(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners have weathered the storm of persecution for over 13 years. We have been able to journey this far due to Teacher's compassion and protection. It is my eternal glory and honor to be a Falun Gong practitioner during the Fa-rectification period!
Hints
I was able to see other dimensions when I was a small child. If I wanted to, I could fall asleep and journey into another dimension. It was my favorite place to be, because I was able to enter at will. When I was there, I was dressed in ancient Chinese attire. I would be wearing a red Chinese baby stomacher. There was a bridge there, decorated with many different toys beyond imagination.
When I started junior high school, I dreamed of a woman with long, messy hair staring at me. I was so frightened that even being with my mother would not help. I felt scared and helpless. My mother held my hands while I tried to sleep, yet she could not help me in the other world. I had to stay awake to prevent myself from seeing that scary woman. It was not until I was completely worn out that I stopped seeing her in my sleep. After that I consciously shut my third eye so that I would not see different dimensions.
I traveled to Biyun Buddhist Temple in Xiangshan with a few friends from Guangzhou when I was in my twenties. When they came out of the temple, they told me that one would know if an Arhat was connected with you by fate upon entering. They asked me to give it a try. I had never liked Buddhist temples--I was afraid of them. But I gave in and decided to take a quick tour. I had only taken a few steps when I saw an Arhat dressed in the costume of an ancient civil service official. He was smiling at me. I was so shocked that I couldn't move. He smiled even more and seemed to have come alive! Then two men appeared, and I turned to look at them. When I looked back at the Arhat, he had turned back into a statue. I subsequently never entered a Buddhist temple alone.
I was resting in bed due to menstrual pain one day, when I found myself suddenly soaring to the ceiling and looking back at my own body. I saw myself dressed as a Chinese goddess. I wanted to fly out the window, but I was worried that if I did I wouldn't be able to find my way back. My mother returned while I was hesitating, so I decided to return to my body. It wasn't until I started practicing Falun Gong that I realized that my Primordial Spirit had left my physical body.
My mother had me practice qigong at 26. One day I saw an enormously big, clear eye looking at me. It looked so pure and innocent. I could see every single pore. I somehow knew it was my own eye. I asked my mother why I saw this. She could not explain it, so I stopped practicing qigong.
I had many questions but no answers. I wasn't interested in what interested the general public. I felt confused, lost, and helpless. I didn't know what the meaning of life was. Fortunately, I had always received a lot of affection from my family and friends since I was little. I just tried to get by.
I Read Zhuan Falun
I got home from work in the spring of 1995 and saw my mother reading the book Zhuan Falun. I asked to read it too, but she told me to remove the three qigong emblems from around my neck. She said a Falun Gong volunteer assistant had told her about that. Then she put the book away. I gave up and walked away. My mother previously had bought three qigong emblems for me in the hope of improving my frail health. I had worn them like pendants around my neck all year round. I was so used to them that I didn't want to take them off. A few days later I returned home early to find my mother practicing the second Falun Gong exercise. I knew it would take her a long time to do this exercise, so I sneaked into her room and "borrowed" Zhuan Falun.
It completely blew my mind.
I had never really believed in anything, but this was the very first time I was completely blown away. Teacher is perfect! That was what I thought. I had finally found something perfect in this world. All of my questions were answered in the book. It awakened my soul! I removed the three emblems while I was reading the book. The more I read, the more I felt myself improve. I decided that I must purify myself before I studied it again.
Beginning to Practice
A miracle happened a week later. I used to slouch because of my long-term stomach problem, but I suddenly found my back becoming perfectly straight. The leg pain that had accompanied me since I was little had disappeared. My headaches and dizziness were also gone, and I was full of energy. What was going on? My mother said, "It is the power of Falun Gong!"
But I became unhealthy and overcome with pain again the following year. My mother told me that Falun Gong was a high-level cultivation practice, and that I must study its books and practice its exercises if I was interested in practicing. I began to join the group exercise practice site and a local study group. That was when I realized how naive I was to think I could purify myself first before I started practicing Falun Gong. One can never truly rectify oneself without Falun Gong. Only Falun Gong can purify us! Yet I was thankful to be able to practice Falun Gong anyway! My life felt indescribably wonderful and beautiful!
Our Practice Site
At the park where the practice site was located, there were always new people coming to learn the exercises. When they came, the volunteer assistants at the site taught them for free. Those who arrived early always chitchatted a little. One day they were discussing who arrived the earliest when an older man who came regularly commented, "No one came earlier than the man in the yellow outfit. He always comes first and waits for us." Everyone was speechless. We then realized that he was referring to Teacher's fashen!
One day a man in his twenties came. He watched everyone practice first and then he tried to follow along. An assistant showed him the book Zhuan Falun a week later. The young man was shocked when he saw the Falun emblem on the book cover. "This is it!" He said that he had always wanted to find a cultivation practice. One day he saw a radiating round object before his eyes, which looked exactly like the Falun emblem. He was led by the Falun emblem to our group practice site, and then it disappeared. That's how he found us and began practicing Falun Gong. We were all very excited for him. We knew that Teacher had led this predestined man to us.
Beneficial Effects
One evening I had a work colleague over. We were chatting while my mother was doing the Falun Gong exercises in the adjacent room. The colleague complained about the skin of her hand troubling her for many years. Nothing could eliminate the problem. The next day she exclaimed, "What does your mother practice? It is amazing! My skin problem has been cured!" Indeed, it had! She began learning Falun Gong the next day. When she studied Zhuan Falun, she saw a Falun behind each Chinese character. She thought there was something wrong with her vision, but she saw nothing when she read other books. I explained to her that they were Falun. Her nine-year-old son was afraid of being alone at home because there had been many robberies in their community. He often kept a pocketknife in his backpack and under his pillow. After her son started practicing Falun Gong, he no longer carried a pocketknife with him. Her son said that he often saw Teacher's fashen next to him and that Falun rotated above his knees when he did homework at home. He was no longer afraid of being alone at home.
Improving as a Group
It was such a joy to do the Falun Gong exercises in the park with fellow practitioners. I felt refreshed and recharged. Studying the Falun Gong books gave me such a feeling of joy. My legs hurt when I first started doing the exercises, but I gradually entered tranquility and felt my body disappearing. I felt very clear-minded, far more clear-minded than usual. I could hear and sense everything around me, although my eyes were closed. It was a beautiful feeling! Teacher said,
"When one practices in this state, the body is being fully transformed, and it is the optimum state. We thus require you to achieve this state of tranquility." (Zhuan Falun)
We exchanged our cultivation insights after we studied together, "I tried to bargain when I went to do the grocery shopping today. I know it was wrong. It was greed." "There was free food offered at a company meeting today. I didn't fight over the food because I knew it was wrong as a cultivator to do that." "I had poor health before I started practicing Falun Gong, and my family had to to care for me. I am now perfectly healthy and share the housework, yet my family is still unhappy with me. Do I have any attachments?" We each tried to conduct ourselves according to the Falun Gong teachings. As we continued to identify our attachments, we were gradually transformed and purified.
I think it was because I was spoiled that only my own thoughts and feelings mattered to me. Now I know that I was selfish. I was blinded by my notions until I was purified by Falun Gong. In tears, I thanked Teacher for His guidance. I began to be more sensitive to others' thoughts and feelings, which helped me resolve a lot of conflicts. I could also truly realize when I had elevated to a higher realm. Searching inward was no longer just an abstract concept. It was tangible and real. How wonderful it is to practice Falun Gong!
Sharing the Practice
My work colleagues were very impressed with the improvement in my health. I bought them copies of Zhuan Falun as gifts, including the top-level management. I taught them the Falun Gong exercises and played Teacher's lecture videos. They and I studied the Falun Gong books and did the exercises together in the conference room during the lunch hour. The work atmosphere became peaceful and friendly as more people began practicing Falun Gong. The legal adviser at work was a very famous democracy activist. One day he said to me sincerely, "Thank you for introducing Falun Gong to the workplace!"
A good friend of mine had held a grudge against her mother for many years. She had paid for her and her younger brother's college and graduate school tuition. Her parents did not give her any dowry or financial assistance when she got married. Therefore, she had always held a grudge against her mother. She learned from the Falun Gong teachings that she should search inward unconditionally and be selfless. She decided that she was selfish when she did things for others and expected their gratitude in return. She knew that she should not expect anything in return or hold any grudges if they accepted her help and did not repay her in some way. Her improvement had touched even her mother. Her mother commented, "They say a leopard cannot change its spots, but Falun Gong has improved my daughter's temper! Falun Gong is wonderful!"
Even to this day I think fondly of the time we spent at the group practice site.
Government Intervention
The local government and the police had visited our group practice site for surveys as early as 1996. We were asked to give our names, ages, occupations, and information on our health before and after we practiced Falun Gong. The survey showed that there were over 100 million people in China practicing Falun Gong at the time. The statistics must have surprised top-level Chinese leaders. We soon began seeing newspapers and periodicals in China running negative reports on Falun Gong. At first we were upset with the irresponsible journalism, but we decided that it was all misunderstandings. All we needed to do was to explain to the media what Falun Gong was. Like many fellow practitioners, I wrote letters to the media and visited the media in person and shared what I knew about Falun Gong. Many reporters were moved and some decided to practice Falun Gong.
On the morning of April 23, 1999, the police in Tianjin arrested many Falun Gong practitioners, including some of my friends. The police said that the order came from the top and we had to go talk to the central government. That was how we knew that the leadership at the central government had made a wrong decision because they had misunderstandings about Falun Gong. I decided to exercise my constitutional right and appeal to the State Appeals Office on the afternoon of April 24, 1999. We met fellow practitioners from Beijing there. But the officials in the office wouldn't see us. They called the police and told us to return the next day. The police followed us until we left.
April 25
The next day was April 25, a day to remember, when thousands of Falun Gong practitioners appealed peacefully to the State Appeals Office. We went to the government because we had a lot of trust in the government. When we arrived at the Appeals Office the next morning, we saw the streets crawling with cops. An officer asked me, "Falun Gong, yes? There are too many people. Move over there." He pointed at Zhongnanhai nearby, which is like the White House in the U.S., but in China. When I arrived outside of Zhongnanhai, I was told to stand against the red wall on the sidewalk. We watched as other practitioners continued to arrive. That afternoon several officials came out of Zhongnanhai and asked us to send a few representatives in. At around 9:00 p.m., Zhu Rongji, the state secretary at the time, agreed to release the practitioners in Tianjin. We left in an orderly fashion.
"The Cultural Revolution all over again"
After that we saw a police car at our group practice site every day. They harassed us and even joined our group study in the evenings. In June 1999, all major Chinese newspapers announced that the Chinese government had never banned Falun Gong, yet the police had suddenly started arresting practitioners. We decided to appeal to the government again. We did not have any political agenda. We were only asking for the freedom to practice Falun Gong. Jiang Zemin, former Chinese dictator, then labeled Falun Gong a "cult," and we became the target of persecution. I then realized that Jiang Zemin decided to persecute Falun Gong due to a misunderstanding. Suddenly it was like the Cultural Revolution occurring once again in China. Many people in China believed the Chinese regime's hate propaganda against Falun Gong and agreed with the persecution. It made me very sad, but I knew they were being deceived and the only thing I could do was to clarify the truth about Falun Gong to them.
After the persecution began on July 20, 1999, Falun Gong practitioners were met with the police when they tried to visit the State Appeals Office. The police arrested everyone without listening. I learned one more thing, that the State Appeals Office is just a facade. We were all fooled.
Arrested and Detained
I was taken to a detention center after being arrested, and locked up in a small cell of about ten square meters that held over thirty people. There was a pit for us to relieve ourselves. The cell boss was a bully. She kept our food and daily supplies for herself. I stood up to her and she began to respect me. By the time I was thrown in the cell, there were already a dozen practitioners there. We recited the Fa together and explain to the inmates what Falun Gong really was. They kept asking us questions. They commented, "What a pity! You try to be better people. You don't steal. You don't rob. Yet you get arrested just because you practice Falun Gong."
A 23-year-old girl was there for selling pornographic DVDs. She and her younger sister had come to Beijing looking for jobs, and they rented a flat in Liuliqiao. Her sister went to school in Beijing. They were destitute. Sometimes they had only one meal per day. At night they used a sheet of plastic as a quilt when they slept. Once she understood Falun Gong, she begged to learn it in tears. I taught her the exercises and poems from Hong Yin (a collection of poetry by the founder of Falun Gong). The warden ordered the inmates not to sit with practitioners, but she insisted on sitting beside me. The warden barked at her and ordered her to move, but she said she wanted to practice Falun Gong, too. The warden gave up after I talked to her. But a guard also saw her, and ordered her to move. When she remained still, the guard opened the cell door and charged in. "You don't know what pain is!" The girl stood up bravely. She walked up to the guard and declared, "I shall practice Falun Gong! If I had practiced Falun Gong, I would not have tried to make a living selling pornographic DVDs! I shall no longer do anything bad!" Suddenly the air froze. The guard was speechless. I celebrated for the awakening of her soul! What a remarkable young lady! The guard left without punishing her.
Even Some Police Officers Understand the Truth
One day several police officers asked to speak with me. I told them how wonderful Falun Gong was based on my personal experiences. I explained to them that I felt compelled to visit the State Appeals Office because even the dictator of China has no right to spread lies about Falun Gong. Two officers outside the office entered and said, "This one is articulate. I want to listen to this one." I stood before five police officers, who had turned from rude to friendly.
The officer in charge flipped the pages of Zhuan Falun on his desk while asking me questions about Falun Gong. He complained about what some practitioners had told him. I responded, "If we have done anything that offended you, please remember that Falun Gong is good. It is we that have not cultivated well." He thought over what I told him. Then he told me to stop visiting the State Appeals Office because it was useless. I was released on the third day. I regretted not having clarified the truth about Falun Gong more in depth, but I was glad to know that there were many police officers who started practicing even after the Chinese regime began persecuting Falun Gong in 1999.
Bonuses for Arresting Practitioners
When I was arrested for the third time for appealing for Falun Gong, I saw people entering and exiting the detention center at all hours. The cell boss told me that the police tried to reach their quota because they received bonuses for making arrests. She said the bonus was 200 yuan for arresting an everyday person and several thousand yuan for arresting a Falun Gong practitioner. The police were selling their souls for the sake of money. I went on a hunger strike to protest the incarceration.
Meanwhile, I clarified the truth about Falun Gong to the inmates. They were shocked to learn the truth. They commented, "We aren't really important, but you must be released! You can help more people!" An 18-year-old girl who had been arrested for gambling told me solemnly, "You must not collapse. You are our hope! You have helped us develop a correct understanding of the world!" It dawned on me that it was a hint from Teacher that I should stop the hunger strike, because I needed the strength to clarify the truth about Falun Gong.
Forced Labor Camp
The forced labor camp was a living hell. It was not an exaggeration to say that each day felt like a year. It felt like a completely different world. One could feel enormous pressure and evil there. I was subjected to a myriad of tortures there. I knew that I must prevail over the evil at that place.
Teacher said,
"Heaven and earth turned upside down,
how wicked the wolves in human skin
Outrageous lies howl like ill wind,
trying to deceive the world
As Dafa disciples clarify the truth
The Fa power of their righteous thoughts
pounds the demons’ dens" ("Besiege and Annihilate" in Hong Yin Vol. II)
I was on the brink of collapse several times, both physically and spiritually. Each time I begged Teacher to give me strength. I protested the persecution while revealing the torture I had faced. Many people came to understand that Falun Gong was good and the persecution was wrong. The persecution was mitigated as a result.
Udumbara Flowers
One day we were ordered to remove weeds when I saw Udumbara flowers that are said to appear in the human world only every 3,000 years. Legend has it that their presence is a sign that the Holy King Who Turns the Wheel has descended to the human realm. The Udumbara flowers blossoming at the forced labor camp in the summer of 2011 showed that Teacher's Fa-rectification had reached the human realm.
The Presence of Evil
In the story of the Money King, monsters try to eat the flesh of monk Xuan Zang to gain immortality. In today's China, the Chinese Communist regime removes and sells the organs of living, breathing, Falun Gong practitioners for profit.
I saw with my Celestial Eye that there were many snakes and serpents crawling in the corridors of the forced labor camp. The camp was a filthy place, because these monsters were rampant, although ordinary people do not see them. They also clung to bad prison guards and bad inmates. The more they tortured practitioners, the more monsters they attracted. After all, those dark monsters are drawn to negative energy fields. When we sent forth righteous thoughts, the filthy monsters died in large numbers, and those who escaped stayed far away from us. But when a practitioner was not cultivating well, she could not eradicate a lot of these monsters. They would even come near. When they came near a good person, he or she would feel very unwell. I saw snakes, foxes, and weasels clinging to the bad prison guards and inmates. The serpents would stare at you and stick out their forked tongues. They reminded me of Daji, a mistress of King Zhou in the Shang Dynasty, who corrupted him and caused the fall of the Shang Dynasty. Daji was possessed by a fox to devise evil ways to torture human beings for pleasure.
Hiring Attorneys
I hired an attorney to represent another practitioner who had been arrested for clarifying the truth about Falun Gong. Another practitioner and I explained to the attorney that higher, divine beings do exist and that spiritual faith does have the power to increase one's moral level. We also explained about the moral degeneration in China as a result of atheism and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is a wicked entity. He asked to quit the CCP after two hours. He added, "Everyone will believe in God because of you."
Another attorney we approached said, "Things are not going well, and I worry when you don't send forth righteous thoughts." I remembered that Gao Zhisheng, a renowned attorney and human rights activist, wrote, "God is fighting alongside us." We increased the frequency and duration when sending forth righteous thoughts in order to rescue the other practitioner. One day I sent forth righteous thoughts for only ten minutes before I started to have diarrhea. I got a call from another practitioner from more than ten miles away thirty minutes later. She asked where I had been and why I hadn't sent forth righteous thoughts long enough. She knew because her seven-year-old child saw me stop early with his celestial vision. I learned that a promise is a promise, and I must not succumb to any form of interference.
The other practitioner we tried to rescue was doing a great job clarifying the truth about Falun Gong in prison. More than 100 people in the prison, including guards, had been persuaded to quit the CCP and its two affiliated organizations. It is the CCP's own bad deeds that cause people to forsake it.
I used to worry about facing worse persecution if I revealed the torture that I endured. The fact was that tolerating it would only encourage further persecution of myself or other practitioners. Teacher said,
"Dafa disciples,
away with your tears
The devil, Satan,
has utterly collapsed
Clarify the facts,
send righteous thoughts,
Expose the lies,
clean out the rotten demons" ("Be Clearheaded" in Hong Yin Vol. II)
The poem awakened me. I learned that I can only destroy the rotten demons by revealing the lies about Falun Gong and exposing the persecution that practitioners endure. That is the only way that the world will see through the CCP's hate propaganda against Falun Gong so they no longer assist the CCP in its wrongdoings. That is a great way to cleanse the energy field. That is also the best way to protect practitioners from further persecution and the people of the world from the CCP's lies.
After that I explained to bad people that heavenly principles determine that wrongdoings will be met with retribution. Next I warned them that I would expose their wrongdoings if they dare try. My environment instantly improved. Even a work colleague who enjoys cursing was careful not to curse in my presence, and he even apologized when he cursed accidentally. Once again I realized Teacher was right when he said, "...one righteous mind can subdue one hundred evils." (Zhuan Falun).
How Wonderful to be Able to Practice Falun Gong!
People have been gradually awakening to the truth about Falun Gong over the past 13 years. The CCP's madness that drove it to persecute Falun Gong will bring it to its ruin.
When I first started practicing Falun Gong, I dreamed of myself in the image of a six-year-old playing outside. Teacher came and said, "I wanted to see you before I travel." I burst into tears and begged Teacher to bring me with Him. Teacher finally agreed. He extended an arm and I jumped onto it. Teacher soared into the sky with me in one arm. It was a very scenic ride. Teacher dropped me to the ground when we arrived at a mountain. I started to run around. All of sudden I saw an ugly dwarf, but he was taller than me, and he blocked my way. I was afraid and turned to look at Teacher. Teacher said to me, "You can prevail over him." I thought, "Teacher is beside me." I was no longer afraid. I continued to walk, and the dwarf disappeared. I often ran into obstacles that scared me during my cultivation. Every time I was afraid, I would remind myself, "Teacher is beside me. I am not afraid!" It is true that all the dangers I have encountered are an illusion like the dwarf in the dream.
Overcoming a Family Attachment
I was overcome with grief when my parents passed away. It was so painful that my heart actually ached. I looked at Teacher's photo in Zhuan Falun and begged him for help. I was instantly taken into a different realm where Teacher revealed my past lives to me. When I returned, tears flooded my face. I learned that Teacher is my closest family. It is a blessing that I did not miss out on learning Falun Gong.
Teacher has helped me in many ways. One day I finally realized that I had been selfish to only think of my feelings, my losses, my pain, and my regrets. I regretted that I could not start over again as though I didn't have any past wrongs.
Before I was able to overcome the grief of losing my parents, I entered a different realm one day while I was kneeling before Teacher's photo. I saw my parents surprised to see me. "How did you get here?" I remembered I mustn't stay there for too long, but I was unable to exit. Finally I realized I couldn't get out because I was too attached to my parents. I begged Teacher for help. Next I saw a photo of Teacher. I knew instantly that Teacher's photo was a portal to another world. I immediately knelt down before Teacher's photo and I got back to the human realm.
Swimming Against the Current
When China began to suppress Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, the hate propaganda targeting Falun Gong was continuous, in order to justify the suppression. I was pained by the lies against Falun Gong. One day I had a dream where Teacher led me up to a river which had a swift current. I told Teacher it was beyond my ability to swim upwards against the current. Teacher swam upwards and waited for me up there. I tried and tried. I felt completely worn out. I looked up at Teacher, but He only signaled that I could do it. I finally swam upwards against the current.
That was exactly what happened afterward. Even when I was afraid, I would continue to follow the Fa, and I became stronger, more rational, and more mature during the process. Each time I prevailed over the obstacles, my heart was filled with joy and gratitude for Teacher. It is because of Teacher that I am becoming purer, more noble, and more beautiful at heart! I feel so happy to practice Falun Gong! One can only relate to my feelings if one practices Falun Gong.
I know Teacher cherishes each and every practitioner. Teacher has endured so much for us Falun Gong practitioners, as well as for sentient beings.
I have stumbled and fallen before during my cultivation, but I have ultimately prevailed over all the obstacles. In short, I have become all the more steadfast in my faith of Falun Gong as I continue to elevate after each obstacle.
