Breaking Through Fear and Facing My Harassers Directly

(Minghui.org) After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began persecuting Falun Dafa I was repeatedly harassed and placed under surveillance by the neighborhood committee and the police. So, I avoided them whenever possible and did not answer the door when they knocked. When they couldn’t find me they began asking around. I felt anxious so I decided to face them in person. I arranged a meeting with them one morning at my home.

Three police officers arrived: one in his 50s and two in their 20s. I invited them in. After we sat down the younger officers started taking photos of my home. I began explaining to the older officer how good Falun Dafa is and how wrong the CCP’s persecution is, but he loudly interrupted me. At that time I was not in a good cultivation state, so the conversation devolved into an argument with neither side listening to the other.

Then my daughter came out of her room and gently but firmly asked, “May I say something? I’m a college junior, old enough to be an adult. Although I don’t practice Falun Dafa I believe it’s good. Please look at my mother. She’s such an honest person. What power could she take from anyone? What harm can she cause? For many years she conducted herself according to the standards of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. She’s healthy, calm, generous, always seeks self-improvement, and considers how others feel. She’s recognized as a good person by her family, workplace, and neighbors; everyone knows Falun Dafa teaches people to be good. Do you want her to sign something that turns a good person into a bad one? You say your supervisor sent you, but look at how many wrongful convictions are happening. Do you really want to carry the burden of having committed an injustice? You officers serve for life, so it doesn’t end with retirement.”

They got up to leave and repeatedly said, “It’s fine, you can practice at home.” After they left my daughter turned to me and asked, “Did you do anything wrong by practicing? Are you doing something wrong by being a good person?” I said no. “Then why are you afraid to practice openly? You make the perpetrators angry.” Her words made my face flush with shame. I wondered why I behaved that way.

I remembered Master said:

“Dafa disciple is a magnificent title that’s envied by all Gods and all beings in the heavens.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2016 New York Fa Conference” in Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XIV)

Realizing that fear was holding me back I resolved to overcome it. I considered several options and finally decided to write a letter to the police. I spent the evening reflecting on why, despite the pressure of persecution, I continue to practice, how I’ve benefited from cultivation, why the CCP persists in persecuting Falun Dafa, and that I felt practicing Falun Dafa is legal under the law. I shared the draft with another practitioner, who edited it to improve coherence. Although it was polished, it lacked sincerity. I showed both versions to my daughter, and she agreed that my original draft felt more genuine. So I decided to hand write it and deliver my own letter.

When I went to the police station and asked for Officer Wang, I was taken upstairs to the “social governance office” where I found the older officer who came to my home. He seemed nervous at my unexpected visit, so I cordially said I apologize if I wasn’t a good host last time we met, and handed him the letter. He replied, “I have a pile of these letters from you Falun Dafa people under my desk, but I don’t read them.” I said, “This is a sincerely heartfelt communication. Please take it home and read.” He nodded quietly, murmuring that there was surveillance, and asked me to place the letter among the files on his desk. I complied and turned to leave. When we reached the stairs, he told me there was a recording device upstairs; I calmly replied, “I’m not doing anything wrong.” I handed him a USB flash drive, saying, “Please take this home and look at the contents.” He thanked me, and I left.

A few days later, the officer called and asked if he could visit. I joked, “Are you coming with a group? Should I prepare some food?” He replied he was alone. I invited him to come. He said that when he was at home and looked at the contents of the USB, “The Ultimate Goal of Communism,” which talks about the specter of communism, he felt terrified. He wanted to submit the USB drive to his superiors for a reward, but then he remembered my letter, which would have to be submitted. Once he read the letter, however, his heart softened. He felt compassion for me; how I suffered for my belief moved him. “The simple, sincere language moved me deeply and made me admire you. I lay in bed for a long time, unable to calm down, wondering whether to hand it in or not. In the end, I decided not to. I’m returning the USB drive to you, but I’ll keep the letter. After reading your letter I felt calm.”

After hearing his words, I said, “One thought determines what is good or bad. You made the right choice. This is a choice for your life.” He smiled.

I looked at the USB drive and said, this is also your choice. What is the CCP? We live in a society under the Communist Party’s control, but people are afraid to see it for what it really is. They only listen to the state propaganda. Why does the regime fear people knowing the truth, and why build the Great Internet Firewall? To understand, we need to hear both sides. When Falun Dafa practitioners tell people to withdraw from the CCP, whether the CCP collapses or not has nothing to do with us. We are simply sharing the truth: The Party has done many bad things, and heaven will destroy it. Some people just don’t know the true nature of the CCP. The USB contains facts that people should be aware of. After hearing my words, he agreed to watch the video again and left happily.