(Minghui.org) I am an elderly practitioner who started practicing Falun Gong in 1997. I have traveled along a winding road and taken many detours during my cultivation and in helping Master to rectify the Fa. Having experienced the wonders and magnificence of Dafa and witnessing Master's immense compassion, I rejoice in having obtained the Fa.
I used to be very competitive, being especially attached to fame and profit at work. I would feel pained if I lost a little bit of self-interest or thought that I had been wronged. However, I learned the essence of life after I obtained the Fa, and realized that returning to one's original, true self is the real purpose of being human. Our cultivation is guided by the standard of the universe's highest characteristics, Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance. Hence, I began my path of cultivation under Master's guidance.
Determined to cultivate well while resisting the persecution
I firmly believe in Master and Dafa, so when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started to persecute practitioners on July 20, 1999, I decided to step forward and validate the Fa. I told people the facts about Falun Gong, and made and distributed truth clarification materials.
One night in 2004, a fellow practitioner called me to say that they had lots of Falun Gong materials, and asked me to go there and collect some. However, we did not realize that his phone was tapped. While I was reading some of the materials at home, I suddenly heard pounding on the door. I quickly hid the large package of materials under my bed and then opened the door. I was stunned when I saw many armed police officers standing there. They forced their way in and ransacked my home for several hours. But they only found a copy of Minghui Weekly and some Dafa audio recordings. They did not find any of my Dafa books.
My husband and I were taken to the police department, where we were interrogated separately. They wanted to know where we got the materials from, but we did not cooperate and sent forth righteous thoughts towards them. I also recited poems from Master's Hong Yin, knowing that Master was watching over me. One of the officers sat next to me and was staring at me. Sometimes he put his head on the desk, and other times he ran into the hallway. He said that he had a headache and started taking medicine. His colleagues also took some of the medicine, and one of them started choking as the medicine got stuck in his throat. I talked to them about Falun Gong and the staged self immolation incident on Tiananmen Square. No matter what questions they asked, I would not tell them what they wanted to know.
When I was distributing truth clarification materials in a residential building one summer day in 2005, I started from the sixth floor and walked downward. When I got to the third floor, I could hear voices from downstairs. I started working faster to finish distributing the remaining leaflets. When I reached the second floor, three police officers passed me and went up the stairs. I was very nervous and asked Master to protect me. I quickly left and kept sending forth righteous thoughts. After I got home, I burst into tears, as I knew that Master had protected me.
Saving people while in detention
A fellow practitioner once gave my name to the authorities when arrested and interrogated. As a result, I was held at a detention center in 2007. About 17 people were crowded in a cell. Every day I heard crying and screaming, and saw people being beaten. I thought that, as I had come here, I should validate the Fa and save people.
When I clarified the facts to a guard one time, I told her of Dafa's grace, and how my mind and body had improved after I started practicing Falun Gong. I also told her that good will be rewarded and evil will meet with retribution. From the beginning to the end of our conversation, I remembered Master's words:
“Mercy can melt heaven and earth into spring
Righteous thought can save people of the world”
(“Fa Rectifies the Cosmos” from Hong Yin II)
The guard listened intently. Maybe my compassion moved her. She said, “If one person says that Falun Dafa is good, you may not believe it. When two or three people say it, you may still not believe it. But if so many people say it is good, you have to consider it.” She continued, “If you were a lawyer, that would be great. You could call for justice for Falun Gong. People should choose justice and benevolence, and be responsible for themselves and their future generations.” After I was taken back to my cell, the head of the inmates told me that many of the guards treated practitioners well. I immediately thought that practitioners detained here were fulfilling their mission and saving sentient beings.
After being in the detention center for a few days, officers took me to the police department for interrogation. When they sat me in a chair in a room, I did not expect I would be forced to sit there for three days. The police took turns to interrogate me, but I would only tell them why I practiced Falun Gong and followed the principles of Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance. I also told them about the CCP's lies and propaganda about Falun Gong. When one group of police went home at night, another group continued to interrogate me. During those days, I sent forth righteous thoughts and recited Hong Yin. I felt that my body was surrounded by a strong energy field, and I did not feel sleepy, even though I was not allowed to sleep for three days. When I told one of the officers that the torture of not allowing me to sleep was much crueler than if they were beating me, she replied, “People like you have no trouble going without sleep for a month.”
After being interrogated for a few days, I asked one of the officers if she understood Falun Gong. She said, “I understand it very well. I have read Zhuan Falun many times. I know it is good.” She then looked at my water cup and said, “Your cup is white and half full. But if the CCP says it is red and has no water in it, then I have to say it is red and empty.” I understood that this officer knew Falun Gong was good, but her actions against practitioners still left her in a terrible situation.
I once told a judge, who had recently retired, about Falun Gong. I asked him whether he would take up the offer if he was called back by the court. He said, “No. On our path, the more days we work, the more bad things we do.” When I told him that I could help him to quit the CCP, he gladly agreed.
As new inmates were assigned to our cell on a daily basis, I would talk to them about Falun Gong and show them the exercises. One person was admitted to our cell for fighting. She always gave me a hard time and disturbed me when I was doing the exercises. I calmly told her many stories about Dafa and told her that good will be rewarded and evil will be punished. She said, “I have never heard of the things you talk about. I have read many books over the years, but you have taught me more than any of them.” She was released within a few days.
Many inmates at the detention center lacked clothes and daily personal care supplies. I thought that as a practitioner, I must represent the image of Dafa well. So I gave most of my spare clothes and daily supplies to the people in need. Inmates soon learned that practitioners are kind, and some of them developed a respect for practitioners and an admiration for Master and Dafa.
When I was imprisoned in a forced labor camp, I found it extremely difficult to clarify the facts about Falun Gong to the guards. They did not listen to us at all and even yelled at us when we tried to talk to them. However, one guard was different. Every time I talked to her about Dafa, she listened. She said, “You did nothing wrong. It's all right to just keep the Fa in your heart in such an environment.” She was later transferred to another position.
My family benefits as I cultivate Dafa
My mother used to suffer from severe cholecystitis, and the doctor told her that she should have a operation as soon as possible. She was in her 80s and did not want to have the operation. She believed the wonderfulness of Dafa and recited “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance is good!” every day. Several years have now passed. She did not have an operation and she has not suffered from cholecystitis since.
Being protected after quitting the CCP
On July 5, 2009, rioting broke out in Urumqi City in Xinjiang Province. Many people were holding knives, clubs and bricks, and there was fighting all over the place. A relative of mine was a passenger on a bus that was arriving into Erdaoqiao. When the driver saw the chaos on the street, he immediately stopped the bus and let all of the passengers off. When my relative got off the bus, she saw the person in front of her with his ear hanging off after being cut. She then turned around to see a man covered in blood, after having a brick thrown at his head. She was so frightened that she bent down and dared not move. At that moment, a young couple came and, without saying a word, dragged her away. This relative was kept safe because she had already quit the CCP and communist youth league.
Another relative had told her family that she would be home by 7:00 p.m. that night. But one of her relatives called her and told her to come home earlier to take care of the kids after school, so she came home at 6:00. The riot broke out at 7:00 p.m., and many people died. It would have been very dangerous if she was out during the rioting. She had also quit the CCP before that date.
My husband and I are both practitioners, and we often talk to people about Falun Gong and distribute truth clarification materials. Most people are very grateful after learning the facts about Falun Gong, and some even burst into tears. They all have a knowing side that is aware, and that side is thankful for Dafa's salvation. My husband came across a young man who had quit the CCP after learning the facts about the persecution. The man told my husband that he was hit by a truck during the New Year while he was riding on a motorcycle with a passenger. He said that he was flung off his motorcycle, which was destroyed, but that he and his passenger came out of it unscathed. He said that right before he goes to bed at night, and after he gets up in the morning, he utters the words, “Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance is good.”
Master's boundless compassion is too hard to describe in words. I shall diligently and truly cultivate, save as many people as possible, and not disappoint Master's salvation and mighty grace.
