(Minghui.org) I am a retired teacher. After I was released from serving one year for practicing Falun Dafa, I was devastated to find that my pension had been suspended in the past two plus years. Instead of passively accepting the financial persecution, I took the opportunity to reach out to many people and clarify the facts about Dafa. Many of them became supportive and my pension was reinstated.
1. Planning and Preparing Materials
I made a truth-clarification plan. The first step was to send letters to the leadership at the school that I retired from. I wasn’t good at writing and I often had to stay up at night to think about how to draft the letters. I asked Master for help so that I could customize my letters to achieve the best results.
The first letter was simply about my situation and that I was entitled to receive my pension according to labor law. Starting from the second letter, I began to include content about Dafa and urge the officials not to participate in the persecution. I often went to the school and handed the letters to the officials myself. Then in the follow-up letters, I added examples of how other practitioners successfully had their pensions reinstated.
I kept records of the content of the letters to different individuals, so I wouldn’t repeat the same thing in future letters. Even for high-level officials not directly involved in my case, I also sent materials to them. On the surface, it was me who asked them for help; while in reality, I did this for them to learn the facts and be saved.
Some people were afraid and returned the letter to me without opening it. Some officials read it aloud in front of others, according to the feedback I received. There were also people who considered my efforts to be a joke. None of this was surprising to me and I knew very well what I was doing.
Here is one example. One woman named Fen was in charge of salaries and pensions. She often mistreated other Dafa practitioners working in the school and deducted their salaries. She died at a young age and I believe it was karmic retribution from her actions. I included her case in the letter sent to the manager of the school’s Human Resources and Social Security Bureau and I believe it sounded an alarm to him.
I kept writing letters and submitting materials. Gradually I became better at it. I also submitted two large envelopes of materials to the provincial inspection team. Thinking back on this experience, I am grateful to Master Li (the founder of Falun Dafa) for granting me the wisdom; otherwise this would not be possible.
2. Interacting with Social Security Personnel
Everything was difficult at the beginning. Not knowing who to contact, I lost my appetite and felt pain all over. Considering it as interference from the old forces, I looked within and found that I was afraid. In addition, I was attached to fame and comfort. But opposing the persecution was my mission, and I sent forth righteous thoughts to clear up these impure attachments. The process is important because that is how people could learn the facts. I also asked other practitioners to send forth righteous thoughts for me. Whenever I felt afraid again, I recited the Fa and I would calm down quickly.
When visiting the social security bureau for the first time to submit materials to the bureau chiefs, as soon as I was about to go upstairs, I felt intense pain in my lower back and couldn’t move. I negated the interference from the old forces and asked Master for help. The pain went away soon and I went to the office. But the young staff members at the front desk had a bad attitude and refused to accept the materials.
Since the staff members didn’t take the materials, I found the home addresses of the bureau chiefs and delivered the letters to them myself. It was snowing when I went to one chief’s home. The community was gated and I could not enter. Then a woman walked out and let me in. After I found the director’s apartment building, another gate blocked me. I rang the bell from the first to the sixth floor, and no one responded. I tried my own key and somehow it worked! I thanked Master for the help and hung the letter on the door.
I also returned to the social security bureau many times to deliver materials. After a year of persistent efforts, some people began to accept the materials. I was told that the bureau chief was sympathetic towards my situation and he said that Dafa practitioners are good people. Those young staff members who gave me a hard time initially also agreed to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
3. Reaching Out to More People
Over time I realized that I should reach out to other government agencies, such as the civil affairs bureau or the women’s federation. Since I had not received a pension for several years, I asked them if there were any stipends. I also took the opportunity to clarify the facts. Sometimes the offices would refer me to other places and I was able to talk to more people this way.
The manager at the women’s federation initially said she was unable to help me. But after reading my materials, she was very warm and happy to accept more information from me when I found her again.
The provincial inspection team visited my area a while ago and I submitted my materials to them. In addition, I also mailed the materials to the Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC), education bureau, labor unions, People’s Congress, Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), courts, justice bureau, and other agencies. Although they weren’t directly involved in my pension, at least they could hear the facts this way.
Master said,
“Superficially speaking, what Dafa disciples are doing is counteracting the persecution, but in reality your greatest duty is to save sentient beings, and that is the true embodiment of validating the Fa.” (Teachings at the 2005 Conference in San Francisco)
One time I went to the home of a bureau chief, but the security guard followed me and I was unable to deliver the materials. When I went there the next time, I met the sister of a former student of mine, and it turned out that she was a next door neighbor of the bureau chief. She took me to his home and I left the material on his door. I returned there shortly after and talked to the bureau chief in person. He agreed to take a look at my case and see if he could help in any way.
Once I delivered material to the chief’s office. He asked if I was the one who left material at his door and I said yes. He then asked if the materials that his office received were also from me and I nodded. I chatted with him and gave more materials to him and other people in the office.
There was also interference in the process. Once the police contacted the courier company, saying that someone had sent Falun Dafa materials to them. When the courier clerk called me, she was scared and her voice was shaky. I explained to her why the persecution was wrong. I also went to the courier branch and told them that the Constitution protects freedom of belief. This way, I explained the facts about Falun Dafa to staff members from four couriers. Some of them also agreed to renounce their memberships in the CCP organizations.
4. Protection from Master
When I visited the social security bureau for the first time, the young staff members did not listen when I talked to them about Falun Dafa. One of them even secretly videotaped me and planned to report me to police. But one staff member, Zhou, believed what I said and stopped the one who videotaped me from reporting me. When Zhou told me about this, I said that he would be blessed for his good deeds. He also began to recite the auspicious phrases “Falun Dafa is good” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” He soon recovered from a severe illness.
Writing letters was time consuming and I did not have much time for studying Dafa teachings. My mind was also not calm when I sent forth righteous thoughts. When I stayed at home, the thought karma kept interfering with me; when I went out, I sometimes experienced physical discomfort. I knew it was a battle between good and evil in other dimensions.
Right as I was planning to contact more government agencies and tell them about Dafa, my bathroom had a water leak. I contacted plumbers and even carpenters, and nobody could find out what was wrong. I looked within, sent forth righteous thoughts, and spent more time studying the Falun Dafa teachings. The problem then disappeared. The plumber could not understand how the problem could be fixed without repair, so I told him about the miracles of Falun Dafa.
After a few days, it leaked again. I looked inward and realized that I had not spent much time studying the Fa. I corrected that mentality and sent forth strong righteous thoughts. The problem went away and my family was also amazed.
One day when I was going to a government agency, I asked a young man for directions. I told him about Dafa, but he seemed absentminded and kept playing with his phone. Thinking he might have videotaped me, I was a little afraid. But I did not want to give up and continued talking with him. After getting back home, I spent a long time sending forth righteous thoughts and was no longer afraid.
Master’s said,
“Get rid of any attachment you have, and don’t think about anything. Just do everything a Dafa disciple should do, and everything will be covered.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the Washington, D.C. International Fa Conference,” Guiding the Voyage)
There were also people who refused to listen or gave me a hard time. When that happened, I would ask Master for help and send forth righteous thoughts so that everyone could learn the facts and choose the right path.
Once when I was reciting the following paragraph, my body shook and I had a better understanding of the Fa,
“The Fa can break all attachments; the Fa can destroy all evil; the Fa can shatter all lies; and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts.” (“Drive Out Interference,” The Essentials of Diligent Progress II)
5. Making Breakthroughs
When I contacted my workplace, they directed me to the education committee. When I went to the education committee, they ordered me to sign paperwork to renounce my belief, citing an order from the PLAC, before they could reinstate my pension. I told them about Dafa, but they refused to listen and walked away. I decided to visit the PLAC and asked other practitioners to help send forth righteous thoughts since it was a vicious place.
After I arrived there, a staff member that I knew helped me find the deputy director. We passed over 10 offices on the way and I had sent materials to all of them in the past. After arriving at the office, the clerk went in for over 10 minutes before coming back out.
“The secretary is not here. But he told me your case should not be handled by the PLAC,” she said. Although I suspected that the secretary was right there, I didn’t challenge the staff member, knowing that I had made the first step in contacting the PLAC.
When I contacted other government agencies, they also ordered me to write statements to renounce Dafa. I remained unmoved and kept reciting the Fa to strengthen my righteous thoughts. I wrote letters to officials at my workplace explaining why I would not give up my belief. One school leader, who insisted that I must write the renouncing statement, later said to me, “Don’t worry about it. You should get your pension, as you deserve it.” I thanked him and handed him another letter.
One day when studying the Dafa teachings at home, I suddenly realized that since the PLAC said they weren’t in charge of my case, it means Master is taking care of it. So I went to the education committee and said, “You asked me to check with the PLAC, but they said they had nothing to do this.”
“You might have talked to the wrong person. It could be someone else in the PLAC system,” he replied.
“This does not make sense. A system is abstract and it relies on people to handle things. The people I talked to are in charge of the local office.” I continued, “I have worked here for so many years. We are in the same system. It is absurd that you are mistreating me like this.”
“I am a Party member and I have to do my job,” he said.
I explained that the Constitution permits freedom of belief. If he still sided with the Party, he would be held responsible for persecuting me in the future.
He agreed to help and contacted my school principal. I then followed up with the social security bureau and they said they heard the request from the school, and needed approval from the education committee.
As this continued, more people offered help. Once I went to an agency to deliver materials to the Party secretary, Yong. Since he wasn’t in the office that day, I left the materials in his office. After returning home, I called him and he said he would review my materials.
After a few days, I called him again and urged him to help me. He said he had called the leadership of my school and they had already submitted the request to reinstate my pension. I learned from someone in his office that he had a good relationship with several agencies in charge of my case, and his help would make things move forward faster.
Since the social security bureau had not made a decision, I wrote more letters to various agencies, citing the Constitution, Social Security Law, Labor Law, and Elderly Persons’ Security Law, requesting them to return my money.
In the beginning, my husband was concerned about my safety and asked me not to include much Falun Dafa information in the letters. Upon seeing my progress and the support I received, he was happy for me and became supportive himself. Some government officials helped and protected me within their abilities. As I continued in telling people the facts about Dafa, more and more doors opened.
This is also a process for me to improve. I have let go of resentment, showing off, and attachment to zealotry. I know Master has helped me along the way. Thank you, Master!
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