(Minghui.org) I decided to clarify the truth to police officers after I realized that they are also victims in the persecution of Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa). I let go any notion of being persecuted and remembered that Master, the founder of Falun Dafa, has asked us to help people understand the truth about this cultivation practice. Therefore, no matter whether we encounter a good thing or a bad thing, it is an opportunity for us to fulfill our mission.
Changing Our Human Notions Changes Our Environment
As long as practitioners' thoughts and actions are in line with Master's arrangements, the outcome will be good. In our dealings with the police, we should open their minds and hearts to the goodness of Dafa.
I was arrested in 2015 for filing a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin, the former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) head, who initiated the persecution of Falun Gong. While in detention, I went on a hunger strike in protest of the illegal detention. On the fourth day, the detention center authorities requested that the police take me back home. They refused, and instead wanted to take me to a police hospital and then return me to the detention center.
I used every minute to recite the Fa and look inwards while waiting for the police. Suddenly I lost the resentful feelings I had toward them and developed a compassionate thought: “You [the police] are actually victims of the persecution. We have come to know each other, so I will help you find your conscience.”
Master takes care of us if we uphold good intentions in the midst of persecution.
It was already late in the evening. Mosquitoes were everywhere. I was waiting inside the police vehicle next to the door. Many mosquitoes swarmed around me. I suddenly felt someone blowing air on my arm. A young policeman was trying to drive the mosquitoes away, murmuring: “Why don't they leave?”
He had previously been very active in persecuting practitioners, and I had disliked him. When I changed my thinking, he changed his attitude toward me too. In the end, the police hospital refused to take me. I heard the police officer shouting in a happy voice: “Let's go back to the police station.”
The police took me to the station and released me that night.
Afterward, I learned that many local practitioners were sending righteous thoughts to rescue me. Their righteous thoughts helped to strengthen me, so I could develop kind thoughts.
Master's Lectures Bring Peace of Mind
After returning home, my biggest problem was fear. I was afraid when someone knocked on the door and feared opening it. I left my home for several days to calm down. After I returned, I saw people acting suspiciously near my residence. I didn't know what to do, so I locked my door and studied the Fa.
After I finished reading two lectures of Zhuan Falun, I felt less afraid. After completing three lectures, I abandoned the thought of needing to escape from my home. And after reading six lectures, my heart was filled with happiness, and my negative thoughts were gone.
Then, I thought that I should clarify the truth to the police face-to-face, instead of via mail.
When the police arrested me they'd confiscated my printer, so I used this as an excuse to go and talk to them. A deputy director told me that he couldn't give me my printer back because there were so many people there watching us, and they would make life difficult for him. However, after listening to me tell him more about Falun Gong, he said, “Thank you for telling me this. I respect your faith.”
I met one of the officers outside the police station who had arrested me. He said, “We were not targeting you. The police department was watching you, and we had to carry out the arrest. You have done well; otherwise, you would be in prison.”
He suspected that I had gone to the police station to get my printer back, and said, “You have used the printer for a long time, right? Even if you get it back, you would need to spend money to clean it up. Buy a new one and continue your tasks.”
When I advised him to quit the CCP so he would have a bright future, he understood that I was truly thinking of him and quit the Party.
Letting More Police Officers Know about Falun Gong
One year after I began to talk to police officers about the goodness of Falun Gong, the government began intensifying the harassment of practitioners. When they came knocking at my door, I used it as an opportunity to help more officers learn the truth about Falun Gong.
Master said,
“Wherever a problem arises, that's where you need to clarify the facts. No matter what the end result will be, through doing this you will have chances to interact with more people and you'll clarify the facts on a large scale. Under normal circumstances you don't have the opportunity—if you just pull someone over to tell them the facts you might feel a bit awkward, right? Now that you have something to do, go and tell people.” (“Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. III)
In the past, I was afraid when people knocked on the door, but Master took away a lot of my fear during the process of talking to the police. At the same time, persistent Fa study helped to strengthen my righteous thoughts. Then I realized that when the police come knocking it is an opportunity for me to help them learn about Falun Gong.
Every time police officers came to my home, they pounded on the door and even banged angrily. But I am no longer afraid of being visited by them. Now, when they come, they knock on the door lightly. When no one answers, they pin a notice on the door and leave.
Sometimes, they leave so quickly that I don't get chance to speak to them. I then go to the police station to talk with them. The officers work several shifts, so I am able to speak with different people on different shifts. Regardless of their jobs in this human world, their true nature is longing to learn the truth about Falun Gong.
I met a police officer at the station whose photo I had seen several years earlier. I wanted tell him about Falun Gong. Compassionate Master had arranged for him to be responsible for our community. We talked for 40 minutes one day. I showed him pictures of practitioners being tortured at a labor camp. He was shocked.
“Don’t leave your pile of papers at people's front doors,” he said early on. “It affects their lives.” He was referring to informational materials about Falun Gong as a pile of paper. Over the course of our talk, he seemed to understand what we were doing and developed respect for Master and Falun Gong.
“Why do I use my own money to make this pile of paper,” I said. “Couldn't I live much better if I spent it on myself? But the CCP is brutally persecuting practitioners and staged the self-immolation hoax on Tiananmen Square to deceive the public into hating Falun Gong. We have no other way to give people factual information.”
I continued, “Most importantly, making people hate the universal values of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance is very dangerous. Where is society heading?” I told him that we hope people will distinguish between good and evil. In the end, this officer quit the Party.
When were were parting, he said, “There is no need for you to give up Falun Gong.” As he accompanied me down the stairs he said, “We [the police] need to do things based on Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.”
Police Are Not the Enemy
After reading one of Master's poems, I began to understand that Dafa practitioners do not have enemies. Although the old forces and the evil CCP arranged for police officers to participate in the persecution, Master asks practitioners to bring the truth to sentient beings, and that includes police officers. Therefore, I cannot have negative thoughts about them. I should treat them like friends.
One time, I tried to talk to an officer on duty. He was very busy and asked me to come back another time. But it was raining that day, and I hesitated about whether I should go back to the police station.
I fell asleep for several minutes and had a dream. In my dream, a fellow practitioner asked me to open the book Hong Yin IV to a bookmarked page. When I woke up, I opened Hong Yin IV, and saw the poem: “Sincerity.”
Master said,
“In my heart, your friendshipIs so sincereWhen Dafa disciples face sufferingIt warms the chill in my heartWhen I face hardshipsThis friendship helps me be even more steadfastI want to tell you the truthMy mission is infinitely sacredI will turn your sincerity into renewal of life” (“Sincerity,” Hong Yin IV)
I realized that I needed to go to the police station. There, I told a middle-aged officer about the brutality of the persecution. He looked at the pictures I had with me, then looked at me, and said, “You still have such a positive spirit even though you are facing a brutal persecution.”
“The spirit of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance lives forever,” I replied.
