(Minghui.org) I’ve practiced Falun Dafa for 26 years. Although I faced many tribulations, my firmly believe in Master (Falun Dafa’s founder) and Dafa.
I was born in the late 1950s. When our elderly neighbors died I was frightened and asked the adults why people die, and if a person could avoid death. I thought, Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was a way to become immortal? I read all kinds of books, especially those that discussed mysteries. When I looked at the stars I thought, “There can’t only be one earth with human beings. There must be many beings in the vast universe.”
I was raised in China and was thus indoctrinated with the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) atheism and evolution theory, so I didn’t believe in the existence of Gods or Buddhas. I thought monks were people who chose to escape to temples when they encountered setbacks in their lives. They wanted to escape reality. When I was on a business trip in Huashan, I chatted with a young Taoist monk. He said that he chose to be a monk because his college entrance exam results were bad and he was under too much pressure. This conversation confirmed what I believed.
I was always frail and sickly, and tried to stay healthy by doing exercises. Qigong was popular in China in the 1990s, so I practiced a qigong. A small book cost me a lot of money, but the content was weird. The people who promoted it urged me to practice “second-level” and “third-level” exercises in order to get more money from me. I practiced for a while and then quit.
Someone mentioned Falun Dafa. When I heard that practitioners quit smoking, drinking and other bad habits, I thought it was too difficult.
Reborn After Practicing Dafa
My younger brother, his wife, and my father started to practice Falun Dafa in 1997. One day, my brother put a copy of Zhuan Falun, the main book of Falun Dafa, on the table. I picked it up and was immediately attracted to what I read. While I read the book, I felt my forehead stretching. When I came to the section about the Celestial Eye, I understood Master was opening my Celestial Eye. I was so excited and I felt very fortunate! I read the entire book that night.
Zhuan Falun changed my way of thinking. In it Master talks about Buddhism, Taoism, Gods, other dimensions, higher beings, and the meaning of life. I was completely convinced. The atheism and evolutionary theory that had been instilled in me by the CCP collapsed and was eliminated. I felt refreshed and transformed!
I was a salesperson and often dealt with customers at work, so I smoked and drank. After reading Zhuan Falun, I thought that I would quit smoking. I decided to quit drinking when the weather got cooler. One day, I bought two bottles of beer and made some food. I poured a glass of beer and drank it. After I poured another glass, the glass cracked in half with a loud bang. I knew Master was telling me I shouldn’t drink. During business meetings, I told everyone that I practiced Falun Dafa and I decided to stop drinking. They stopped pressuring me to drink.
At that time, Falun Dafa was widely practiced in China, and there were practice sites in parks and public squares. On a business trip to Nanchang, I went to Bayi Park to do the exercises in the morning. A practitioner saw that I was new and greeted me. Hearing my Northeastern accent, he said, “You’re from Master’s hometown!” I said that I was from Liaoning Province, and Master was from Changchun, Jilin Province. He said it was still Master’s hometown (Northeastern China). The pious look on his face really touched me.
The next day when an assistant saw that I was from out of town, he explained where the local practitioner’s Fa study and exercises were held, and told me that afternoon at the college they would be playing the video of Master’s lecture given at the Fa Conference in Germany. He asked if I wanted to go, and I immediately said yes! I never expected that I would be so fortunate to watch a recording of Master’s overseas lecture on a business trip!
Master said, “I’d say that our Falun Dafa is a pure land here” (“Explaining the Fa for Falun Dafa Assistants in Changchun”, Further Discussions on Falun Dafa)
I really miss that wonderful time. Falun Dafa practitioners were like one big family. When I went to Jiujiang, I found a practice site by the river and did the exercises with local practitioners. It was quite chilly in the morning near the river. A female practitioner brought me a cushion and blanket. Everyone was so friendly. That evening, I joined in their group Fa study. Most of them were elderly. They read each word of the Fa very carefully. They were pious, and it was really touching.
Safeguarding Dafa
On July 20, 1999, the CCP activated the entire state machinery to spread rumors and slander Dafa. Many practitioners were arrested. Dafa was being persecuted and Master was slandered. I benefited from Dafa. Master purified my body and improved my morality. I must speak up for Dafa! I decided to go to Beijing. Two practitioners said they wished to go with me.
The three of us went to Beijing on October 8. When we arrived, we contacted practitioners who had been to Beijing earlier, and went to the National Public Complaints and Proposals Administration the next day. On the way back to the hotel, we were stopped by several plainclothes officers claiming they were from the Haidian Public Security Bureau. They pushed us into a van. We later learned the hotel clerk reported us to the police. I told an officer that being a good person and following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance benefited China and people. We didn’t understand why the government was persecuting us. We just came to Beijing to speak up for Dafa and we wanted a peaceful environment to practice. The police quietly listened, and it was obvious that they did not agree with the persecution.
Because so many Falun Dafa practitioners were arrested, the detention center released all the regular prisoners. We recited the Fa, practiced the exercises, and discussed our cultivation experiences. We realized that as practitioners we should not passively endure the persecution, so we went on a collective hunger strike to protest. The police saw how united practitioners were and admired us.
Practitioners were soon taken back to their local police stations. The police threatened us and tried to find out who organized the hunger strike. They didn’t believe me when I told them there was no leader. I said that we were practitioners cultivating the same Dafa. We were all good people and benefited society, but we were being persecuted.
We were illegally detained for 15 days. After I was released, the leader at my work told me, “I tried to visit you when you were at the detention center, but the police said that Falun Dafa practitioners were not allowed to have visitors.” He whispered, “As a show to the Public Security Bureau, we fired you. Don’t worry about it. I just did this to fool them.”
There were twelve salesmen at my work, and most of them misappropriated or embezzled company money. I was the only clean one. In fact, I was just like everyone else before I practiced Dafa. After I practiced Dafa, I followed Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance and paid back all the money I embezzled. I even paid back the funds that the accountants were unaware of. Therefore, people at my work place had a good impression of Dafa practitioners.
Saving People
At that time, it was hard to get any truth-clarification materials. Whenever I got a copy, I went to a photocopy shop and made a large number of copies. I distributed them so that people could know the truth. As the persecution escalated, local authorities ordered the photocopy shops to not allow truth-clarification materials to be copied.
What should I do? I looked for other ways to copy materials. I used the fax machine in my work place. I bought fax paper, and made a large number of truth-clarifying materials when no one was around.
I also mailed out truth-clarification letters to various government departments, especially to the National People’s Congress, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and democratic parties, so they could understand the truth and reduce the persecution on Dafa, and give themselves chances to be saved.
Perhaps I was caught on a surveillance camera when I was mailing the letters. One day, two plainclothes officers from the Municipal Public Security Bureau came to my work place and said that they wanted to check practitioners’ handwriting and find out who mailed the letters. The office secretary overheard their conversation and told me, “Leave! The municipal police are here and are investigating you!”
I immediately left. I wondered if I should go into hiding. Other practitioners left home to avoid the persecution, but I did not want to do that. If I ran away, my neighbors and coworkers would think Falun Dafa practitioners were frightened. I went home and nothing happened.
Officers from the Municipal Public Security Bureau came to my workplace in April 2000, and wanted to arrest me. I was able to escape. My supervisor said, “The CCP is using a cannon to fight mosquitoes. They are making a mountain out of a molehill!” People who knew the truth were disgusted by the CCP’s persecution.
I passed a remote mountainous area in early 2013. Some villages had less than 20 households. I learned that practitioners there did not have any truth-clarifying materials for three years, and some small villages had no practitioners. I contacted practitioners in my area and we decided to go there and distribute information about Falun Dafa.
At that time, I worked as a designer in a company. I searched the routes on the Internet in advance and decided which route we should take. I tried not to leave any village out. Sometimes several practitioners drove a car to villages. Some mountain villages were sparsely populated and almost every house had a dog, which barked when we arrived. Hearing the barking, some villagers came to the door and asked us for truth-clarification materials. The truth-clarification calendar was especially popular and they often asked for multiple copies, saying they wanted to give the calendars to their relatives and friends. Many practitioners participated, and even the elderly practitioners walked on rugged mountain roads in the dark night. Despite the cold in late winter, the scorching heat in summer, and the mosquitoes in summer, everyone was eager to save more people.
According to local practitioners, the villagers loved the truth-clarification materials. They shared the materials and discussed what they read. Many kindhearted people understood the truth. This was Master’s mercy, and not leaving anyone behind.
Validating Dafa in a Detention Center
I was arrested and taken to a detention center. The detainees were forced make certain handmade products. During work breaks I took the opportunity to clarify the truth to the detainees, and told them how quitting the CCP will ensure safety and bring blessings. One detainee said Falun Dafa is good and quit the CCP’s Youth League. He was an older man and was often bullied by a young man. The work assigned to him was difficult and he was very distressed.
The day after he quit the CCP, he said, “The blessings came so fast!” He told me the young man who bullied him was transferred that night. The job assigned to him the next day was very easy, and he finished it quickly. He added, “I really received blessings, thanks to Dafa!”
Sometimes the detainees tested me. One day, a detainee asked me, “Why do you want to suffer here? You can leave as soon as you write a pledge not to practice Dafa, and you can continue practicing after you get out.” I said I can’t write that. He said, “Then they will sentence you to three or five years.” I told him that before I practiced Dafa I suffered from many illnesses. Falun Dafa saved me. “How could I do things that were disrespectful to Dafa and Master?” He was silent.
The next day, I heard someone calling my name, and I saw two officers coming, one in civilian clothes and one in uniform. The officer in uniform said, “Don’t tell me about Falun Dafa. If you want, tell him.” He pointed at the officer in civilian clothes. Then he asked me my name, age, address, occupation, when I started practicing Falun Dafa, and who I learned it from. I said that my father told me about Falun Dafa.
My father was a veteran CCP member who worked hard for the Party. When he was old and sick he recovered by practicing Falun Dafa. The officer asked me if I still practice. I said, “Of course I practice. I was not in good health before, but now I am. How can I stop practicing?” He said, “With your attitude, you will be sentenced to three to five years.” I said firmly, “I’m determined to practice Dafa!”
The officer in civilian clothes spoke, “Your case is not serious.”
The one in uniform asked me again, “So you will continue to practice?” I said yes. He asked me to sign the transcript.
The officer in civilian clothes spoke again, “You will go home soon.”
Shortly after I returned to the cell, a guard shouted, “Pack your things!” I said goodbye to the detainees and walked out. When I was approaching the gate, the older detainee who quit the CCP earlier shouted, “Falun Dafa is good! Falun Dafa is good! Falun Dafa is good!”
He shouted three times and his voice was heard by everyone in the dozen cells in the corridor.
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