(Minghui.org) I’ve practiced Falun Dafa for over 30 years and have benefited immensely. It is Master Li, the founder of Falun Dafa, who continually enlightens and protects me, so that I’m able to grow on my cultivation journey.
I grew up in a city in Northeast China. In 1994, my mother returned home from visiting relatives with a copy of the book Falun Gong. When I read it, I felt it was very righteous and decided to practice Falun Dafa.
Following the illustrations in the book, I started doing the Dafa exercises on my own. My mother later brought back audio recordings of Master’s lectures, which our family often listened to. By listening to them, I began to truly understand things like what is cultivation practice, the nature of divine beings, and the relationship between heaven and earth.
I used to be weak and often got sick, but my health improved after I started practicing. My mother used to have many ailments, including a tumor. She also attracted spirit possession from practicing another form of Qigong. After cultivating Dafa, her ailments disappeared, the tumor miraculously vanished, and Master removed the possessing spirit.
Although my father followed along with the exercises, he never truly started practicing, yet his health still improved significantly. After a serious car accident in which he suffered broken ribs and a severe head injury requiring many stitches, he recovered quickly. Falun Dafa brought our family a sense of happiness we’d never experienced before.
By 1997, there were group Fa study and exercise sites in our city. At the exercise site, the assistant taught me the correct movements, and I was finally doing them accurately. I obtained several Dafa books, attended Fa study, and did the exercises in the park every day. We later set up a Fa study group and exercise site in my home, and nearby practitioners came to join us.
Telling People the Truth About the Persecution
On July 20, 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to persecute Falun Dafa practitioners and spread lies to poison people’s minds about the practice. I was still in school at the time and was frightened by all the hostility. I didn’t know what to do and didn’t dare speak up. But, gradually, I was able to clarify the truth to classmates and friends. With the help of fellow practitioners, I was able to speak to more people.
After I started working, I bought a computer and printer to produce Dafa informational materials, and I also made copies of Shen Yun DVDs. When I clarified the truth to people, I found that some could understand and accept it, while others responded with harsh words. Sometimes, I didn’t know what to say.
I browsed websites such as Minghui.org, New Tang Dynasty Television (NTD), and the Epoch Times to learn more so that I would have more of substance to talk about when I spoke with people. Over time, I was able to answer people’s questions more effectively.
When clarifying the truth, if I studied the Fa well and maintained a good cultivation state, people were more likely to accept what I said; otherwise, they were less receptive. I also found that our own state of mind is very important. When my heart was not fully engaged, people were less willing to listen. On the other hand, when I put a lot of thought into it and spoke in a calm, pure and compassionate manner, people were more likely to accept the truth and agree to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
It was difficult to bring up the topic with my colleagues at work. But I was gradually able to talk about the persecution with them, and they accepted it. Some even withdrew from the CCP’s organizations. I also shared videos with them, such as the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, as well as software to circumvent the Internet blockade. With access to outside information, they were able to better understand the truth.
Illegal Detentions
Because I did not study the Fa well enough, had loopholes in my cultivation, and failed to eliminate attachments, the old forces took advantage of my shortcomings, and I was arrested twice and put into forced labor camps.
The first time, I was reported for distributing Dafa materials. I was arrested and sent to one year of forced labor. At first, I felt very discouraged and lacked righteous thoughts. Then, one night, I had a vivid experience. I saw a scene similar to what’s presented in Shen Yun, where divine beings appear and Master rises above them. It was grand, beyond words. My spirit was quickly lifted, and I was able to treat the guards and inmates with righteous thoughts and compassion.
I was transferred to another labor camp where many practitioners were detained. We shared with one another and believed we should help save the people there. With Master’s support, we clarified the truth to the inmates and helped them withdraw from the CCP. Through persistent efforts, almost everyone in our unit withdrew. Some even wanted to learn the Dafa exercises.
The second term was due to my attachments of zealotry, showing off, irrationality, and forcing things when clarifying the truth. I was given two and a half years of forced labor. I did not acknowledge this illegal incarceration and affirmed to myself: “I’m a Dafa disciple who only acknowledges Master’s guidance.” In the labor camp, I recited the Fa, sent forth righteous thoughts, and took opportunities to clarify the truth and tell people about traditional Chinese culture. Gradually, even those assigned to monitor me changed from hostility to kindness.
Because I refused to be “transformed” and refused to wear an identification badge, I was confined in a small, unheated room in late February, when it was still very cold. They also forced me to sit on a small stool, from morning til night, for five months, and I was not allowed to shower. Although it seemed very painful, I did not experience much suffering. In fact, I felt relatively comfortable sitting there. I knew it was our compassionate Master who bore the suffering for me. Before I’d served half of my term, the labor camp system in China was dismantled, and I safely returned home.
These two incarcerations made me deeply realize the importance of studying the Fa well and cultivating solidly. Especially during the second incarceration, I came to understand a principle: We must put Dafa first, above everything else!
I was arrested several more times, but under Master’s compassionate protection, I always remained safe and was released without being sentenced.
Because I strive to follow Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, it’s clear from my demeanor that I’m not a bad person, and I am usually treated kindly. Even in the labor camps, the inmates and even some of the guards thought well of me.
Withdrawing From a Phone Project Based Outside of China
In 2021, I joined a project in China that used the Internet to clarify the truth. I later became involved in a phone project based outside of China. Due to COVID lockdowns, there were few people on the streets and going out was also inconvenient.
I provided technical support and sometimes participated in clarifying the truth over the phone. As more people joined, the management style became more like that of ordinary society, and we used communication software. As we gradually deviated from Master’s requirements, some practitioners pointed out the problems, but they were thought to have bad cultivation states and were just causing interference within the project. Unfortunately, we failed to evaluate the situation with the Fa.
We invested a great deal of time in this project, which meant that some practitioners stopped participating in local truth-clarification efforts, thereby missing opportunities to help people around them learn the truth about Dafa. Others, out of fear, used the project as a way to avoid direct contact with the outside world, causing many predestined people to miss their chance to be saved.
The Minghui website later published a practitioner’s article titled “Practitioners in China, Please Do Not Participate in Overseas Phone Calling Projects.” [Editor’s note: No English translation of this article is available.] Only then did we gradually awaken. By discussing it, we understood Master’s intentions and decided to withdraw from the project.
Due to the security risks in China, even with the precautions we took, the CCP’s technology was advancing, and many practitioners could have been implicated if protection protocols were breached. Practitioners in China have the unique advantage of direct, face-to-face contact with the public, something practitioners outside of China do not have. So we should focus on talking to people directly and distributing materials. Phone calls and software-based outreach are more suitable options for practitioners abroad.
After I understood this, I shut down the communication servers, uninstalled the software, dissolved the cross-regional team, and all the members of our project withdrew and returned to face-to-face efforts to clarify the truth. Once we made this decision, my time and energy was freed. I then returned to the streets to clarify the truth. I’m grateful that Master awakened us in time.
The Minghui website then published the editorial “Spreading Master’s Words Outside of Published Lectures Is Disrupting the Fa.” During the phone project, I had heard from practitioners outside of China that Master supposedly attached great importance to a certain overseas project, so I encouraged others to visit that project’s website to increase traffic and download materials.
But after reading the article, I realized this was spreading unverified information, which was an act of disrupting the Fa. I realized my attachments, such as showing off and validating myself. I corrected myself, notified the relevant practitioners, and asked them to stop spreading such information. These experiences truly awakened me to the seriousness of cultivation.
Looking back on these years of my cultivation journey, it’s been full of ups and downs. It is our compassionate Master who has repeatedly enlightened and protected me. I’m infinitely grateful for his compassionate salvation. The only way to repay him is to be more diligent by studying the Fa well, cultivating solidly, and fulfilling my prehistoric vows.
