(Minghui.org) A few years ago, many Falun Dafa practitioners were unlawfully arrested in my city. One of these practitioners had a family member who couldn’t bear the pain of their separation, so he told the police that I was the local coordinator in exchange for her own release.
The police arrested me and took me away for interrogation. With Master’s compassionate protection, I returned home safely later that day. However, my cultivation environment became very challenging from that point on, because I was monitored 24/7.
Different surveillance cameras were set up around my apartment building, and the police paid my neighbors to spy on me. The police set up a stakeout at the mahjong parlor downstairs in our building. Whenever I went out, someone followed me, either by motorbike or car. Sometimes it was just one person; other times more than a dozen people were involved. This made it very difficult for me to clarify the truth to people.
Overcoming My Human Emotions to Spies
When this monitoring first started, I clarified the facts about Dafa as much as I could to the people spying on me. Some of them quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations, but they still kept spying on me and stuck to me like glue. I lost patience and began to feel scared and angry—but most of all, I felt resentful because I had lost my group Fa study environment.
Sometimes when my human emotions overwhelmed me, I just wanted to rush out and fight with these spies. But then my rational side reminded me: I am here to save people. How can I push them to the opposite side and cause them to lose this opportunity to be saved?
I regained control of my emotions and gradually calmed down. I began to look inside and asked myself: Why do I still have such a strong competitive mentality? This is a good opportunity for me to improve in cultivation. I must get rid of this mentality, let go of any resentment, and cultivate kindness.
Showing Kindness to My Spying Neighbors
Several times, my neighbors’ clothes were blown over onto my balcony (people in China often hang the clothes in the balcony to dry them). I knew these clothes belonged to my neighbors upstairs who were spying on me. Every time it happened, I would simply pick up the clothes and give them back to the neighbors.
Once, their clothes blew onto the balcony of my next-door neighbor’s apartment. The neighbor threw the clothes over to my balcony. When my mother saw this, she wanted to throw the clothes onto the road below, so passers-by could take them. This was her way to relieve her hatred towards the neighbors who were spying on me.
I said to my mom, “Don’t be angry with them. They are actually very pitiful because they don’t know the truth. This is what the CCP wants to see, because they always want to stir up one group of people against another. We mustn’t fall into that trap. No matter how the neighbors treat us, we should be kind to them.”
My mother thought that made sense, so she took the clothes upstairs and handed them back to the spying neighbor. The neighbor was very happy and thanked my mother and even offered her some fruit.
Changing My Neighbors’ Attitudes with Kind Persistence
There used to be an elderly couple from the countryside living above us. Their son was a policeman; he didn't live with them but often came over to check up on me. This elderly couple was also spying on my family.
Every time I opened my apartment door, the old man would come downstairs to take a look. When I went out to get a bus, he would also get on the bus. One time, he was in such a hurry to catch up with me that he didn't even bother to put his shoes on properly. I clarified the truth to both him and his son. His son refused to listen and the old man stayed silent and refused to quit the CCP.
Later, I told the man’s grandson about quitting the CCP, and the old man reported me. Later, the police came to harass me, but I refused to open the door. In the end, they left without achieving anything. I was very grateful for Master’s protection.
I didn't resent the old man and treated him with more kindness. One time, when the water supply was cut off, I helped him carry up water from downstairs. Another time he had trouble with a household appliance and came to ask me to take a look. I immediately put aside what I was doing and went to check it out. While I was helping him, I clarified the truth about Dafa to him again. In the end, the he agreed to quit the CCP.
Later, the old man passed away, and his niece moved in to take care of his wife. Whenever the niece saw me, she always gave me a disapproving look, but I would approach her politely and try to start a conversation. She always seemed rather rude.
“She doesn’t want to talk to you, so why bother?” my mother said to me.
“Because I’m a Dafa practitioner, and I want to save her.” I replied.
One day around lunch time, it suddenly started raining heavily. I ran to the balcony to bring in the clothes from the washing line and shouted to my neighbors to bring their clothes in, too. No one from the old man’s house came out to get the clothes. “Maybe they’re taking a nap,” I thought, so I ran upstairs and knocked on their door.
The niece opened the door, looking a bit sleepy. I told her it was raining hard and their clothes were still outside on the line. “Oh, thank you!” she said and rushed out on the balcony to bring in the clothes.
A couple of days ago, I noticed that the corridor of our entrance way was very dirty, so I swept the corridor from the top floor down to the ground floor. While I was sweeping the corridor outside the old man’s apartment, his niece opened the door.
“I thought it was someone coming to top off the liquefied gas,” she said. “Don’t we have someone who takes care of sweeping the corridor?”
“Yes, we do, but it hasn’t been cleaned in a while, and the floor is quite dirty. So I’m just helping to clean it up a bit,” I said.
When she heard this, the niece changed her attitude towards me straight away and said in a friendly voice, “It’s very nice of you to do that.”
“It’s nothing,” I replied. “We’re neighbors.”
Stories about Another Neighbor
One other time, I was on my way to clarify the truth to people and ran into an elderly lady who had a pile of printouts in her hands. She smiled at me and said she was going to the appeals office because her daughter didn’t take care of her.
I suggested she should go another day, because today was “National Day” and the police might arrest petitioners.
She listened and complained about how badly her daughter was treating her, and that she had to rent a place for herself and her health was getting really bad. I clarified the truth to her and told her to recite in her heart “Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” and things would change for the better.
She didn’t seem to understand much of what I was saying and looked a bit dazed. Occasionally, she nodded her head as if she was just trying to be agreeable.
“I’d better get on and talk to some other people,” I thought to myself. But, when I saw her bloated figure, deformed due to her illnesses, I felt really sorry for her and took out 100 yuan to give her. At first she didn’t want to take the money, but after a while she accepted it. I told her, “I am a Dafa practitioner, and I would like to help you a bit even though I don’t have much money myself.”
“You’re such a nice person!” she said before we parted.
I don’t know how it happened, but somehow she found out where I lived, and every now and then, she would come to see me and give me things, such as vegetables. I refused to accept them, but she got really upset, and said I was looking down on her. I felt I had no choice but to take them. In return, I gave her some cakes and pastries.
Later, she brought me other things, such as expensive electrical appliances, which I refused. Then she brought me a shopping card and 200 yuan in cash. Again, I refused to accept them. In the end, she brought me a silver comb and some jewelry. I told her I wouldn’t accept them because I’m a Falun Dafa practitioner and I won't take things that don’t belong to me. But she refused to leave.
It was getting late and my mother wanted to go to bed. She told the old lady, “I cannot go to bed if you don’t leave.” So the lady reluctantly left.
She didn’t come to my place for a long time after that, but we still saw each other from time to time. We would always greet each other warmly, and each time I saw her, I would clarify the truth to her. She listened carefully and no longer looked confused.
“I won’t tell others what you are saying to me, “ she said quietly. “You’re all good people.” She asked me if she should kneel down when she recited “Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”
“No, you don’t need to,” I told her. “You can recite the auspicious phrases any time, except when you go to the toilet.” She said she would keep reciting them.
A while later, I noticed that she no longer looked so bloated and she was much more energetic. She just looked much better overall.
One day, my brother and his family came over for dinner. Just as everyone was enjoying the meal, one of the old women who had been spying on me for a long time knocked on my door and said she was looking for someone. Just then, the other elderly lady also turned up, but when I told her I had guests, she left.
Afterwards, I thought it was very strange: Why did this elderly lady turn up at exactly the same time as the one who was spying on me? Why do I always seem to bump into her so frequently?
One evening, as I was about to get on the bus to pick up my daughter, I saw her again. I told her that I was going to pick up my daughter, and she insisted on coming with me.
“You mustn’t,” I said to her, “This is the last bus of the day. How would you get back?” She wouldn’t listen and got on the bus with me.
“This is the last bus, there is no bus coming back.” the driver said to her, and then she reluctantly got off the bus.
Just then, I noticed that a white car was following us, and I suddenly realized that this old lady was also spying on me! I felt a bit of resentment inside, thinking: after all my kindness to you, you are still spying on me!
When I saw her again, I told her indirectly that anyone who got involved in persecuting Dafa disciples would meet with due retribution. She didn’t say anything.
Spy Becomes Walking Advertisement for Falun Gong
One day when I was on the bus, I ran into an acquaintance from my neighborhood. During our chat, she told me how someone else had said nice things things about me. “You are all good people, but you were framed by bad people,” she said.
I knew that she was referring to the old lady who was monitoring me. Suddenly, I realized that the old lady was like a “walking advertisement” for Falun Gong practitioners. No wonder whenever the police came to harass me, they always said: “You’re a good person, and everyone has been saying good things about you.”
It turned out that these people who were spying on me were actually spreading good things about me! They spied on me simply because they wanted to make a bit of money. I realized that due to my own attachments, my initial resentment towards them had almost taken away their chance for salvation. I made up my mind that no matter how they treated me, I would always be kind to them.
From then on, I let go of all my resentment to those who were spying on me and treated the old lady with kindness and respect. She continued to tell others: “She is a good person, a very nice person!”
Thank you, Master!
Thank you, fellow practitioners!
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Category: Improving Oneself
