Clarifying the Truth about Dafa to Community Officials

(Minghui.org) I am a female Falun Dafa practitioner who is 65 years old and retired. I have been cultivating Dafa for more than 20 years, and have steadily walked on my cultivation path given Master’s compassionate protection.

Over 200,000 Falun Dafa practitioners submitted in 2015 lawsuits to the Supreme Procuratorate and the Supreme Court against Jiang Zemin, former leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), for committing heinous crimes against Falun Dafa practitioners. I also filed a complaint, as well as helped many fellow practitioners to file their complaints. Six officials from the local community office and police station came to my home one day to inquire about the matter. I was not afraid, but explained the truth about Falun Dafa in detail and resolved their confusion about Dafa and the persecution. They left and did not harass me again for a few years.

However, during the past three years the community officials started to harass me again. They came to my home every year with fabricated excuses to ask for my signature or for me to scan some code with my phone. I refused to cooperate with any of their requests. I knew I should really clarify the truth to them about Falun Dafa, as most of them were new and did not understand the truth. However, I had not been diligent in my cultivation during the past few years, had a strong desire for comfort, and lacked compassion and a desire to save people. As long as the officials did not mention Dafa, I did not mention it either. My clarifying the truth was perfunctory. As a result, their harassment continued for a few years.

The community officials called in April 2023 and said that I needed to have my disability tricycle certification reviewed. This would result in ensuring my gasoline supplement income. I submitted my recertification form, and a community official called me the next day, “Do you have any religious belief? The police department has your record. Everyone knows it.” I told her I believe in and still cultivate Falun Dafa. She started to repeat the CCP’s slander against Dafa, also called Falun Gong, but I stopped her, “Falun Dafa is a righteous cultivation. It teaches people to follow the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance to be good people. The Constitution stipulates that Chinese citizens have freedom of belief.” She threatened, “I will report to the upper level authorities that you are still practicing Falun Gong. The upper level authorities have the policy that Falun Gong practitioners cannot get any state welfare benefit.” Then she hung up the phone. Later, I thought it over that night and suddenly Master’s Fa came to my mind, 

“I say that nothing is “natural,” nor is there any such thing as “coincidence”—everything has its cause.” (Teachings at the Conference in Europe)

Getting or not getting the gasoline supplement income is a trivial matter. However, the community officials were all new and most of them did not understand the truth about Falun Dafa, which could lead to their being eliminated. Saving them is a big deal, and this was an opportunity for me to clarify the truth to them. I made up my mind to visit the community office.

I sent forth the righteous thoughts the next day and then went to the community office. A young receptionist asked me nicely if I needed any help. I peacefully told her, “Some officials told me yesterday that I cannot receive the disability benefit I received in the past just because I am a Falun Dafa practitioner. I would like to know when this policy was issued.” Half a dozen officials immediately came at me all at once after hearing this and started slandering Falun Dafa, using the propaganda and indoctrination instilled in them by the CCP. The lady who just spoke to me nicely became so angry and loud that her beautiful face was distorted. I also became serious, looking in her eyes, and said in a quiet but dignified voice, “Please be mindful about your behavior! I am a community resident, and you are a community official here to help the residents. What’s wrong with me having a question about the policy? Why are you so accusatory?” She lowered her head and did not dare to look at me.

An official who was in charge spoke, “This policy (that a Falun Dafa practitioner cannot have a state benefit) has been in place for a long time. The community may not have known that you are a practitioner nor have reported you to the upper level authorities.” She realized what she just said was inappropriate and quickly explained, “It is not that we reported you this time. Someone previously reported you to the authorities and an upper level authority ordered us to check on it. We replied with what you told us.” I told her, “I don’t care about the money, if it means that I have to lie about cultivating Falun Dafa. I am here today mainly to get my paperwork back.” She told me, “We already submitted your application. If it is returned to us, I will definitely give it back to you and protect your personal information.”

I looked at them and said peacefully, “In fact, you don’t understand Falun Dafa. it is not like what the CCP propaganda reported on TV. Falun Dafa is a cultivation method that resides in the Buddha School and teaches people to follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Falun Dafa practitioners are good people. Dafa raises one’s moral standards, and thus has great health benefits. I had poor health due to the anemia, bronchitis, high blood pressure, and heart disease before practicing Falun Dafa. The heart disease tortured me so badly that I could not speak or walk when it became severe. I was in pain even when lying in bed, and my life was in great danger. The doctor told me in 2000 that I needed a triple bypass for the heart, which would cost 150,000 yuan. At that time, both my husband and I were laid off from work, and our children were still in school. We could barely cover our daily living expenses, not to mention the needed medical treatment. Later, I heard that cultivating Falun Dafa is very effective in curing illnesses, so I started cultivating Dafa. I recovered from all my illnesses including the heart disease, and I have been healthy for the past 20 years. I never took any medication since then. Do I look like a sick person to you now?”

I continued, “Dafa teaches us to be good people. My community needed volunteer labor work at one time, and the community leader did not ask me to do it due to my disability. But since then, I voluntarily participated in the labor work every time. I told myself that I should try my best to help society, as I was getting the low income assistance from the state. As soon as my children graduated, I immediately withdrew from the low income assistance to reduce the burden on society, although it was still difficult to meet my living expenses, and we still needed to pay off the student loans for my children. The community knew my situation and called me several times to try to convince me not to withdraw from the benefit. I told them my life was not as difficult as before, and the society should use the funds to help people who lived an even more difficult life.”

I told them that I even bought a tricycle and used it as a taxi to make a living. The government did not allow tricycles to operate; so the disabled people organized themselves to petition. Later, the disabled people blocked the road and protested since the government disallowed them to petition. I did not participate in the petition nor the protest, as I always remember Master’s teaching and tried my best to be a good person, causing no trouble for society and the community.

They all listened quietly as I continued, “The government took away our tricycles and gave us disability tricycles. Many people continued collecting the gasoline compensation, but sold the tricycles and continued to operate their taxi service with borrowed tricycles. I did not do any of those things, as I am a Falun Dafa practitioner. If I did not learn Falun Dafa, I would be like them, pursuing my personal interests.” The person in charge replied, “We did not say the Falun Gong practitioners are not good citizens.” I emphasized, “Yes. Falun Gong practitioners are all good people. Dafa teaches us to be good people and improve our moral standard.” After I told them the truth about Falun Dafa, I left the office. The person in charge repeatedly said to me, “If your form is returned, I will notify you.”

The community officials notified me in August that they needed to re-certify my disability tricycle. I told myself calmly, “If the benefit is truly mine, it will be given to me, as our practitioners still live among everyday people and need money to do many things for saving sentient beings. If they do not give it to me, I won’t be attached to it either.”