Throughout China's history, there have always been two extremes, opposite attitudes during times of social discontent. One is rebellious and violent, such as the movements originated in a grass-roots religious belief, but developed into a juggernaut to shake the foundation of the ruling class. Motivated by immediate political goals and to attain the goals, these movements resorted to extreme violence. The other is obedient and passive, best exemplified by the Great Cultural Revolution. Motivated by the instinct for survival and to attain the way of survival, people found refuge in hiding behind an indifferent, apathetic front.

At the dawn of the new Millennium, however, human history has witnessed a rather different exemplification of principles and the ways of defending the principles.

As the whole world watches powerful intolerant forces attack Falun Dafa, we have witnessed this the amazing goodness of Falun Dafa. We have learned, sometimes even amidst horror, the power of the principles of Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance.

At the heart of Falun Dafa's practice is the supreme principle of the universe: Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance. These principles are understood as the essential nature of life, matter, and the characteristic of the universe. Mr. Li Hongzhi has pointed out in Zhuan Falun that this characteristic is the sole criterion for measuring good and bad in the universe. It is also expounded in his teachings that as a practitioner, one must then conduct oneself by following this characteristic of the universe.

Under the most severe pressures and attacks, Mr. Li has endured this tribulation with great nobility and composure. Not only has he refrained from deriding or plotting against his unfounded accusers, he has looked at the oppressors with eyes of benevolence.

Mr. Li has taught millions how to endure with a benevolent heart, and he has embodied his own teachings under this most trying of circumstances. Instead of stooping to violent actions or statements, Mr. Li has calmly called for dialogue with his oppressors, repeatedly expressed that peaceful resolution can "be accomplished through a dialogue." Even in this crisis, Mr. Li has put others, even his assailants first and considered how they might be negatively impacted. Mr. Li has even gone so far as to state that; "It is my hope that the Chinese government and its leadership will not treat the people who practice Falun Gong as enemies. Chinese people throughout the country have a very in-depth understanding of Falun Gong, and the consequences [of persecution] would cause people to lose confidence in the government and its leadership and to be disappointed in the Chinese government."

On June 2, 1999, Mr. Li made the following comments:

On July 22, 1999, when the ban on Falun Dafa was announced and the persecution began, Mr. Li expressed his deep regret for China's action, explaining that:

Mr. Li stated again that:

To his students, Mr. Li called for stability:

The emphasis on non-involvement in politics has been repeatedly stressed throughout Mr. Li's teachings. On September 3, 1996, Mr. Li told the practitioners "We should not get involved in politics."

On the eve of the first anniversary of the Chinese government's crackdown on Falun Dafa, Mr. Li wrote to all Falun Dafa Associations:

Mr. Li Hongzhi once told his students that:

Were it not for the efficacy of Mr. Li's teachings, the world might have witnessed utterly horrific bloodshed and violence in China. Despite this deplorable situation, Falun Dafa practitioners have not resorted to violence in any form. Nor have the majority renounced their practice. Rather, they have consistently endured these trials with benevolent hearts, even looking into the eyes of their oppressors and feeling sincere compassion. Tens of thousands of Falun Dafa practitioners have been compelled to travel many days, even by foot, as in a case of an eighty-year-old woman who traveled nine days and nights, to Beijing to peacefully appeal the ban on Falun Dafa, and to tell the truth about Falun Dafa to the oppressors. Such perseverance and benevolence in the face of all odds is a resounding confirmation of the value of Mr. Li's teachings.

Falun Dafa practitioners have learned that in the cultivation of Truthfulness, one should tell the truth, do things truthfully, become a truthful person, and return to the original, true self. We have found, amidst the lies, Truthfulness in those who've walked thousands of miles to Beijing, simply to tell officials, "Falun Dafa is good."

Ms. Yening Liang, a 31-years-old practitioner and a contact person from Hebei province, China, simply said, "Falun Dafa to me is like water to fish. How can fish live without water?" On April 25, 1999, she joined 10,000 practitioners in Beijing to peacefully appeal to the central government. She went to Beijing to appeal again after many Falun Dafa contact people were arrested on July 22, 1999. She was arrested on October 12. In January 2000, she was put on trial.

Twice, she had the opportunity to defend herself when sentenced to six years in jail for her faith. Instead, all she did was "try to say a few truthful words about Falun Dafa." Standing calmly and nobly, she told the courtroom, "I am not guilty. Here I do not want to appeal for myself or complain about anything. But I insist on making my appeal for Falun Dafa." "I'm not defending myself today. However, I do defend Falun Dafa. Falun Dafa is innocent! Mr. Li Hongzhi is innocent! Falun Dafa practitioners are innocent!" "From now on, I will condense the rest of my life into one sentence, Falun Dafa is good!"

For the truth she believes, Lili Feng, assistant professor at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California went to China for the first time in 11 years. She was arrested in the middle of the night at a friend's apartment, and was charged with "disruption of social orders". During her 13 days at the detention center, she slept on a cement floor and was forced to assemble hairbrushes.

However, Ms. Feng claimed that Falun Dafa is worth dying for. "For the reason that Falun Gong has given tens of millions of people the courage to stand up for their rights, Falun Gong is worth dying for." "Give me liberty, or give me death," a spirit that an American felt was worth dying for over 200 years ago, is, in her view, still worth dying for today.

Stopped by the police in Beijing, an exhausted and lone elderly farmer had nothing but a small bag on his shoulder. Quietly, he untied the bag and showed the inquirer several pairs of worn-out homemade shoes commonly seen in China's countryside, "See, I've come a long way to be here. All I want to tell you is Falun Dafa is good and the government is wrong."

This old man's journey symbolizes what tens of thousands of his fellow practitioners have done in an effort to fulfill their commitment to the principle of Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance.

On October 28, 1999, a clandestine press conference was held in Beijing, to let the world know the truth about Falun Dafa. Several Western journalists attended the meeting and reported the event. The organizer was later arrested and sentenced to two years in prison. Beatrice Turpin, a producer with Associated Press at the time, attended the clandestine conference. The Chinese government later harassed her due to her truthful reporting about Falun Dafa.

A practitioner from Boston, Massachusetts, who works at a medical research institute of Harvard University, also decided to make a petition to the Chinese government and say a few just words for his belief and his Teacher, Mr. Li Hongzhi. On his journey back to China, he used every opportunity to let people know the truth of Falun Dafa.

On the airplane, he clarified some facts of Falun Dafa to the passenger that sat next to him; at home, he helped his elderly mother, who stopped practicing Falun Dafa after the government's suppression, to rebuild her faith in Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance; in Tiananmen Square, he convinced the cameraman that there is nothing to fear in being a Falun Dafa practitioner, for it is the noblest and most righteous thing to do. When he was at the National Appealing Office, he calmly told the police that he was there to make a just statement for his belief.

On the application form under the reasons for appealing, he wrote: "From the experiences of my family and myself practicing Falun Dafa for 2 years, I can assure that Falun Dafa is a righteous cultivation practice. It can raise one's moral standard, and keep one fit; it has great benefits towards society and individuals as well. It does not have organizational or religious formalities. I would like to appeal for the following: 1. Restore the reputation of Falun Dafa as well as of Teacher Li Hongzhi; 2. Revoke the arrest warrant for Teacher Li; 3. Reinstate the rights of free assembly for Falun Gong, lift bans concerning the publishing of Falun Dafa books, give people the right to practice Falun Dafa."

The police officer that interrogated him eventually invited him for dinner. Before he let the practitioner go, the police officer said that he would like to read Zhuan Falun.

Those who could not travel to Beijing found their own ways of telling the Chinese authorities "Falun Dafa is good."

A Swedish Falun Dafa practitioner realized it was possible for her to telephone and tell the Chinese government the truth about Falun Dafa. She had a limited Chinese vocabulary. Nevertheless, she called the police stations, the mental hospitals, even an army headquarters, just to say, "Falun Dafa is righteous. "

Lisa Tao from Washington DC had sat outside the Chinese Embassy, along with other practitioners, for 9 months, in order to keep the banner "Falun Dafa is good" standing. Summer was gone and winter came. On the snowy ground, under the spring showers, and beneath the baking summer sun, "Falun Dafa is good" was always visible in front of the Chinese Embassy. The Embassy staff first tried to talk to persuade them to discontinue their daily peaceful sitting. Then they tried to befriend them. After that, they threatened them. But these practitioners' determination was undeterred: to guard the righteousness of Falun Dafa, to tell the world the truth of Falun Dafa.

On the week of September 4, 2000 during the UN Millennium Summit, practitioners from around the globe gathered peacefully in New York City to appeal to the world on behalf of the persecuted practitioners in China. They came from Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, Australia, and elsewhere to tell the world that "Falun Dafa is Good" and to ask "China, Free Falun Gong," doing everything they could to let the world know the truth and to continue asking for a peaceful end to the oppression. Many made sacrifices to be able to attend--some even took out loans to pay for flights. The policemen patrolling the areas where practitioners were expressed their gratitude to have been assigned to such a tranquil, kind, cooperative group. Because of the calm contrast practitioners were to the atmosphere in general, some policemen even requested that practitioners offer a meditation workshop to the entire NYPD. Through this event, many thousands of New Yorkers also came to know and appreciate the practice and the resilience of practitioners in China.

Truthfulness has led Falun Dafa practitioners to risk everything--personal safety, their jobs, their homes, and even their lives--to make known the truth about their practice. Truthfulness inspired tens of thousands to go to Beijing last July to appeal the ban on Falun Dafa. Over 35,000 practitioners were arrested in the first three months alone. Truthfulness moves hundreds of practitioners to petition their government every week, knowing full well that they will be detained, punished, and even tortured for exercising their constitutional right to appeal. Some have even walked hundreds of miles to do this. And Truthfulness compels, despite the very real and immediate personal risks, scores of practitioners to meditate and unfurl banners in Tiananmen Square that proclaim simply, "Falun Dafa is Good!"

Benevolence (Shan) is the manifestation of the cosmos' quality at different levels and in different dimensions. It is also the fundamental nature of the great enlightened beings. Therefore, a cultivator must cultivate Benevolence and become assimilated to the cosmos' quality, Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance."

In Zhuan Falun, Mr. Li expounded that:

We have seen Benevolence in those who've endured inhumane and unjust treatment without hatred or anger in their hearts, but with compassion towards their oppressors.

During her 13 days in a detention center, Lili Feng shared the cell with more than 50 inmates, most of whom were prostitutes, drug addicts, or both. Coming from a well-to-do family, these were the type of people she had only read about in novels. "It was Falun Gong that changed me and gave me the compassion and sympathy for my inmates." Without any rights and literally disappeared from the world, not even reachable by her husband, Lili still considered those 13 days the worthiest days of her life because she experienced the amazing power of benevolence.

A 17-year old prostitute embraced her and said: "Lili, you are a big professor from the United States, while we are the smallest of scum and the dregs of society, but you have treated us with dignity and respect as no one else did. Is it because of Falun Gong? If so, can I learn Falun Gong?"

Another inmate had a 3-day overlap with Lili in the cell. When she was released, she begged the police: "Can I stay for a few more days? I want to learn more about Falun Gong."

A 17-year old girl, upon her release, promised Lili: "Professor, I will never sell my body. The next time I am in jail, it will be for Falun Gong."

A 19-year old prostitute told Lili that as soon as she was released she would go to Beijing to tell the government that Falun Gong saved her.

In a letter to all kindhearted people, a 41-year-old practitioner from China told the readers that it was Falun Dafa that changed him from an infamous drunkard to a good person who tries to assimilate to the principles of Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance. "I conduct myself as a practitioner everyday and everywhere, cultivating kindness and maintaining virtue. In the workplace, I voluntarily clean up the office and bathroom, repair the toilet and the blocked sewers, therefore saving money for my work unit. I help and cooperate with my colleagues at work. I decline gifts from clients and contribute to improving the work environment, therefore receiving good comments from many clients. They all know I am a Falun Dafa practitioner." Seeing so many of his co-workers, who are also Falun Dafa practitioners, being harassed, deprived, or detained, he knew well that "perhaps someday I could be arrested, detained, put into a labor camp or even fired." "It is difficult to be a good person under these circumstances. But I fear nothing. I have given my life to my belief. I will face everything with a smile."

In the beginning Liang Yening "had hatred towards those who slandered my teacher, Mr. Li Hongzhi, those who persecuted our fellow practitioners, and those policemen who tried all means to arrest us. After two months of constantly studying Falun Dafa, I gradually eliminated my hatred. Instead, I began to develop compassion for them. ...If I ever have a chance to meet them, I will kindly and seriously persuade them to stop doing evil, and ask them to read Zhuan Falun."

Gu Linna, a female practitioner from Hebei province, believes that "one can be a good person in any environment." And so she lives. She always remembered, even in jail, amidst torture and suffering, the teaching of Falun Dafa, and tried her best to be a good person. "Other people can treat us badly, but we cannot be bad to others," and "A benevolent person always keeps a heart of mercy and compassion. With no complaints and no hatred, he takes suffering as joy," as taught by her Teacher, Mr. Li Hongzhi.

Whenever she's given the rare opportunities by some kind policemen to go out of her cell and get some fresh air, she would use her break time to sweep the yard, water the trees, and wash the cars. Sometimes she would help the chef prepare meals in the kitchen. Soon people in the detention center started to call her "Zhen-Shan-Ren (Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance)" instead of her real name.

One day, one of the inmates sighed and said, "I can't image that there is such a good person in jail. Falun Gong is so good. How come I had never heard of it before? After I get out of here, I will definitely learn it." Her inmates even stopped insulting people and they no longer yelled curses. One inmate said to everyone, "She (Gu Linna) doesn't insult people. In front of her, I dare not insult people. When I think of insulting others, I blush in shame and then I can't say the words."

Benevolence enables Falun Dafa practitioners to cultivate kindness in the most oppressive and trying of circumstances. Benevolence allows practitioners to look into the eyes of their oppressors with deep compassion, seeing what is human beneath the cruelty. Benevolence moved practitioners last July to save a Beijing policeman being accidentally trampled by fellow security officers. Benevolence taught the female practitioner who removed her handkerchief from her pocket to gently wipe the sweating forehead of her torturer. The Benevolence of jailed practitioners has touched the hearts of countless prisoners and guards, leading one of Gu Linna's inmate to declare, "It is in jail that I learned to become a good person!"

What is Forbearance? "Forbearance is the key to improving one's Xinxing. To endure with anger, grievance, or tears is the forbearance of an everyday person who is attached to his concerns. To endure completely without anger or grievance is a cultivator's forbearance," Mr. Li stated.

Mr. Li articulated further in Zhuan Falun:

We have found, amidst the intolerance, Forbearance in those who've remained firm to the principles in the face of shocks with cattle prods, severe beatings, and even death.

On the seventh day of Liang Yening's hunger strike, the detention center started force-feeding her by plugging a plastic tube into her stomach. They left the tube inside Liang for the convenience of repeat feeding. Liang's face, nose, throat and esophagus became all swollen. She could hardly breath. As she was being fed, tears of pain smeared Liang's face. It was such a painful ordeal that even the nurse could not bear to look and cried. Not being able to speak, Liang simply patted the nurse's hand. "Each time after they fed me, I would thank them," she wrote later.

One hundred and forty practitioners, who were on hunger strike at the Daguang detention center, wrote an appealing letter on some toilet paper, "...After we learned Falun Dafa, we conduct ourselves by following the principles of Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance. We strive to become better people and to reach unselfishness in the end. ...We went to appeal to the Chinese government according to the Article 41 of the Chinese Constitution. We have not violated any law. Why are we being detained here without going through any legal procedures? To protest the illegal detention, we started a hunger strike on February 4, and we have been on a hunger strike for 7 days. However, the Chinese authorities have paid no attention to our request, although we have been sincerely waiting for their attention..."

Sixty-eight detained practitioners who were on hunger strike in a drug rehabilitation center also wrote, "...We hope you will understand that we are striving to be good people. We go to appeal to the government just to tell the truth so that the government will not misunderstand us. We can be detained or beaten up easily. However, we do not fight back when the police beat us, and we do not curse back when the police swear at us. We are following the teachings of Falun Dafa. We would always treat others kindly. ...We want nothing but the right to purify our hearts according to the teachings of Falun Dafa. We hope the government could return us a legal environment of practicing Falun Dafa."

When he first started practicing Falun Dafa a few months ago, a Caucasian practitioner found it "incredible that many Chinese practitioners were willing to be tortured and put in jail and be persecuted. But now he is "indeed awed by the level of Forbearance that so many Chinese practitioners have displayed." "For now I want to let the Chinese practitioners know that their good example is very grand and powerful and that it is an inspiration to me and as time goes by it will also be to even more people. I am sure that as Falun Dafa is spread even further that others will come to know and appreciate the huge sacrifices that the Chinese practitioners have endured. I want to say thank you for enduring these hardships to defend the principles of Falun Dafa."

Before practicing Falun Dafa, one practitioner lost both legs in an accident. After the government banned Falun Dafa, he decided to go to Beijing to appeal in his wheelchair. Seven days later, he finally arrived. However, no hotel dared to accommodate him because he openly claimed that he was a Falun Dafa practitioner and had came to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa. He had to spend the bitterly cold winter night on the streets of Beijing.

The next day he went to the Appealing office. After hearing this practitioner's story, the police officer at the Appealing office held up his thumb and told him, "You will be remembered when Falun Gong is redressed in the future."

Immediately following the Chinese government's announcement to ban Falun Dafa, practitioners in Sydney, Australia began a sitting demonstration in front of the Chinese Consulate because their appealing letters and phone calls to the Consulate were ignored. They held banners that expressed their wish to communicate with the Chinese government, and raise the public awareness of the truth about Falun Dafa. From summer to winter, from Monday to Friday, from morning till night, rain or shine, nothing stopped them from being there.

Liu, an elderly lady in her 70s, participated everyday. Asked why she would do so at her age, she said that she couldn't stay quietly at home during this special time.

Threatened by the Consulate staff, Mr. & Mrs. Li, a couple in their 60s, calmly replied, "Go ahead. I'll still hold the banner even if we are put in jail for this!"

In order to stand longer, some practitioners would not drink any water for a whole day. Their lunch usually contains a few pieces of dry bread or crackers.

One day, two consulate employees, pretending they were washing a van, sprayed water all over the practitioners who were standing quietly on the sidewalk. They kept spraying for more than an hour. Water soaked many practitioners' clothes and shoes. But the practitioners stood there and held the banner without moving an inch. They showed no hatred, or resentment, toward the employees.

They have continued, endured for more than 300 days, peacefully and quietly, in order to tell the Chinese government, people in Australia, and people around the world, that "Falun Dafa and Falun Dafa practitioners are innocent. Falun Dafa is good."

It is their commitment to Forbearance that enables practitioners to suffer the most inhumane of abuses--including torture with electric cattle prods, forced abortion, sanctioned rape, and even toxic injections--without succumbing to anger, despair, or violence. Forbearance gives practitioners the strength to nobly endure the penalties for doing what is right, which is upheld and constitutionally sanctioned. Forbearance allowed Ms. Chen Zixiu to remain committed to her principles even unto death by torture. And it is because of Forbearance that Falun Dafa and, in turn, the dream of freedom, remain alive in China today. Fifty practitioners have already given their lives for this cause.