Validate Dafa with a Pure Heart

I am a practitioner from Mainland China. I arrived in the US in March of this year. To us practitioners in Mainland, it is really a rare opportunity to be able to attend such a Fa conference. On behalf of all Dafa disciples in Beijing, I hereby give our best regards and warmest greetings to our most respected Teacher!

In Mainland China, the persecution carried out by the evil force of Jiang Zemin toward Dafa and Dafa disciples has reached an absurd degree. There is no reasoning, or law, or human rights, or safety of life. At any moment, Dafa disciples can be arrested, beaten, sent to labor camps, fired from jobs, or cut off from pay. Many of the disciples have to stay away from home. They have lost their personal freedom, and are under surveillance by their family members, companies, neighborhood committees, district security offices, and public security offices. Their phones are tapped and their mail is scrutinized.

But the hardship can never shake the hearts of disciples committed to Dafa no matter how difficult it seems. Faced with the sudden crackdown on July 22, 1999, the first reaction of everyone was to clarify the truth to the government. Tens of thousands of people went to Tiananmen, and were subsequently detained at the Shijingshan Sports Stadium. At that time, dark and dense clouds covered the sky, with strong wind and pouring rain. Suddenly, the dark clouds broke up and out came the sun. Immediately after that, a Falun appeared. Everyone jumped up and down with joy, and completely forgot about the imminent danger. From that day on, cultivation has been closely connected to resisting evil and clarifying the truth.

Under the attacks of fabricated rumors and persecution that seemed to come from every direction, the first test of continuing to cultivate in Dafa was from the family. The evil force involved and forced every family member to keep an eye on the practitioners so they couldn't do the exercises. The evil force also forced them to hand in the books, burn the books, and demand a divorce. They used all kind of methods and tried to use fame, gain and sentiments to crush the practitioners.

A practitioner was watched by her family and couldn't do the exercises. As a result, the symptoms of her old disease re-appeared. She once had stones in her gallbladder. She was not able to eat or move, and was in constant pain. No medication could help. She was taken to the hospital for x-rays. On all three occasions, the hospital couldn't find her gallbladder. The doctors were very puzzled, "How come we couldn't see the gallbladder?" After they returned home, she said, "I can't survive like this!" her husband was scared, and said, "Go ahead and practice right away." She said, "You always keep the TV on all day. The false stories disturb me." From then on, whenever Falun Gong was being slandered on TV, her husband would quickly change channels. Her son bought her earphones, and said, "The cord is quite long. Go ahead and practice. It is ok as long as no one outside can hear."

Another practitioner was at the final stage of cancer before she started cultivation. After she started to practice, she recovered. When the persecution began, her husband had huge fights with her, and burned all the books. In the end, she became very sick and stayed in bed. Her husband said, "Please get up and practice." She quickly recovered. But her husband got sick and was checked into a hospital. His heart rate was unstable and no medication was effective. He asked the wife what was going on. She told him, "This is because you burned Dafa books. You heart has corrupted. Kindness will be rewarded with kindness and evil with evil." Her husband was scared and said, "Let me practice Falun Gong with you."

Another practitioner lives with her children and her grandchildren. Her household duties are quite heavy. She could only practice after family members left for work or school, as well as after her husband who practiced another qigong left. However, before very long, the Jiang administration issued orders to forbid practicing any type of qigong. Her husband couldn't go out either. She was not even able to practice at home, and became very concerned. She passed some Dafa materials to her husband. The husband said, "How come the situation is like this?" She responded, "You think what's said on TV is all true? Liu Shaoqi (former Chinese president at the start of Cultural Revolution) was even labeled as a big traitor back in those years." Her husband said, "Then you practice quietly. But you can't have contact with the outside." The wife listened to Teacher's lectures at home while doing house chores. One time, she said to her husband, "Help me with some of the house work." So the husband joined her washing the vegetables. He heard the Fa at the same time. Days later, the husband said, "Why do I feel so good these days?" His wife said, "Because you've heard Teacher's lecture on Fa." From then on, her husband has never interfered with her studying the Fa or practicing the exercises. But, her daughter-in-law came to interfere. She said, "Stop practicing. If anything happens to you, we won't be able to make it to management." She told her daughter-in-law, "Just take a look at the changes around our house after I started practicing. Your son no longer gets sick. We, two elderly people, are no longer sick. I take care of everything for the family by myself. Don't you feel secure when you leave for work? You haven't even read the book and how do you know it is not good? Read the book, so you will know whether your mother-in-law is right or wrong." Her daughter-in-law took the book. After a long time went by, she still hadn't returned the book. The practitioner was worried. She feared that the daughter-in-law had turned in the book. So she went to ask her for the book. The daughter-in-law said, "After I finished, my Dad wanted to read it. And my brother will read the book after my Dad finishes." This way, the entire family began to support her practice.

There was another practitioner who went to Tiananmen twice to defend the Fa. His wife was against it and wanted a divorce. His company also sent a notice giving him 3 days to make a decision whether to continue to practice. If he chose to practice, he would be dismissed. He has 2 twin daughters, and feared that if he was divorced and fired from work, he would have no way to live as he would have no income. So he signed the repentance letter. When he reached the door, he felt his entire body aching and he had a severe headache. He realized what he had done. He returned, took back the repentance letter and ripped it up. He said, "Do whatever you want with me." When he got home, his wife said, "Then let's divorce." He said, "OK." He rode his bike and she rode her motorcycle. For some unknown reason, he took a wrong way and was late. When he arrived, his wife was sitting outside of the court. Seeing him, the wife said, "Let's go home. I don't want to divorce." At the end, his company didn't dismiss him either. There are just too many cases like this to list. As long as the heart of Dafa disciples for cultivation remains unmoved, and as long as we use wisdom to clarify the truth, our family environment will change.

Group practice and group Fa study are the form of cultivation left to us by Teacher. As genuine cultivating disciples, no matter how difficult the situation is, we must follow Teacher's teaching. We must practice outside, at the usual practice site. But when we exercised publicly, we were arrested. When we went to practice after we were released, we would be arrested again. Very few of those practitioners who have stepped forward have not been arrested. The number of arrests could be 2-3 times or 7-8 times per person. The iron cells in which Dafa disciples are detained at the district security offices are only 2 meters (approx. 6 feet) wide and separated by iron bars. More than 10 people are held in one cell. Everyone gets less than 3 feet in width, and could barely lie down on the ground. If people want to move around, they have to walk on other people's bodies. There are no windows, but only a hose about 6 inches wide for ventilation. There is a basin inside the cell used as a toilet, and there is no water to flush. So the odor stinks and can be suffocating. There is no water supplied. Only one meal is provided everyday. There is a small open space outside of the cells. When the police officers beat up people, they will drag the people out and do it there. While in such a horrible environment and being subject to such inhumane treatments, no one is taking these to heart. Those who were sent in were quite happy because they were able to see all their fellow practitioners who they hadn't seen for a long time. These opportunities were truly rare. Everyone would make the best use of the time by reciting the Fa together, practicing and sharing experience. We all cherish every second of our time together.

At 3:00 o'clock in the morning on Chinese New Year's eve, 5 practitioners from our practice site went to the usual site to do the exercises. After they finished all 5 sets, the police came and arrested 3 of them. On the road back with the police, one of the 3 practitioners was particularly worried because she had many Dafa materials stored at home. If the police searched her house and took these away, it would be a big loss. When she didn't know what to do, they ran into her son in the street. She was shocked: the son doesn't live there, nor does he work in that neighborhood. That day is not a holiday. How come he is there so early? It is truly amazing! She realized that our Teacher is helping the disciple. Her son saw her in police custody. When he passed by her shoulder, she whispered to him, "Go home immediately and hide the materials." As a result, when the police searched her house, they didn't find anything.

One day around 4:00 in the morning, I rode on my bike to go to the practice site to exercise. Shortly after I left the complex, I was tailed by a police officer. I didn't pay attention to him and kept riding my bike straight ahead. The practice site is located on a slope of a small hill. I easily climbed up on the bike. After making a few rounds of circles, I arrived at a piece of small woods across from the practice site. At this time, the police officer arrived. It was already very bright then. I saw him stand only about 10 steps away, and thought, "You can't see me." It turned out he didn't see me. I knew perfectly in my heart that it was the benevolent Teacher who was looking after his disciple.

Fa conference is also another form of cultivation left to us by Teacher. Particularly under current circumstances, the Fa conferences can help us make fewer mistakes and assure improvement on a whole. Over the last 2 years, no matter how difficult the situation has gotten, we've never stopped having the conferences, from small conferences of 2 to 3 people to larger ones of 7 to 8. All that is needed is a quick exchange of a few words in supermarkets, parks or bus terminals. We quickly update each other on our current situation and learn from each other how to pass tribulations. If there are more people, sometimes we rent a boat at a park, and row to the middle of the river to have the meeting. Sometimes, conferences are held in moving cars driven by Dafa disciples. Whenever we encounter serious or big issues, we try best to exchange views as soon as possible. This has been very helpful for everyone to widen our vision, improve the working methods, discover attachments and upgrade xinxing. This is how we deeply feel after the last 2 years of cultivation practice. For instance, from how to rectify the home environment at the beginning, whether or not we should continue to practice in public, to how to differentiate false scriptures, how to understand the article of "Serious Teaching," to how to resist so-called "transformation," etc. Through sharing views, we improve quickly based on the Fa and have been able to pass tribulations one after another.

The government controls the media in Mainland China. TV and radio programs broadcast rumors and attacks on Dafa all day long. Real news is blocked; computer access is restricted. People are not able to access Minghui Net, nor can they hear the overseas radio broadcast. Therefore it is extremely important to clarify the truth to the people. This is an important aspect of our assisting Teacher in the human world. This task is sacred and, at the same time, challenging. The evil force fears most when people in the world find out the truth about Dafa. So they are particularly harsh about people downloading materials from the net, copying, and distributing materials. When they catch someone doing that, they will send the person to labor camp or put him in jail. Dafa disciples use their wisdom to continuously copy and distribute materials with different methods. They have distributed information to: airports, underpasses, bus terminals, taxis, police cars, inside library books, pockets of the clothes in the apparel shops, bikes, mail boxes, and inside greeting cards. There are materials about the truth of Dafa everywhere. Some practitioners go out every night and distribute a few hundred copies in just one night, even when the police surveillance is heavy. New Year's Eve was no exception. When a practitioner was distributing a flyer, he suddenly saw a person standing next to him. He thought, "You can't see me." It turned out that person didn't see him. Sometimes, practitioners are arrested. Then, they will spread the Fa and clarify the truth to the people making the arrest. When their thoughts are righteous, the danger disappears instantly.

Dafa disciples can't be taken away, or crushed. A Dafa practitioner, Yu Changxin, also a professor in the military, was sentenced to 17 years in jail. Last year, the evil force organized a so-called anti-cult exhibition at the Military Museum. The words of "Falun Dafa is good" appeared on the guess sign-in book. Hundreds of Dafa flyers were distributed on the exhibition. These were the courageous acts of Dafa disciples in the military. A colonel, dressed in military uniform, went to mediate in Tiananmen Square. One military school set up surveillance day and night. One morning, a Falun Dafa motto appeared of nowhere, painted on the high wall of the most visible architecture of the school. The characters were too high to reach or scratch. So they could only cover them with a big piece of cloth. People spread the word quickly. This incident suffocated the evil effectively and inspired people tremendously.

During the process of clarifying the truth, a big problem we encountered was not being able to access Minghui net to obtain timely information. Also, sometimes because of the damage of the evil force, we are not able to make copies or communicate with fellow practitioners. Through experience sharing, we all realized that spreading the Fa verbally was also a good way. Verbal exchange allows instant feedback. Some people are not afraid of speaking their mind. Of course, this method is somewhat dangerous. During the daily contact with others, as long as we can find a chance to talk to people, we will clarify the truth. If you ask, I will tell you. If you don't ask, I will still tell you. We look for and create opportunities at all times to clarify the truth. During the past Spring Festival, I put Dafa materials inside the greeting cards I sent to my friends. One day, some of my close friends in Beijing called me to meet with them. They said they were asked to talk to me by friends living out of town. When I heard this, I was quite happy -- this meant that they had received the materials I sent. This would also be a Fa-spreading conference they organized for me. I introduced Dafa and clarified the truth to all the friends present. The result was quite good. Another practitioner sent red packets containing Dafa information to every family member on Spring Festival. As a result, Falun Dafa became the center of the talk for their family during the entire Spring Festival. Through spreading the Fa verbally, some people obtained the Fa right on the spot. A friend told me that she wanted to cultivate. I gave her the books and information. Surprisingly, her sister and niece also read them. They asked to meet with me and raised many questions, such as what the Tiananmen Self- immolation was all about, etc. In China, there is no free press. Information on the Internet is filtered. The radio broadcast by Dafa Radio Station is interfered by strong radio waves. People are not able to read or hear the truth about Dafa. It is very sad that the evil force is still deceiving many everyday people.

Presently in Mainland China, the evil force's last shot--and also their most vicious shot--is to forcefully reform practitioners with a serious of extremely despicable means, such as attacking them, wearing them out, and messing up their thinking with crooked reasoning and warped ideas. Since October 2000, the evil persons in the dark den, known as the Masanjia labor camp, have gone all over the place, taking with them people who have been reformed--they have gone to Dafa disciples' homes, made phone calls to do reform work, and held reform classes at work places. Back then, before I read Master's article, "Suffocate the Evil," I found this hard to understand: "This person has always acted very well, how come he is reformed after going to Masanjia? This scheme seems to be quite vicious. What should I do?" I thought of what Master said about bad things we hear enter into us through our ears--if you don't let them enter through your ears, could they come in? "Listen without hearing, then one's heart is not easily stirred." I made up my mind that I would try not to attend the reform classes and not to listen to them. Soon my work place called and asked me to attend a reform class. They told me that they would even pick me up with a car, and that I had to attend. The next day, they said that the time had been changed, so they didn't come. Two days later, my right wrist suddenly hurt so much in the evening that I couldn't go to sleep. I thought, "what's this hinting to me?" In the morning, the phone rang; they were coming to pick me up to the reform class. I said: "My right wrist is incredibly painful; I can walk, but I can't fasten my pants when I go to the bathroom. Who will help me fasten my pants?" They said, "forget about it, then." I was quite happy, and thought that I passed the test. To my surprise, two days later, four people in leadership positions from my work place brought with them someone who had been reformed, and came to my home. I could feel that it was ill-intentioned, so immediately my mind was thinking, quickly preparing myself. After the four leaders came in, they said that they wanted to smoke, and they left that reformed person alone with me. He started to pour his crooked and warped ideas on me as soon as he opened his mouth. I decided that I wouldn't listen to him and needed to overpower him, so I said loudly: "Stop! Listen to me. What reforming? What we are practicing is the Great Law of the cosmos, and we are assimilating to Zhen-Shan-Ren. Where are you reforming yourself to? To become a bad person? Master is a Buddha--a God--and has done so much for you. Yet you dare to say bad things about him--you're committing huge sins! Master said that "I cannot accept it if you target me and Dafa"' (this translation of Teacher's words is subject to further change) If you still want to cultivate, you should kneel down in front of Master's picture and admit to your sins, and strive real hard to make amends. I don't know if Master will still accept you as a disciple!" I kept talking about what Master said--Master said this, Master said that I thought that I must control the situation and overpower him before those four people came back in from smoking. I must subdue him with Dafa and not give him a chance to talk. When those four people came in, they saw that it was already 12:00 o'clock, so they took him away. After they left, I immediately went to talk to my practitioner friends. We quickly exchanged our views. I told them about what had just happened at my home, and they all thought that it was a good way to deal with those people! That is, we need to take preemptive measures, not let them talk, and not listen to them. Now we should hurry up and inform other fellow practitioners so that they wouldn't be deceived. After that, when we ran into people who had been reformed, we loudly said to them: "Go away. You have been reformed. I don't listen to you. Go away quickly." Later on when we saw Master's article, Suffocate the Evil, we realized it had been arranged that those people would leap out to damage Dafa at a certain time.

Actually, Jiang Zemin's irrational suppression of Falun Gong is unpopular. More and more people have become aware that Dafa disciples are good people, that Jiang Zemin suppression of Falun Gong is wrong, and that sooner or later Falun Gong will be rehabilitated.

In the evening of July 20^th, 2000, 4 people from the police, the sub-district office, and the neighborhood committee suddenly came to my home at 9:30, and forced me to write a statement of promise. I wouldn't write it, so they took turns watching me around the clock at the entrance to my home. On days considered sensitive to them, they watched me like this. They were the craziest at this year's Chinese New Year. On New Year's Eve, twelve people came. They were from my work place, from the local police station, from the sub-district office, and from the neighborhood committee. They took turns trying to persuade me, asking me to write a statement of promise. When I wouldn't write it, they watched me, and a police car parked right in front of the entrance to my home. When I went out, they followed me; when I went to the park, they followed me; when I visited my relatives and friends, they followed me, too. They just followed me like this. I met with my fellow practitioners at the park, and I also distributed flyers. Then I thought: "I can't just let the evil run rampant. I should deter it." The next day, when they knocked on my door, I didn't answer, and nor did I answer the phone. From 6:00 o'clock in the morning to 10:00 o'clock at night, telephone rings and door knocks continued. I ignored them, calmed myself, studied the Fa, and performed the exercises. They became afraid and thought that I had run away. Two days later, they found me and asked me, "Why didn't you open the door?" I said: "You're breaking the law, and I'm determined to deter it." I told them about Dafa. They said: "We have no other way. It is stipulated from above that if one Falun Gong incident occurs, and the zero record is broken, all of us will loose our jobs. We have no other way, and we still need this job in order to eat."

At this year's Chinese New Year, the noise of firecrackers was deafening in Beijing. I asked a policeman, "Aren't firecrackers forbidden? Why don't you do anything about it?" He said, "We have been informed from above that watching Falun Gong is of No. 1 importance, and that everything else is secondary. We can't manage to watch [Falun Gong] even by not taking the holidays off. How could we watch anything else?" There was a female guard who started crying after she got in, saying that it was her father-in-law's 70^th birthday, yet she was called out before she even had the chance to eat after she got home. Another said, "I don't care what Gong they are saying. I believe that good is rewarded by good, and evil is paid back with evil. In the future I'll learn it, too." An old friend of mine who's 80 some years old came to see me in secret and said to me, "Go abroad. Why let yourself be wronged like this?" I said that I didn't want to leave, and that I couldn't believe that the evil could overpower the righteous. He said, "This can't last long."

Someone who was watching me told me this story: A Dafa disciple was "double expelled"--that is, she was expelled from the Party and was discharged from employment. She was only given 250 Yuan per month for her living expenses. Her husband divorced her. Her son ignored her, had her live in half of a kitchen, and verbally abused her all the time. When the Chinese New Year came, she went to the neighborhood committee and requested to spend the holidays with her parents. The person in charge at the sub-district office sympathized with her and secretly agreed. Unexpectedly, the police came to check on her and found that she wasn't there. They took her back from her parents' home. The person in charge at the sub-district office, who was watching her, could not bear to see her like this. On the New Year's Eve, she took with her white flour and stuffing, went to the kitchen where the Falun Gong practitioner lived, and made dumplings for her as she was watching her. She said, "This is such a good person, yet she's treated like this. I made some dumplings for her and she even insisted on giving us money for them. This really disturbs me. How could people be badly treated like this?"

A fellow practitioner's housemaid went back to her hometown in Henan Province for the Chinese New Year. The Branch Secretary of the village is her brother. She asked him, "Are there any Falun Gong practitioners in our village?" Her brother said no. She then said, "I'm a Falun Gong practitioner." Her brother immediately replied: "Yes, there are Falun Gong practitioners here, and there are a good number of them! They only have one book. They go out at 2:00 o'clock in the morning to study the Fa and do the exercises. I just pretend that I don't know about it. When others ask me, I just tell them there isn't any. They are all good people."

Another fellow practitioner was watched, and then she got away. The police caught her and told her to go to the local police station with him. The branch secretary of her old work place saw this and said, "Give her to me." After the policeman left, the branch secretary told her: "Take your book with you. I want you to read, read; if you want to do the exercises, do the exercises."

Another fellow practitioner had terminal cancer, but was cured after practicing Falun Gong. This year when her workplace gave out bonuses at Chinese New Year, she was the only person who got 250 yuan, and others didn't get any. She asked, "Why am I the only one who receives it?" Her boss said, "Because you haven't requested reimbursement for medical expenses for 7 years. This is your reward." A bystander said, "You just need to sit there, and without saying anything, you are promoting Falun Dafa."

There are so many of these stories. The broad masses of people are gradually seeing clearly the true evil nature of the crackdown, sympathizing with Dafa disciples, helping Dafa disciples, and deterring the persecution in various ways.

This tribulation is truly a serious test for Dafa disciples in Mainland China. Master said: "Actions reveal what is true." Will you continue to cultivate? Are you able to step forward? You really need to make up your mind yourself. That is, our own thoughts must be righteous. Only then can we deter, rectify, and overpower with total righteousness what we see around us and the crooked and evil things we encounter, and validate to the people of the world, with our heart and actions; that Falun Dafa is good, righteous, and is the diamond-like and indestructible Dafa of the cosmos.

As a Dafa disciple, although I have been determined in cultivating in Dafa and have never wavered, my understanding of the Fa is still not deep and thorough. Compared to other fellow practitioners, I have borne too little, and still have many human things. I still need to double my effort in actual cultivation and to take every step well.

Thank you, most merciful Master, for having borne so much for your disciples in this serious test, and for protecting us all this time, making your disciples feel that Master is right beside them all the time and to be able to overcome the tribulations once their thoughts are righteous. Master, please rest assured that Dafa disciples in Mainland China will live up to Master's mercy and arduous offering of salvation. They will certainly be able to get through the tribulations, and, as they become more and more mature, step toward the great Consummation.