(Minghui.org) I was once assertive and feisty, always trying to stand out and excel over others in job performance. My professional capability was exceptional, and my work ethic earned recognition and respect from my superiors and colleagues.
However, I was still unhappy. I felt that I hadn’t quite reached my goal. I didn’t have a real sense of achievement or contentment. I felt mentally and physically exhausted. I couldn’t manage my family relationships well and had nonstop conflicts with my husband. I failed to provide my daughter genuine maternal love.
In March 1996, I was fortunate to come into contact with Falun Dafa. After I read Master Li Hongzhi’s Zhuan Falun, I began to understand the true meaning of life, as well as the relationship between loss and gain.
I gradually calmed down. I stopped being combative at work and at home. I no longer strived to always gain the upper hand, but reminded myself to behave in accordance with Dafa’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.
I no longer felt dissatisfaction at work, my relationship with my husband improved, and my love and concern for my daughter became genuine. My family was bathed in Dafa’s light, experiencing happiness and warmth.
Giving Up Self-Interest
In July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party started persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. I was illegally detained twice, but remained very calm. I knew what Dafa teaches is contrary to the lies the CCP spread through its state-controlled media. So, even though the police had illegally detained me and raided my home, I did not feel hatred toward them.
Instead, I told them compassionately that we have not broken the law, that the government is making a terrible mistake, and that practicing Falun Gong is a citizen’s right protected by the Chinese Constitution.
The following July, my daughter, a rising high schooler, was on summer vacation. My daughter and I decided to go to Beijing to petition to the central government on behalf of Falun Gong.
Two days before our departure, my husband caved to the immense pressure of the communist regime's suppression campaign and proposed a divorce: he would keep our house, and I would keep our daughter.
At first, I was a little troubled. I thought if my husband wanted a divorce, there’s nothing much I could say, but the house should go to me and my daughter. I later realized it was my attachment to self-interest that I found hard to give up.
My daughter said to me, “If dad wants the house, then give him the house. Falun Gong teaches us to think for others. When we run into conflicts and the lure of self-interest, we should step back, and the sky will be that much broader.”
My daughter was right. Master teaches us to take fame and fortune lightly. We are Falun Gong practitioners. We must yield to others in this kind of situation. So, I agreed to let my soon-to-be ex-husband keep our house.
Sent to Forced Labor for Petitioning the Government
My daughter and I left for Beijing, but we were intercepted en route by the police, who transported us back to our local police station. From there, I was sent to a forced labor camp for two years of “reeducation.”
When I was released in 2003, I resumed work in my original work unit, while my daughter was handpicked and sent off to study at a university because of her excellent high school grades.
Soon after that, my work unit bought a number of employee housing units. I was qualified to be allocated one of them, so I borrowed 30,000 yuan from my sister to use as deposit for a unit of 130 square meters.
When the bank was processing my loan, I was again arrested and sent to another three years of forced labor.
Sharing the Blessings
The supervisors at my work unit understood Falun Gong and the persecution, so when I was released in 2007, they sent someone to take me home. The next day, they called me to return to work at my original post.
Later, I found out that during my involuntary absence, my supervisors had bought my home under the name of my work unit. When I started working again, they sold the housing unit back to me for the original price. Because the transaction was a “private purchase” from a “public owner,” the bank could not proffer me any loan. My work unit worked out a special deal and handed me the keys to my housing unit.
In 2008, after some necessary renovations, my daughter and I moved into our new residence.
When I reached retirement age in 2013, I had more than enough to pay back all the money owned to my work unit.
My daughter has now graduated from college and is working at a satisfactory job. Two years ago, we even bought a car.
The deputy director of our community came to our home for a visit. He noticed my rosy cheeks and vitality, not a bit like someone approaching 60 years old. He also felt the peace and tranquility of our home environment.
I told him, “I suffered in forced labor camps for nearly six years under the government’s persecution of Falun Gong, but I’m physically well, without any illness, all because of Dafa. If you will just remember that “Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,’ and quit the Communist Party, you will likewise be blessed.”
He witnessed Dafa’s blessings on me and my daughter, and decided to withdraw his Party membership. Before leaving, he sighed, "Looking at you, I want to practice Falun Gong, too."
