By Ying Shu-Qing

My name is Ying Shu-Qing. I am 63 years old. Our great compassionate Master saved my life. I obtained Falun Dafa in July 1996, when I went back to China to visit my family. Falun Dafa enables me to understand the true meaning of life. I was able to free myself from the desperate grief and pain caused by sentimentality related to my ex-husband.

Now, I feel really light and energetic all over my physical body. 20 years' high blood pressure disease, deemed almost incurable, was all gone without seeking any medical assistance. The most obvious change is that my whole heart is filled with real happiness. My long face was gone. A light and peaceful heart comes back. My heart is no longer easily disturbed by the superficial fame, material interest, or trivial sentimentality.

How lucky I am to be a Falun Dafa practitioner, and how honored I am to be our great master's disciple! Since the day I obtained Falun Dafa, I made up my mind that I would listen to and follow whatever Master Li teaches us with absolute faith.

In the Fa rectification period, I participated in the following Dafa activities:

Truth clarification in front of the Chinese consulate

In Mainland China, fellow practitioners are being persecuted relentlessly. At least 360 Falun Gong practitioners have been killed in the persecution, more than 500 practitioners have been illegally sentenced to prison terms, more than 1,000 practitioners have been forced into mental hospitals, over 20,000 have been sent to labor camps without any legal proceedings, and more than 100,000 have been arrested and detained. Many practitioners continue to be beaten and tortured by police and separated from their families, while tens of millions of family members, relatives, friends, and colleagues have been affected by the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

Master tells us "Validate the Fa with reason, clarify the truth with wisdom, spread the Fa and offer people salvation with benevolence". In order to safeguard Falun Dafa, our fellow practitioners in China, one after another, step forth on Tianmen Square, and tell people in China and all over the world "Falun Dafa is good". Just because they choose to follow the characteristic of the universe "truthfulness, compassion, forbearance" and try to be good people, they suffer relentless torture and unbridled persecution imposed by Jiang Zemin's followers. As a Falun Dafa practitioner overseas, I consider The Chinese Consulate to be parallel to Tiananmen Square in China. To clarify the truth of persecution and to spread the Fa among Chinese people, I come to the front of the Chinese Consulate for peaceful petition almost every day, whether it is rainy, windy, or sunny. In order to clarify the truth, we stand holding the demonstration boards clarifying the truth in front of the Chinese consulate. We also display a 2-meter long banner reading "Falun Dafa is good!" This banner looks so colorful, golden, and shiny when we hold it. The evil is very scared when it sees the banner. But the benevolent people read the banner and see that: "Falun Dafa is good!"

We persevere at clarifying the truth in front of the Chinese consulate no matter how bad the weather is. One day, it was very cold and rainy, but we held the banner in the rain for two hours without raincoats. Although we were drenched to the skin, legs numbed with cold, we didn't treat it as hardship but felt very peaceful. Thinking of the fellow practitioners in China who sacrificed their lives to safeguard Falun Dafa, how can

I treat this as a hardship? In order to clarify the truth to the public, in order to end the brutal persecution of Falun Dafa in China, in order to evoke more benevolent thoughts from people who are deceived by the lies, we insist on this peaceful appeal everyday. This is also a good opportunity to get rid of the pursuit of comfort.

Last July, I went to the experience sharing conference in Washington DC and experienced something special. Because the conference room could not accommodate the great number of people who wanted to attend the meeting, practitioners needed to have tickets for entrance. Practitioners from several areas decided the distribution of tickets by lot. However, I thought it was inappropriate, since that was the first time for some practitioners to attend Fahui (experience sharing conference). Some of them had never seen Master Li before. I thought we should give them first priority. One fellow practitioner from Mainland China worried about the problem of the tickets. I told her:" Don't worry. If I have a ticket, I will give it to you and let you have an opportunity to see Master Li." I kept my promise in the end. When the other practitioners and I were ready to go to the Chinese Embassy, one person suddenly came to us and said that there were two extra tickets for us. But we have five people. Finally, we decided to give these two tickets to a father and a son who were waiting outside. We happily went to the Chinese Embassy, sending forth righteous thoughts and studied Master's articles. At around 3:00 in the afternoon, one practitioner told me that Master was giving a Fa-lecture in the conference! I was so happy for my fellow practitioners who could see Master! At 4:00 in the afternoon, a practitioner in Falun Dafa Association came to see us, and told us that Master had already been to Chinese Embassy to see practitioners. I was so grateful to Master at that moment. I spoke to Master in mind: "Thank you so much, Master!" Although I didn't see Master in person on that day, I felt Master's boundless compassion and concern toward Dafa disciples. Master even teaches us to send forth righteous thoughts. It is my greatest honor to be able to send forth righteous thoughts and eliminate evils in front of the Chinese Embassy.

Hunger strike

In order to speak out on behalf of the practitioners persecuted in China, I took part in the 24-hour vigil last August, followed by a 24-hour hunger strike in front of the Chinese General Consulate in Los Angeles. One week later, I took part in a non-stop four-day hunger strike. The hunger strike started three days earlier than planned. When a fellow practitioner informed me of the change in plans, I hesitated, and made an excuse, saying "I did not want to participant in this four day hunger strike, since I am not ready yet". This fellow practitioner, who was also the participant of this hungry strike, told me that our declaration of the hunger strike had been released to media and my name was on the list. I immediately realized that I should take part in this hunger strike. Then I told her that I would be there tomorrow. However, my heart pulsed abnormally and I suffered from early palpitation symptoms, and I did not sleep well at that night. Then I recognized that this was a test. I asked my employer for a leave on the next day, and was determined to join the hunger strike in front of the Chinese General Consulate. After making these decisions, my heart pulse returned back to the normal. It is Master who is testing if my mind-heart is determined or not.

I did not tell my son that I was going to take part in the hunger strike, since I was concerned that he would oppose me and pull me back. On the second day of the hunger strike, a feeling hit me that my son may come to me and ask me to go back home. I then made a phone call to him. He did become upset and stressed. He told me that he was coming to me immediately, and even mentioned that he would take a reporter with him, and wanted to find out what was going on there. My son was worried that I would not endure a lasting hunger strike, especially since I did not buy medical insurance. It could be a heavy burden if I got sick. My son did not completely believe in my health as a Dafa practitioner. I calmly told him that I was doing truly well, please listen to me and don't come over. I will go back home immediately after this hunger strike. This episode happened since I had fear in my heart. I was afraid that he might pull me back. It was this heart of fear that made it more difficult for him to understand what I was doing and even made him angry.

After the four-day hunger strike successfully concluded, I came back home. My son did not want to talk to me. Then I tried to talk to him. I knew that I must pass this tribulation well. I was not unhappy with it, and looked inward constantly. It was my problem, since I did not explain to him what I was doing. I had no complaints. Putting down the stuff in hand, I went to kitchen and cooked the family a dinner. Simply drinking some soup, I went into my room and started studying the Fa. A moment later, my daughter-in-law brought me a fried egg, and emphasized that it was cooked by my son and intended to complement my hungry body.

At the time, I was in high spirits. The young couple saw it. They learned that I was truly in good health. Their worry and unhappiness were gone. They often encouraged me to buy medical insurance before. Since then, they did not bring up the medical insurance anymore. My son even told his friends, saying "my mother has been practicing a wonderful gong, which makes her very healthy". My daughter noticed my better physical condition after the hunger strike, and she asked for Teacher's Book, Zhuan FaLun, and started studying the Fa and practicing Falun Gong.

During the hunger strike, several major media interviewed us, and both Chinese and English media reported positively on our hunger strike. It played a role in clarifying the truth and promoting Dafa.

SOS RescueWalk

To appeal to the international society about the persecution on Falun Dafa in Mainland China, to promote the awareness of the truth of Falun Dafa, to speak out on behalf of the practitioners persecuted in Mainland China, and to clarify the truth to those deceived by the Chinese Government, I participated the Global SOS Rescue Walk last September. Our Rescue Walk went from Los Angeles to San Francisco. It covered about 500 miles. I was able complete the whole journey of this Rescue Walk simply because of Master's boundless benevolence and the powerfulness of the great Fa.

This RescueWalk lasted about one month. We went through more than 30 cities. We climbed over numerous mountains, went through many forest paths, walked over boundless green vegetable farms, and through far stretching forests. Under the scorching sunshine, the temperature was often as high as 99F, but we still trudged away on the high ways, where there was not even a bit of tree shadow. We were feeling so hot and exhausted, with sweat streaming down. One day, after a long walking, I felt too tired to open my eyes. Finally we came to a big tree. As I touched the ground in the shadow of the tree, I was falling to sleep.

On the whole journey of the Rescue Walk, we were silently reciting Master's Fa-rectification verse: "The Fa rectifies the cosmos, the Evil is completely eliminated." The journey then became easier as we approached our destination. We were welcomed everywhere. There were kind people bringing us drinks and cookies, providing us with free living space, and even giving us money. We were so grateful to those compassionate and supportive people, though we declined all their kind offers. One thing that was most touching to me was a senior American who followed us for a long way and brought us many drinks. We had several press conferences on the Rescue Walk. Mayors of many cities granted an interview with us, and awarded Falun Dafa. One mayor held the hands of another Rescue Walker and mine, walking with us for a long way. There were reporters covering our Rescue Walk story from the beginning to end of the journey. Multiple TV channels, radio stations, and newspapers continuously reported on our activities. The last stop prior to San Francisco was the city of Sacramento, the capital of California. We stayed there one day to promote Falun Dafa. Personnel from the governor's office received us, expressed their sympathy and offered support.

The RescueWalk was also a precious opportunity for our cultivation. First, it helped us to eradicate the attachment to the color of our skins. At the beginning, we were afraid of becoming too dark under the scorching sun, and wore hats to prevent direct exposure. Later we recognized that this was an attachment, and being dark was not a bad thing. We thought of master's teaching that some may not find proper suffering. Finally we took off our hats. Remarkably, we did not feel the scorching heat of the sun after taking off our hats. Our faces did become darker, while our hearts became purer. Second, it helped us to eradicate the attachment to good food. We were concerned about the nutrition of the food, and thought that we may not stand such an intensive walk. Often, we only had boiled rice, bread with salted vegetables, and a simple soup of water with a few pieces of cabbage. They seemed very tasty to us, and our attachments were eradicated. I gained four pounds! This experience of collective lives with fellow practitioners is so unforgettable.

I was the oldest among the eight participants of this RescueWalk. So some of them were concerned whether I could endure the long walk every day. I knew that Cultivation does not distinguish practitioners due to their ages. Nothing can block my way when I am stepping forward for Falun Dafa. Master teaches us to point to our heart directly, and cultivation is simply to cultivate my heart. On the whole journey of the RescueWalk, I constantly cultivated my own heart, learned from fellow practitioners, and looked inward. My xinxing and enlightenment were substantially improved.

This global RescueWalk played an important role in rectifying the Fa and promoting Falun Dafa, and also had a far-reaching influence on my cultivation. Through this walk, many sentient lives gained increased awareness of the truth about Falun Dafa. I was so happy to see that some foreigners started learning the practice from us. I am so grateful to Master and to Master's boundless compassion. It is Master and Master's great compassion that gave me this opportunity to become a true particle of Falun Dafa.

Thank you all.

Posting date: 2/28/2002
Original article date: 2/27/2002
Category: Cultivation Experiences
Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2002/2/18/25188.html

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