(Minghui.org) I’ve practiced Falun Dafa for more than 20 years. As I look back, I am endlessly grateful for Master’s protection. I would have been unable to move forward without his guidance.
I worked in marketing for a state-owned enterprise before I retired. When I reported back to work after a leave of absence in 2000, my boss decided to send me to another location to develop new markets. Just as I was about to move into the office at the new location, I was told my appointment had been canceled, the reason being I was once a coordinator of the local Falun Dafa assistance center and a key target for police surveillance.
Under pressure from the police, my employer did not arrange another job for me for a long time. My family had to get by on my wife’s salary alone.
After the persecution started in 1999, the police told me to give up practicing and to go on a local television station, where they would arrange to have me filmed slandering Falun Dafa by reading the script they’d prepared. I adamantly refused.
On the eve of the 2001 Chinese New Year, the CCP staged a “self-immolation” on Tiananmen Square to incite people to hate Falun Dafa. A few days later, the police ordered my company’s Party secretary and three leaders from my wife’s company to meet me at my wife’s workplace. They threatened me and ordered me to go on TV to express an opinion on the “self-immolation” incident.
The persecution of Dafa was at its worst at that time. It was also a fundamental test for every true cultivator to see if he could put aside life and death and resolutely safeguard Dafa. Facing these tribulations, I kept reciting Master’s poem to strengthen myself:
“Be resolute cultivating Dafa, the mind unstirredAscending in levels is what’s fundamentalFaced with tests, a person’s true character is revealedMay you achieve Consummation—Buddha, Dao, or God”(“True Character Revealed,” The Essentails of Diligent progress II)
I reminded myself: “I’m a Dafa disciple who must safeguard the dignity of Dafa. I must never compromise with the evil, betray Master, or leave a stain on my cultivation path. I must let go of fear and demonstrate my steadfast belief in Dafa!”
I told them, “No Falun Gong practitioner would do what those people did in the Tiananmen Square self-immolation. First of all, Wang Jindong wasn’t crossing his legs like a practitioner. Practitioners sit with their legs crossed in the lotus position or at least in the half-lotus position. The TV portrayed Wang Jindong as a veteran practitioner, but his legs casually crossed. Second, the position of his hands in jieyin was completely different from that of a practitioner’s. Third, Master Li Hongzhi clearly stated in Zhuan Falun that practitioners cannot kill and also stated in ‘Lecture Given at the Conference in Sydney’ that ‘... suicide is sinful.’
“Since we are well aware that suicide is sinful, how could the person who self-immolated be a Falun Gong practitioner?”
When the Party secretary heard that, he threatened me, saying, “You are so ignorant of current affairs. How dare you make such a claim? Don’t you think about the consequences? Don’t you consider your own safety?”
I replied, “Didn’t you ask me to give my opinion? I practice Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, so I tell the truth, not lies.
Several people took turns threatening me, using both soft and hard tactics, in an attempt to force me to comply. But I was determined to safeguard Dafa and would not let them succeed. I knew that Master’s fashen was by my side, watching over me, and I knew I would get through this.
The Party secretary continued to threaten me: “As long as you promise to leave Falun Gong and cooperate with us on television, the company will immediately arrange a job for you, and your family will be secure and happy. Don’t be stubborn, otherwise we won’t be able to find a job for you. Don’t go against the government—an egg can’t crack a stone.”
I was not moved and said, “Freedom of belief is a right granted to every citizen by the Constitution. If I act according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to be a good person, what crime have I committed? Haven’t you praised my work in the past? If my employer cannot arrange a job for me because of pressure from above, I won’t make it difficult for you and can resign.”
The Party secretary immediately agreed and told me to report to the company and submit a letter of resignation. I knew he wanted to be free of blame in the future. However, the top boss where my wife worked objected, saying that if I resigned, their company would be held responsible.
The house we lived in belonged to my wife’s company. The security section and the doorman there monitored our every move when we entered or exited the gate. They recorded whether I turned left or right when I went out, if I was empty-handed or carrying a bag, if I rode a bicycle or walked. It was obvious that they had everyone participating in persecuting us.
I finally told the Party secretary that I needed some time to make my decision. If I decided to resign, I would go through the proper procedures. The end result was that the police failed to get my company to force me to appear on TV.
After I got home, I told my wife what I’d decided—that I’d rather lose my job than give up cultivation. My wife expressed her support and comforted me, saying there were plenty of people who didn’t have permanent jobs: “People survive just the same. We can make ends meet as long as we work hard and endure the hardships.”
The next day, I was heading to my company to resign when I happened to run into Ding, a former second-in-command who was now the CEO of another company. When he learned that I was going to resign, he immediately objected: “How can you resign after you have worked there for such a long time? Listen to my advice: Don’t be impulsive, be calm, and don’t do anything stupid. I will write to the leaders of your unit to ask them to try their best to arrange work for you. I don’t believe that such a big company can’t accommodate you!” I was touched by his kindness.
On the way home, I kept looking within. On the surface, it seemed my readiness to resign put cultivation first and work second, which was justifiable. However, there was a subtle hint in my subconsciousness that they wouldn’t persecute me anymore if I left the company. This thought was actually a gap in my cultivation.
Jiang Zemin, the former leader of the CCP, adopted an extermination policy towards Dafa disciples: “Ruin their reputations, cut off their finances, and destroy them physically.” To persecute us financially, they dismiss us from public office, cancel our social security, withhold our pensions, impose large fines, and prevent us from working.
I felt I hadn’t worked hard enough to clarify the truth to the leaders of my work unit so that they could understand the serious consequences of participating in the persecution and how important it was to be kind to Falun Gong practitioners. Rather, I wanted to voluntarily resign. Wouldn’t old forces want me to resign? And wouldn’t I therefore unintentionally be cooperating with the persecution? I blamed myself for my irrational behavior and, at the same time, I became more aware of the seriousness of cultivation.
I then realized that it was no accident that I’d run into my former leader Ding. It must have been Master who saw shortcomings in my cultivation and enlightened me through his words. I decided not resign.
Imagine if a practitioner had to run around and worry about making a living every day. How could he wholeheartedly devote himself to clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings? As Dafa disciples, how can we fulfill our historic missions like that? By offering to resign, wasn’t I creating an obstacle for myself? Master’s arrangement was for me to have a job, not lose one.
Thank you, Master, for the enlightenment! You helped me wake up in time and avoid a detour in my cultivation.
After I waited at home for over a month for my company to assign me a job, a kind manager told me the company planned to have me taken me to a brainwashing session. I knew this was because I did not agree to go on TV to slander Dafa. I decided to leave home to avoid it. Since my phone was monitored, I made an agreement with my wife to contact her from a pay phone on a certain date.
The authorities learned I’d left home a few days later. They asked my wife why I’d run away, where I had gone, and why I did not report to the police station. My wife told them I had to go out of town to find a job since they did not arrange one for me. She said she did not know where I was. The police told her to report to them as soon as she heard anything from me.
To prevent us from going to Beijing to petition the government, the CCP agents threatened to get the top local official fired from their jobs if any practitioner in their area did go to Beijing. When the police could not figure out where I had gone, they blindly sent one contingent to Beijing and the other to the provincial capital to look for me. They still couldn’t find me.
Ding later told my wife that he had talked to the domestic security division and guaranteed he would be responsible for me. He arranged for me to work at his company and asked that I return immediately. I knew Master had arranged this. His protection allowed me to escape danger; it was all Master’s arrangement. This process revealed that different people have different understandings and attitudes about Dafa. It also reflected whether they were good or evil.
On my first day at Ding’s company, VP Cai said to me, “We have no right to interfere with your belief. Let me know if you have any difficulties with the work, and I will try my best to resolve them.” I felt happy for him, that he was clear about his position. I worked there until I retired.
I was the eldest person in the department. In addition to doing my own work, I also cleaned offices, corridors, and bathrooms. Due to the special nature of my job, I often had to work overtime during the holidays. I did not take any make-up leave, nor did I ask for any overtime pay.
Because I strictly followed the standards of Truthfulness-Compassion- Forbearance, no one discriminated against me for my belief. They respected me and chose me as a model employee in the department.
When I was chosen as the model employee one year, I asked the manager to give the award to another person in the department. The manager said, “It’s not that we favor you, but you are the most qualified.” I remember that VP Cai once said publicly that if I was a bad person, then there wouldn’t be any good people left in the world.
In that good company atmosphere, I could study the Fa in the office after work. Because I attached great importance to studying the Fa and doing the three things Master asks us to do, my cultivation went well. I lent copies of Zhuan Falun to colleagues to read, and some of them quit the CCP after learning the truth.
I also delivered truth-clarification materials to people in other departments. After reading Master’s article “Some Thoughts of Mine” (The Essentials of Diligent Progress II), a senior engineer said, “Your Master is amazing, and his writing is so high-level!”
To be able to maintain righteous thoughts and conduct when facing various difficulties and tests, a cultivator must first understand clearly that Falun Dafa is the highest Buddha law in the universe, that it is indestructible, and that Master has boundless power. We need to let go of the attachment to life and death amidst the evil’s persecution. Only then can we maintain strong righteous thoughts and walk on the right path of cultivation.
I’m sharing my personal experience and understanding. If there is anything that is not in accordance with the Fa, please kindly correct me.