(Minghui.org) I began practicing Falun Dafa in 1997. I grew up in a rural area, and everyone in our village, including me, was Korean. After I met a hospital director and a university teacher who practiced Falun Dafa, I thought that practitioners were good people, so I decided to take up the practice.
Because I had difficulty reading Chinese, when I read the Fa with other practitioners, I did not read aloud. I didn’t know many Chinese characters, but as I listened to the others, I memorized the Fa. I soon learned to read Chinese characters.
I decided to memorize “True Cultivation” in Essentials for Further Advancement. I carried the book with me and I even memorized it as I walked. When the other practitioners heard that I’d memorized “True Cultivation,” they were amazed and happy for me. I also broke through the difficulty of studying the Fa and I was able to read the Fa on my own.
I began to memorize Hong Yin, and I was able to recite the poems in order. I also memorized Essentials for Further Advancement. When I met a fellow practitioner named Aiping, we memorized Zhuan Falun together. It was very difficult for me to read Chinese, but I knew Master was helping me. I later memorized Master’s two recent articles, “How Humankind Came To Be” and “Why the Creator Seeks to Save All Life.” Master helped me break through the difficulty of studying the Fa, because I wanted to cultivate diligently.
With the solid foundation of studying the Fa and Master’s guidance, Master helped me through one tribulation after another.
On May 11, 2001, I was arrested in Beijing for distributing informational materials about Falun Dafa. I was illegally detained in a detention center for six months, and then put in Beijing Women’s Forced Labor Camp for one year. The guards pressured us to write a guarantee statement to renounce Falun Dafa. They said if I didn’t, I would be beaten. They wouldn’t let me sleep and they tortured me by making me stand for hours.
There were many highly educated people who had been “transformed” and then they tried to “transform” others. Many practitioners were confused and gave up Falun Dafa under their influence. My Chinese was poor, and I was not well educated, but I had the foundation of having memorized the Fa and it helped.
I thought, “Practitioners who think highly of educated practitioners may be affected by them.” I always firmly believed in Dafa, so I was not moved. I relied on the power of the Fa and Master’s great compassion to get through this trial. No matter what tricks were used, my heart wasn’t moved.
In August 2023, Aiping and I distributed truth-clarification materials, but when I handed a pamphlet to a plainclothes police officer, I was arrested and taken to the police station.
As soon as we entered the police station, the officers saw that we refused to answer their questions, so they pushed us into a small dark room with no windows. Soon after we entered, I had difficulty breathing and felt like I was suffocating. I felt like I was about to die.
When the officers asked me where I lived and what my name was, I didn’t say anything. They took turns asking these questions. I asked myself, “Can I let go of life and death?” I knew that no matter what, I must let go of the attachments to life and death. Even if I was afraid, I had to meet this standard.
I started looking inward: Why was I so uncomfortable? I suddenly realized that I acknowledged that I was being persecuted. I should refuse to accept being persecuted. When I thought about it this way I stopped feeling uncomfortable. I knew Master removed a substance for me. After this substance disappeared, I was able to catch my breath.
I remembered what Master said,
“And this is even more so for the Dafa disciples in mainland China. For them, amidst the tremendously harsh persecution, every single thought and idea is critical. Whether you’ve done well or not; whether or not you’ve been susceptible to being persecuted; whether or not you’ve handled things correctly and to what degree you have been persecuted—all of this is directly connected to how you have walked your path and how you have thought about things.” (“What A Dafa Disciple Is,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume XI)
I analyzed my thoughts: I should deny this persecution, and I definitely would be able to get out of this place. As soon as I had the thought that I couldn’t get out, I immediately rejected it. In my heart I asked Master to help us go home.
The police interrogated me and asked me where I lived, but I didn’t answer. Instead, I clarified the truth to them and said, “Don’t persecute Falun Dafa. When the world knows the truth about the persecution, you will be investigated and help accountable. I won’t tell you where I live, because it’s for your own good. I don’t want you to commit crimes against Falun Dafa.”
They didn’t listen, and kept asking me where I lived. They shouted at me, but I refused to tell them. I said, “I will not tell you, but it’s for your own good.” They continued shouting and cursing at me. My brain was buzzing, and I stopped talking.
Every time they asked, I thought, “Let them assimilate to Dafa’s principles: Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.” Every time they asked where I lived, I silently repeated the sentence in my heart. After three hours they ordered me to sign a document, but I refused. They stopped trying to get me to sign, and I was released.
I knew this was all the power of Dafa.
I looked inward and analyzed why I encountered this ordeal.
First, when I memorized “How Humankind Came To Be,” I thought to myself, “I must memorize this article, and I can tell everyone I meet about this Fa. Prison is also a place to let people know.” This was a loophole. This was showing off, unwittingly acknowledging the persecution. I didn’t deny this thought in time.
Second, I talked to practitioners about the shortcomings of other practitioners behind their backs; I didn’t cultivate my speech, and I looked down on other practitioners.
Third, when I memorized the Fa with Aiping, the more I memorized it, the more I developed the mentality of competition, a manifestation of jealousy—my intention when I studied the Fa was not pure. Master said, “Studying the Fa with attachment is not true cultivation.” (“Towards Consummation,” The Essence of Diligent Progress II).
I was disrespecting Master and the Fa. This was the biggest loophole, and Aiping pointed this out.
Fourth, when I was illegally detained in a detention center, I couldn’t eat and I was weak. I suddenly remembered Aunt Li. I worked as a nanny for Aunt Li. She couldn’t eat, and became emaciated. I didn’t have compassion and didn’t feed her good food. I now felt her pain and I felt sorry for her. I wept when I realized I was selfish and had no compassion for others.
When I worked for Aunt Li, she always claimed that I took her things, including her money. She complained about me to everyone who visited her. I felt wronged and I resented her. I complained to her son and said I wanted to quit. But I endured it and didn’t leave. I thought that I did well and let go of my resentment. Other practitioners also said that I did very well; Many practitioners who worked as nannies for Aunt Li got angry with her and quit, but I persisted until she died. The other practitioners also said I could really forbear her. I no longer felt angry with her and I thought I passed the test.
I later listened to an article on Minghui.org, which said that what you owe in a previous life is repaid in this life—on the surface, it looks like the other party wronged you, but if you could look at the past, it is you who owes them, and you have to pay it back in this life.
When I compared my behavior to the author of the article, I really didn’t put down my resentment towards Aunt Li. I just let it go on the surface. I now feel from the bottom of my heart that she was right, and I was wrong.
Fifth, when I was arrested and taken to the police station, I remembered Master’s teaching: “Even if this person’s celestial eye were indeed opened, he still could not see anything because it would be sealed by his own attachment. Only if he no longer thinks about it in the future and completely gives up this attachment will it gradually disappear.” (Lecture Two, Zhuan Falun).
I had a tumor on my hip before I began practicing. It got better after I obtained the Fa. It later returned and kept getting bigger and bigger. I thought of Master’s teaching and realized it was an illusion. But I didn’t let go of it in my heart in the beginning. I later negated the idea of having a tumor. When I completely let the attachment go, the tumor slowly disappeared.
When I was detained in the police station, I remembered this teaching, and thought that being illegally detained was the same as the false appearance of “sickness and karma.” At that time I didn’t admit persecution, and thought I must be released. I denied every thought that I couldn’t leave. I assimilated to what Master said, and got rid of the attachments. It was the Fa that gave me solid righteous thoughts.
When I got home, I felt that I really did as Master asked, and this time I really met the standards of the Fa. Through this tribulation, I deeply felt the gap between my cultivation and Master’s requirements for practitioners. If we don’t reject our wrong thoughts in time, the evil will continue to persecute us.
If I said anything inappropriate, please kindly correct me.