A Lawyer’s Cultivation Path in Falun Dafa

(Minghui.org) I looked at fame and fortune relatively lightly even before practicing Falun Dafa. I really looked down on money and felt that money was the least valuable thing. However, I fell very hard because of money.

In 1983, I graduated from junior high school while living in the countryside. In the high school entrance exam, my score was not high enough to go to a key high school. At the time, my naive and stubborn idea was that students from an ordinary high school would not be able to get into a university. In addition, my two siblings were both in school. My parents were both farmers and to support us, the financial burden on them was quite heavy. In the end, I decided not to continue on to high school. With my father’s contacts, I started working in a financial institution when I was 17.

I studied accounting in my workplace. I then worked as an accountant for seven years and did credit work for the next six years.

A year or two after I began to work, everyone in the village knew that I went to work in a financial institution. One of my cousins planned to start a business of transporting wood from the Northeast and said it was a great opportunity to profit. He asked me to help him borrow 4,000 yuan, and said he would pay it back in a few months. That was a lot of money at the time, so I was hesitant about borrowing that much money. He then said that he would buy me a motorcycle after he profited.

I was moved by that because at that time, I was only earning 38 yuan a month. I found a few self-employed rich people and convinced them to lend my cousin the money. I then mailed it to him. After two months, he said that the money was not enough, and he needed 3,000 yuan more. He said if I couldn’t get the 3,000, then he wouldn’t be able to pay back the 4,000 yuan loan. I bit the bullet and borrowed another 3,000 yuan and mailed it to him. After that, there were still some conversations between us. He told me not to worry and he would be able to pay back the money soon after he sold the wood. However, after a while, he completely stopped responding to letters or phone calls.

The Chinese New Year was approaching and I was very anxious. The lenders were also pushing me, saying that it had been six months, while the original timeline was three months. I was constantly worrying about it every day, and I couldn’t talk to anyone about it.

When I went to my cousin’s home to ask about him, I found out that he was sentenced to five years in prison for fraud. The news was like a bolt out of the blue. For me at the time, the amount he owed was equivalent to 14 years of my total income. How would I be able to ever pay it back? It was simply impossible! I did not know what to do. I even thought of taking extreme measures to get the money, and then go surrender to the police.

Then, a girl from a rich family fell in love with me and asked me out but I didn’t like her. Later, after careful consideration, I became involved in a relationship with this girl and told her about the debt I owed. I put forward two conditions to her. One was that she must be filial to my parents, and the other was to help me pay the debt. She agreed to both. She told her father about the situation and then gave me 4,000 yuan.

Soon we got married and had a baby girl. However, in my heart, I always felt I had been dishonest in this matter. My marriage was ruined by my actions, and I didn’t have any joy or hope in my life. I also wanted a son, but China’s one-child policy did not allow us to have a second child. I just felt maybe it was going to be like this in this lifetime and life was meaningless.

Later on, I felt that I was more suitable to be a lawyer. This dream made me full of hope again. I took the exam for the self-study path and began to study the materials myself. I passed the lawyer qualification examination on the first attempt and obtained the license to practice law. No one could believe it. After graduating from junior high school, while working, I used my spare time to learn everything I needed to know from high school and law school, and finally got a law degree and became a lawyer.

In my bones, I felt that I was born to be a lawyer, and I would definitely be a good lawyer. After I began to practice Falun Dafa, I realized that it was Master Li (Dafa’s founder) who had arranged everything for me.

Practicing Dafa

I was introduced to Falun Dafa’s main book Zhuan Falun right when I was becoming a lawyer. After I read it once, I felt that it was a book to teach us to be good people, but I also felt that there was more to it. It was as if it didn’t talk about anything, yet it covered everything.

I read it again and again and felt that this was the book I was looking for and the book I wanted to learn. I understood that the real purpose of mankind is to assimilate to the characteristics of the universe, “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,” to be a good person, and finally to cultivate back to our origins. Suddenly I understood why monks chant scriptures and meditate in the temple all day long, from childhood to adulthood, until they pass away; it is their cultivation.

I knew that Dafa is good, and I knew it was what I was born for. However, in order to cultivate, I must quit smoking and drinking. As a lawyer in China, one must eat with clients, and take judges to meals. So smoking and drinking are almost unavoidable. I had just become a lawyer, so I hesitated for over half a year. After careful consideration, I made up my mind to cultivate. With Master’s help, I was able to quit smoking and drinking, and many people couldn’t believe it, because I had been smoking and drinking for more than a decade.

My wife was very unhappy about my decision to practice Falun Dafa. She said, “You are a lawyer, but you spend all day with a bunch of old ladies. Don’t you feel embarrassed?” She tore up my books, threw my tape player on the ground, and smashed my tapes. She followed me to wherever I went to study the Fa. Once, we were sitting in a circle and studying the Fa in a fellow practitioner’s home. She came into the house, picked up my shoe, and slapped my face with the sole very hard several times. I didn’t get angry, and I didn’t fight back.

Master said,

“We have said, however, that as a practitioner one should not fight back when being punched or insulted, but should hold oneself to a high standard.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)

Strange enough, my face didn’t hurt at all, nor did it get red or swollen. I knew this was a test arranged by Master. In the past, I was a person who really cared about reputation. In my village, I had great relationships with everyone and had never been slapped like this in public. This was the first time in my life.

I understood from the Fa that she wouldn’t care about what I did before I practiced Falun Dafa, but she would immediately fight with me when I decided to practice. However, I made up my mind that I wanted to be a Dafa disciple in this lifetime. I would even give up my life for it and no one could stop me. So despite her opposition, I insisted on going out every morning to do the exercises with fellow practitioners.

One morning, when I got up at 4 a.m. to go out and do the exercises, she followed me all the way to the end of the street while pulling my clothes, hitting me, and cursing at me. My clothes were torn, and the buttons were pulled off. I pushed her off as I continued walking toward the exercise site. She picked up a brick from behind and hit the back of my head with it. I felt dazed for a moment and I turned around to look at her. She looked at me so fiercely and her face was pale. I turned back and continued to walk to the exercise site. She chased me all the way there and tried to disturb us by turning off the tape recorder, pulling the banners down, pushing me, and hitting my stomach with a brick.

My grandmother heard about her chasing and beating me all the way to the exercise site, and making trouble there. My grandmother was in her 80s, she knew that Dafa is good, and she liked to listen to Master’s lecture recordings. She told us that what Master said was right and great. At that time, my aunt and several uncles were all practicing Dafa. One day, my wife came to the exercise site to disturb us again. My grandmother got up early and also came to the site. When my wife was again beating me, my grandmother stepped up with a cane and yelled, “Don’t disturb my grandson. This Dafa is great, and I approve my grandson practicing it.” My wife didn’t listen and continued to push me. My grandmother stepped forward and pulled her, and she turned around and slapped my grandmother in the face. My grandmother didn’t expect that and was stunned. My wife then walked away as if she had the advantage in this dispute. Later, she knew that she was in trouble for hitting my grandmother. She went back to her parents’ home and told her family about it. Her two brothers took her to apologize to my grandmother. After that, she never disturbed us again at the exercise site.

I found that after I really made up my mind to cultivate, just as Master said in the Fa, I immediately faced pressure, resistance, and even danger to my life. However, I really wasn’t afraid, and I even became more courageous than before. I no longer felt scared when walking alone at night. I was not afraid of going anywhere.

After I quit drinking, for a period of time, I always had an indescribable feeling that something was moving in my body. It was not a great feeling. It disappeared after a while and was most likely due to withdrawing from alcohol.

The years of 1997 and 1998 were the fullest years in my cultivation. I felt my life was the most fulfilling, the most secure, the calmest, and the happiest during that time.

Through the Wind and Rain

In April 1999, a fellow practitioner said that the Tianjin police had arrested Dafa practitioners. Everyone thought that the government officials might not know what Falun Dafa was about. We had been practicing Dafa for more than two years and we felt that we had the obligation to clarify the truth about it to China’s leaders. So, on April 25th, early in the morning, I went to Fuyou Street near Zhongnanhai. When I arrived, many people were already there to petition and clarify the truth. I talked with some of the practitioners. There were elementary school teachers, elementary school students, state officials, and professors from the University of Political Science and Law, as well as some retirees and farmers. There were all kinds of people who were practicing Falun Dafa.

Because we were all practitioners and strict with ourselves, there was no shouting of slogans, no banners, and no sitting protest. We all just stood there quietly. We did not block the road and intersections and we did not interfere with traffic. Some police cars were going back and forth, and there were also luxury cars with curtains on the windows. Later, China’s then-premier met with five practitioners. After learning about the situation, he called the Tianjin City government. The practitioners who had been detained there were released, and we went home. When we left, we took away all trash, and nothing was left on the ground. It rained that night, which washed the ground very clean.

It was said that the Chinese government’s handling of this petition incident was praised internationally. However, on July 20, 1999, the CCTV news labeled Falun Dafa a cult and also said that on April 25, Dafa practitioners attacked Zhongnanhai and spread rumors. I felt that this was a total lie slandering Falun Dafa, and it was completely distorting the facts. Falun Dafa teaches people to be good by following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. It is one of the 84,000 cultivation ways in the Buddha School.

At that time, I suddenly felt intense pressure. In particular, on January 23, 2001, the staged Self-Immolation Incident in Tiananmen Square immediately made almost everyone oppose Falun Dafa and its disciples. I felt as if I had been kicked aside by everyone. My family was against me, my colleagues were against me, the leaders at work wanted to talk to me, and the TV and radio were broadcasting the lies nonstop. It was just overwhelming. However, I knew in my heart that Dafa is good, and it is right to insist on being a good person who cultivates Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. No matter what others said to me, I did not listen to them and I went to Tiananmen Square a few times to validate Dafa.

No matter where I was or who I talked to, I always told them that Falun Dafa is good, it is a true cultivation practice, and that the TV and radio were lying. Later, a bureau official called me and wanted to talk, but I refused. Then the bureau director asked me to attend a meeting and it was specifically about Falun Dafa and the policy from the top. There was also another fellow practitioner there. The office lead first announced that the people from the political and legal system were not allowed to practice Falun Dafa; then various leaders gave talks, and then they asked me to speak about my opinions.

I said, “As I grew up, the best and most correct thing I ever did was to practice Falun Dafa. I will never give it up no matter what.” Everyone was silent for about a minute. A deputy director then said very angrily, “You can’t make trouble for the leaders!” The meeting ended like that.

Using Our Conscience; Walking On the Right Path

Those were the years when Jiang Zemin’s (the former communist party leader) group was in power and brought a lot of damage to the country and the people. One consequence was that the judiciary system became extremely corrupt. As a lawyer, I was different from most other lawyers. I didn’t smoke or drink. I studied the Fa and cultivated myself according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I respected the laws and the facts and respected both my clients and the other parties. I did not invite people to eat, did not give gifts, and did not act as a bridge for the judge to receive gifts (often the clients have the lawyers to pass their bribes to the judges). Sometimes my clients couldn’t understand me. These days, how could I function as a lawyer like that? The judges didn’t like me either. They often made things more difficult or even arranged traps to lead my clients to not trust me. In the first case that I ever represented, I applied for the judge to be recused, and the judge happened to be the president of that court. That drew a lot of attention from all the judges.

A few years later, the judges began to take the initiative to talk with me. Some said, “You always leave right away after the court session and never chat with us.” I said, “You are all busy, and I am afraid to disturb you.” He said, “All other lawyers would chat with us after the court session.” I said, “Well, I don’t have anything to talk about. I said everything I wanted to say during the court sessions.” Another time, I met a judge right before dinner time and he said, “It’s time for dinner after getting off work. Why don’t you invite me to dinner?” I said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t bring any money today. Maybe next time!”

There was a case where the other party borrowed 300,000 yuan from my client and agreed to pay an interest of 100,000 yuan but then refused to pay. The judge called me to talk to me alone in a room without a camera, asking for my opinion on how the interest should be judged. He gave me a hint with his eyes but I just pretended that I didn’t see it. I just told him that he could either judge it according to the agreement between the two parties or based on the law that for the interest, only up to four times the current bank rate is protected. He saw that he couldn’t get anything from me and so he just let me go. Then, a court decision was issued within a few days, which said that the other party only needed to pay my client the principal of the loan. I told my client to appeal, and he agreed. On the second decision, the upper court directly upheld that the other party must pay the entire amount of 100,000 yuan for the interest, and it was a great victory for us.

I began to notice that all the judges who knew me, for all my cases, would be very cautious and did everything very carefully, fearing making any mistakes. I thought that was what a judge’s state of mind should be like. Another time, after the court session, I received a call from the judge, and he asked me, “How do you think our case should be judged?” I could tell from his voice that he was sincerely asking for my opinion. So I told him my opinion for him to reference.

This was all thanks to Dafa. I follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, never falsify anything, and never go against conscience and righteousness. This way, I have won the approval of all the judges. This is the power of Dafa, and this is Dafa disciples validating Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance with actions.

Thank you Master for saving me! If I didn’t practice Falun Dafa, in that kind of environment during that time, I would most definitely not have been able to uphold my conscience.

Because I talked about the greatness of Dafa everywhere I went, the district 610 Office notified the Justice Bureau to send me to a brainwashing session. I didn’t believe anything they said, but I was not allowed to go home. Because I didn’t study the Fa well and couldn’t let go of my human sentiment, I missed my home, my wife, and children, and I was afraid that my mother would be very worried.

Doing What a Dafa Disciple Should Do

Because I am a lawyer, I have very good communication skills, and so I prefer to clarify the truth face-to-face with people and ask them to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). I can naturally get into the topic, and then talk about what the evil CCP is, what Falun Dafa is, and why Jiang’s group decided to persecute Falun Dafa.

Whether I get into the details depends on how much time we have, but the important thing is to explain clearly and speak to the other person’s heart. The more natural it is, the better the effect. The fastest time I was able to help a lawyer withdraw from the CCP was within three minutes. I believe that in clarifying the truth face to face, we must take the situation and the time we have into consideration and not force things. If there isn’t enough time to explain it clearly, then it might be better to wait for another opportunity.

In reality, it is Master who is doing it and the gods are helping in saving sentient beings. I just do what Master asks us to do and that is the only thing I need to worry about. People are all different. Some people understand it very quickly, some get nervous when they are asked to express their position, others get emotional, and some are very grateful.

Arrested and Detained for My Faith

On March 4, 2008, I walked out of the apartment building early in the morning to go to a court session. I was still in the residential community, and two police officers got out of a black car. One of them asked me, “Do you still remember me? Let’s go and see your home.” “See what?” I asked, “I’m going to the court. I have a criminal case today that I’m defending my client. I don’t have time.” They said, “No, we must go see your home.” They held me and forced me back home.

After a while, seven or eight more people came, including police, 610 Office personnel, and people from the residential community. They started to search my home and once they found some Dafa materials, they seemed to have finally found an excuse and searched even more recklessly. Finally, they told me to go to the police department with them. I asked, “I must go to the court today. It’s a criminal case and I need to be there for the defendant. Why do I need to go to the police department? I did not violate the law, and I did not commit a crime. Do you have a summons document?” He said, “You come with us, and then we will give you the documents when we are there.” I said I wouldn’t go unless they have the documents first. In the end, they pushed me and forced me into the police car.

They took me to a resort halfway up the mountain and arranged for me to be in a room with two security guards at the entrance. I was not allowed to go out of the room for anything. The people at the 610 Office brought me a pile of law books and said, “You are a lawyer but you are breaking the law! Study these hard!”

When the policeman who ransacked my home again came to interrogate me, I explained to him in detail my understanding of the law on Falun Dafa after I read through those books. He said, “This is what it is now. You did not break the law, but it’s a political issue.” I said, “Fine, I’m not interested in politics. I don’t have any pursuit of politics.” Seeing that he couldn’t convince me from a legal point of view, he got very angry and slapped the table and stared at me. I said, “You don’t have to play this with me, I didn’t break the law, and I didn’t commit a crime. You can’t do anything to me.”

I was then put in the “brainwashing class” for 27 days, and the police saw that there was nothing they could do, so they took me back to the police station. They started a record dated that day. The officer said, “We called you to come in today to discuss with you about Falun Dafa. I immediately corrected him, “You didn’t just call me here today. It’s been 27 days since you took me out of my home.” He said, “That’s the government’s order.” “No,” I said, “I have asked them, and they said it was you. If you insisted that you brought me here today, then the previous 27 days were illegal detention, and you have to take responsibility!”

I was taken to the detention center, along with the falsified record. I spent the next 30 days in the detention center, and during this time, the judge responsible for pre-trials came to talk to me twice. On the second day, I was there, I wrote a letter of accusation, accusing the police of kidnapping me and illegally detaining me. I gave it to the judge and told him that I wanted to sue the police. In the detention center, I talked with other detainees about how great Falun Dafa is and told them stories in traditional Chinese culture. They all liked listening to me.

On the 30th day, I received a decision letter from the municipal government to send me to a forced labor camp for two years for “disturbing social order by hiding Falun Dafa propaganda materials.” It was a serious violation of the law by the government. I had no actions that violated the law or disturbed society. The Falun Dafa materials at my home did not have the effect of disturbing social order. My belief in Falun Dafa should be protected by China’s Constitution because citizens have freedom of belief; the municipal government has no power to deprive me of personal freedom for two years.

I am a lawyer, providing legal services to society. My work conscientiousness and sense of responsibility have been praised by many clients. I do not need to be subjected to forced labor.

I drafted and prepared the materials for filing a lawsuit against the government administration to the Municipal Intermediate Court, requesting that the court revoke the municipal government’s decision. I insisted and pushed the lawsuit for more than four months. Although there was no outcome, I knew that suing the municipal government to the municipal court had a great effect and significance, and it also acted as a deterrent to evil forces.

I have not done enough, and there are still many human notions that I have not been able to eliminate. In the future, I will give my best effort to cultivate myself well, do the three things well, clarify the truth to save sentient beings, fulfill my mission, and return to my true home with Master.

Due to my limited level, if anything is inappropriate, please kindly point it out.