(Shared at 2001 Chicago Conference)
I am a Falun Dafa practitioner from China. It is my pleasure to have this opportunity to share my experience with you in this conference. At first, on behalf of Beijing practitioners, I would like to extend the highest regards and cordial greetings to our most respected teacher, Master Li.
During this evil persecution and dangerous situation, Master Li looks after the practitioners, bearing so much, relieving the physical pain of practitioners, and giving up everything for practitioners. During the Fa rectification, Master Li gives hints to the practitioners from time to time and leads us in every step on the way. Our gratitude is beyond words.
The following are some real stories that happened in Beijing.
- The brutal mental persecution
- How to help those who were brainwashed
- With Teacher at the helm, the Fa saves all beings (The Knowing Heart)
- Spreading Fa is part of my cultivation
Beginning in February 2001, the persecuting forces conducted large-scale brainwashing classes for Falun Dafa practitioners. First, they forced practitioners working in the central government into the classes; then, in March, they enrolled those who work in education, starting with university faculty. All of the practitioners that had gone to Tiananmen or had appealed were to be handled by a combination of the Public Security Bureaus, police stations, employers and neighborhood offices. Under the auspices of going to group work, going on business trips, going on vacations etc., they lured the practitioners to certain places, kidnapped them and drove them to the brainwashing class. Some of the practitioners were taken away from their homes.
There are many brainwashing clinics; some are single-sex, some are co-ed. The one near Tuanhe labor camp is co-ed. There are also classes for females only near the female labor camp. In the big hotels built near the labor camps, the brainwashing classes are conducted by the police, the special agents, and those in red uniforms who have been brainwashed after being sentenced to a labor camp. Each practitioner is confined in a room and forced to live with an observer from the work place. In the daytime, about four to six wicked people deal with each practitioner, trying to make the practitioner talk by using twisted ideas and false reasoning. If refused, they keep going from 8 am to midnight. Sleeping and talking among practitioners is prohibited until those evil people get what they want. They use lies and couple threats with promises to deceive practitioners.
Initially they act in a nice manner and hide their evil intent behind smiles, trying to make the practitioner lose righteous thoughts and go astray. Those perpetrators hold meetings every day to discuss strategy and look for weak points based on each practitioner's own attachments---The evils are brazenly taking advantage of practitioners' karma and attachments to undermine Dafa. After realizing that the physical torture used before couldn't move practitioners' beliefs, they assumed that using psychology would be more effective. Therefore they rack their brains to find out the practitioners' omissions to use in psychological torture. Some of the practitioners have been made mentally unstable. As Teacher said, "All the methods employed by the evil political gang of scoundrels in the Chinese government are the most despicable, the most evil, and unknown to history--they have reached the extreme, they've really outdone themselves. (Teaching the Fa at the 2001 Canada Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference)" Those practitioners who refuse to get brainwashed are forced to take another class. Each class lasts fifteen days. If still not brainwashed, the practitioners are sent to labor camps. For those who are brainwashed, they have to write four guarantees: slandering Teacher, giving up the books, quitting studying, and quitting exercise. For every person sent to the brainwashing class, the practitioners' workplaces have to pay 4,000 Yuan RMB and send an inmate "observer." For those retirees, the sub-district offices have to pay the expenses. Some practitioners with lower educational backgrounds have refused to participate in the class, saying they couldn't read and write, and that they would just do the exercises at home. The vicious people replied, "I can write for you. Everyone cultivating Falun Gong must go there." They were planning to send all of the Falun Gong practitioners to the classes. A lot of practitioners have had to leave their homes because they refused to cooperate with these unrighteous schemes.
In the brainwashing classes, some practitioners were made to enlighten to an evil way, being misled by devious hypocritical notions. They went astray, wrote the "guarantees" under intense pressure, didn't trust Teacher, and slandered Clearwisdom Net. Some of them started to brainwash other practitioners, and helped do the evil deeds. Some of them didn't talk that way any more after being released. They felt bad and didn't do things to damage Fa. These people were considered not that bad. In this situation, we worried very much, "How can we find a way to save them?" Some of them had been truly diligent in their cultivation before. They had been arrested, fired, docked in salary, and had still spread lots of literature to reveal the truth. They had done quite a bit for Falun Dafa. How could we wake them up and bring them back to the right way of Fa Rectification? Some of us enlightened to understand that saving one of them was saving lots of lives because after completing cultivation, they would have their own world in which there are lives. Saving them became the top priority and was more important than saving everyday people. We should have the usual compassion with no discrimination against them. Instead of keeping away from them, we actively contacted them. We used Teacher's principles to clear up their evil enlightenment from the brainwashing class. We inspired them with righteous beliefs. We talked to them in turn to form a strong field. We encouraged them to cheer up by showing them the articles on Clearwisdom Net. Some practitioners were awakened immediately. As Teacher said, "When they return to their senses, they will immediately start doing again what a Dafa student should do during this time, and, in the meantime, will declare as null and void everything that they said and wrote when they were not in their right minds due to intense persecution, and will declare that they are determined in cultivation. (Coercion Cannot Change People's Hearts)"
For those who are really bad and can't be saved, we just let them go. The traitors exposed other practitioners in the class; we had no idea about their current situation. To avoid being betrayed by them, we had the practitioners whom they didn't know contact them by phone and meet them in the park or bus station to help them. Under this high pressure, we came up with all kinds of methods to spread the Fa and save sentient beings.
Teacher said, "What is a Buddha? 'Tathagata' is what humans call someone who's come with the truth and the power to do what he wants, whereas real Buddhas are guardians of the cosmos and are responsible for all righteous elements in the cosmos".
Due to fear, many practitioners dared not step forward, while those practitioners who left home formed groups all across the country. Each group consisted of up to twelve persons. They went to practitioners' homes in the remote cities and throughout the countryside, holding mini-experience-sharing conferences and reading Teacher's articles. They told the local practitioners that Teacher regarded them as gods and was waiting for them to step forward. One local practitioner said, "I haven't seen any practitioner since July 20, 1999. How wonderful to see you all! You bring me Teacher's voice. I must step forward to spread the Fa." In some areas the practitioners still dared not step forward. One practitioner was so worried that in sitting meditation she asked Teacher what she was supposed to do. Teacher told her to look for Mr. XX, repeating the name twice and showing her what he looked like. After finding the practitioner through others, she asked him if he would like to spread the Fa. He said, "Yes." They printed flyers together, but he was arrested on the first day of spreading them. Again, she was confused and asked Teacher for help when doing the exercise. Teacher asked her; "Can you not cultivate when you are alone?" So she printed the materials herself. Those practitioners who have left their homes barely have any money and are being helped by fellow practitioners. One day when doing things to spread the Fa, she found herself needing 50 Yuan. While she was worrying about this, a miracle happened. A small whirlwind brought her the bills. Another practitioner needed to buy a monthly bus ticket, but she had no photo. She decided she would try to pick one up from the ground. When she squatted down, she found a photo that looked very much like her. These miracles show that as long as we are doing something for Dafa, Teacher will surely help us out. In total, these practitioners held 120 experience-sharing conferences all over the region. After they were released from jail, they stepped forward even further.
One eighty-year-old lady had been a Christian all her life. Her son is a practitioner and posted Teacher's picture in the house. One day the book Zhuan Falun was sitting right next to the old lady. She said, "If you are a god, please show some miracle." Surprisingly two beams of white light appeared. She followed the white light right in front of her, and eventually she came to Teacher's image; then she followed the white light to her left to her son's room. What she came upon there was Teacher's image again. She kneeled down right away with tears running down her face and with Zhuan Falun in her hands, saying, "You really are a god!" This incident happened in October 2000 and the old lady has been cultivating Falun Dafa ever since. The practitioners told the old lady, "You are a new practitioner and need to step forward as well." The old lady said she would surly go to spread the Fa in Tiananmen Square.
As a Falun Dafa practitioner, what am I supposed to do? Teacher said, "... But when someone comes to attack the Fa, what should you, a disciple, a particle of Dafa, do? Shouldn't you let the truth be known and make people aware of the facts? ..." I started to think the first test would be my family. My family was a miniature of Tiananmen Square. I had to rectify them first. My family members were scared of being involved in trouble, so they were against my contact with other practitioners and kept me at home. I realized I had to pass this test and shouldn't follow the instructions of everyday people. Everyone has his or her own aspirations. You go your way, and I will cultivate the great principles of the universe, Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance, the path which takes me back to my true self. Who could stop me? I would give up everything for you at home, but no one can stop me from cultivating Falun Dafa. Teacher solved my problems of birth, old, illness, and death. Without any disease, I am the healthiest among all my family members and relatives. I haven't taken any medicine during the last five years. Because it is best for the family I never bring any trouble to them. I do not pursue fame and have gotten rid of material interests and selfishness. I share my income with my family. Shouldn't I step forward to speak the truth? They were trying to persuade me not to, with the help of my other relatives. I told them, "I am cultivating Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance. Can I tell lies? In the past, when I was involved in politics, I made quite a few false statements and bent to pressure. Now I am cultivating Falun Dafa. I want to be a real human being. You may cut off our relationship if you are scared of being implicated." Since I was very determined, they thought that what I said was all truth. As long as I stayed healthy, they would leave me alone. Every one has his or her compassionate side. After I corrected their behavior with the Great Law, they didn't stop me any more.
To assist the Master in his journey in this world and to save sentient beings, I decided to spread the Fa in the south during October. When talking to the passengers on the train, to bring up the topic of Falun Gong, I asked the older people about their health condition and the younger ones about how they improve their health, and gradually I switched the topic to the issue of Falun Gong. If they had a negative attitude toward Falun Gong, I would clarify the truth and expose the evil. If they were indifferent, I would talk about my own experiences and the change of my body and mind through cultivation. I tried to spread Dafa in different ways based on who I talked to. Teacher said, "Validate the Fa with reason, clarify the truth with wisdom, spread the Fa and offer people salvation with benevolence. (Rationality)" In order not to be taken by the evil easily, sometimes I talked from a third-party perspective. In order to change people's minds, I talked about all the nice people and good deeds in the cultivation of Falun Dafa. In relatives' homes, I spread Falun Dafa through casual chat. On different occasions like a wedding or a birthday party, I always kept my mission in mind. When I spread the Fa to relatives living in the remote countryside, I found that some of them had no idea about the truth of Falun Gong, and were completely deceived by the TV propaganda. Once I told them the truth, they woke up to reality and got rid of their bad thoughts. They were really saved. One farmer said, "Someone opened a "Falun Gong" class in the county and charged a lot." I told him, "That person is not a practitioner but a cheater. Teacher never allowed practitioners to collect a fee. When Master Li gave the lectures, he charged the lowest fees in the country to only cover the cost." Thus I cleared up his misunderstanding.
In Beijing, practitioners have no personal freedom. They are under surveillance by family members, the sub-district offices, the neighborhood committees, and the guards. Their phone calls are taped. If they are found doing something for Falun Dafa, they will be arrested right away. The patrollers always walk around in the streets and neighborhoods. But all of this cannot stop practitioners' wishes to spread the Fa. I am so anxious to hear the stories from the more diligently cultivating practitioners. I also want to encourage those who still have fear to step forward and clarify the truth. At my home I often organized small experience-sharing meetings with up to six practitioners. We invited those more diligently cultivating practitioners to share their real stories. Every time we had such a meeting, we could feel our Xinxing improving. Gradually we got rid of our fear. We went out to post Dafa flyers and hang banners with "Falun Dafa is good" in the trees. We put the flyers in the public phone booths, under the residents' doors, in the bicycles' baskets. Some practitioners made paper-cut Falun images and stuck them up in public sites. Some everyday people with good inborn quality saw the Falun images flashing with golden lights. Around New Year's Day, almost every family received Falun Dafa flyers. The evil ones were very scared. They used surveillance equipment to detect the practitioners' homes where flyers were printed, and ransacked many practitioners' homes and arrested the practitioners. After the Spring Festival, the sources for printed materials decreased, so we mostly spread the truth by talking. We wrote truth-revealing letters to each other's relatives and used different handwriting to write to those addresses published in the books. Some of us put flyers in helium balloons. When the balloons exploded in the air, the flyers would drop on the ground, so the people could see them. Some released balloons printed with the words "Falun Gong is good" in Tiananmen Square. Practitioners try to think of all kinds of ways to clarify the truth with wisdom.
Compared to other practitioners, I did very little. I need to keep studying the Fa. Should anything be inappropriate here, please point it out for me.
Thank you.
