(Minghui.org) I have practiced Falun Dafa for over 20 years, and hadn’t written any sharing articles, as I believed that my cultivation was not up to par. However, I felt that I should write something to share with fellow practitioners, so I’d like to share about my experiences during the pandemic.
After the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, all the communities in our area were fenced off. Each community had only one entrance/exit for residents, and a pass was required for each person. A resident was only allowed to enter his own community, and not any other communities.
Seeing people dying in Wuhan every day and people’s crying for help on the Internet, I wanted to go out and tell people the secret to staying safe. My home was monitored by the police, but saving lives is the most important thing. So I began to make truth-clarification materials to distribute in my community. I chose the content from Minghui.org that I considered to be suitable for the situation in my area. They included articles telling people about Falun Dafa (also called Falun Gong) and the persecution, that Dafa saves lives, and how to stay safe in the pandemic. My community is very big, and I distributed the materials throughout the community.
Three or four police officers came to my home at about 7 p.m. one evening. Seeing Master’s picture in the room, they wanted to take it away. At that moment, my father (also a fellow practitioner) and I shouted “freeze” simultaneously. Then my father added, “Who dares to do this?” They immediately lost their energy.
We asked them to show their search warrant. The one they showed us was issued by themselves in their own police station. We did not allow them to continue. A young policeman said, “The government banned Falun Gong.”
“You can look yourself which law says so,” I responded. “Document No. 50 of 2011 issued by the State Press and Publication Administration repealed the document banning the publication of Falun Dafa books.”
The police head came after a while and showed a better attitude toward us. He said that someone reported me, so they had to go through the motions. They asked me to go to their office and assured me that they would let me go afterward. I did not want the situation to scare my grandson who was of primary school age, so I followed them to the police station. The young officer took out several thick law books and said, “I don’t believe I can’t find it [the law that says the government banned Falun Dafa].”
During the interrogation, they showed me a photo of me walking carrying a bag. I remembered that I was on my way to distribute materials at that time. I could have denied it because a photo of me walking on the street does not prove anything. However, I didn’t. I didn’t know whether I had cooperated with the evil by doing so. I only thought that I did nothing wrong and I should take responsibility for my actions.
Recalling my thoughts and deeds when facing the police, I did not deny the persecution, and gave the police an excuse to persecute me and commit crimes against Dafa. I had acknowledged the persecution in the depth of my mind and believed that denying it was unreasonable. This incorrect thought brought me further persecution.
An officer asked, “You were released not long ago. Why did you do it [distribute materials] again?”
“Do you see people dying every day in Wuhan?” I replied, “I’m worried. People could stay alive if they knew how to avoid the plague!”
They took out a booklet of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and asked if I distributed it. I told them that I did not. After returning home, I regretted that I didn’t say that I distributed the Nine Commentaries. If they kept searching, wouldn’t another practitioner be persecuted?
They called me back the next day to go over their transcript of the interrogation. I told them that they could assume that I distributed the Nine Commentaries, so they could stop looking for other practitioners.
About 12 days later, they came and ordered me to go with them. They planned to detain me for 15 days. I said, “No! I have an elderly man in his 90s and young children to look after at home. Who will take care of them if I leave?” They agreed to wait until the children finished their exams and went on vacation.
I went to see the officer in charge of the case, and told him about Falun Dafa, how it has spread around the world, the consequences of persecuting good people and the story of guards on the Berlin Wall not carrying out orders from those above by aiming their guns one centimeter above the heads of those trying to escape.
The officer in charge said that my case was one of those they were most unwilling to take, and would rather take 10 other cases than one of this type. They had to keep it secret when working on this type of case [involving Falun Dafa practitioners].
I said, “The reason for the secrecy is because persecuting Dafa practitioners is illegal.” I advised him that when he took on this type of case again, he should make it as a trivial matter as possible. He should protect himself and his family by not to persecuting Falun Dafa practitioners. He expressed his gratitude, and said that my case was severe. Since I was released less than three years ago, they had already reduced my sentence to the minimum. They wanted me to finish the detention before the end of the year.
I did not have strong righteous thoughts and began to prepare for the detention. The Chinese New Year was approaching. I counted the days and quickly finished the house cleaning. I had thought about talking to the police to postpone the detention to after the New Year. However, I wasn’t sure I was doing the right thing and talked to my father about it. He said, “Your thoughts are wrong. You must not cooperate with them.”
I continued, “They have already made the decision to detain me for 15 days. Can they change it?” As soon as I asked, I recalled Master’s teaching,
“...When disciples have ample righteous thoughtsMaster has the power to turn back the tide”(“The Master-Disciple Bond,” Hong Ying II)
My righteous thoughts strengthened immediately. Cooperating with them means that I’m admitting to have done something wrong. I am a Dafa practitioner. I should be in control and I should not cooperate with them. Fellow practitioners also helped me by sending righteous thoughts to disintegrate the persecution. Finally, I came through this ordeal safe and sound with Master’s protection. I did not hear about the detention from them anymore.
Through this experience, I came to understand that Master taught us not to cooperate with the evil so as to protect Dafa practitioners and prevent people from committing crimes against Dafa. Master’s compassion is boundless.
I am very fortunate that I am able to cultivate in Dafa during this lifetime, to elevate my realm, and go home with Master. In the future, I will do the three things that Dafa practitioners should do more diligently, cultivate myself more diligently, and be a qualified Dafa practitioner.