(Minghui.org) I’m 73 years old and I began practicing Falun Dafa in 1995. I seized every spare moment to study the Fa and practice the exercises. By 1999, I had memorized Zhuan Falun, which helped lay the foundation for my Fa-rectification activities.
Six months after I began practicing, the site coordinator told me, “You are to demonstrate the exercise movements in front for everyone tomorrow.” Very nervous, I went to a distant practice site the following day. I thought, “They probably found someone else to demonstrate the exercises,” so I returned to the other practice site. Unexpectedly on my first day back, the coordinator asked me to stand in front and demonstrate the exercises. I had no choice.
My face got hot and flushed, my throat constricted and my heart raced when I stood in front of everyone. I knew no matter what, I had to keep going. After a while, my heart was pounding less and I calmed down. Afterwards I no longer felt nervous when I spoke before a crowd.
During this period I eliminated many human attachments, such as attachment to reputation, anxiety and vanity. I did not realize all this was arranged by Master, to prepare us for our future roles in spreading the Fa, clarifying the facts and saving people.
Before 1999, I went with fellow practitioners to a village to introduce Falun Dafa. We met a woman in her fifties who was bedridden. She never left her bed even to relieve herself. Other people had to help bring her to the venue. Worried about her frail body, they brought her a chair to sit on.
After watching the first lecture of Master’s video, she was able to get out of bed and stand on her own that same day. We were walking back to our hotel three days later, when we saw a woman, standing on a slope holding some corn stalks. I was surprised, “Isn’t she that [bedridden] woman?” The others said, “That’s impossible.” We walked over and discovered it really was her. She excitedly greeted us, “Thank you for teaching me to practice Falun Dafa.” When we told her to thank Master, she quickly said, “Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master!”
When we held a nine-day class at a county town to promote Falun Dafa, we met a thin female teacher who suffered from chronic gastric problems. Unable to eat normally for over two years, she soaked two coin-sized biscuits in a small cup of milk for her meals each day. Even though she ate so little, she still had gastric pains and vomited.
After she started participating in the nine-day class, her health began to improve. Towards the end, she wrote about her experiences and wept when she read them to us. She declared that Master gave her a second chance at life. Within just a few days, her complexion became fair and she gained weight. This is the power of Falun Dafa!
Before the April 25 peaceful appeal in 1999, the local newspaper and Workers’ Daily in our region started publishing articles that slandered Dafa. Practitioners got together and decided to organize a group to visit the newspaper office and correct their errors.
My Fa study group was asked to nominate two practitioners to participate. Although I was keen, I felt I had nothing special to offer and I wasn’t qualified. Yet that evening, just as I stepped foot in the Fa study venue, a thought suddenly flashed through my mind: “I am qualified enough to participate.” My mind instantly showed me how I met the standards of a cultivator and examples of how my character improved after studying the Fa. I volunteered and everyone agreed. Another practitioner was nominated, and we prepared to go together.
A sizable group gathered the following morning in front of the newspaper office, and I was among the first batch of ten practitioners who went in first to meet the editor-in-chief. We stood around the editor-in-chief’s table, and a young practitioner started off by declaring our intention to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa.
The editor-in-chief immediately took out a notebook and pen from his drawer and sternly asked the young man, “What’s your surname and given name? Which unit do you work at?” Familiar with the evil tactics and repercussion employed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the young man became nervous and kept quiet. The atmosphere in the room suddenly changed.
I began to worry. “We’ve been stymied from the start. As a Dafa practitioner, what should I do? Moreover, this practitioner is still young, he cannot afford to suffer any problems at work.” I said, “Chief editor, if you must record a name, record mine. I’m not afraid.” As soon as I said these words, the editor placed his notebook and pen in the drawer. His expression softened, and he listened to us. The tense atmosphere vanished, and everyone began to tell him how they benefited after practicing Dafa.
After I returned home, my cultivation state was so good I was able to meditate for three hours. While studying the Fa that night, I saw Master’s image appearing on the pages of Zhuan Falun. The words in the book glowed and floated up from the pages. The entire experience felt surreal and I felt indestructible. This was an unforgettable experience of Master’s blessing.
After 1999, the CCP began to persecute Dafa. Several practitioners and I traveled to Beijing to appeal and were detained. We were sent back to our local police station, where we were illegally detained and interrogated.
I was interrogated by a young instructor who was still studying in graduate school. Armed with a thick book, which I believe had been compiled by the perpetrators, he asked me three questions.
I complied, as answering these questions was a good opportunity to refute the lies and rectify Dafa’s reputation. After answering his first two questions, he then posed a third question. “Your Master built a residence in the United States and spent 200 million US dollars to build a pool. What do you think about this?” I replied, “I won’t argue with you on whether this statement is true or not. Even if I say it’s a rumor, you will say it’s true, and we will never reach an agreement. Our Master continues to endure much suffering, yet some people still refuse to accept his good intentions and instead spread rumors and slander!” The instructor was speechless, and three police officers sitting next to him looked at each other, trading expressions of approval over my answer.
At the brainwashing session, I encountered the female CCTV reporter who interviewed Liu Siying as part of the report on the CCP-staged Tiananmen self-immolation incident. She was visiting the facility to conduct an interview, and that day, I suddenly had a desire to participate in the interview. I walked over to the reception room and looked around. Three plainclothes policemen were guarding the door, and after two minutes, the policeman in charge told me, “You can go in too.” I entered, and saw the audience consisted of “helpers” who worked to brainwash others, and plainclothes policemen.
When the interview started, I was the first to speak and my words surprised even myself. I clarified the facts and validated Dafa, while realizing at the back of my mind this was a feat that no normal person could have done. Although I can’t recall what I said, I remember those present were not able to find any loopholes. When the female reporter asked, “Are you saying that practicing Falun Dafa can make one become a better person?” I replied, “Yes.”
The audience quietly listened throughout the hour-long interview. Even the usually eloquent plainclothes police and brainwashing personnel kept quiet and nodded in agreement from time to time.
Afterwards, I realized compassionate Master stepped in to control this entire interview, preventing those supported by the evil forces from speaking, rendering the contents of this interview impossible to publish and breaking another attempt by the evil to slander Dafa and poison more sentient beings.
Even today, some people believe the CCP-staged Tiananmen self-immolation incident to be true, although it was a hoax orchestrated by the CCP to deceive the world. The evil has expended all tricks to destroy sentient beings, yet “a demon will never be higher than a Tao.” (Lecture Five, Zhuan Falun). Master must have seen my desire to safeguard the Fa and lent me his support to resolve this evil arrangement.
In this harsh environment controlled by the CCP, Dafa practitioners must step out, clarify the truth and save sentient beings. Some people are willing to listen to the truth, while others reject the facts. Some are grateful, but some curse at us or threaten to report us to the authorities. Master said that the greater the cultivation way, the greater the tribulations. Master has provided Dafa practitioners with a special cultivation environment in which we can refine ourselves, and we should cherish this opportunity with the limited time we have left.
After I clarified the truth to a man in his forties and convinced him to quit the CCP, he retrieved a wad of money from his bag and said, “This bundle originally contained one thousand yuan. I’ve spent one hundred yuan, but there is nine hundred yuan left. You need money to do this, so let me contribute as a token of my appreciation.” I replied, “Thank you, Buddhas are omnipresent and your kindness will be blessed. We don’t accept money.”
I met a young man in his thirties. After telling him the truth, he agreed to quit the CCP. Just as I was retrieving some informational leaflets for him, I noticed his thoughtful expression and asked, “What are you thinking about?” He replied, “I believe this must be fate. In the past, several people attempted to tell me the truth, but I always rejected them. Yet for some reason I was able to accept what you told me today. Now that I understand it, I wish to clarify the truth to others. Please give me a few more copies of those flyers.”
On another occasion, a man in his fifties grabbed my bicycle handlebar and said, “Don’t leave. I will convince you to switch sides today.” He kept rambling and refused to let me talk, so I quietly listened while thinking about what I would say to correct his misconceptions.
After a while I asked, “Have you finished speaking?” When he said yes, I first talked about the CCP-staged Tiananmen self-immolation incident, then described the time I was deceived by the CCP’s lies.
When I noticed his expression softening, I asked, “Are you a Party member?” He replied, “Yes I am.” When I advised him to quit the CCP with a pseudonym and stop believing in its lies, he nodded in agreement. I also advised him, “Please recite ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good’ to ensure your safety.”
Another time, I met a plainclothes policeman who stopped me from leaving and tried to phone his colleagues to arrest me. He loudly proclaimed he was a policeman sent by the station, and that I was a Falun Gong practitioner. The commotion caught the attention of many passers-by, who gathered to watch.
I thought, “This is a prime opportunity to clarify the truth. Normally, we have to approach them one by one, but today so many have gathered. I can’t miss this opportunity.”
So, I told the policeman, “You are a police station employee, whose salary is paid for by the taxes levied on hard working, ordinary people. You should do your duty and serve people well. Yet you let corruption run rampant and turn a blind eye to those who are involved in prostitution and gambling. The police now seek to persecute good people who live according to the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Using the CCP’s huge institutional system, you help evildoers and deprive commoners of their rights and freedom of belief. Falun Dafa is a cultivation practice, and persecuting righteous faith is a heinous sin. I hope you will think twice about your actions.”
Ignoring my words, he snatched my bag and started rifling through it. Having said what needed to be said, I thought it was time for me to leave. The crowd made way for me, as I unlocked my bike and left. The policeman shouted twice behind my back but did not chase me. With Master’s blessing, I successfully escaped the danger.