(Minghui.org) I came across Falun Dafa by chance at the beginning of 1999. I was very surprised when I saw the photo of Master Li, the founder of Dafa, in the book Zhuan Falun for the first time, because I felt I had seen him somewhere in the past. I was so overwhelmed with joy that tears kept running down my face. It was a feeling beyond words, as if a lost child has finally found her parents and returned home. I felt I was the happiest person on earth. I understood later on that it was due to my predestined relationship with Dafa and Master from my previous lives.
Only three months later, the April 25 peaceful appeal took place. About 10,000 of us gathered peacefully in Beijing to call for the release of practitioners detained by the authorities in the nearby city of Tianjin; Several months later, on July 20, 1999, the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at the time, Jiang Zemin, initiated the persecution of Falun Dafa.
It was a very dark period of time, and all of China was shrouded in dark clouds, with all the media outlets competing against one another to slander and attack Falun Dafa.
Given the pressure, my family members advised me to stop practicing, saying the situation was too frightening. But I had no fear, nor did I waver in my faith. Instead, I became even more determined to follow the path of Fa-rectification-period cultivation.
At that time, I went to work during the day, distributed truth-clarification materials on my lunch break, and, along with other practitioners, produced more materials in the evening. Sometimes, we drove to nearby villages in the rural area to distribute those materials. I later set up a group Fa study at my place. More than a dozen practitioners would come.
In 2013, I moved to a big city in the south of China to live with my daughter and help take care of my granddaughter. With the help of a practitioner in my hometown, I met the local practitioners fairly quickly and joined a new study group and continued to do what is expected of a Dafa practitioner.
Three years ago, I was reported to the police while putting up truth-clarifying materials in a residential building. I kept sending forth righteous thoughts and asked Master to help me.
However, due to my unsteady state of mind at the time and my anxiety about not being able to pick up my granddaughter from school, the vicious elements took advantage of my attachments and I was taken to a detention center.
Master said:
“It is thus all the harder to, while being subjected to ordeals imposed by the old forces, manage to walk the path correctly. And this is even more so for the Dafa disciples in mainland China. For them, amidst the tremendously harsh persecution, every single thought and idea is critical. Whether you’ve done well or not; whether or not you’ve been susceptible to being persecuted; whether or not you’ve handled things correctly and to what degree you have been persecuted—all of this is directly connected to how you have walked your path and how you have thought about things.” (“What is a Dafa Disciple”, Collected Teachings Given Around the World, Volume XI)
In the detention center, the guards tried to force me to recite the prison rules. “I did not commit any crime so I will not recite them,” I said firmly. Then they said that I would not be allowed to do the Falun Dafa exercises. Again, I refused to comply and said I had to do the exercises.
Seeing that I was very determined, they said, “Okay, you can meditate where you sleep, but you must not on the floor. We have surveillance cameras everywhere.”
Indeed, there were surveillance devices everywhere, but I noticed a blind spot at the corner of the toilet. So I got up two hours earlier in the morning and did the exercises there. The exercises, plus reciting the Dafa teachings quietly and sending forth righteous thoughts, were my daily routine while I was detained.
Master told us that we should do the three things well wherever we are and that and saving sentient beings is our mission. It was rather difficult to do such things in a detention center, where we were always watched and not allowed to walk around or talk to anyone.
I asked Master to help bring people to me. When I had such a thought, the situation around me began to change. The detention center put me in a place very close to the toilet, so all those who used the toilet had a chance to get near me. Some of them also communicated with me through eye-contact.
I told them quietly, “Please remember ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.’ You will benefit from reciting these phrases in your heart.” I also managed to help a number of detainees quit the CCP and its affiliated youth organizations.
One day, a young girl came over and said to me in great despair, “Auntie, when I first saw you, I knew that you are a very nice person. Please help me. I cannot hold on anymore. I want to go home.”
“Don’t worry,” I encouraged her. “Please keep reciting ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.’ If you have sincere faith in what you recite, Master Li will certainly help you.”
“I believe what you said,” she responded. Indeed, she recited these phrases every day and also quit the CCP’s Communist Youth League and the Young Pioneers she had once joined. Miraculously, she was released three days later. Even the guards were surprised by her quick release.
I was very happy for her and was very grateful to Master for his immense compassion for sentient beings who have learned the truth. I started telling other inmates about the miraculous incident, which convinced them of the power of Dafa and they began to have faith in Dafa. They also quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations they had joined earlier in their lives.
A number of the detainees told me that they believed that a deeper reason they’d ended up in the detention center was to find out about Dafa. Many said they would study Falun Dafa and learn the exercises from me after our release.
Three months passed and I was still detained. I started to feel a bit uneasy. One morning, I noticed the character for “enlightenment” (悟) in the light from the window. I didn’t quite understand what it meant at first.
Soon, part of the character, “吾,” disappeared and only “忄” — the heart part, remained. Suddenly I understood that Master was encouraging me to build up my confidence and maintain a calm heart instead of feeling anxious and impatient.
I was deeply moved and said to Master in my heart, “Master, if there are still people to be saved here, please help bring them to me. I will not give up no matter how difficult it might be. I will walk my cultivation path well.”
Indeed, each time a newcomer came to the detention center, she would be brought to me. So there were always new people around me. I knew that it had been arranged for them to come to me to learn about Dafa. I explained the benefits of Falun Dafa to every one of them and also told them that the CCP was persecuting the practice. More and more people learned the facts.
I was concerned that I might not be able to remember the name of everyone I had talked with, so I asked Master to help me remember them. Thanks to Master’s help, I was able to remember all the names of those I helped quit the CCP organizations.
One day while I was meditating, two visions appeared in front of my eyes. In the first one, there was a group of evil beings, all looking at me with ferocious faces and bared teeth. The second scene showed a large pool with a beautiful big lotus blooming in the water, and around it were glittering green leaves. There were also some loose leaves scattered here and there.
I came to understand that, although the CCP was persecuting me, I must never waver in my determination to save sentient beings. That was my mission. The green leaves represented the sentient beings, and where the leaves were scattered meant there were still areas where I needed to do more to save people.
I said to Master in my heart: “I don’t mind bearing more hardships and suffering here as long as I can save more people.” I was the oldest detainee in our cell, but I always insisted on doing my share to keep the place in good order.
When I noticed that some inmates did not have any money in their detention center account, I would buy daily necessities (such as toilet paper, fruit, and so on) for them with my own money. I never accepted anything they offered to me in return.
They all said that I was the best person they had ever met. I would always tell them that Master Li told us to “consider others first, so as to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism.” (“Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature” in Essentials for Further Advancement) They all remembered this line from Master’s teachings and changed for the better in their conduct as well. I felt very happy for them as they had all been saved by having a positive attitude towards Dafa.
I realized that when we do well in cultivation, we are already saving sentient beings. This is because only by cultivating ourselves well can we effectively save sentient beings.
I kept clarifying the truth about Falun Dafa to people while I was illegally detained, and made sure that I would not miss anyone that came my way. During that year, 124 people learned the truth and quit the CCP organizations, and I remembered all their names.
Of course, I would not have been able to do any of this without Master’s help and the wisdom he has given us. In fact, it was Master who was saving those people with the power of Dafa. All I did was talk to them.
The higher we elevate in cultivation, the stricter the requirements for us. During the limited time left in the last phase of the Fa-rectification, we must hurry up and save more sentient beings with righteous thoughts and righteous actions.
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