(Minghui.org) I started to practice Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, in 1995, but my progress on the path of cultivation has not been marked by steady improvement. After seriously looking inward, I have discovered that I failed to concentrate on studying the Fa. My main consciousness was not strong when I sent forth righteous, because I did not realize the importance of sending forth righteous thoughts. Therefore, I left loopholes for the old forces to exploit. I was twice arrested and illegally sentenced to prison. I now realize the seriousness of cultivation and will cherish this opportunity.
Before I became a cultivator, I was attached to fame, profit, and sentimentality. I also was in poor health. After practicing Dafa, I recovered from all my ailments.
I used to work for the local government. I always handled things impartially without accepting any gifts. I followed the principles Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance and always considered the needs of others first.
Once I picked up a wallet with thousands of yuan inside. There was also a driver’s license and identification card. It was raining, so I took a taxi and returned the wallet to its owner. It took about six hours to find the owner because I had to go door to door. I’ve done things like that more than once.
Unfortunately, being a good person results in being persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). I was laid off from my job, with no compensation, even though I had worked hard for them for over 20 years,
Appealing in Beijing for the Right to Practice Falun Gong
Another practitioner and I went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong after July 20, 1999, and were arrested. We, Ms. Zhang and I, went again to Beijing on our bicycles to appeal for justice for Falun Gong in August 2000. On the way there, we stopped in meadows, on roadsides, near railways, and under overhangs. Anyone who went to Beijing by train or buses was checked. When we came across a checkpoint, we just walked through fields and sometimes had to carry our bicycles on our backs. In Fan County, we were stopped by three people who robbed us and stole a copy of Zhuan Falun.
I used to hear that people with triangular-shaped eyes were evil but had never run into one. One of the men had eyes shaped like that. He looked very fierce and appeared to be a police officer in plainclothes. He refused to let us go and said, “We have already arrested a lot practitioners and locked them up in the detention center. I am going to put you in there, too.” The others just asked us for money. They confiscated our 300 yuan, but the one with the strange eyes refused to release us. The other two were somewhat satisfied with the money and pulled him away.
I didn’t know how to send forth righteous thoughts but had a firm belief in Dafa. Then again, with thousands of miles to Beijing still left to go, how would we make it without any money?
My fellow practitioner said, “In Journey to the West, Monk Tang encountered 81 tribulations during his travels. Will we give up just because of this one tribulation?” I said, “Well, let’s carry on to Beijing.” We had a little tap water when we were thirsty and some bread for when we were hungry.
As we walked, we asked primary school pupils if there were any Falun Dafa practitioners locally. We went to see practitioners, shared experiences, but left before nightfall to avoid causing them any trouble. Some of them gave us some bread. two of them lent us 100 yuan, which we paid back on our return home.
It took us five days to get to the outskirts of Beijing. After getting off our bicycles, we asked for directions to the home of a villager whom we knew. We stayed at his place and took a bus the next morning to Tiananmen Square where we met two practitioners.
We planned our trip to Tiananmen. “It is Sunday tomorrow. Many people will be visiting the Square. We will go into the Square at nine o’clock tomorrow morning and display our banner that says, ‘Falun Dafa Is a Righteous Way.’”
Early the next morning we went to Tiananmen Square. It was Sunday, and there were more and more people coming to the Square. By 8 a.m., the Square was filled with people. We found two practitioners getting prepared and waiting for the right opportunity.
Many police officers, either in their uniforms or in plainclothes, were walking around the Square. We went to where there were few police officers, and the four of us displayed a large banner that said, “Falun Dafa Is a Righteous Way.” We held the banner high above our heads and walked forward with our backs straight. Some foreigners took photos of us. It was about two or three minutes before the police spotted us. They confiscated our banner, forced us into a police car, and took us to the Tiananmen police station. They asked us, “Is Falun Dafa good?” We replied, “Falun Dafa is good!” They asked us for our addresses and names, but we did not cooperate.
In the other room, the police beat Ms. Zhang. With blood covering her face, she said, “What kind of government do you represent—you are beating a law-abiding citizen. You don’t obey the law.” A person who looked like an official took Ms. Zhang to a bathroom and cleaned the blood off her face. Together we were reciting Master’s poems fromHong Yin. We were released about half an hour later. Ms. Zhang cried and said, “Although we have been set free, we don’t know how much Master has endured for us.”
After returning home, Ms. Zhang was arrested and I went into hiding. After more than a month, Ms. Zhang was released from the detention center.
I was arrested by the police in Jiangsu Province in November 2003 and tortured. I was tied up and then hung me from a beam, had two lit cigarettes stuffed into my nostrils and another two in my mouth, and had tea poured over my head and used toilet paper stuffed into my mouth. I was later sentenced to five years and then sentenced to another five years in 2013. I have been taken to prison twice and experienced many life-and-death tribulations.
Saving People by Clarifying the Truth
When I was released from prison, I was told that my father, who was very healthy before I was imprisoned, had passed away two years before because of his concern for me. My mother used to be very healthy but had suffered from weakness on one side of her body for four years because of her grief. She couldn’t recognize me when she saw me. We have to feed her with a syringe as she can only have liquid food.
The persecution of good people who believe in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance has ruined so many families in China. After making adequate arrangements for our livelihood, I studied the Fa and read experience sharing articles.
I know to myself, “I must believe in Master and the Fa completely and not slack off in my cultivation. I must be sure-footed in cultivating myself well, always pay attention to my own thoughts, and eliminate those thoughts that do not conform to the Fa. I should clean up my own dimensional field and concentrate on sending forth righteous thoughts.”
When I was released from prison the first time, I would clarify the truth to people and persuade them to quit the CCP and its youth organizations while doing business in my shop. After work, I would make phone calls to clarify the truth.
Once an old man came to my store. I talked to him about Dafa and persuaded him to quit the CCP. I was told that he used to be an athlete and a former Asian Games weightlifting champion. He often came to my store, and we became friends. Once I asked him, “I have a Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party DVD. Would you like to watch it?” He accepted the DVD.
About a month later, he said, “This DVD is very good. Everything it says is true. I have watched it several times. I then recommended it to my friends who are army officials. They have all watched it, including their family members.” I said, “You have really done a great thing and have helped so many people be aware of the truth.” He continued, “They are all eager to watch it. Some said, ‘It’s hard to come by such a great thing.’ One official said, ‘Actually, CCP has done are many more and even worse bad things than those mentioned in the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party.’ I then asked him if he wanted to quit the CCP. He answered that he had already quit it in his heart.”
Another time, one of my neighbors said, “My arms have hurt for so many years and I can’t raise them. Although I have seen both Chinese and Western medicine doctors, they cannot help. I am very worried.” I told her, “Please sincerely recite ‘Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.’ ” She agreed. About a week later she told me that her arms no longer hurt and that she could move them. She raised her arms up and down very easily to show me. I told her to thank Master Li, which she did.
A few days later, she came and said, “My hands, feet, and back were always cold in the winter. Even though I put on heavy clothes and used thick bed covers at night, I still felt cold. Now I have become healthy. I want to learn Falun Dafa.” On witnessing this, her husband also started to practice Falun Dafa.
Once, I came across a young man from Shandong who sells fruit. Having clarified the truth and persuaded him to quit the CCP, I also told him to recite “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”
Later he told me, “On my way home from here yesterday, I could see that the sky was so dark with constant thunder and lighting. I felt the thunder was getting closer and closer. Frightened, I kept reciting those two sentences. I felt that the danger was getting closer so I shouted, ‘Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!’
“Near a bus stop, I was suddenly covered by a huge beam of light, and at the same time I heard a loud noise. My tricycle and I were bounced about a meter high. I fell off and lost consciousness. In a fog I heard people talking and thought perhaps they were the people getting off the bus. I heard someone say, ‘Please come over and see if this person has been killed by lightning. His face is very pale.’ I slowly got up from the ground and saw that I was uninjured and that my tricycle was still in good condition. I got on it to ride away when I heard someone say, ‘That lighting knocked him right off his tricycle, but he is all right. That’s is a miracle.’”
He wanted to thank me, but I told him, “Please don’t mention it. It is only Master Li who can save you. You must thank him for this!” He said, “Thank you, Master, for saving my life. I would also like to learn Falun Dafa.” He left with a copy of Zhuan Falun. He and his wife began to practice.
