(Clearwisdom.net)

Happy to Obtain Falun Dafa

Before I obtained Falun Dafa, I had suffered from several illnesses including heart problems, cholecystitis, pelvic cavity disease and others. I had visited many Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine doctors, taken numerous medicines and had spent countless sums of money, but none of them helped. Because of suffering from these illnesses I had a bad temper; my mind was not open, and I felt I would rather die than live. In 1994 when I was feeling so helpless, I was given the opportunity to know Falun Gong. I immediately knew that Falun Gong was wonderful, but I did not start to practice [right away]. Not until in March 1995, when I obtained the book Zhuan Falun (1), did I realize how genuinely precious it was. While I studied the Fa (2), cultivated my heart and practiced the exercises, respected Master continuously purified my body, mind and soul. Soon I felt very relaxed and all my diseases had disappeared.

I am one who personally benefited from Falun Gong. I told all my family members, friends, colleagues, and classmates the wonders and beauty of Falun Gong through my personal experience. My mother, sister, colleagues, classmates and neighbours successively obtained the Fa.

In 1997 I took the initiative to voluntarily teach the Falun Gong exercises at the practice site. I regularly brought the cassette player to the practice site on time. Wind and rain never stopped me. Master has given me so much that I could never express my limitless gratitude, even if I were to use up all human language. I wished to devote all I had to Dafa, deeply from my heart. In order to help more people to obtain the Fa, in late 1998 I coordinated four nearby practice sites; among those was the practice site at the No. 3 Middle School. There were only a few practitioners at the beginning, but soon more than 100 people came to practice. I also encouraged veteran practitioners to help the new practitioners and set up over ten Fa study groups nearby.

I often went to several study groups to study the Fa and shared experiences with fellow practitioners. We encouraged each other. More practitioners were provided with a good environment at the practice site on a daily basis for practicing the exercises and studying the Fa. Practitioners who had extra free time could even stay to listen to Master's recorded lecture after practicing the exercises each morning. Practitioners who needed to go to work and were without a convenient home environment could come to the practice site at night to read Zhuan Falun with others. Every Sunday I would go to the countryside with fellow practitioners to spread the Fa. We would coordinate the practitioners in the countryside to watch the videos of Master's lecture as well the teaching of the exercises, and correct their exercise movements. After each experience, when I returned home from spreading the Fa, I felt so honored and wonderful that I was born during an era when Dafa was widely spread, and I would be able to do my part for Dafa. Once after I went back home, I played a video of one of Master's lectures and studied the Fa. Master displayed for me that each word on the page was getting into my pores and my whole mind and body was dissolved into the Fa. Such wonder and ease can in no way be described with human language.

Appealing in Beijing

On April 25, 1999, I heard that Falun Gong practitioners were arrested in Tianjin. I considered that this was not a matter specific to Tianjin alone. Nobody should have the right to stop us from being a better person by cultivating a compassionate mindset and attitude. A Dafa practitioner should simply uphold the Fa. So I told fellow practitioners that all practitioners should be told what had happened in Tianjin; all should go to Beijing to appeal, to express our opinions.

The situation became harsh after April 25, 1999. An instructor and police officer Li from a police station in Zhangjiakou City often came to our practice site to harass us and attempted to find out who the assistant was. I only had one thought then: Dafa is priority number one. If I was arrested, the practice site must remain. I further made sure with other practitioners that the cassette player must be brought to the practice site on time, every day, and we must firmly practice Dafa. As long as I was there for one day I would bring the cassette players on time to the two practice sites. I also kept watch on the practice site every day, taught new practitioners the exercises, corrected their exercise movements and maintained a calm mind. Both the uniformed and plainclothes police officers, as well as staff from the street administration office, surrounded the practice sites every day and mixed themselves in with practitioners. I took the attitude of turning a blind eye to it. I would only follow Master. I regarded all who came to the practice site as beings coming to obtain the Fa. I created opportunities to help them understand Falun Gong. I just followed Masters' teaching: "Just by having your heart unaffected you will be able to handle all situations." ("Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)" Essentials for Further Advancement) As I always maintained a compassionate heart, they never discovered who the assistant was.

On July 20, 1999, Jiang Zemin and his followers started to persecute Falun Gong. I took my 80-year-old mother who also practices Falun Gong and a fellow practitioner who was over 70 years old, and we went to Beijing to validate Dafa. We were arrested as soon as we arrived in Beijing. The police sent us to Baoding City and detained us for two days and one night. Then they started to put Dafa practitioners into a van, handling them violently, and sent us to various places. Several policemen yanked my hair and pushed me into the van while they kept kicking and beating me. My elderly mother and I were sent to Shalingzi in Zhangjiakou City against our will. They forced us to watch a video attacking Dafa and defaming Master. A practitioner was very frightened and asked me what to do. I said, "Master is here. The Fa is here. Master is immediately beside us, don't be afraid!"

Protecting Dafa books

Soon they took us in groups to Jianguo Road Primary School in Zhangjiakou City. Several dozen policemen attacked Dafa practitioners. They forced us to stand day and night, watch the videos defaming Master and Dafa, write the "Guarantee Statements" to giving up Falun Dafa, and ordered us to hand in Dafa books. I said to fellow practitioners, "Master's books are priceless treasures; they are more precious than our lives. We should never hand in these books and should never write the Guarantee Statements." I felt one would be in the bottomless abyss once one leaves Master and Dafa. I had a thought that I would never cooperate with the evil.

Later, I thought, "I must get out of here." There were still over a dozen copies of Master's books and Master's portraits in my home that should never fall into the evildoers' hands. Just with this thought, with Master's compassionate protection, my family came and bailed me out. When I went home my brother said, "It was me who bailed you out. They asked me to hand in the books. Even if it is just one book; you still have to hand in." I said in tears, "Master has given us so much! You also know that I would rather lose my life than give up these books; I would not even give them one single word on a page!" Because of this thought, in the past five years of persecution, except for one of my copies of Zhuan Falun kept in a fellow practitioner's home that the evildoers later searched and took away, all my books have been protected.

Doing group practice and validating Dafa

Toward the end of August 1999, the evildoers were extremely rampant in their persecution of practitioners. Another practitioner and I realized that we should not stay at home to passively endure--we should go out to do group practice to validate Dafa. Against great pressure, I went to visit fellow practitioners to encourage them to step out to uphold the Fa. I went with several dozen practitioners to the city People's Park to do the group practice. The first day, people who did not know the truth reported us to the police and two male practitioners were arrested. That night I shared experiences with fellow practitioners. We thought that we must go to the park to practice the exercises, to protest the illegal arrest of practitioners. The next day, as soon as four fellow practitioners and I arrived at the park, police surrounded the former practice site. The armed security guards regarded us as formidable enemies, brought their guns and drove the police vans in teams, rushing into the park. Police officers and armed security guards were everywhere, outside the park as well as on the grounds. They abducted seven of us and took us to the Mingdenan Police Station. In the afternoon, officers from the Qiaodong Police Department transferred us to the Qiaodong Party School to beat us violently.

The blackboard at the school entrance had defamatory words slandering Master and Dafa written all over it. They attempted to force us to write the "Three Statements," to give up Falun Dafa. I said to fellow practitioners that we must never write these and we must never taint Master's reputation. The criminals deprived us of sleep. During the day they put us under the scorching sun; at night they forced us to stand, watch the videos attacking Master and Dafa, and then tried to force us to write the "three statements." Every day the police, people from the administration center and the head from the Qiaodong District attempted to brainwash us and force us to write the "Three Statements." We also had to face interference from the fake lectures brought in by fellow practitioners. Additionally, more than a dozen of my family members came to persuade me to give up cultivation. I realized that this happened for me to pass the tribulation of emotional attachments to my family, and that nobody should be able to change my mind. Three days later, as I firmly refused to write the statements, police department chief Yan Zhiyou ordered to have me incarcerated in the Shisanli Detention Center. Ten days later I was then dragged into the police station. Chief Deng and policeman Li again attempted to force me to write the Guarantee Statement. I firmly refused. Several hours later they had to release me.

Going to Beijing again to validate Dafa

On October 8, 1999 I again went to Beijing with fellow practitioners to validate Dafa. The police detained me at Tiananmen Square and unlawfully put me into a police van. A fellow practitioner and I jumped off the van and escaped. On November 27, 1999, three fellow practitioners and I planned to go to Tiananmen Square to meditate, and another practitioner wished to go to appeal. As we were discussing this, Beijing police arrested us and sent us to the Tiananmen Police Station. They then transferred us to the Shisanli Detention Center in Zhangjiakou City. Eight days after I was detained, around midnight a policeman ordered fellow practitioners and me to write the "guarantee statements." I said, "If it is for expressing the greatness of Falun Gong it is OK. Otherwise, don't even think about other requirements." I wrote about how righteous Falun Gong is. He put his thumb up and said, "You write very well, with deep understanding, at the level of a university graduate."

As I protested the illegal detention with a hunger strike, the police station personnel and the Textile Bureau [probably the author's work unit] kept sending people to the detention center to force me to eat. I told them that no one could shake my firm and righteous determination in Falun Dafa. After I was sent back to the cell, my legs were so light and I had almost no sensation in my legs while I did the meditation. Fifteen days later, Ma Fuwei, deputy chief from the Qiaodong Police Department, brought two section chiefs into the detention center and attempted to force me to write the Guarantee Statement and threatened they would sentence me if I did not write it. At that very moment, the police department personnel had urged about eight or nine of my family members, even including my two-year-old grandson, to visit me. I immediately understood that it was severe interference from both sides. Right away I said to my family members, "You all go back. None of you should get involved with this problem."

After 2:00 p.m. the police department personnel kept changing their methods to force me to give in, but still could not achieve their objective by 6:00 p.m. I saw my family members still standing in the courtyard then, waiting for the result. They were so cold that they kept moving their feet to keep warm. My two-year-old grandson stayed bundled in the arms of his grandfather. I looked at them and thought I must unshakeably and firmly uphold Dafa, and must not allow any emotions to change my mind. I would closely follow Master and should never damage Dafa's reputation. I must eliminate this interference. If I followed the arrangements of the old forces, that would push my family members into hell and I would indeed lose them. If I let go of this attachment, they would have a bright future and I would have my family members forever. As my determination was firm, I would never write the guarantee statement. After about 7:00 p.m., section chief Meng reported to his supervisor. When he entered the room he said to me, "OK, I just admire your Master who has taught such a firm disciple." At 7:30 p.m. they released me. Since then, I have seldom met anyone else who attempted to force me to write a Guarantee Statement.

Returning home I again made use of the time to study the Fa and prepared for my next opportunity to go out to validate Dafa. I realized the importance of studying the Fa, particularly after April 25, 1999. A practitioner cannot do well unless he or she understands the Fa principles. Even in the most vicious environment, if one can firmly remember a single sentence of Master's teachings one is able to break through any difficulties. My family members saw me studying and transcribing the Fa so diligently. My husband said, "You see, soon you are going out again." Each time I went out to validate Dafa I transcribed Master's teachings into a little notebook and hid it in my clothes so that it would instruct me to overcome difficulties in prisons. I had not yet realized then that practitioners should not be arrested for validating Dafa. I only thought that we should be permitted to practice openly and with dignity, otherwise Dafa would not be as widely spread in the human world. (To be continued)

(Sharing article selected from The First Written Experience Sharing Conference of the Practitioners on Mainland China)

October 13, 2004

Notes

(1) The book, Zhuan Falun, comprises the principal teachings of Falun Dafa.

(2) Fa: Law and principles; the teachings of Falun Dafa.