(Minghui.org) I am a university professor in China and have been practicing Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) since 1997.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started the persecution against Falun Gong and its practitioners in 1999. As a new practitioner, I was in a dilemma. Practicing Falun Gong gave me a new outlook on life, but I was still a member of the CCP. I had to choose between Falun Gong and my career.
After a month of tremendous pressure from my employer and government officials, I verbally agreed to stop practicing Falun Gong. However, I still practiced in secret at home.
The external pressure lessened, but my heart was heavy. After receiving life-changing benefits from Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, I had turned my back on this cultivation practice. I did not even murmur any positive words when Falun Gong was wrongfully slandered. I was so ashamed of myself that I could not face Master Li's portrait.
Master said:
“Cultivation should focus with openness and dignity on a broad perspective.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
I wanted to speak up for Falun Gong and Master, but I didn't have the courage to do so, until I read two of Master's articles: “The Knowing Heart” and “Towards Consummation.”
I then decided that it was time for me to restate my position. I wrote a lengthy letter to our local 610 Office. In the letter, I used my own experience to explain the benefits of Falun Gong, and reasoned how the persecution is against the Constitution and, in fact, illegal. I concluded by restating my intention of remaining a faithful Falun Gong practitioner.
A few days later, the head of the 610 Office stormed into my office, “You said you are more of a Falun Gong practitioner than a CCP member. Are you saying that being a Falun Gong practitioner is higher than being a Party member?”
“Of course!” I replied, “Everyone knows that the CCP is corrupt and Falun Gong practitioners are fair and honest!”
“You are anti-Communist Party!” He yelled and slammed his fist on the table.
I was singled out as someone who dared to speak up for justice for Falun Gong. My name was announced in our district. I was expelled from the CCP and had to retire early. I felt that a heavy load had been lifted off my shoulders. I was happy that I could call myself a proud Falun Gong practitioner.
Three years later, I was arrested and my home was ransacked. I remained calm and silently recited Master's poem:
“A Great Enlightened One fears no hardshipHaving forged an adamantine willFree of attachment to living or dyingHe walks the path of Fa-rectification
confident and poised(“Righteous Thoughts and Righteous Actions,” Hong Yin II, Translation Version A)
While I was in the police department, an officer said, “Once a respected teacher, now a prisoner.”
My human heart was suddenly stirred—I was filled with anger, hatred, sadness, and fear. However, I managed to control my emotions, did the Falun Gong exercises, and sent forth righteous thoughts. While I was sitting in the lotus position that night, five words in silver suddenly appeared in front of me: “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are with you.”
That was the first time I saw anything with my celestial eye. Master was encouraging me—Master and the Fa are with me, what is there to be afraid of? Tears of gratitude filled my eyes.
I started to search within. I had been slacking off in Fa study, and I still had plenty of attachments, including competitiveness, hatred, fear, complacency, showing off, and seeking comfort. I also had the notion that I would eventually be arrested. These thoughts should have been eliminated through Fa study and sending forth righteous thoughts. The old forces had taken advantage of me and caused interference.
Master was encouraging me to take the Fa as Master, cultivate away fear, and stay firm in my belief. I did not yield when I was tortured in the detention center or the brainwashing center. I felt compassion for everyone around me, including the police.
I eventually went on a hunger strike and was released a year later.
I soon realized that I had been speaking up for Falun Gong all along, as people would think of me whenever Falun Gong was mentioned at our university.
Master said:
“Your mere existence has the effect of saving sentient beings” (Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York)
In recollecting everything that happened in my life during the past few years, three events are worth mentioning.
The first happened during a discussion at a work meeting with regards to the Chinese Central Television (CCTV) broadcasting a murder case. The network blamed Falun Gong for the homicide. An elderly professor said, “Killing a family member? The person has a mental problem? Falun Gong practices compassion, they wouldn't kill. Look at our colleague Wang [pointing at me]. Does he look crazy?” Since then, no one slandered Falun Gong at our faculty meetings.
The second incident happened in 2001. After CCTV broadcast the Self-Immolation Hoax on Tiananmen Square, the CCP asked faculty members and students at our university to sign a petition against Falun Gong.
I visited every department and office at the university to tell them that the self-immolation was staged, and urged the department chairs to not pressure faculty staff members and students to sign such a petition. As a result, many made the right choice and did not sign.
The third incident was that after my letter was sent to the 610 Office, the secretary of the CCP office at our university had a meeting with me. I explained to him what Falun Gong was and that it was wrong to persecute practitioners. He later helped me gain my release from the detention center.
My arrest was major news on our university campus. It was also a shock to everyone in my family. I felt that my cultivation environment had been destroyed, and I struggled quite a bit after I returned home.
I knew that I had not done anything wrong, but I couldn't face the outside world. As a respected university professor, I felt shameful about the persecution I had suffered.
Master said:
“Perhaps in the future you may be slapped in the face a couple of times, and you will lose face in front of someone whom you least want to see it. It is to see how you will deal with this issue and whether you can endure it.” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)
I realized my fear of losing face had held me back, and I needed to eliminate it. Every practitioner's mission is to let people know about the goodness of Falun Gong, so I told myself that I should live with dignity.
The first time I stepped outside my apartment building, some neighbors saw me and quickly walked away. I ignored them and kept a fast pace. Suddenly, someone grabbed me from behind. I turned around, and it was our university CCP office secretary. He shook my hand warmly and fussed over me like an old friend. Soon, more people came to meet me.
An elderly professor held my hands, and said, “You need to stand with your head held high. We all know you are a good person. What's wrong with practicing Falun Gong? That's freedom of belief—the CCP is unreasonable!”
Another colleague from our foreign language department comforted me, “It doesn't matter what happens, you are always the most respectable teacher in my heart!”
The heartwarming welcomes brought tears to my eyes. Soon, my cultivation environment was back to normal. I witnessed what Master taught:
“When disciples have ample righteous thoughts, Master has the power to turn the tide.” (“20th Anniversary Fa Teaching,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XI)
My family and relatives endured quite a bit of hardship because of me. I talked to them and explained the truth behind the persecution. They soon realized that the CCP was the cause of all our misfortune. They became supportive of my cultivation and quit the CCP.
During my time in the detention center, I told several guards there about Falun Gong. One day, a guard ushered me to a corner and took out a copy of Zhuan Falun from under his coat, and said, “Why is it I don't understand a word in this book?”
I replied, “Falun Gong helps good people reach enlightenment. You harm Falun Dafa practitioners, and in return, have accumulated too much karma. So the Fa will not appear to you!”
He asked in a frightened voice, “What should I do?”
I explained why he must change himself and become good.
Over the years, many police officers have visited me at home. Five years ago, a group of officers stopped by to check on me. After introducing themselves, they asked me what my thoughts were. I recounted how I started to practice Falun Gong and how the CCP published fake news to stir up public resentment towards practitioners.
I also told them about the torture and murder of practitioners and why many people have filed criminal complaints against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the CCP who launched the persecution, with the Supreme People's Court and Procuratorate. In the end the leader of the group got up and said, “Good! I like the lecture you have given us!”
An overseas friend came to visit me in 2014. He quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations after learning about the persecution, and declared, “The true reason for me to visit China this time was to listen to your talk!”
I filed a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin in 2015. I used my real name and was soon harassed by the police. Around that time, I heard that some local practitioners had been arrested for filing criminal complaints. I then decided to write an open letter to our local government.
To expose the actions of the local 610 Office and the court, I combed through 16 years worth of articles on the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners that had been published on the Minghui website.
I classified the statistical data by practitioners who either died because of the persecution, were arrested, sentenced to prison, or taken to forced labor camps, etc. I also collected the names of those who were involved in harvesting organs from imprisoned practitioners. I put this information into the letter and signed it using my real name.
Soon after the letter was sent out, I was called to our conference room and was told to stop sending such letters. I used this opportunity to tell those present the details of my letter and was let go.
Master said:
“The old forces don't dare to oppose our clarifying the truth or saving sentient beings. What's key is to not let them take advantage of the gaps in your state of mind when you do things.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. II)
Udumbara flowers, that are said to bloom only once every 3,000 years to herald the return of the sacred Law-Wheel King to save people, appeared at my home on October 18, 2007. There were nine of them on an apple! My excitement was beyond words.
I took the apple to our university newspaper editor's office and explained the significance of the Udumbara flower to her. The editor knew about Falun Gong and had already quit the CCP. I asked her to display the apple in her office so more people could see the flowers. The flowers and apple were showcased for over two months.
Fourteen Udumbara flowers also bloomed in my son's apartment elevator in August 2008. I thought about asking the media to report the sighting of the flowers, but worrisome thoughts came to my mind. I would have to use my real name when I approached the news agency, and a news report on Udumbara flowers was also considered a “sensitive topic.”
After some thought, I overcame my fear and remembered Master's teaching:
“I consider the process most important” (Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference)
I told myself, “I should do what is right, eliminate fear, and not get attached to the result.”
I visited two newspaper agencies and our province-wide TV station.
Two days later, a couple of TV reporters came. At noon the same day, a two-minute long report on Udumbaras flowering was broadcast on the “City Hotline” show, which many families watch at lunchtime. Pictures of the Udumbara flowers and the meaning behind their blooming were also shown.
I was very excited about the outcome and understood that there is no such thing as coincidence. Everything happens for a reason!