(Minhui.org) My husband and I started practicing Falun Dafa in 1998. The practice was very popular in China, and at first we practiced because we'd heard that many people had regained their health by doing so, and we wanted to do the same. After we studied the Fa for a while, we realized how profound and amazing Falun Dafa is. In the downward spiral of modern society we feel Falun Dafa is a self-cultivation way that guides us to become good people.
We have been careful about following the standards for practitioners and conducting ourselves according to Dafa's principles, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Gradually we learned to look inside to see if we were at fault whenever we encountered problems. We've gone through many ups and downs. We would like to share some of our experiences here.
Practitioners Have No Enemies
In July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started to persecute Falun Dafa. The Party created a situation that made the general public participate in the persecution by connecting promotions, bonuses, and wages with whether anyone in the workplace went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Dafa.
In the spring of 2001, I went back to my hometown for a visit. My mother, who was over 90, accidentally fell down the stairs and injured her legs, so I had to stay away from work longer than I'd planned, which upset my manager. The people who were sent to look for me went to all my friends’ and relatives’ homes. When they found me, they detained me.
I wrote letters to the managers I worked for as well as to my classmates, relatives, and friends. I told them the benefits I derived from practicing Falun Dafa. I told them that Dafa teaches people to be good and that the “Tiananmen Square self-immolation" was a lie to turn public opinion against Falun Dafa. I wanted them to know the truth about Falun Dafa and the persecution because clearly they'd been deceived by the propaganda.
My husband had a friend who was a member of the Domestic Security Division and was involved in persecuting practitioners. He did it to earn rewards from the Party. I wrote him a letter and told him not to persecute innocent people. I told him, “Political power does not last long, truth lives forever,” and I reminded him not to forget the lessons from the Cultural Revolution. However, this letter was used as “evidence” to send me to a labor camp!
This friend was the witness and the letter was the excuse they used to monitor me. In July 2004, they illegally arrested me. I was sent to a forced labor camp for three and half months until I had lost over 40 pounds and was on the verge of death. I was in the labor camp for only a month and a half, but they took away my pension for that time, and they continued to take 40 yuan every month from my pension for more than 10 years.
This friend asked my relative, “Does she hate me?" My relative replied, “She is happy, she does not hate you.” I called him and said, "I don't hate you.” I told him that he was not my enemy and that Dafa practitioners have no enemies. I also told him that I didn't want to see him doing bad things because he was deceived by the Party's lies. I told him to cherish himself, cherish his family, and cherish others.
“I Believe in Falun Gong”
Most of the people in my hometown know that Falun Dafa teaches people to be good and that the Tiananmen Square Self-immolation is a lie. However, one of my relatives believed the propaganda on TV. We helped her daughter to withdraw from the Young Pioneers, but as soon as the girl saw her mother, she changed her mind. This went on until a familial conflict was resolved.
Here is how it happened: My husband’s family's ancestral cemetery was right next to Xiao Xin family’s farmland. Every spring, when Xiao Xin’s family plowed their land, they always tried to plow right next to the graves. In my nephew’s words, “Every time she plows her land, her plot gets bigger.” However, Xiao Xin still wasn't satisfied. The two families argued every year when it was time to visit the graves to honor the ancestors. Xiao Xin’s family complained that we walked across their land and damaged their crops. My nephew said, “They've planted their crops at the door of our ancestors’ graves.” The conflict went on for years and was a headache for both families.
That spring, my husband and I went to our hometown. My husband (also a practitioner) suggested that his nephew trade a piece of his farmland located next to the road for the piece of Xiao Xin’s farmland next to our family cemetery. Xiao Xin of course had no problem, but his nephew had difficulty agreeing.
My husband’s village is in a mountainous region, and most of the village farmlands are on the hillsides. The land next to the road is the only flat and superior farmland that is guaranteed a good harvest, drought or flood, and it is convenient to farm and harvest because its is near the road. Farmers treasure their land and think of it as their lifeblood. When the production team distributed the farmland to the individual families, the roadside parcels were divided so that each family got one. His nephew felt really unwilling to trade the piece of superior farmland for a piece of inferior farmland. However, he is simple, honest, filial and helpful. He considered the conflict between the families every year, weighed the pros and cons, and agreed.
On the day of the trade, both parties, notaries, and village officials were present. My husband measured the land and dug a pit to mark the measurement for the border stones. When installing the border stones, Xiao Xin watched closely to see how he buried the stone. She saw that he placed the stone in the pit on the edge to his nephew’s side. Xiao Xin was satisfied knowing that she suffered no loss. She told others, “This time I believed that Falun Gong practitioners are good people and they do not take advantage of others. What is on TV is not true.” She decided to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations for her whole family.
They Are the Best People in Our Work Unit
It was 2009 and almost October 1, China's National Day. As in previous years, the Party treated Falun Gong as the enemy. They intensified body searches and questioning at main roads, and employers also increased their level of surveillance. As soon as we came back from our hometown, we were followed 24 hours a day by four people per shift, three shifts a day.
At first I didn't realize that I was being watched. I always went to the market to shop for groceries on a tricycle. I thought it was strange when I saw three people following me so I asked them why they were doing it. They told me, “Our superior made us follow you. If you go to Beijing, our salary will be stopped for six months! Our children need money to go to school. For our children’s sake, please don’t leave and don’t go to Beijing.”
I thought it was ridiculous that the CCP was forcing these innocent people to persecute us. I told them, “Your having no food on your table has nothing to do with me practicing Falun Gong. I'm not taking away your jobs. It is all because those bad people are causing everyone trouble.”
When I was buying groceries, they watched me nervously. However, I remained friendly and gradually they relaxed. Sometimes they bought groceries, too, and it was inevitable that we got separated because we were buying different things. I would then wait for them. When they were on duty before, they could not go grocery shopping because they would have "left their post."
Of course my purpose was not to go shopping; I wanted to use the opportunity to clarify the truth to them. One old man in my neighborhood refused to listen when I explained the truth to him. One day after breakfast, I pushed my tricycle and called, “Girls, let’s go grocery shopping!" All the young ladies who were assigned to watch me answered and followed me. After that, the old man’s expression changed.
The girls' working conditions were very hard. A small van was used as their "office." It was hot during the day and mosquitoes bit them at night. We gave them a thermos of water every day; sometimes we gave them fruit or peanuts.
There was one thing that I still regret whenever I think about it. It was during the first three to four days after they started watching us. They were nervous and alert. One night it poured and the temperature dropped. We were cold, and wore sweaters even in the house. We thought that they must be very cold too with only shirts and pants to wear. I wanted to give them some clothes. My husband told me not to because he thought that it might scare them. Afterward we learned that the young man was freezing, and we regretted that we did not bring them some clothes.
Young people are restless, so my husband often played badminton with them, and when they got tired they would sit together to rest and chat. We used these opportunities to explain the truth to them. My husband and I get up every morning at 3:30 a.m. to do the five exercises. After sending righteous thoughts at 6:00 a.m. we read one lecture of the Fa and then we would go out to play with them and explain the truth to them. When I returned home I hand-copied the Fa. I did not want to waste any time.
One day I asked them, "A gang robbed a bank. One of them was reluctant to participate. However, under pressure, he had to go along but did nothing. Later the gang was arrested. Did this man have any responsibility for the robbery?" They replied, "Yes, he was involved!" I said, “You are right! Falun Gong is a cultivation practice of high virtue that improves one's morals! According to China's Constitution, Falun Dafa cultivation is legal. When the persecution ends, will you bear responsibility for what you're doing now?” They remained silent.
I clarified the truth to them, and most of them withdrew from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. One young woman, “Ms. A,” had been pregnant for several months. I told her, “Please keep sincerely reading ‘Falun Dafa is good, ‘Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!’ in your mind, and you will give birth to a healthy, smart baby. This is not a joke.” She told me that there were practitioners living in the building where her home was, and she quietly put the Falun Dafa amulet I gave her into her pocket. A few months later she gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
Another young woman, “Ms. C,” liked to listen to me explain the facts. Whenever she was on the night shift she went with me for a walk. When I told her how Dafa practitioners were being tortured by the CCP, tears ran down her face. When I told her what practitioners do to save lives, she felt gratified. She also chatted with me about her family. I gave her Shen Yun DVDs, DVDs of "Traveling Heaven and Earth Through Wind and Rain," and other materials.
The head of the monitoring group, “Mr. B,” not only played badminton with my husband, he also went with me to do grocery shopping. He said, "I noticed when you buy vegetables you never pick and choose and never bargain.” I said, “If I pick the good ones, who would want the leftovers?” He did not understand. One day, I went to buy green onions and he was with me. The person selling the vegetables gave me the green onions that were not so good. Mr. B got annoyed and yelled, “Are you bullying the easy people? You are outrageous." He threw a ruined scallion back at the vendor. He said, "These are good people."
The two people in charge of the retirement office also said that we are good people. One of them withdrew from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. I felt sincerely grateful that Master sent these predestined people to us.
On the way to work or on the way home after work, people saw that the van had been parked there for such a long time and said, “Those people don’t do anything useful. They just get paid for watching the good people.” We were watched for 40 days. During this time, I hand-copied all of Zhuan Falun.