Experiences of a Young Dafa Disciple Visiting Villages to Collect Signatures to Rescue His Father (Part 2)

(Clearwisdom.net)

Almost all the people that I met who were over 40 years old had a stubborn notion: they do not like to hear the words "human rights." They interpret it as "making trouble." Two teachers told me, "Now the situation is much better, at least you can say there are no human rights. In the old days, you would be shot dead if you asked for human rights." But all people curse Jiang Zemin. Kind people curse him; ruffians and rascals also curse him.

It was getting dark and starting to rain. On the way home, I passed by a friend's home, so I stopped in for a visit. Four or five friends were there. I asked them to sign the letter of appeal; they said it's useless to "appeal" and believed that "power comes from arms." I replied, "Over ten Dafa practitioners have been rescued by overseas people." They asked, "How many Dafa practitioners are persecuted in China? At least 100 thousand!" They laughed and said, "This signature paper has no title, we don't know what you are going to write on it! We dare not support Falun Gong." Then they left.

I thought: Is there a national boundary for human rights? Why shouldn't millions of Dafa practitioners in China be rescued? That night I wrote a "Co-signed Letter of Appeal," the contents read: "At noon on March 13, 2003, while my father was treating patients in our home, police officers arrested him and abused him because he is a Dafa practitioner. He is 52 years old. I heard that he is having a relapse of high blood pressure and heart disease. He could not bear the tortures anymore. My father has treated patients for over 20 years. He is an honest, kind and righteous person, and has a very good reputation. After he started to practice Falun Gong, he worked harder, became more responsible and now pays less attention to personal benefits. He has been praised widely. Now people hope their good Doctor will return home as soon as possible. As his children, we do not want to see Father being persecuted any longer. We appeal to all kind-hearted people to give him a hand. Please sign your name, or leave your fingerprint. Thanks a lot!"

The second day, I printed more copies, and asked a bus ticket vendor to deliver the letters to one of my relatives who lives far away. Two days later, they sent back three signature sheets with titles. I cannot remember the originals, the main points are, "Please free our good Doctor. He is a selfless person. He treated us patients even when he was sick. He is a Falun Gong practitioner, and has done nothing wrong. We all hope our good Doctor will be released, as our lives will be made better." Later I used those three sheets as the introductory words.

For a period of time, since I was busy collecting signatures, I did not study Dafa or do the exercises, and my mind was not pure and tranquil. Sometimes I was enthusiastic, with a strong mentality of showing-off. I thought what I did might be the first case in China. Disturbed by the old forces, I even thought to let my father stay in the jail for a few more days so I could do more. Luckily I realized my mistake and cleaned out and resisted this interference. Sometimes I felt uneasy, uncomfortable in my mind. Without righteous thoughts, the effects of clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings were not reached. I really regret my mistakes, and hope that fellow practitioners will learn a lesson from my experiences. Please study Dafa every day. After adjusting myself for two days, I started collecting signatures again.

The next step was to go to the village we previously lived in. Mother said, "One elderly man used to be a good friend of our family. People over there all know the virtue of your father, they will support him." When I found the elderly gentleman, he was playing cards and had no time to go with me. I showed the people at the table the Co-signed Letter of Appeal. They said it's not wrong to do this. But when I asked them to sign it, they did not reply. I planned to go through the village by myself, however the aunt [aunt is a term of respect for any elder Chinese woman] who had led me to the elder gentleman said, "Without an elder person as a guide, they may not believe you. Let me go with you." With her as my guide, things went smoothly. Several families asked me, "How many times has your father been arrested?" I said, "6 or 7 times." They all said, "You see they (Jiang's regime) do not do any good deeds. They interfere with our normal lives."

Just when things were going well, some interference appeared. Several families said, "He is the one person we should offer to help the most. We all hope the good Doctor comes home soon. It's not dangerous to do this. We are not supporting Falun Gong." The aunt said, "Yes, it's safe, it's not to support Falun Gong." I know that the aunt meant to help them get rid of their fears. I said, "My father is a genuine Falun Gong practitioner. A Dafa practitioner follows Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." After leaving there, I told the aunt why I wanted to collect these signatures. She realized the truth of it. Later we went to the home of one of the aunt's relatives. There were two brothers. They said, "We are not for or against Falun Gong. We signed it for you. If anything happens, you should take the responsibility." The aunt said with a forced smile, "I will be responsible for this." Going out of their room, I saw the aunt shed tears. I felt sad also. Another two families said, "This is to support Falun Gong. Otherwise I will not sign." I was surprised that they were so kind. Finally I saw the aunt was very tired after such a long walk. We finished the whole village by the time it was dark. The aunt is over 60 years old, but she kindly walked with me for over 6 hours. With her help, I got 62 signatures. She did her part in supporting human rights and freedom of belief.

One young man in another village wrote several names and put different fingerprints on the petition. He said, "You can write a lot by yourself, they will not check it." I explained to him: Falun Dafa requires Truthfulness. Saying true things only, not lying. Then I crossed out the fake signatures.

Having finished the four villages that were the farthest away, the next targets were the nearby villages. My father has wide social relationships. Many people came to him from far away to ask for a treatment, based on his reputation. On the way there, I thought that if it were anyone but my father, I would not walk so far. I thought that if I tell everybody the issue of the "Co-signed Letter of Appeal," tell them that someone is still practicing Falun Gong openly and with dignity, and many people dared to sign their names to support a Dafa practitioner, that is a validation of Dafa.

At noon, I passed by one house two times. I thought there must be a predestined relationship, so I knocked on the door. A woman came to the door and said in a very weak voice, "please come in!" She fainted right after that. I helped her back into the room. Seeing her lips were a cherry-red color, I knew that she was suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. I quickly turned off the coal gas, opened the windows, and waved two cloths in the room to help the air circulate. After a while, she woke up, and could talk, but was still very weak. So I called some of her family members. At 12 o'clock, I sat down to send forth righteous thoughts. A few minutes later, her brother-in-law came in. Seeing me sending forth righteous thoughts, he said, "He is a Falun Gong practitioner." They did not thank me but asked, "How did you get in?" I explained what had happened. Her brother-in-law said, "Without you, would she have died?!" I answered with a smile, "She may not have died, but the poisoning could have been much worse." They relaxed. Her brother-in-law has many friends who work in the police department. He said, "A relative of mine does not have even one cent, but still went to Beijing to appeal. After coming back, you fellow practitioners offered a few hundred Yuan to help out [Yuan is Chinese currency, the monthly salary for an average Chinese urban worker is about 500 Yuan]. That's unbelievable!"

He also said, "My mother practices Falun Gong. No matter how I try to persuade her not to, she still does it. I frequently interrupt her." I said, "You should not disturb her. Have you seen the changes in her before and after she learned Falun Gong?" He said, "Yes!" Then he told his sister, "Falun Gong practitioners go to Tiananmen Square just to shout 'Falun Dafa is good!'" Seeing things were OK, they wanted to go. He said to his sister, "Falun Gong people are the best. Let him take care of you for a while, we will be at ease." Then they left. So I stayed, and took the chance to tell her how Dafa turned people peaceful, compassionate, and tolerant. Two hours later, her father came back. He knows my father. I asked for a signature, and he signed without hesitation. The lady however, even though I saved her, dared not sign.

The second day, I heard that police were arresting Dafa practitioners again. So I collected signatures in my own village. Two aunts did not understand Dafa, and said the practice led to persecution and trouble to families. I clarified the truth of Dafa to them, told them what my family has suffered. Their kind side appeared. They said that they hoped my father would come home soon, and that I would reach more families. They also signed their own names. I found our strong righteous thoughts have the power to rectify their minds that has been deceived by lies.

I went to another house and met an old couple. After listening to my introduction, the gentleman signed both of their names and said: I haven't written anything for over 40 years. I'm sorry that my handwriting looks ugly! We were both happy. I then went to a construction site. Over thirty people were putting up a building. I introduced myself; two elder gentlemen knew me. One of them had just had surgery in my home one month ago. They said, "Please come and sign your names to rescue our Good Doctor." So all the construction workers came, one uncle wrote their names, and the rest left their fingerprints one by one. In a short while, most of the heads of the households in the village had signed their names. One aunt invited me to sit down to take a break, she asked me the about truth of the 'Tiananmen Immolation.' I clarified the truth to her in detail. The aunt was hesitant to sign at the beginning, but she finally signed.

Two days later, I went to the home of my uncle (my mother's brother). Mum called me saying that the situation was very tense, and asked me not to do anything. For about three weeks, I felt my body and my space were gradually becoming isolated. I felt oppressed.

It happened before when I did not do Fa-rectification work for 20 days. Fear and the mentality of seeking ease and comfort would appear. Suddenly I thought of my experience of being deceived by the lies. In that state, I did not feel it was bad. But after I woke up, I felt that I had nothing, only an empty shell was left there. I clearly recognized the old forces. They made use of my fear of death to mislead me until I was forced to curse Teacher. The old forces' purpose is to destroy me. It's all because of my attachment to the fear of death. I deeply regret that I had let our Teacher down. But our compassionate Teacher saved me one more time. I swear to Teacher that I will start over from the beginning and take part in the Fa-rectification process. I woke up. I knew I should keep on doing what I had not completed.

I talked with my uncle. He said, "You'd better go to some far away villages. Over there it's not easy even if somebody wants to report you." The second day, I rode a bicycle to the foot of a hill. I wondered if people over here knew my father, how could I verify Dafa to them? But Dafa has given us wisdom. At each household, I directly told them that my father is a very good person who practices Falun Gong, practices Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance, and that persecution of him is a persecution of human rights and freedom of belief. Surprisingly, over 30 people signed after hearing the facts.

Early the next morning I rode my bicycle to Village 2. (There are five villages in the area. Local Dafa practitioners did not go to Villages 3, 4, and 5 in the years they were spreading Dafa). As soon as I arrived, it started to rain lightly. I helped two families in harvesting their corn. Though they did not sign, they said they were not against Dafa. I told them the truth of Dafa. I thought if I helped them, the effect would be better...

á

The third day, I thought I should try to visit more villages. At noon, I arrived at a corn -grinding mill. There were about 9 people there. I introduced myself in a loud voice. Three aunts even knew my father, and there were two fellow Dafa practitioners there as well. They helped others sign their names. We talked together, and told them the miracles of Dafa in curing diseases. I told them of the atrocities Jiang's regime has committed in persecuting Falun Gong, and of the magnificent situation of Falun Gong outside of China. They all felt that practicing Falun Gong was a very good thing, and that the government should not ban it. An aunt said, "If you wait here, almost all the village's families will come to process their corn. We will help to persuade them." Not long after, about 7 people came, they all signed after we explained the situation. They asked me, "How did you come here, where do you live, why aren't you going to school?" I told them how I was expelled from school; they all showed sympathy. One senior said, "It is not worth your degree just for the sake of Falun Gong." All others told her, "Falun Dafa is good." In about two hours, over 20 people signed. I held my palms together to say farewell to them.

Early next morning, I went back home. Mom said she would go to visit father in about one week. (Mom went three times to visit father, but was not allowed to see him even once). My elder sister said on the phone that she would go to visit father too. I asked sister to encourage father, tell him that all the people showed concern for him. I continued to collect signatures. At that moment, I heard from several aunts that my father had been released, all the villagers said so. When patients came to my home for a treatment, my mother would tell them the truth of Dafa. Many of them volunteered to sign their names to rescue my father. Some had fear in their minds, but my mother told them, "Just kindly wish in your mind the Doctor will come home earlier, that's enough!"

That day I went out again to collect signatures. Suddenly I saw Teacher's Law-Body sitting in the sky over our village. The hundreds of square kilometer area encompassing our village was under Teacher's powerful energy field. I realized that Teacher has arranged everything for us. Only in this dimension, my flesh body is collecting signatures. A great confidence suddenly appeared in my mind.

To summarize my signature collecting: I visited over 1000 households, and collected over 660 signatures from kind-hearted people. I am happy and sad. I am sad because I made many mistakes even though Teacher protected me at all times. I hope fellow practitioners can learn from my mistakes.

Fellow practitioners asked me to write down the biggest thing I've learned. My answer is: Study Dafa routinely when you are doing Fa-rectification work; Clarify the truth with your righteous thoughts and actions, and using your heart; Remember--all things are done by our Teacher, time is precious, please cherish this human body.

When my sister and mother took the signatures to the detention center in which my father was detained, the officers would not accept them. They took the opinions of people as nothing. The forced labor camp called the police department and said, "he is seriously sick, he almost died here last night!" For this reason, my father was released after being detained for over 50 days. During the detention period, police officers tried to coerce my father into writing the "Five Letters" [promising not to practice Falun Gong, stating their regret over practicing in the past, declaring their separation from Falun Gong, etc.]. My father replied, "I am not afraid of being beaten up or dying!" Having no other choice, the police released him.

June 22, 2003

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/6/22/52656.html

 Yearly Archive   Printer Version