Broadening My Heart: Helping Those Who Persecuted Me to See the Truth

(Minghui.org) I have been practicing Falun Dafa for 23 years during which I met many people who participated in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong. When facing these people persecuting me, I tried my best to adhere to the Dafa principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, cultivated diligently, and clarified the truth about Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, so I could save them.

Elderly Woman Monitored Me

There was an elderly woman who was a janitor in the community where I lived. In the early years of the persecution, I was reported for clarifying the truth and held in a detention center for 15 days. After returning home, the police asked this woman and her younger son to monitor me, and paid them each 20 yuan every day.

This woman believed the CCP’s lies and propaganda about Falun Gong, actively cooperated with the police and often went to the police station to report me. She intercepted my letters from the postman and gave them to the police. The police frequently ransacked my home and harassed me. They even came after midnight, banging on my door and disturbing all my neighbors. They also put me under house arrest. I was very angry when I found out that all this happened because of this woman’s accusations. I thought to myself: She is too evil. I hated her from the bottom of my heart, and I didn’t even want to look at her when I went in and out of the community gate.

It wasn’t long before her family experienced tribulations. First, her husband was diagnosed with liver cancer and died soon after. Then, her younger son’s wife died of uterine cancer. Her eldest son had a stroke and was paralyzed and bedridden. He could no longer continue his business and had no more income. His wife divorced him and he went to stay with his mother, who had to take care of him. He was always in a bad temper, and often beat and cursed her.

When the woman was on her way home from the police station, she fell and broke her nose. She later fell and broke her arm. After seeing all the misfortunes to her family, I thought: This is retribution for doing bad things.

The woman often sat at the gate of the community and talked to the neighbors about her suffering. Seeing her painful face with the splint and bandages on her arm, I felt pity for her. She didn’t know the truth about Dafa and was being used to do bad things. I practice Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. How could I have resentment toward her?

Master said,

“...when it comes to the world’s people, we should try our best to save them and we should be kind to them. Not only should we be kind, we should also save sentient beings with compassion. In this persecution those who’ve been harmed the most are in fact the world’s people.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World, Volume III)

I wanted to resolve the bad relationship between us and save her. I took the initiative to greet her as I went in and out of the gate. I showed my concern for her and tried to clarify the truth to her as often as possible. She felt my kindness, and gradually understood the truth about Dafa, and no longer went to the police station to report me.

Before I moved, she came to my home to see me. I told her about the beauty that Falun Dafa brings to people, and that she would receive blessings if she could often recite “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to remember it,” she replied. “Please write it down for me.” So I did. She read it several times. I was so happy to see her truly understand that Falun Dafa is good.

Police Officer, “After I Retire, I Will Also Practice Falun Dafa”

I was illegally sentenced to three years in prison for distributing truth-clarification materials. I served the sentence on bail. After my term ended, a police officer told me to go to his office and tell him how I had changed my mind during those three years. He basically wanted to know if I had turned against Dafa. I thought this was a good opportunity to clarify the truth to him, and went to his office.

A police assistant was also there, so I said to both of them, “Due to my poor health, I tried many forms of qigong practices, but what is the real purpose of qigong? Who could answer all the questions I had while practicing qigong? I searched everywhere, but I couldn’t find anyone who could answer me. One day, I bought Zhuan Falun, the main book of Falun Dafa. at a bookstall, and was stunned after reading it. All my questions were answered in this book. Dafa’s Master explained the most profound principles using the simplest language. It was so great that I was determined to practice Falun Dafa. Rooted in the Buddhist tradition, Falun Dafa’s teachings encourage its practitioners to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, become better people, and improved one’s xinxing. Moreover, Falun Dafa has miraculous effects on improving one’s health. Many people who were in desperation with intractable illnesses were cured after practicing Dafa. Falun Dafa doesn’t get involved in politics. It just teaches people to be good and better people, which is totally beneficial to the country and society.”

I told them to take a look at the Minghui website to learn more about Falun Dafa. Throughout the whole process, I was basically the only one speaking. In the end, I told them to remember “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”

During sensitive dates and holidays, that police officer came to my home and said it was his duty to do so. I treated him as a friend and told him more about the beauty of Falun Dafa. One day, he told me that he was transferring to a different position, and said, “After I retire, I will also practice Falun Dafa.”

I replied, “That’s great! It would be even better if you could start right away!”

Three Years of Waiting

I received a call in 2015 from an officer at the local police station, informing me to go there the next day. After getting off the phone, my first thought was to save him.

As soon as I began to clarify the truth to him, he said viciously, “Don’t tell me these things. I am a member of the Communist Party. I believe in Marx, and I don’t believe in your stuff. I am in charge of all the Falun Dafa practitioners, not only for this police station, but the whole region.” I froze for a moment. Seeing his attitude, I thought I would wait for a different time.

Two years passed quickly, and I didn’t have another opportunity to clarify the truth to him, although I kept thinking about him. The following year, the day after I submitted the criminal complaint against the former CCP head Jiang Zemin who launched the persecution of Falun Gong, the police officer called and said that he would come to my home the next day. I thought to myself, “The opportunity is finally here.”

After sending forth righteous thoughts for an hour, I waited for him at the door of my apartment building. I said to him, “Let’s talk outside. It’s more convenient.” We sat down next to a pond in the garden. He asked if I had recently submitted a letter. I confirmed that I had, and said it was to sue Jiang Zemin. I began to clarify the truth to him, but he still didn’t want to listen and turned his face away.

I said to him, “Do you know the senior who is the janitor in our community? Her family has suffered a lot since she and her younger son helped the police monitor me. Her husband and younger son’s wife both died of cancer. Her older son was paralyzed and had to lay in bed, and his wife left him. He relied on his mother for everything, and yet he often beats and curses her. The lady once broke the bridge of her nose and broke her arm another time. I feel very sympathetic for her. If she hadn’t participated in the persecution of Falun Dafa, would she have suffered this much?”

I told him of an officer from the national security, who “worked very hard to arrest Falun Dafa practitioners. Practitioners told him the truth about Dafa, that it is a high-level Buddhist practice, and that persecuting Falun Gong will result in retribution. He said that he was a member of the Communist Party, believed in Marxism-Leninism, and was not afraid of retribution. He also said that he had arrested more than 100 Dafa practitioners, but had not experienced any retribution. He was later transferred to a school, where he continued to persecute Dafa practitioners. He died at home alone. He was only in his 50s.”

The officer turned his head and looked at me. He said, “The police officer who arrested you last time also died recently. He was very young.”

I replied, “If he hadn’t participated in the persecution, he might not have died at such a young age. This was all caused by the persecution that was launched by Jiang Zemin. You all are also victims in this persecution, just like me.”

He was not so resistant to listening to me anymore, so I asked him, “When you joined the CCP, did you read the Communist Party Manifesto?" He said he hadn’t, so I said, “It starts off, ‘A specter is haunting Europe — the specter of communism.’ Do you know what a specter is? It’s a ghost. When you joined its organization, you made an oath to fight for it for the rest of your life, and give your life to it. Do you think this is a good thing?”

“Of course not,” he replied.

“Then let me help you withdraw from the CCP.” He agreed.

I continued, “Asking you to quit the CCP is to help you stay safe. Even though I’m being persecuted, I care about your safety. After the Cultural Revolution, in order to calm down people’s anger, the CCP secretly transported police officers and military representatives, who took the lead to work for the CCP during that time, to Yunnan Province and executed them. Using scapegoats is what the CCP has always done after each of its political movements.

“Falun Dafa is a high-level Buddhist practice, and the persecution will definitely be rectified in the near future. Dafa has improved the xinxing of so many people, restored the health of so many, and saved many from the verge of death. Falun Dafa has spread around the globe, and the book Zhuan Falun has been translated into more than 40 languages and is widely available. More and more people are getting to know that Falun Dafa is good, and are practicing it. Falun Dafa has brought blessings to humankind, yet Jiang Zemin is brutally persecuting us. Shouldn’t he be sued?”

I talked with him for nearly two hours and felt that he truly understood, so I told him to remember “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” He said he would. Soon after, he was transferred to another position and was no longer involved in the persecution. After nearly three years of waiting, he was finally saved, and I felt relieved and happy.

Our time of cultivating in the Fa-rectification period is running out. In this final moment, I will be more diligent, study the Fa well, cultivate myself well, save more people, fulfill my prehistoric vows, and live up to Master’s compassionate salvation.