(Minghui.org) I am 60 years old and started practicing Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) in July 1998. I was released from two years in a forced labor camp at the end of September 2003. When I returned home, I learned that the company I’d worked for had gone bankrupt and a working group from the municipal government was handling the situation. The company was paying a one-time resettlement to its workers.
However, during the two years I was in the labor camp, the company terminated my employment, and I was not considered for the resettlement. I was surprised to hear that and realized it was another way the evil was persecuting me.
I went to the company’s petition office the next day. I brought my detention release form and explained my situation. I told the head of the working group (secretary general Sun of the municipal government) that it was illegal to terminate my employment while I was detained for practicing Falun Gong, that the Labor Law clearly says that the termination of a labor contract must be signed by both parties before it can take effect. He expressed his sympathy and said he would look in to it and have a response by the end of October.
I went to inquire about the progress every few days. My plan, after I got the over 10,000 yuan in resettlement fees, was to give some to my child and some to my mother.
I was divorced before I started practicing Falun Gong, and my child lived with my husband, so I paid child support. While being held in the labor camp, I did not have any money and could not pay child support. My ex-husband didn’t understand and wouldn’t let me see my child. My thinking was that I would be able to see my child after I resumed paying child support.
My father had passed away. My mother was retired but only received a monthly pension of 50 yuan, which was not enough to cover her living expenses. My three siblings all gave her money to help her out. I thought I would also give part of the resettlement money to my mother. I was happy as I planned how I would use the money.
However, when I went to the secretary general at the end of October, he told me, “The regulations now stipulate that, regardless of the reason for the termination of the labor contract, a petition for resettlement will not be processed. The company has gone bankrupt and no longer exists.” I was shocked. All my plans were in vain. I couldn’t control my emotions and started to cry.
I said, “The way you treat the workers is not in line with the Labor Law. No regulations can override the law.”
There were many people there at the time, and I heard someone remark, “Well said!”
More than 1,000 people had their employment contracts with the company terminated while I was detained. Every day, many of them went to that office to seek justice. A few of them thought what I said made sense and asked me to join them in their petition. I said, “I am different. I practice Falun Gong.” So as not to give the government an excuse to be critical of Falun Gong because I’d joined the petition, I did not do it.
I was very depressed after I returned home. I began to study the Fa and look inward for my problems. I found deeply-hidden attachments, including to personal interests, selfishness, and family affection. I realized I did not look at the situation based on the Fa, and I appealed with a selfish mentality. I studied the Fa more and corrected myself according to the Fa.
I started going to the relevant departments to clarify the truth to the people who worked there. I went to the company’s petition office, to the director, and to the company’s Party secretary. I also went to the different municipal government offices, including the 610 Office, the domestic division of the public security department, the justice bureau, and the petition office. I told them that I had been persecuted and that Falun Gong practitioners cultivate Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to be good people. I informed them that I had worked at the company for 20 years and had been officially recognized as a “model worker” many times and made many contributions to the company. I talked openly, without any fear.
When I went to the city’s 610 Office, they were having a meeting. A man named Song came out and led me into a different room. After I told him about my situation, he was very friendly and expressed his understanding and sympathy. He said, “This matter still needs to be handled by the company.” He also said, “I envy you because you dare to speak out openly. Now, we are even afraid to tell anyone that we are ill or have a cold, because we fear that Falun Gong practitioners might say we are incurring retribution.” I wanted to laugh when I heard that. This exchange left a deep impression on me.
During this process, I let go of my attachments to self-interest, selfishness, and family affection. One morning in mid-December, I went to the city’s petition office again and talked to them about Falun Gong. In the afternoon, I called the secretary general to ask about my situation. He told me, “Your employment with the company has been restored. You are categorized as a retired employee and will only receive a living allowance of 120 yuan per month for now. When you reach retirement age, you will receive your full pension. You can come to collect your allowance at the end of the month.”
I hung up the phone and was surprised, thinking, “Is it that simple?” The more than 1000 employees who’d had their contracts terminated had not gotten any response yet. They all thought that such a result was out of their reach.
Through this experience, I witnessed a miracle of Falun Gong. It truly is that “Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one’s master.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun) As a practitioner, I simply went to the respective offices and clarified the truth to them about Falun Gong, and everything fell into place in the end! Thank you, Master, for your compassionate protection.
Discarding Fear
The Provincial Public Security Department sent personnel to our city in late July 2022 and escalated the persecution of Falun Gong in our area. Many practitioners were monitored and tracked, and I was one of their key targets. My cell phone, license plate, broadband, online shopping, and all my personal information were being monitored. They also assigned dedicated personnel to monitor my residence. The Municipal Public Security Department received an activity report every day.
When I discovered there was someone downstairs monitoring my residence, I got scared. I shared this information with practitioners I had worked with. One of them recommended that I leave right away and hide. Another said, “Don’t be afraid. Just do whatever you should do.” I felt that I was not able to calmly deal with the situation, so I went to someone else’s home and stayed there for over three weeks.
I studied the Fa a lot during that time. But because I did not look within or try to improve my xinxing, my fear did not lessen. Whenever I went out, I covered myself completely. If I had to go out again, I changed what I wore from head to toe, including my shoes. I also used an umbrella, trying to prevent the surveillance cameras from tracking me. I even checked for surveillance cameras before I went to different places. I knew that I was trying to avoid the persecution with an everyday person’s mentality.
I later rented an apartment at a new location, thinking it would be safer. Soon after I moved in, the city initiated a lockdown due to the pandemic. Everyone was trapped at home and only allowed to leave the building once a day for the COVID test. I did not want to take the test. Each time the volunteers announced over a loudspeaker that it was time for the test, I felt uneasy and depressed, looking out my window at the people standing in a long line waiting for the test.
Not knowing how long the lockdown would last, I registered for the community’s grocery delivery. In doing so, one of the community staff members asked for my ID. I told her I was new and that my ID was at my old residence. I said I would give it to her after the lockdown was lifted.
After that, they kept calling me to take the test, and taking the test required an ID. I registered using my landlord’s ID. However, this led them to believe that two people were living in my residence, and there was no record of anyone having taken the COVID test. That alarmed them, and they kept coming to the apartment.
I ignored them at first, but not taking the COVID-19 test was considered illegal, and they later called the police, so I had to open the door. They video-recorded me and my residence. Since I had a picture of Master in my room, I was worried and thought, “They’ll know that I practice Falun Gong.”
But after the officers learned that I was a practitioner, one of them said, “We won’t bother you for practicing Falun Gong. But will you please cooperate with us and take the [COVID] test in the future?” I agreed. I talked to the police officer about Falun Gong a few times. He seemed to accept what I said.
During that time, a fellow practitioner I had worked with was arrested. They tortured her severely to try to make her tell them about other practitioners. The Minghui website reported her situation, and local practitioners sent me information about her. I was petrified. Whenever I saw her name in a Minghui article or in information from local practitioners, I was scared, and I shook like a leaf.
I knelt down in front of Master’s picture and begged him to strengthen me. I denied the old forces’ persecution and the fear mentality in my mind. About 20 minutes later, I stopped shaking, but I was still afraid. I studied the Fa and sent righteous thoughts with greater effort. However, I was still afraid. When I began to memorize the Fa, the fear mentality weakened, but it was not completely gone.
Sitting in front of Master’s picture in the meditation position, I sent forth righteous thoughts and looked inward. I realized that the evil had targeted the project I was involved in because I did it with many attachments, including showing off, zealotry, the desire for comfort, and craving greatness and success. I was also resentful and jealous of my fellow practitioners and was very competitive. I said to Master with tears in my eyes, “These attachments are not me, I don’t want them. I want to discard them.” I felt as if my dimensional field had popped open and become clear. The substance of fear was eliminated, and my mind became calm.
The lockdown lasted for 28 days. Each household was issued a pass at the end of that time that allowed them to go out for two hours a day. A week later, the lockdown was lifted completely.
I will continue to firmly cultivate following Master’s arrangements and assist him to save lives in the Fa-rectification. Thank you, Master, for your compassionate salvation!
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Category: Cultivation Insights
