(Minghui.org) It has been almost three years since I returned to Falun Dafa cultivation practice. The past three years have been the happiest but also the most difficult period in my life. Compared to fellow practitioners, I know I am still not where I should be in my cultivation. But with Master and Dafa's guidance, I have broken through the environment of being under constant surveillance to leading a normal life and doing the three things in an upright manner.
Returning to Cultivation
I started practicing Dafa prior to the persecution. After the persecution began, I gradually lost contact with local fellow practitioners over the years. I only read the book Zhuan Falun once in a while and became lost in ordinary people's life. However, Master did not give up on me. At an event in 2009, I happened to hear about the movement of quitting the Chinese Communist Party and its associated organizations. Due to my fear, I did not dare to ask others about the details. Starting in 2012, I had some strange dreams. In one of them that I remembered vividly, one morning as I stepped out of my home, I saw on one side swarms of policemen shooting people and I was next in line to be killed. On the other side, I saw a wide golden road leading to the distance. I said to myself that I wouldn't surrender even if it meant death and then I ran toward the golden road without looking back. In several other dreams, I faced death as well and every time I said to myself, “I am Master's disciple and a Falun Gong practitioner.” Then I woke up from the dreams.
The dreams continued until 2015 when I started to dream about exams where I always fumbled on the exam questions. As I realized that I did not get admitted to college due to poor performance on the exam, I would have a sense of urgency and regret in my dreams. After having such dreams several times, I suddenly realized that maybe the time for cultivation was about to end and it would soon be time to test out in the final exam. A few months later, I finally used the software to break through the internet blockade and obtained information that was previously unavailable. I realized that I had fallen behind so much in cultivation. At the time, I was not able to understand what true cultivation was and find my attachments. I often read Zhuan Falun after work while printing truth-clarifying materials to hand out in my residential community. The Fa study was not well focused and I frequently fell asleep while reading the book.
In the first few months after I returned to cultivation, I was arrested, detained, sent to a brainwashing center, and my home was ransacked. Upon being released from the brainwashing center, I was fired from my job. My neighborhood committee and the local police put me under surveillance and followed me. I had a feeling of “A hundred kinds of hardships fall at once” (Hong Yin, Version C) In the following year, I gradually became enlightened to the true meaning of cultivation through intensive Fa study and my righteous thoughts were strengthened. I mailed letters to the officials who sent me to the brainwashing center to clarify the truth to them. At a minimum, I wanted to let them know that I was keeping up my practice and that Falun Dafa is a righteous school of cultivation. I hoped to make up for my mistakes in the past through this truth clarification.
I will share how, through Fa study and looking within, I was eventually able to overcome the oppression of being under constant surveillance by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Getting Rid of Surveillance Cameras
The day after I was released from the brainwashing center, officials from the local 610 Office, Domestic Security team, police station, and neighborhood committee all came to visit me and asked me if I would continue practicing Falun Gong. I responded with confidence and dignity, “Yes, I will continue to practice even if you ask me ten thousand times and arrest me again right now.” Contrary to my expectation, they said, “Okay, then. You can practice it at home.” A few days later, they installed a surveillance camera near the entrance to my home. I harbored a strong attachment to fear during that period. Every time I came home, I would first cautiously scout the surrounding areas and go home after I made sure nothing unusual was happening. As I did not have the righteous thoughts that could only be obtained through diligent cultivation. My life was really harsh.
I said to myself, “I cannot live a life like this under surveillance!” Master said,
“Human history does not exist for [people] to take being human as its final goal, nor is human history a recreation ground created for the evil to display its viciousness. Mankind’s history was established for the Fa-rectification, and only Dafa disciples are worthy of displaying their glory here.” (“To the 2005 European Experience Sharing Conference”, The Essentials Of Diligent Progress Vol. III)
I searched Minghui.net for articles on surveillance cameras and how to deal with them, but found very few. Then I looked at ordinary people's websites and still could not locate many definitive laws in this regard. So I decided to consult a lawyer, who knew my situation. I also told him that I continued to practice Falun Gong and wanted to learn about related laws and regulations. After meeting in person, he gave me some suggestions.
Following his suggestions, I researched certain laws regarding the protection of citizens' right to privacy. As the hallway in my building belonged to all of the residents in the building, government officials did not have the right to install surveillance cameras that violated the residents' privacy. Therefore, I sent a copy of the laws to the neighborhood committee officials and told them that I planned to remove the camera. After I removed the camera, nobody from the neighborhood committee bothered to come and ask about it. Later, the authorities installed another camera. Once I saw it, I removed it again and also notified the local police by phone, telling them not to keep installing cameras anymore.
After that, they did not continue and the surveillance camera issue was resolved. During this process, a local police officer frequently came to my residential area. Initially, I was resistant to his presence. But later I could gradually treat him as a friend and started chatting with him. I knew that his knowing side had become fully aware of who I was and what Falun Gong was, which was why he became friendly in return. For example, he used to knock on my door heavily and aggressively. Later, he would knock a few times and then wait quietly for my response.
Overcoming the Situation of Being Followed and Monitored
In addition to the surveillance cameras, there were several agents stationed near the entrance to my home 24 hours a day to monitor my activities. The monitoring was most intense during the Chinese Communist Party's 19th National Conference, which lasted about 20 days. During that time, 18 of these agents took turns to monitor me. They also had a vehicle follow me when I drove my car around town. I decided to clarify the truth to them right in front of my home since they were so persistent and constantly had someone stationed there.
After studying the Fa in the morning, having lunch, and sending righteous thoughts, I would come to the hallway where they were stationed and try to start a conversation with them. Initially, I had fear and only talked about how their action was in violation of the laws. This approach caused them to resist. Later, I let go of my fear and directly talked about Falun Gong. They would not say anything and kept moving around in the hallway to avoid getting too close to me. But as they could not leave altogether, I kept talking and sometimes showed them videos on my phone. They did not say a word but they did not resist anymore.
Through direct contact with these agents, I learned that most of them were from rural areas and started doing what they did as they could not find other jobs. Several of them were eager to learn about Falun Gong. Due to my limited level of cultivation, I was not able to convince them to quit the CCP. But they all agreed that I was a good person, which I knew was the positive result of my efforts to make up for my past mistakes. When I was initially arrested by them, I did not have a shred of compassion and only hoped that they would get their retribution soon. This was out of the attachment to hatred and revenge.
After some time, Master arranged a job opportunity for me that was away from my previous residence. But soon the authorities found me again and assigned the agents to watch me as before. However, since I had done some truth clarification to them, they would make up excuses to their superiors for losing me while following me in the streets. Later, the authorities organized another group of agents to follow me. In order to evade them, I used to spend half a day walking in the streets while still unable to lose them. I said to myself, “This must be a test I have to pass. I have no way around it.”
I approached the agents and asked to talk directly to their superior, who I soon learned was the deputy chief of the local police station. After talking to him, I found that he was not as bad as I thought, and through chatting we gradually became friendly with each other. He was no longer hostile to me. Soon I was able to go about my new job and daily life without being disturbed by the agents following me. It was truly as Master told us, “After passing the shady willow trees, there will be bright flowers and another village ahead!” (Zhuan Falun, Translated by US Practitioners, March 2000)
Category: Improving Oneself
