(Minghui.org) I’ve coordinated with fellow practitioners to tell people the facts about the persecution for more than two decades. There were times when we had great chemistry working together, but other times I was looking outward and felt resentment. But I felt light after I set aside my ego and learned to tolerate differences. There were times when we acted with righteous thoughts in opposing the persecution, and felt proud and honored to be Falun Dafa practitioners. All of us came for the Fa, so I cherish my relationship with fellow practitioners and the opportunity to work together and improve in cultivation.
On the occasion of the 22nd China Fahui on Minghui, I’ve written about my understandings while working with practitioners in validating the Fa over the years.
The persecution began on July 20, 1999. Undaunted, practitioners in our small town established a cultivation environment and used various means to save people.
Prior to 2000, we obtained truth clarification materials from practitioners in other areas. An elderly female practitioner returned to our town from another region and told us that the Minghui website was encouraging practitioners to start small materials production sites. However, none of us knew how to operate computers. We were afraid to produce materials because we heard that a certain site had been ransacked, and practitioners were arrested. The elderly practitioner shared with us on the Fa. She said if we learned how to access the Minghui website and make our own materials, it would reduce the pressure on large production sites. Practitioners wouldn’t have to travel such a long way to collect materials, and it was safer as well as more convenient for us too. After hearing what she said, we gained confidence.
A few of us learned how to use the computer from Jun, a male practitioner in his 30s. At first, we didn’t even know how to use the mouse. We also forgot what we learned soon after being taught. Jun started a small materials production site. One day, he showed me and another practitioner how to bind materials. It was the first time I’d been to a materials production site. The moment I entered the room, I saw materials and equipment everywhere, and my fear emerged. After a while, I thought, “I’m doing the most righteous thing, Master is next to me, it is not me that is afraid.” My heart felt steady at once, and I was no longer scared when I went there.
One day, the female practitioner who helped us start the materials production site returned to our town to deliver things. She didn’t know she was being followed. I took her to Jun’s site and returned home on a small path behind the building. The next day, in the afternoon, I went to the supermarket to buy food for the practitioner before I went to the site. My husband, also a practitioner, rung me just after I bought food, and said in an urgent tone, “Come home quickly, don’t go to the site.” He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw me. It turned out that my neighbor had gone to our shop to tell my husband that she just saw Falun Dafa practitioners being arrested in a building. A car outside the building was filled with things and it was still there. It so happened that I had gone to buy things. If I had gone straight to the site, I probably would have also been arrested. Jun returned to the site after the police left, so he avoided arrest. The elderly practitioner and another female practitioner were arrested.
There were two other smaller-scale family sites in our town that were not affected, and continued to operate. A practitioner and I made materials in her house and supplied practitioners with Minghui Weekly and other materials. We were using a 1020 mono laser printer at the time. Many practitioners were being persecuted then, and our work was affected. Finances were tight, and to save people, everyone donated money. Some donated several dozen yuan, 50 yuan, 100 yuan, or 200 yuan. Elderly practitioners donated several yuan from their savings. Practitioners simply wanted to save people.
My husband and I went to Beijing several times during the early years of the persecution, to appeal for Dafa. My husband was sentenced to labor camp, and I lost my job. Before the persecution began, my husband was a volunteer assistant and our house was a major Fa study site. The local officials treated my husband as a major persecution target, and constantly harassed and monitored us. In 2003, my husband was arrested four times and detained twice.
We had no source of income due to the persecution. We had never sold things before, but we let go of our egos and sold candy on the streets to make a living. A practitioner saw how hard our life was and helped us open a small shop to make ends meet, and our financial situation gradually improved.
The local police station conducted a mass arrest of practitioners in 2005. Several practitioners were arrested, and a list of those who had quit the CCP ended up in the hands of the police. A practitioner who was interrogated by police told them that my husband and I had a list of people who quit the CCP. The city national security police came to our town to look for our shop. I happened to see them coming as I opened the door. I quickly locked the door and fled with my husband. Two weeks later, we returned home. My husband was arrested and taken to a notorious brainwashing location. He realized that our phone had been tapped when he was being interrogated. The police knew I had contact with practitioners in our area who were involved in the materials production site. My father-in-law was on the brink of death from illness. My husband was released after being detained in a brainwashing session for eight days. After he returned to his former job, and we sold our shop.
In those years, our house was ransacked many times. I was afraid to store the printer at home. Zhen, a practitioner, moved the computer and printer to her house, but her husband who is not a practitioner, did not know. We produced materials together when her husband was at work. One day, while we were printing materials, her husband suddenly returned home to pick up tools. We had no time to pack up and I was a little nervous. Zhen said with righteous thoughts: “It’s all right if he sees it.” Her husband looked at our things and left without a word. Later on, a practitioner bought another printer and we produced many copies of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. When the number of Nine Commentaries we made were not enough, we went to get some more from sites in the city. We also made copies of Disintegrate the Party Culture and distributed them in neighboring villages.
Jun came to me one day and said, “The sites in other areas are now making materials in color using color ink jet printers. The fliers produced look original and good. Why don’t you buy a printer like that.” I said, “Help me buy one.” A few days later, Jun brought a 4600 color ink jet printer. However, one printer was not enough, so he brought another one. Indeed, the fliers produced looked good and the practitioners liked giving them out.
At the end of the year, practitioners taught me to make calendars with messages about Dafa. It was the first year we made such calendars. Practitioners and I installed the steel rings for the calendars with our hands. Our fingers were swollen after making several hundred calendars. At times, the printer head became blocked, and I used tap water to clean it. Once, Jun caught me doing this and shouted at me, “Who told you to do this? There are impurities in tap water, you have to use distilled water. Do you know how much a printer head cost?” I said, “You didn’t tell me!”
At that time, people loved the DVDs on Dafa and Shen Yun Performing Arts, so we bought a DVD burner. The practitioners improved their understanding on the Fa as the Fa rectification progressed. Except for elderly practitioners, everyone purchased a computer and were able to access the Minghui website. This saved us some printing paper.
For the past two decades, practitioners in our town have told people the facts about the persecution face to face, and delivered materials one lot after another. Nearly everyone has heard or read the information. Most offices had calendars with messages on Dafa. As practitioners kept clarifying the truth, many supervisors and workers learned that Falun Dafa is good.
The key to doing well in saving people is cooperation among practitioners. A few years ago, practitioners went out to distribute materials. We first coordinated and assigned a section, or group of buildings, to everyone to avoid duplication. Two practitioners are taxi drivers, and they’re familiar with the villages around the city. They even know roughly how many households are in each village. This made it convenient for us to deliver materials. They took us to many remote areas where no practitioner had dropped off fliers before.
A taxi driver practitioner once said, “Tonight, I will take you to a place where no one has handed out materials before. It is a long way, and there are only a dozen households in some areas, so it will take a long time. Do you want to go?” Several practitioners agreed to go. Indeed, the road we traveled was winding. We quickly dropped off materials to all the houses. When the occupants came out, we had already left. That night, we delivered materials to several remote villages and helped villagers know that Falun Dafa is good.
At that time, we drove to very remote villages several times a month. One day, a practitioner in a town contacted a coordinator practitioner in our area, saying, “We only have a few practitioners here, and there are many villages where no one has gone to drop off materials.” He asked for assistance to drive to these places and deliver fliers. We arranged transport, at times two cars, and sometimes three cars, led by local practitioners, we covered small and big villages in the town with materials several times.
Whether it was smooth sailing or not when we delivered materials depended on our mindset. We once went to a big village in groups of two and dropped off fliers. As a practitioner and I were hanging materials on the doors, we ran into a group of people who had just finished a game of mahjong. A man followed us. The practitioner said to me, “That man looks as if he is going to call the police. Let’s quickly run towards the field of corn.” I answered, “We shouldn’t run, because if he does call the police, we can’t escape. Let’s go up to him and clarify the truth.” The man said, “What are the two of you doing?” I said, “We didn’t steal anything, we are here to deliver good tidings. The COVID pandemic is so severe, and we are here to tell you a way to avert the pandemic.” The other practitioner said, “You look like a kind person, you won’t call the police. It is so late and yet we are handing out materials. We want nothing in return. We are Dafa practitioners, we just want you to be safe. We are good people.” The man put down his mobile phone and said, “You can go, but don’t come here again.”
There are two male practitioners in our area who do well in hanging banners with the words “Falun Dafa is Good.” They attach steel hooks to banners and hang the banners on trees or shelves with fishing rods that are several meters long and retractable. They have become very adept at this. Every year, they hang many banners, and people in various villages can see the messages “Falun Dafa is Good” along roads. These banners give out righteous energy. People and cars passing by notice the signs, as they are especially eye catching.
We once made many materials, including sticky messages and display boards, locally. We heard that the local government planned to do something. Practitioners had a discussion about giving the head of the town and other offices truth clarifying materials. However there were surveillance cameras everywhere, so who was willing to go? A practitioner and I made preparations to do this while other practitioners stayed at home and sent righteous thoughts. We prepared many different materials and packaged them in a nice covering. We wore casual clothes, hats, and face masks. We sent righteous thoughts to let the surveillance cameras malfunction. In the afternoon, we went to the government office. We calmly hung the materials on the doors of office on the second and third floors, then returned uneventfully.
Afterwards, we heard that family members of government officials said it was as if a bomb had gone off in the building. The town head wanted to use surveillance cameras to find out who delivered the materials. We were not moved. We were helping Master save them. We have Master protecting us, and no one will dare to touch us.
In the three years my husband and I operated the small shop, we did not miss any opportunity to tell customers that Falun Dafa is good. People from afar came to our shop to buy things. In reality, Master arranged for them to learn the truth. My husband helped them quit the CCP.
A practitioner from another region once came to share with us. He said many practitioners were now using mobile phones to make prerecorded phone calls to clarify the truth, it has a far-reaching effect in saving people, and anyone can use this method. He also explained in detail how to make phone calls safely. We thought it was a great idea and very convenient. We learned how to install the prerecorded messages and phone numbers. So we bought phones and phone cards. Every practitioner bought one or two mobile phones.
In the beginning, we played the messages to a batch of phone numbers. The messages on Minghui radio were very comprehensive, and many people listened to the end. Some even chose the option to quit the CCP. Every day, practitioners got an impressive list of people who quit the CCP through the phone calls. Sometimes, while the message was playing, the person on the other side of the phone call spoke. Some expressed gratitude, others swore, some asked for money. There were also police officers who threatened to arrest the caller. We wanted to speak to the other party but because the message was playing, we could not interact with them. Under such circumstances, some of us called the person directly. Usually, when the receiving end shouted or threatened while the message was playing, I was not afraid since the listener was a long distance away from me. Yet, as I picked up the phone to clarify the truth directly, my heart started beating rapidly. I was so nervous I did not know what to say. But after making such phone calls a few times, my heart became steady.
One time, a man picked up the call and said, “Are you a real person or a machine?” It seems he had heard the prerecorded message previously. I said calmly, “I am a real person, how are you.” I continued, “Everyone wants to be safe, but how to stay safe? Let me tell you a secret. Sincerely recite ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance is good’. Many people who recited this phrase while in danger escaped disaster. Do you know about Falun Dafa? Have you heard about quitting the CCP?” He said, “This has nothing to do with me. You’re calling my phone at all hours and disrupting my life.” I said, “It is not easy for ordinary citizens to make a living, and they all want to hold onto their money. However, we spend money on phone calls to tell you how to stay safe when calamity strikes. It is our Master who asks us to save precious Chinese people.”
I told him about Falun Dafa again. I said, “I don’t know who you are but let me tell you that high ranking officials are now quitting the CCP, as no one wants to be a scapegoat for the CCP’s crimes.” His attitude changed tremendously but he still refused to quit the CCP. I said, “We’ve talked for half an hour. It’s your choice whether or not you quit the CCP. Once you lose the opportunity, it will be too late for regrets. I’ll hang up now.” He said, “Help me renounce my Party membership. I am a Party member. Thank you for telling me so many things.”
Prior to 2006, we had to take information we wanted to publish on the Minghui website to practitioners in the county. A practitioner later helped me set up an inbox and I learned how to send information such as “solemn statements,” Fa conference articles, and information about workplaces and individuals involved in persecuting practitioners, to Minghui directly. Police officers and employees in workplaces who persecuted practitioners said they received many calls from overseas. Thank you practitioners overseas for your efforts in rescuing practitioners in China.
I receive a mountain of articles each the deadline nears for submitting articles for the China Fahui. Practitioners and I work overnight typing these out. I was not quick in typing and I did not know how to edit the articles. It was truly a tiring task. Editing articles is also a cultivation process, a test of patience. Some practitioners share cultivation stories that appear excellent, but the details are incomplete, lacking time or place. Some wrote a dozen pages with many wrong characters and incomplete sentences; some use pinyin in place of characters, and we could not guess what the author was trying to say.
There were also articles with problems that perhaps the author didn’t realize. Since everyone trusts me, I should check things. I too am a practitioner and surely there are instances where I made wrong judgments, or deleted things I shouldn’t have. When I return the article to the practitioner after making changes, the practitioner might sometimes say, “This is what I wanted to say. Why did you change it?” When this happened a few times, I looked within and found many problems, including ego, thinking I was better than others, or imposing my opinion on others.
I paid attention to cultivating myself, and when I edited practitioners’ articles my mindset changed. I put my heart into making edits and I cherish practitioners’ articles. These are words from their hearts, filled with sincerity. It is their report to Master. At times, I am moved to tears by their stories. From my heart, I admire practitioners’ strong faith in Master, righteous thoughts and actions, and selfless realm. I see my gap with practitioners and shortcomings.
A few years ago, Minghui suggested that practitioners in China collect information with photos about those in the public security bureau, procuratorate, court and justice bureau, as well as businesses involved in persecuting practitioners. I thought about gathering this information locally. After discussing things with a few practitioners, we were clear on why we did this. As practitioners, we should not have hatred for the perpetrators. Exposing their evil deeds is stopping the persecution. Once they realize they are carrying out wrongful orders, and the evil fruits they brought on themselves, perhaps they will wake up.
Things went exceptionally smoothly while gathering this information. Practitioners soon gathered a list of persons in various workplaces, government departments, and police stations, who are responsible for persecuting practitioners in our area. Some had photos. There are practitioners who saw photos of the perpetrators at meeting rooms during a conference and wisely took photos with their mobile phones. Other practitioners saw heads of police stations who persecuted practitioners on many occasions at weddings, and took photos. A practitioner and I attended a village committee meeting, and that afternoon we took a photo through a window of the village head who had persecuted practitioners in the past. We also saw information on police officers involved in the persecution at the police station.
Several practitioners who were coordinators in several districts once came together for a sharing. Practitioners in the city suggested we write a summary of practitioners in our area who were persecuted during the past two decades and publish it on the Minghui website. I had read similar overviews in the city and county published on Minghui in the past, and had the thought of providing statistics on cases of practitioners persecuted in our area a long time ago. But when it came to the actual task, I felt it was too difficult, and gave up.
Perhaps because I had this wish, a local coordinator arranged for three of us to work on this project. The practitioners provided previously collected information and sorted it into groups. I discovered that the workload in this project was enormous—several hundred practitioners were persecuted, and every case needed to be verified, which would take a lot of time, and we hadn’t done it before. Could we do a good job? Practitioners in the city encouraged us and we decided to take on the task. Practitioners in the city who had done such reports helped, and guided us along the way. They were strict and detailed in their requirements.
Two practitioners who worked on the project quit because they were busy with too many things, and I was left to complete the task. It requires a large amount of time and patience to write the summary report, but I do it no matter how hard it is. I must persist. Every day I joined group Fa study, did the exercises, and never missed sending righteous thoughts. Practitioners in the city constantly encouraged me. After a year, we came up with a summary covering the persecution over 20 years in all towns and villages in the county. After practitioners reviewed, added, and made edits, it was published on Minghui. The difficulties encountered in the process was forging me, and I learned to endure when I was irritated. I got rid of many things which came from CCP culture including a deeply ingrained habit of cutting corners. Looking back, it was Master who pulled me forward. Through compiling persecution cases, I became a little more experienced in writing articles later on. I realized that everything I do is an accomplishment.
Practitioners in the city who kept assisting our region in producing the report saw that I had experience in this area, and asked me to help write persecution cases of practitioners in the city. I thought I could heave a sigh of relief but I was given a task again. I was a little scared but I adjusted my mindset. Since practitioners approached me, perhaps this was Master’s arrangement. I have this responsibility and therefore I take it on. As I had done it once, I knew how to do things, therefore it was a little easier this time.
This was also a cultivation process. I sometimes spent hours searching for someone’s information but found nothing. What I got online was incomplete and I even blamed practitioners while I searched for information, “Why didn’t they provide complete information when they did the report? Where was the practitioner arrested? Where was he sentenced? And at what time? At times, it is just one sentence, how can I work on this.” Then I thought, “Under the circumstances of the persecution at that time, it was not easy to obtain some information about the practitioner and break through the Internet firewall to publish it on Minghui. Practitioners are remarkable. How can I be picky? Once again, this exposed my resentment. After working on it for several months, I finally categorized and organized a report of persecution cases covering several hundred practitioners.
When I was released from prison, practitioners in the city suggested I write and expose my experience of being persecuted. I thus wrote a report stating the unjust treatment I was subjected to, and published it on Minghui. One day, a practitioner brought a local edition of Minghui Weekly and came to my house. He said, “This describes what you went through. A few of us just had a sharing, and we thought of handing this out. We wanted to ask you first if you have any concerns, as people in our area know you.” I said, “Since I’m not afraid of exposing the persecution, it’s not a problem to hand out many copies of this paper. The evil is most afraid of being exposed.”
At that time, three local Minghui Weekly editions published my account of how I had been persecuted. When we were arrested, Minghui kept reporting on the evil deeds done by the State Security Police. Practitioners also made phone calls to the head of the State Security Police and judge, and mailed letters to clarify the truth. I heard the head of the State Security Police say he was under a lot of pressure. After I was released, I went to the police station to ask for my belongings that were illegally withheld. The head lied, and he was not in the office and refused to see me.
I feel I have a deep predestined relationship with practitioners around me. Perhaps during our reincarnations in history we were parents, siblings, best friends, or relatives. We study the Fa together, do the exercises, go out to tell people about Dafa, and hold experience sharing conferences. When the persecution was severe, whoever stumbled was lifted up; whoever was lost, practitioners don’t leave or give up on them. They use Master’s Fa to awaken him or her repeatedly, whoever was persecuted. Everyone formed one body, sent righteous thoughts, and used the law to resist the persecution.
In the years of validating the Fa, I often did things together with several other practitioners. Yu is full of righteous thoughts an has a clear understanding of the Fa principles. She resisted the persecution with righteous thoughts and never gave in when she was in prison. She appeared to have sickness karma and the police had no choice but to release her. Both of us studied the Fa in a small group for more than ten years. We have good chemistry working together and go out to clarify the truth and hand out fliers. Yu and I are good partners. We produce materials quickly and smoothly. When we see problems in each other, we say it without reservation, and no one gets upset. Now that she has moved to another area, I recall the times when we validated the Fa together and I realize it was precious.
Hong is three years older than me. We worked together the most. We coordinated and learned skills together, bought supplies and equipment, and helped practitioners establish materials production sites. We went out to together to deliver materials, cooperated and did whatever we could to validate the Fa. Hong is in a good cultivation state, is responsible, and excels at coordinating things.
After working together for a long time, we often had conflicts. Although I say to look within, I still deal with the problem at hand and sometimes look outward. Practitioners observe that we are always busy, going out often, and pointed out problems such as we have the attachment to doing things, taking over anything to do with the Fa, and are affected by practitioners’ compliments. I did not pay attention to my cultivation despite hearing these comments.
Hong and I were arrested while handing out fliers. After a painful reflection, I realized I was too preoccupied with doing things and I did not cultivate solidly. This brought great losses to the whole body of practitioners. After we returned home, Hong and I had several heart to heart sharings and rectified things not in accordance with the Fa. We resumed our responsibilities and worked together.
Muchun can recite the Fa by heart well and has a sense of responsibility. Due to the persecution, he receives a low pension. His wife found him an easy job in another city that pays well, but he refused to move. He chose to stay and put cultivation first, taking on local jobs. From riding a motorcycle, then a tricycle, to now a car, he travels to towns and villages, and always does things to validate the Fa. We often use his car, and sometimes have conflicts. Hong and I insist we are right most times, while Muchun always gives in.
We once arranged with a lawyer to go to the detention center to visit detained practitioners. It was close to the appointed time, and we were unfamiliar with the road. Hong and I anxiously pointed out directions randomly and insisted that Muchun was taking the wrong route. He became upset and began speeding. He did not slow down when we approached a pothole in the road. I was thrown up and hit my head on the roof of the car. Hong and I realized we had given him the wrong directions and apologized. While working together in the past, there were too many instances when I insisted I was right, but I often blamed Muchun for being wrong. I spoke sharply, and this was obviously a manifestation of CCP culture. I reflected after returning home. I had not cultivated myself well. I hit my head and yet I did not look within. I apologized the next day when I met Muchun. He laughed as if nothing had happened.
Mei is rational and wise. She is good at organizing things. In 2001 after returning from Beijing, I went to see her first. I bought cloth to make small banners with the message “Falun Dafa Is Good.” We tied small sand bags to both ends and went out at night to hang the banners on trees. We also went out together to deliver materials and stick messages in public places. She used to operate a business and was busy. Whenever I went to her for help in things to validate the Fa, she always put down affairs in her shop and went with us. Mei made arrangements for practitioners to participate in small Fa study groups, went out to clarify the truth, wrote letters telling people the benefits of practicing Dafa, and did well in saving practitioners as well as resisting the persecution. We often had issues that were a test of our cultivation while we worked together. Through looking within, such problems were resolved afterwards.
I frequently remember how well practitioners treated me and the help they gave me, and I’m grateful to them. When times were hard, practitioners helped me selflessly. When I was in prison, they helped my family who saw the noble behavior of Dafa disciples and kept praising how good they are.
We progressed hand in hand for over 20 years walking on the path of validating Dafa. Difficulties and obstructions did not stop us. We will continue to cooperate well, act with righteous thoughts, and walk well together the path to divinity that Master prepared for us.
Thank you Master! Thank you fellow practitioners!
(Selected submission for the 22nd China Fa Conference on Minghui.org )