate in normal human society.
Respecting Falun Dafa and treating Dafa disciples kindly will bring you great blessings, happiness and peace.
There is an old saying: Giving a monk a bite to eat is better than building a seven-level pagoda.
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