(Minghui.org) Master said:
“The form that Dafa’s cultivation takes is different from all forms of cultivation in history. That is because you shoulder the responsibility of a Dafa disciple: the sacred mission of saving sentient beings at a critical moment in history for mankind.” (“Congratulations to the Taiwan Fa Conference”)
Since I began practicing Falun Dafa in 1995, it has become more and more clear to me that all major events and turning points in my 64 years of life were Master’s arrangements. They were so I could network successfully, and save sentient beings from all walks of life.
I graduated from high school in 1972, in the midst of the Cultural Revolution. As an “educated youth,” it was mandatory for me to join millions of my peers to go to the rural areas in China to be “re-educated.” I first taught elementary school, and then worked as a manufacturing technician for 12 years.
I moved back to my city in my mid-30s and was offered a job as the head of public relations at the city's designated hotel for traveling government officials. Besides heading the PR department, I took on many other responsibilities, such as director of female employees and president of the workers’ union.
I am not from a wealthy family but was spoiled rotten by my grandfather growing up. From elementary school until I started working, I had always been in some kind of leadership role. I was headstrong and arrogant, and wanted to be the best at everything I did. However, my competitiveness led to chronic illnesses. I spent tens of thousands of yuan each year on medical expenses, but couldn’t restore my health or alleviate my pain.
I was hospitalized in 1995 but an old friend visited me and brought good news—she had recovered from ovarian cancer within two weeks of starting to practice a type of qigong. I was curious about what qigong she was practicing. She said, “Falun Gong!” For some reason, the sound of those words struck me as if I had been waiting to hear them all my life.
She was not telling lies—within two weeks of practicing Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa), all of my illnesses were gone. I threw away my medicines and enjoyed my good health. I had a rosy complexion and was full of energy. I couldn’t help but smile all the time. Everybody commented that I looked younger and prettier. The provincial and city officials I worked with jokingly called me “Miss PR” even though I was almost 40 year old.
When the mayor’s wife heard my story, she called and asked me to teach her the exercises. I got her the book Zhuan Falun, and copied the exercise music onto a CD for her. She learned all five sets of exercises in less than an hour.
Everybody in the city government, including the high ranking officials, knew that I was a Falun Gong practitioner. I often reminded myself to live up to the requirements of the Fa—Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance—and be a good person at all times. I treated our hotel guests equally, regardless of their rank, and set a good example for other employees.
The police arrested all of the local coordinators in the middle of the night in July, 1999, two days before the persecution campaign against Falun Gong was officially launched by the central government.
After hearing the news, I went to the city police department to petition for the coordinators’ release. I shared with the officials how I miraculously regained my health, and how I’ve improved morally since I took up the practice.
Two days later, at the all-hands meeting of the city’s Party administrative body, a speech by Jiang Zemin, the then leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was read. The speech defamed and slandered Falun Gong. I immediately got up and left. When I heard my co-workers talking about the CCP’s propaganda defaming Falun Gong that was broadcast on TV, I told them that it was all lies.
I joined local practitioners to do the exercises publicly at the city stadium in December that year and was arrested. I continued to study the Fa and do the exercises at the detention center. I refused to recite the detention center rules. I went on a hunger strike and asked to see the detention center director.
I talked to the director and three other officers for more than three hours. I told them my story, and how the practice changed me physically and morally. I told them that Jiang was committing a crime slandering and persecuting Falun Gong and suggested that they not get involved in the persecution. I also requested that they provide nutritious meals to the female practitioners who had been beaten and injured.
All my requests were met within a few days. and the director told the inmates to learn from Falun Gong practitioners. When my two-week detention ended, the director made two trips to the city police department to negotiate my release. I soon went home without having to pay a fine. The more than 30 other detained practitioners were all released shortly after.
After my detention, a meeting was held at my work where the Party secretary asked each Party member to vote on a decision to expel me from the Party. I stood up and told my side of the story.
I’d worked there over ten years and had never taken a bribe nor sought fame. I was always the first one to arrive and last to leave and never took a penny of overtime pay. I worked hard and shouldered many responsibilities. I recounted many incidents to show how Dafa made me a valuable employee.
Regardless, I was expelled from the Party and fired from my position. After the meeting, many of my co-workers told me, “We had no choice. The decision was already made by the regional office. The CCP is all messed up.” I smiled, “As long as you know the truth in your heart.”
The decision was announced at the next all-hands meeting of the city’s Party members. My husband was made to sit in the front row and close-up footage of him was repeatedly played in the local news for several days in a row. My poor husband was under a lot of pressure.
The next time I saw the mayor, he said to me, “You’re such a smart person and so capable. It’s not worth it. Why don’t you just go with the flow? We talked about what happened to you at the committee meeting, and everybody felt sorry for you.” I said, “Falun Dafa is such a wonderful practice and it saved my life. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are universal principles and Dafa is a high level Fa. I wouldn’t be such a good person without it.” The mayor and everyone there nodded.
The mayor’s wife called me, “Why are the TV programs making things up? Master never said those things in the book.” I said, “Yes. You’ve read the book, you know that the TV programs are not truthful.” When she found out my salary was withheld and I was only getting 120 yuan of benefits each month, she was furious.
When I met up with her, she told me she could work her connections to get me a “Medical Retirement” quota so I would receive my full salary and benefits. I thanked her, but turned down the offer. I told her that I suffered from many illnesses for two decades and was healthy again thanks to Dafa. I would not qualify for “Medical Retirement.” I didn’t want to lie. I thanked her again as she smiled at me with admiration.
The former chief of the city police department was also the city Party secretary’s assistant. I had known him for a long time before he rose to his latest position. When I found out that a few practitioners were arrested before the Chinese New Year, I paid him a visit hoping to persuade him to do the right thing. I was not afraid at all, knowing that Master would look after me.
His wife let me in although the chief was not home. I sat down and made small talk. She was shocked to learn that I was almost 50 years old, “You look great for your age.” I took the opportunity and shared about how I regained my health through practicing Falun Dafa and what the practice is all about. She seemed to understand that the CCP’s propaganda wasn’t true.
It was during the Chinese New Year so a lot of people were coming to visit the chief and getting turned away. I waited for almost an hour before the chief came back. He was surprised to see me. I greeted him, and wished him a happy New Year before I candidly asked him to release all detained practitioners. He said that the detention centers were not within his jurisdiction. I told him, “You are the Chief of Police. They are all within your jurisdiction. You will accumulate great virtue by authorizing the release.”
Our conversation was interrupted by yet another group of visitors and I couldn’t clarify the truth about Dafa comprehensively. I assumed that his wife would fill him in later. When he walked me out to the staircase, I asked him to treat Dafa practitioners with kindness and this would bring him blessings. He said, “I’ll think about what you said tonight.” I sincerely thanked him. A few days later, the detained practitioners were released.
As for the chief, he quickly moved up the ladder to deputy mayor, in charge of the treasury, then again was promoted to regional official within a couple of years. Though I have not spoken to him since, I believe he knows that his conscious choice to not partake in the persecution brought him blessings. I later sent him more truth-clarification materials through the mail.
The Vice President of the city Political Consultative Conference used to be my boss at the hotel. We worked together closely for two years and were a good team. I let him borrow my books on hotel management and helped him get up to speed when he first started the job. To share his workload, I also took on many responsibilities in the company.
Though I worked under him, he often sought my advice. Whenever he traveled for work, he gave me complete executive power of the company. He often said that I was the only person he could trust. I never sucked up to him or bribed him, instead I just focused on my own responsibilities and tried to do my best.
My boss once told me that the city leaders had a good impression of me. He suggested that I visit some of the key figures with nice gifts and I “just might land a position in the government body.” I smiled and told him as a Falun Dafa practitioner I would do no such a thing. I told him Master taught us to not pursue fame or self-interest, and to do our best wherever we are.
He told me I was well known among the traveling government officials, from the county to the province, and even national leaders knew about me. I told him that it was just the nature of my work and I was grateful to have the opportunity to meet and serve all of our guests. I thanked him for his compliments. Toward the end of his term at the hotel, he sincerely thanked me for all my help to him in the past two years.
An old classmate who worked for the city Party Committee scolded me, “Foolish woman. All you know is to work, work, work. Would you ever learn to build connections or to bribe? What is the point of you meeting all these high ranking officials and not taking advantage of it?” I told her, “That is how I am and always will be.”
I was detained in December 1999 for doing the Dafa exercises publicly. My ex-boss heard about my detention while having a meal with the then deputy chief of police. He made a bet with the deputy chief that he could convince me to renounce Falun Gong and if he won, I was to be released right away.
He visited me at the detention center with fruits and pastries. I was three days into a hunger strike in which more than 30 detained practitioners participated. As soon as I walked into the visitation room, he eagerly told me to renounce Dafa so I could walk out of there with him right then. He said the deputy chief had already agreed to it. He took out a pen and paper and urged me to write my renouncement.
Though I was weak from not having eaten for three days, I felt a sudden rush of blood. I told him I was a law abiding citizen who had not committed any crime—I merely exercised at a public stadium, and upheld my belief. I expected him to have known me better given all those years we worked together. I asked him what I was supposed to renounce—being a good person?
Seeing that I wasn’t going to write any statement, my ex-boss took out his cellphone, dialed a number, and told me to say, “I am wrong,” to the deputy chief. “I am not wrong! I am not wrong! I am not wrong!” I shouted. He was so angry that he foamed at the corners of his mouth, “You’re so stubborn.” He shook his head and left.
Master said:
“As Dafa disciples clarify the truthSharp swords shoot forth from their mouthsTearing open the rotten demons’ liesLose no time and save them,hurry up and tell them” (“Hurry Up And Tell Them,” Hong Yin Volume II, Translation Version A)
“...saving people is an expression of a cultivator’s compassion, as well as a responsibility when sentient beings are in critical danger.” (“A Congratulatory Message to the European Fa Conference,” Team Blue Translation)
I often thought about that incident and regretted not clarifying the truth more comprehensively to him at the detention center. To truly save sentient beings, we have to seize every opportunity, let go of our notions, send righteous thoughts and be compassionate.
Although I sometimes worried that I had ruined my chance to clarify the truth to my ex-boss, I had deep faith that everything was going to work out with Master’s help. I decided to go to the city hall, and try to visit him at his office. Though I was lucky to have walked past the guard without ever being stopped, I never found my ex-boss at his office.
A practitioner reminded me, “You have gone [to the city hall] quite a few times now. What if someone from the city Political and Legal Affairs Commission or the 610 Office sees you? Be careful.” I told her I was not scared because Master was always protecting me. If I did run into someone, it would be a good opportunity to talk to him or her about Dafa.
I decided to try one more time on Christmas Eve. I saved truth-clarification videos including the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and the Hidden Character Stone onto a USB stick engraved with the character “blessings.” I also prepared a red envelope for his son to wish him good luck with the college entrance exam.
When I got to their home, I found out that he and his family were out shopping so I put the gifts in a small bag and left it in their courtyard. I visited his wife the next day at her work and told her I’d missed them the day before. We talked about Dafa and the wrongful persecution for quite a while.
The next day, she called me and thanked me for the gifts. I wished her a merry Christmas and asked her to take a look at the things in the bag. She promised that she would and thanked me again. I sent forth righteous thoughts, and asked Master to let this family be saved.
After the mayor’s assistant’s son proposed to one of our employees, the young couple decided to have their wedding at our hotel. I was very much involved in the planning process, and saw to it that the wedding went smoothly.
The ceremony was beautiful and a huge success. At the banquet, I gave a speech and wished the newlyweds a long happy marriage on behalf of the staff of the hotel. I even got out of my comfort zone and sang karaoke with the guests while the whole room cheered us on. Everybody had a good time, including the mayor’s assistant.
After the wedding, I tried to visit the Mayor’s assistant at his office to clarify the truth but with such a busy schedule he was never around. I always left a flier or a lotus flower by his door. When I renewed my retirement paperwork at the hotel each year, I asked his daughter-in-law to let the mayor’s assistant know that I said ‘hi’ and she was always happy to accept the truth-clarification fliers I gave her.
In 2016, I received an invitation to a local practitioner’s son’s wedding on May 13, Falun Dafa Day. This practitioner’s husband knew many city officials through work and many of them were also on the guest list. When I heard about this, I knew I couldn’t pass up such a great opportunity to clarify the truth.
I asked a few practitioners to join me and help send righteous thoughts. We traveled for more than 100 miles and arrived early at the venue to send righteous thoughts and clear all interference from other dimensions. We asked Master to strengthen us so all the attendees, especially those in high positions, would learn the truth and be saved.
During the ceremony, I saw a group of retirees of the city Political Consultative Conference and officials from the police department sitting at one table. I focused on sending forth righteous thoughts until the banquet started. I walked over to that table and raised my glass, “Hello gentlemen. Glad to see you all here. I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone here good health and happy life. Cheers!”
A few stood up and teased, “You can’t just drink soda. To show your sincerity, you have to have alcohol.” It was the perfect entry point to my truth-clarification, “You all know that I have been practicing Falun Gong for almost 20 years now and I don’t drink. But look how healthy I am—I haven’t taken any medicine since 1995. To your good health, why don’t we substitute alcohol with tea or soda? Let me tell you a secret to good health—recite ‘Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.’ These magic words will keep you safe and bring you blessings.”
I went around the table and filled everyone’s glass before I raised mine again and locked eyes with the police chief. “Treat Dafa practitioners with kindness and quit the CCP to be safe. To yours and your family’s safety.” Everyone raised their glass, “To everyone’s safety.” When I left the table, I exhaled deeply—it was the most successful public relations I had ever done.
I returned to my seat just in time to catch the mayor’s assistant getting up and walking out of the banquet room. I hurried and caught up with him, “Sir, how are you? It’s been quite a while. I’ve asked your daughter-in-law to give you fliers from time to time. Have you received them?”
He smiled, “Yes. I got them.” “Then why don’t you quit the Party to be safe? It is good for you and your family. As long as you agree to it in your heart, there’s no formality. You just need to nod and agree to it.” He nodded twice, “Quit. I will quit the Party. Thank you so much.” He smiled and waved to me as he walked away.