(Minghui.org) I would like to talk about my experience and understanding gained over these few years of helping practitioners write articles that expose the persecution, and discuss the process of validating the Fa through this method.
Joining the project to expose the persecution locally
In 2009, a fellow practitioner from another area wished to help practitioners in our county compile truth-clarifying materials targeted for our area. He needed local practitioners to help collate the materials and asked if I would like to undertake this project. I was already quite busy as I had established a family truth-clarification materials production site and was also responsible for the distribution of truth-clarifying materials in our area. Coupled with my limited writing skills, I felt that I did not qualify. However, I agreed to help him find a suitable candidate.
Through discussions with local practitioners on how to expose the persecution, practitioners told me that our county had previously worked on this project but stopped after putting together one or two articles. This was due to the attachment of fear, as practitioners were unwilling to expose the fact that they had been persecuted. Since exposing the persecution is voluntary and one cannot be forced, the project was stopped. When I heard this, I understood the difficulty of doing this project. Actually, I had been expecting this.
In fact, many cases of persecution of practitioners from my county had already been published on the Minghui website. There were reports of practitioners being forced to sit in an iron chair, some were tied to the death bed and force-fed, some were whipped with a lash, some were burned by the police with cigarette butts and some were shocked with high-voltage electric batons. There were cases where other means of torture were used. Although we knew the torture methods used, we did not know who had been persecuted, or the identities of those involved in the persecution. Thus, our ability to intimidate the evil and clarify the truth was greatly reduced.
Now the practitioner from another area brought this issue to our attention and wanted to help us compile truth-clarifying materials to expose the evil, and only asked us to provide the details of those being persecuted. We knew from many articles on Minghui that the persecution can be stopped effectively only when the persecution is exposed. People will clearly see the evil face of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and be saved when they understand the depth and tragedy of the persecution. In other words, exposing the evil can improve the effect of clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings. Moreover, Master has repeatedly asked disciples to do this. We have no reason not to do so! Therefore, I decided to cooperate and participate in this project with fellow practitioners, and I am determined to do well.
First steps in calling for articles
How can we help fellow practitioners recognize the significance of this matter and come forward to expose the persecution? I first talked with the local coordinator and listened to his views. I asked the coordinator to help contact fellow practitioners to let them know that if they wished to expose their experiences of being persecuted, to please write them out and give them to the coordinator. I thought that there surely must be practitioners who would contribute, and I could send their experience papers to the practitioner to edit without having to collate them. But, after waiting for a long time, I did not receive any articles.
I thought, “Maybe practitioners would like to write, but they don't know how to write or it may be that they do not have the time, and that's why there are no articles.” But, I also understood that we cannot wait when it comes to exposing the persecution. After I decided to work on this project, I knew that we must expose the evil as soon as possible. I decided to personally visit practitioners in order to interview them.
Fellow practitioners motivate me to continue
As soon as I went to visit practitioners and interview them, I found a practitioner who had been severely persecuted. Not only was he severely persecuted, his family had been broken apart and one family member had been persecuted to death.
When I went to the practitioner's house and talked about the matter of exposing the evil, he said, “I have long wanted to expose the persecution I experienced, and especially the persecution of my family. Over the years, I have recorded everything that I have experienced, but it was written quite messily. I am worried that there is no one to collate the stories. Today you are here, so I will hand it all over to you.”
I gave him a brief overview of what I hoped we would accomplish through this. The practitioner said, “No problem. Exposing and stopping the persecution is what Master wants us to do and it's the responsibility of Dafa disciples.” I took the paper from him and said, “It's great that you have bravely come forward and exposed how your family has been persecuted. I thank you for giving the practitioners in our county a good start on this important matter.”
In this way, my first interview was completed successfully. I know that this was Master's encouragement, to enhance my confidence and to keep going.
When I returned home, I read the practitioner's papers carefully and felt a little worried as it was messy, not written concisely and could not really be called an article. But on second thought, I realized that the truth of the persecution was in his writing. Although the practitioner was obviously not highly educated, it was good enough that the facts of what the CCP did were recorded. I calmed down and began going through the persecution facts one by one, placing them in chronological order. Because the article exposes the persecution, the text must be precise and what happened must be substantiated. There were some details that required me to go back and verify with the practitioner. Our homes are several miles apart and we went back and forth a few times before the article was finalized.
I sent the article to the coordinating practitioner to edit. He compiled it into a single page for local truth clarification and then sent the article to Minghui. Minghui soon published it and thus our county had our own local truth-clarifying material.
A steadfast practitioner encourages me
Once, I went to interview a female practitioner. She had been detained, sent to a labor camp, force-fed, shocked with electric batons and she was subjected to various other cruel tortures. When I raised this matter of exposing the persecution to her, she said, “I have long wanted to expose how I have been persecuted by the evil Party. It is just that I hadn't written it down. Now that this is required, I will write it as soon as possible.”
I asked, “Will you feel pressured when we distribute the truth about your persecution in our local area?” She said, “We cultivate Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and we are good people who've been persecuted for no reason. There is nothing to be afraid of, as we are speaking the truth.”
The practitioner soon wrote down the details of her persecution. I was very moved after reading it. “A fragile woman was deprived of sleep, force-fed and dragged to the wilds to be tortured with multiple electric batons but was able to live through it.” I was amazed and moved! This practitioner believes in Master and the Fa and did not have the slightest fear when facing the thugs. I was filled with admiration for her.
During the process of helping fellow practitioners expose the persecution, my attachment of fear is also being reduced. Encouraged by fellow practitioners, I wrote down my own experience of being persecuted and sent it to Minghui, thus fulfilling my own desire to expose the persecution that I'd experienced.
After personally experiencing the importance of this work, I wanted to do it better. I realized that there is limited space in the single page of the truth-clarification material and there are other things that cannot be omitted. Due to space constraints, the size of the local articles that exposed the persecution had to be reduced during the editing process. In order to allow the cases of persecution to be archived on Minghui, I would first send the entire persecution article to Minghui. The practitioners who are doing the editing compress the articles after downloading from Minghui and then use them for local truth clarification. This maximizes the effectiveness of the articles that expose the persecution, and the articles can be shared with many practitioners, thus reducing their workload.
Always keep in mind fellow practitioners' safety
An elderly practitioner being held in detention fell seriously ill and lost consciousness, and the doctor said she would not recover. The authorities told her family to take her home. Her practitioner husband played Master's lecture recordings for her. Soon, she regained consciousness and got better with each passing day. After five or six days, she was able to get out of bed. She began to study the Fa and do the exercises, and after two months she was able to take care of herself. This is definitely a miracle! The elderly lady said, “It is Falun Dafa that saved me. I must use my real name to tell people my story and let people know the greatness of Dafa and Master!” I carefully recorded this moving story.
The elderly lady became healthy and she would tell everyone she met her story. She donated more than a thousand yuan to the materials production site to be used for saving people.
When we wrote the article, the editing practitioner and I considered this issue: “For the sake of the elderly lady's safety, should we use her real name in the article?” After discussing it, we reached a consensus: “It was her wish to use her real name to validate the Fa.” It makes the article more convincing when one's real name is used and it allows more people who've been deceived by the communist regime to understand the truth and be saved. Using her real name shocked the evildoers, and Master would not allow the evildoers to persecute practitioners for doing this. Thus, there was no interference after this report was published on Minghui. This article was later published in several other regions' truth-clarifying material packets and was also published in overseas journals. Her story played an extraordinary role in validating the beauty of Dafa.
To complete this article, I rode my motorcycle over long distances – traveling more than a hundred miles. When I work with fellow practitioners to clarify the truth, I never feel exhausted. While on the road, I use the opportunity to put up truth-clarifying posters. Doing this makes me very happy.
Conclusion
Over the past several years, I have helped fellow practitioners collate a dozen articles that exposed the persecution in our area and which were published on Minghui. After exposing the evildoers in broad daylight and looking at the tortures of being force-fed, burned with cigarette butts, shocked with electric batons, etc., one is able to clearly see which practitioners were persecuted, which police officers were involved in the persecution, and what cruel methods were being used. All of these crimes are being exposed. Faced with these facts, which evildoer can still claim that he is “not afraid” of perpetrating the persecution and being exposed? Coupled with clarifying the truth to police officers face-to-face, the evil factors have now been greatly reduced.
The evil will try to do everything possible to find who exposed them, as they are afraid of the truth being revealed, and they've even arrested practitioners whom they think have contributed to Minghui. In fact, their efforts are futile. The communist regime cannot block Minghui and the evildoers cannot block the truth. Their best choice is to stop persecuting Falun Gong.
Let us encourage each other with revered Master's words:
“Exposing the wicked policemen and bad persons and publicizing their evil deeds is extremely effective at shocking and restraining those irrational, wicked people. At the same time, by clarifying the facts to the people on a local level it most directly exposes, and generates public awareness of, the wicked persecution. It is also a great way to save the people who have been poisoned and deceived by the lies. I hope all Dafa disciples and new students in Mainland China will do this well.” (“Master's Comment on a Student's Article” on November 15, 2003)
I would like to sincerely thank Master for His compassionate care. Thank you, the practitioners who are working for Minghui! Thank you to the practitioner who helped our region compile truth-clarifying materials! I would like to Heshi to Master and practitioners!
