(Minghui.org) The day after our middle school class reunion, Anqi, a classmate, called to ask how I had enjoyed the dinner. Anqi said, “Inviting you was the most important highlight of this gathering!” He said that usually only classmates who had become officials or were wealthy were invited to such events, so they could network with people with mutual vested interests. He had not expected that the organizer would specifically ask that I be invited.
I was persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for remaining steadfast in my belief in Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong). I was wrongfully imprisoned for more than 10 years. I lost my job and my family, even my 10-plus years of seniority were wiped out, and I became a target of suppression by the CCP regime. Clearly, there was no self-serving motive behind the invitation.
“This is because you have good moral character,” Anqi said. “We respect your faith, but we have not seen any benefits that your belief has brought you.” As we were communicating by phone, I found it hard to explain.
After the conversation, I was deep in thought. The “gains and losses” of a cultivator can only be known to ourselves. I started recalling the gains and losses from my 30 years of cultivation in Falun Dafa, and I would like people to know why I persevered in cultivation while facing such brutal persecution.
Falun Dafa Gave Me a Healthy Body and a Calm Mind
I was one of the only two students from my middle school class who managed to go to college. I was accepted into a better university, and all my classmates were envious.
However, none of them knew that I suffered from severe back pain starting in my third year in university. I was terrified by the prognosis, especially of the spinal deformity and rigidity the disease would ultimately cause. I tried various traditional Chinese and Western medicines, and persisted with physical exercise and physical therapy, but nothing helped. I even practiced several forms of qigong, but they only provided temporary relief from the symptoms.
In 1996, after I read Zhuan Falun and had the thought of cultivating in Falun Dafa, the pain from the illness disappeared. That was 30 years ago, and I’ve really experienced a feeling of lightness and have been free from any illness since. My family all know about this. Before the persecution, my ex-husband fully supported me in my cultivation.
Falun Dafa’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance guide cultivators to be considerate in speech and action. We also look for the reason in ourselves when conflicts occur. This has broadened my mind, and I have become increasingly serene. More importantly, Dafa has shown me the true purpose of people coming to this world, which is to return to our true origins, so I am no longer lost in life. Practicing Dafa and following benevolent, great Master have filled me with light and hope, and my soul feels grounded and at peace.
I worked in medical research and had applied for research funding without success. After I started cultivation, I heeded Master’s teaching that we must first do well in our job. After that I secured funding from the Natural Science Foundation. In the institute’s year-end performance review, I received one of the few “excellent” awards and was promoted to deputy director of my department that same year. During the institute’s last round of housing allocation, I did not ask my director for an apartment, nor did I solicit votes from the judges as did other colleagues. Even so, I was allocated an apartment near our institute as I had wished for.
Before I started cultivating, I had a strong emotional attachment to my husband. I often complained that he did not care for me enough. When I was burdened with too much housework, I would feel resentful and would keep reminding my husband that I was not his nanny. After cultivating, I was considerate, and he also changed. He returned home from work on time, took our child and me to the movies, and we strolled in parks on weekends and holidays. He also called to tell us that he was safe when he was away on business trips. Our whole family enjoyed a happy and harmonious time together. This was something I had longed for before I started cultivating.
In addition, after cultivating in Falun Dafa, I no longer calculated gains and losses, and I maintained a harmonious relationship with my neighbors. I also resolved a conflict with a colleague that had occurred due to a misunderstanding.
The three years from the time I obtained the Fa to the start of the CCP’s persecution were the happiest days of my life.
The Supernatural Nature of Falun Dafa and the Evilness of the CCP
In July 1999, Jiang Zemin, the former head of the CCP, began the brutal persecution of Falun Dafa. I did not give up my belief and persevered in clarifying the facts about the practice to people. Because of that, I was monitored and illegally detained. My husband divorced me because he was afraid of being implicated under the CCP policy of going after family members, friends, and colleagues. I lost my job and family that everyone admired, and many people felt sorry for me. However, I had not been satisfied with my job and had unsuccessfully tried to become an editor. After losing my job in medical research, I got an editing job and fulfilled my dream of becoming an editor.
Here I’d like to share a few examples of how Falun Dafa exhibited its extraordinary power.
No Pain Nor Injuries Despite Severe Physical Abuse
In the detention center, a guard beat me brutally for doing the Falun Dafa exercises. The ordeal terrified a fellow detainee to the point of crying. However, I did not feel any pain, and there was not even any redness or swelling. Instead, the very next day, the guard who had beaten me complained that his hand hurt from the blows. The cell head remarked with a sigh, “It’s only you practitioners who can endure that. If it were any of us, we would have been battered to pieces.”
The High-Voltage Electric Baton Malfunctions
While I was in prison, I was subjected to electric shock torture twice by the guards for refusing to do forced labor. During the first instance, the baton malfunctioned when it touched me. The guards assumed the battery was low, so they fully charged it for the second attempt. I remained motionless, whether standing or sitting, prompting the guards to exclaim in astonishment, “Why is there no reaction?” Inmates passing by witnessed the second attempt and said that I did not seem to feel any pain at all. Afterward, I only had some localized skin redness and a few bumps. I truly did not feel much pain. I knew Master was protecting me.
After Thinking of a Particular Lecture in the Prison, It Appeared
When I heard that Master had given a lecture, I longed to read it. Coincidentally, a practitioner who was new to the prison brought a copy of that lecture. I also wanted to read the lecture “Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s).” The practitioner, who was detained in the same cell, had a copy of that, too.
No Injury Despite Being Bitten by a Tibetan Mastiff
My relative had set his Tibetan Mastiff (a very large dog) free in his yard. Just as I was returning to get something, it charged me and bit my right leg twice. After that, it stopped and locked eyes with me for a few seconds. At the time, I had yet to realize what was happening and felt no fear. The dog was then dragged away by its handler. After the attack, my leg was completely uninjured, and my slacks were not even torn.
Despite the CCP’s propaganda instilled in me since childhood, I moved past the “Mother Party” brainwashing. During this brutal persecution, especially in prison, I was subjected to lies and deception, violent coercion, humiliation, and abuse under the guise of “re-education and salvation.” I came to see the Party for what it truly is—a genuine criminal cult. This stands in stark contrast to Dafa and Master, who save people by uplifting their character through the principles of the Fa, an approach defined by compassion and devoid of any coercion. How could I possibly abandon goodness to embrace evil?
Sentient Beings Are Awakening
As Dafa practitioners persevere in clarifying the truth, more and more people have come to see the wonderful nature of Falun Dafa and the compassion of Dafa practitioners. Even most of the police officers and guards are no longer as evil as before. They no longer beat me when I did the exercises in the detention center. In the prison, the guards also no longer tried as hard to “transform” Dafa practitioners. Awakened inmates also protected Dafa practitioners.
Cultivating in Falun Dafa brings bliss. Although the CCP implemented the policy against Dafa practitioners of “bankrupting them financially,” I found other jobs, and my income was sufficient to cover my living expenses. During a period when I intended to focus on studying the Fa and temporarily stop working, I unexpectedly received a bonus of 2,000 yuan [$298]. A former colleague marveled, saying, “It’s a windfall.” A practitioner remarked, “It is Master providing for your living expenses.”
I have now already passed retirement age, but I’m still very healthy and I am going all out to do the things that cultivators should do. Under Master’s protection, I will do well on my future cultivation path and witness that moment when the whole world celebrates.
