(Minghui.org) I started Falun Dafa cultivation in 1994. I was fortunate to attend Master Li’s (Dafa’s founder) lecture in person in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province in China. After cultivating for a little over a month, I went through great transformations both physically and mentally. I also recovered from all of the illnesses which had tormented me for a lot of years.
Since I started to cultivate, I began to understand the preciousness of Dafa. I have listened to Master’s recorded lectures and studied the Fa every day. I also paid attention to cultivating my xinxing. Since Master published the articles “Broad and Immense” and “True Cultivation,” I memorized them and recited them daily.
Master has published other articles, including Further Discussions on Falun Dafa. The aforementioned article discussed the importance of Fa-study as often as possible. I then began to recite Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Dafa. Since I continuously use the Fa to guide my words and actions and cultivate my xinxing, I feel I have elevated my understanding on the Fa from sensibility to rationality.
I would like to share some of my experience in truth-clarification while facing the persecution against Dafa.
Some other practitioners and I went to appeal to the provincial government on July 20, 1999, the date when the persecution was initiated. We were taken to a rural area by bus where we were illegally interrogated. The next day, I went back to the provincial government and was again taken to the rural area and interrogated again. A few hours had passed, but we were still being held there. It was because they had received an order from the top to wait until the evening when the citizens of the entire country would be watching the CCTV news.
Seeing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s propaganda machine broadcast its fabricated and long-planned attack and defamation against Dafa and Master, I broke out in tears. At that time, Master’s articles such as “For Whom do You Practice Cultivation?” “Huge Exposure” and “Position” appeared in my mind. I wiped away my tears and told myself, “From now on my mission is to expose the CCP’s lies and clarify the truth about Falun Dafa.” That night, a Political and Legal Affairs Committee staff member of some district took me home. On our way, I clarified the facts to him. He acknowledged the truth, and also told me, “You just practice in the district. If anything happens, just say it’s me who told you to do so.”
As I have appealed a few times to the provincial government, a five-person team was set up to specifically deal with me. The team consisted of the Municipal Public Security Commissioner, the Civil Affairs Commissioner, the Sub-district Office Secretary, the Police Station Household Police Officer, and the Director of the Neighborhood Committee.
From beginning to end, I never treated it as one person persecuting another. I understood that it was the evil factors from other dimensions manipulating people to commit crimes against Dafa. Thus, I’ve always maintained a peaceful and compassionate mindset toward them. I used personal experience to clarify the facts, trying to awaken their conscience and bring out their kind thoughts. I also had a heart-to-heart conversation with them keeping in mind my mission as a Dafa practitioner.
They listened very carefully, with some of them constantly nodding their heads. Government officials would normally monitor and harass me whenever there was a sensitive day. However this group of people not only didn’t do that, moreover, some of them even protected me. If it happened to be someone who newly came on board, I’d clarify the facts to that person.
After I was released from the forced labor camp in 2001, people from the local management committee and police station came to harass me again. They didn’t mention that it was related to Dafa, but rather asked me to report my thoughts to them.
I laughed, and said, “I never heard that one’s thoughts have to be reported. What to report? Is this yesterday’s thoughts or today’s? I’ve only heard that the law regulates people’s behavior. I doubt if it also regulates one’s thinking. I understand that the police department is the instrument of the State’s dictatorship. Your work is an instrument, but people are not! I’m a good person, only because of my belief, I was persecuted. If it were your siblings, what would you think?” They no longer came back.
I made use of every opportunity to clarify the facts to people. After having observed the goings on for a while, I realized that the places people go to for breakfast, lunch, supermarkets, or on the bus, were usually very crowded. People also have time to listen to the truth at these places. Thus, I often used such occasions to talk to people, and the outcome turned out to be fairly good.
I usually chose to talk to one person, I’d ask, “Have you watched the reporting about Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) on TV?” The other party replied, “How can I possibly avoid it?” I then asked, “Do you believe in what’s shown on TV? Or what do you know about Falun Gong?” Some answered by saying yes, whereas others said no. I said, “I have read the books of Falun Gong. Falun Gong adheres to the characteristics of the universe⸺Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance as the guiding principles, helping people to pursue kindness and elevate their moral values. It has an amazing effect on healing illnesses and keeping fit. Since being introduced to the public in 1992, within seven years, it attracted over one hundred million people who decided to practice it. Out of jealousy of its popularity, and against people’s will, the former CCP leader Jiang Zemin launched the persecution against Falun Gong. Normal thinking would prefer more good people and less bad people. What kind of person fears having more good people?”
My approach when I talk to people is different every time. Generally, I look at the education level and comprehension of the person.
One time, when I was on the bus, I saw a few young people taking turns in telling stories to passengers. It turned out that they were students of a speech class. In the class, they were taught how to communicate with others and avoid stage fright in a public setting. I felt that their activities were not utilitarian but rather quite meaningful, and I expressed my appreciation for them.
When I asked them if they used the application to break through the Internet blockade, they told me that they never heard about that. I told them, “The CCP has built a firewall around the domestic Internet. Everything regular people watch is censored and blocked. You can only watch whatever the CCP wants you to watch. But through this app, you can break through the Internet blockade and get the most authentic and truthful information existing worldwide. There is a popular saying on the Internet: Water is free, air is free, why is the Internet not free? Do you think what I said makes sense?”
They replied, “That makes perfect sense!” I then asked them, “I have this app, do you want it?” Thus, they happily took a small DVD from me. I told them that there were many precious words and videos in it. I also told them to pay close attention to the following: the Chinese Epoch Times, New Tang Dynasty TV, and Sound of Hope Radio Station. People around us also overheard our conversation and asked for the small DVDs. When I handed them all out, people began to take the informational materials instead.
In the summer of 2009, my family and I toured a seashore city. After having talked with the cab driver, I learned that he came from the countryside of Jiangxi Province. Since his hometown was backward and its financial situation was rather poor, he led a difficult life, so he had come to this city to make a living. He said that 80 percent of the cab drivers in this city came from his hometown. Even though they had to work around the clock, their income was only just enough to cover a family’s living expenses, including rent, children’s tuition fees, and other school expenses. It’s impossible for them to buy property and thus integrate into the city life.
I showed a lot of sympathy towards them. I asked the driver, “Do you know that only North Korea, Lenin, and the CCP have implemented the household registration system in the world? The CCP established a ‘dual household registration system’, which divided citizens into ‘agricultural household registration’ and ‘non-agricultural household registration.’ Farmers were not allowed to work or live in cities, and their children were not allowed to go to cities to study. The children of farmers can only become farmers again. This is a serious violation of the equal rights of citizens stipulated in the Constitution.”
I also told him that the largest Chinese media overseas, the Epoch Times, published a book entitled Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party in 2004. It has articulated the root cause of Chinese people being so unfortunate, which has also triggered the great tide of Chinese people quitting the CCP and its youth organizations globally. Many Chinese people have woken up after reading the Nine Commentaries and decided to quit the CCP. They truly came to feel that “Only without CCP, is there a new China!”
When the cab driver heard all I told him, he was very excited. He smacked his leg very hard and said, “I want to quit as well! Great! If every Chinese person were to learn this good news, they’d have quit the CCP as well.” I felt so glad for his awakening. I believe he’d have a good future for sure.
I often quoted Master’s words when doing truth clarification, and the outcome was great. For instance, I have recited “Being a Human” in Hong Yin to people multiple times. One young lady was shocked after hearing it. She asked me to copy it down for her, as she wanted to use it as a motto. I also read the Epoch Times declaration to the other Party, which was very effective in truth-clarification and helping people quit the CCP. Later when Master’s “The Ultimate Goal of Clarifying the Truth” came out, I either read or recited it to people, and the effect was also good.
My understanding was that in our daily life, we need to study the Fa sincerely. We should also apply what we have learned and quote from the original texts, such as Master’s teachings, the Nine Commentaries, and the informational materials, which are reasonable and persuasive. We should also build up our knowledge base by reading various Minghui journals and related sharing articles. Next, we have to find a common language with the person we are talking to, so that we can resonate with them; Lastly, emphasize the key points: Dafa is good, why is it good? The evil party is bad, why is it bad?
I’ve cultivated for more than 20 years. Coming this far, I have experienced joy for obtaining the Fa, the sacredness for assimilating into the Fa, happiness for saving sentient beings, and looking within after having stumbled. I have to thank Master for His compassion! Since I started cultivation, except for the five years I spent in police custody, I have used most of my time and effort in saving sentient beings. For this article, I only picked a portion of what was on my mind and decided to share it with fellow practitioners.