(Clearwisdom.net) The CCP has been persecuting Falun Gong for seven years. During this period of time, in order to maintain the unconscionable, bloody, and inhumane persecution, the CCP has utilized all its resources to manipulate the media in order to continuously spread falsehoods and to defame Falun Gong. For this reason, Falun Gong practitioners inside and outside of China have been clarifying the truth to people and appealing for help to stop the persecution. Due to their efforts, more and more people around the world have begun to understand what actually Falun Gong is. Many of them became practitioners after learning about the persecution and that Falun Gong is a good practice. Mr. Zhang Liang, a computer software engineer from California’s Silicon Valley, is one of them.

 

 

 

Mr. Zhang Liang (first on the left) with the Divine Land Marching Band

Mr. Zhang Liang (left) in an "Urging the Chinese people to Quit the CCP" activity

Mr. Zhang Liang was trained in information system management software engineering, and has been working for eight years as a computer software engineer for a high tech company in the Silicon Valley in california. He has traveled around the world to assist well-known large corporations in solving their issues with advanced computer technology. It was in 1994 that he first heard about Falun Gong. In 2000, he learned about the persecution of Falun Gong in China. In 2001, he received an anti Falun Gong booklet from an employee of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco, which propelled him to find out more about Falun Gong. After some twists and turns, he is finally walking firmly on the path of cultivation in Falun Gong. The following is a recent interview with Mr. Zhang:

Reporter: Mr. Zhang, when did you first hear about Falun Gong?

Mr. Zhang Liang: I heard about it in 1994. At the time, I was working in Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province. Because I was interested in qigong and was learning another qigong practice, I did not pay much attention to Falun Gong.

In 2000, my family came from China and told me about the persecution. I was curious, so I asked them about the situation of Falun Gong in China. They said that many programs on China Central Television (CCTV) were about the self-immolation suicide, people becoming insane or developing cultivation insanity. The programs were broadcasted all day long, and people were crying and vividly describing those events on TV. I thought then that this may be propaganda from the CCP.

I remember June 4, 1989. I was in Shenzhen City at the time and was able to view both Hong Kong’s TVB Pearl station and the CCP’s China Central Television. I purposely made a comparison; I tuned into both TV stations simultaneously, and noticed the two stations’ reports were totally opposite. The CCP reported the students violently attacking the fully armed People’s Liberation Army, which I thought was unfathomable. Meanwhile, the TVB Pearl station broadcasted images of the troops firing machine guns at the students and tanks rampaging all over the place. I was really shocked by what I saw. Thus I knew that the CCP’s news was one sided.

I was also skeptical of my relatives’ words. I asked them why the issues were only brought out at this time. Falun Gong has been in China for many years, so why are the problems appearing all of a sudden? I knew that in China, the CCP often persecutes certain groups or people. Because these kinds of things happen frequently, I did not give it much thought.

Reporter: What propelled you to further learn about Falun Gong?

Mr. Zhang: In 2001, I accompanied a family member to the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco to apply for a visa to China. Upon leaving, the employee gave each person a small booklet. I glanced at it quickly, and it was all anti-Falun Gong information. I think they wanted everyone to understand their policy before arriving in China. After I read it (chuckles), I became interested in Falun Gong. In the booklet, they even quoted from the Falun Gong book, saying that some of its theories are superstition. What are some of the things it mentioned? It was about pre-historic culture, and that plants are sentient and possess senses. The CCP considers all these to be superstition, and I thought it was very strange, because these phenomena have already been proven by science. In the USA and the Western developed countries, some scientists have validated these cases and have begun research in these areas. Why are they still called superstitions? I could not comprehend it.

At the time my deepest impression was that the small booklet took Mr. Li’s words out of context and attempted to provoke Christians’ hatred toward Falun Gong. Its purpose was to attack Mr. Li. On the contrary, I thought otherwise. Since I was baptized as a Christian more than ten years ago, I knew many Christians. While some of them began to follow Buddhism, other clergy who are Catholic pastors believe in six path reincarnation. No matter who’s right or wrong, I did not think it was appropriate for a political party to express their comments regarding religious beliefs.

Next, I borrowed a copy of Zhuan Falun from a library. I thought Falun Gong is very profound and is not just a generic qigong practice that heals illness and improves health. Zhuan Falun explained thoroughly in a few words concepts that I could not understand in the Bible. Its contents are also different from other qigong practices, and the exercises are much easier and more convenient to do. But since I lived far from a practice site, I only read the book and left it at that.

Reporter: Then how did you become a practitioner?

Mr. Zhang Liang: When I finally decided to practice Falun Gong, it was due to health reasons. For a period of time, my health condition got worse. Because of my job, I traveled every week, flying around the world. I left home on Mondays and came back on Fridays. Due to constant fatigue and time changes, my body clock was out of whack. There was also pressure from work, I could not eat nor sleep right. After one year, my body went through serious and terrible changes. I had all kinds of illnesses: first it was arthritis and it was very painful; then I had coughs accompanied by asthma. Finally, I had inflammation of the prostate and the eye.

At first, I attributed all the illnesses to the pressure from work, an irregular lifestyle, and too much traveling. My eyes were always red, dry, painful and itchy, as if I had sand in them. I had to apply ointment every evening so that I could sleep.

I seemed to have a very successful career, traveling around the world, assisting well-known clients and solving their high-tech computer problems. My American dreams were fulfilled. I owned a car and a house. But I felt very empty inside, especially during my travels. After a busy day at work, I went to the hotel in the evening. I was all by myself and did not know what to do. I felt very lonely. When my health started to deteriorate, I felt uncomfortable everywhere. My body became very weak, and if I caught something I would be sick for a month, with cold and fever. I constantly had a minor fever and a cough, and I could not withstand the cold weather.

I was only twenty-eight years old, and I was pessimistic. I thought that with this sickly body, it would be meaningless even if I became the CEO of the company I worked for. In order to heal my illnesses, I read many books, including books by famous Chinese and Western experts on medical theories, formulas for healthy living, and yoga practice, etc. I also took all kinds of medications and nutritional supplements. I spent more money on medicine than on meals, yet my poor health condition remained the same.

Later, I remembered Falun Gong’s miraculous effect on healing illnesses and improving one’s health. So I decided to give it a try. I downloaded Teacher Li’s lectures and the exercise videos from the internet. At the end of 2003, I started practicing Falun Gong. At first, I was still taking medication while practicing the exercises.

Around March 2004, all of a sudden I could not eat and started to lose weight rapidly. My weight dropped from 160 pounds (73 kg) to 128 pounds (58 kg). Being six feet tall, I was as thin as a stick. I was panic-stricken and suspected that I had developed certain illnesses, and was very depressed about having so many diseases at such a young age. The examination report showed that I had chronic gastritis. My stepmother, an acupuncturist, who knows a bit about Chinese medicine, said that when a young person develops chronic gastritis, his body will become weaker and weaker, and eventually he will be incapacitated.

By April or May 2004, I stopped taking medication since it was not effective. I decided to practice the exercises diligently. I did exercises 1-4 every morning, then the fifth exercise in the evening. After a few months of practice I was still worried, so in July I went to the hospital for an examination. The doctor could not understand the test results, with a serious expression, he asked me to sit down. I figured that my illness had gotten worse and thought: "Just tell me the bad news quickly, I no longer care about it."

Instead, the doctor said, "I do not understand your test results. I called the lab. The analyst is an expert in digestive tract analysis. He has collected more than 400,000 samples in the USA and has standardized the analysis index. I myself have seen thousands of cases like yours. The analysis is very scientific, precise, and accurate. But I’ve never seen a lab test report like yours. We should be able to detect bacillus bacteria all through your digestive system, wherever it may be."

I said to him, "I know that there are two types of bacillus bacteria - the beneficial and the harmful kind. The beneficial bacillus should be able to suppress the harmful type. Otherwise, it could cause all kinds of diseases. How is it possible that there are none?"

The doctor replied: "The lab report cannot lie. If we kill the bacteria, both the beneficial and the harmful type should be killed. According to your report, there is some beneficial bacillus left, but there are very few. And there is no harmful bacillus left! which means that your body has reached a very clean and pure stage."

He added: "The analyst said that he had never seen a report like yours, and that you’ve established a new record. Your digestive system is the best he’s seen!"

Thinking back, because of my stubbornness, I did not completely believe that doing the exercises can purify the body. I often felt ambivalent about it. After seeing the lab report, there is evidence that qigong can purify the body. I could not believe that after six months of practicing Falun Gong, even though I did not maintain my original weight of 180 pounds, all my illnesses were healed. Falun Gong’s claims are true. This is how I began to walk the path of cultivation in Falun Gong.

Reporter: I often see you participating in the anti persecution activities organized by Falun Gong practitioners. Can you share your thoughts on that?

Mr. Zhang Liang: I think these are my duties. In the past two years, my family has witnessed the improvement in my body and mind, I have not needed any medication and my body feels better. I have changed inside out, I’m no longer depressed and feel hopeful, and I’m grateful for Falun Gong. When I read about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, I feel that it’s my duty to speak up about it. Falun Gong is truly good, and it improves one’s body and mind. It purifies the body and teaches one how to be a good person.

I believe people are able to think independently. As long as they obtain objective and fair information, they can judge for themselves. The reason why I participate in these activities is to tell those that are misled and depraved by the CCP the truth about Falun Gong. It is my hope that after finding out the truth, they can choose for themselves."