(Clearwisdom.net) I'm a practitioner from Hebei Province in China. I would like to share my cultivation experiences over the past few years.
Clarifying the Truth While Being Detained
The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners was very severe from May to November of 2001. My wife and I were arrested on the same day and detained in a detention center. Our 11-year-old daughter was left alone at home. She had to take care of herself by cooking, going to school and doing her homework all by herself.
While in the detention center, I thought to myself, "I'm here, so I should clarify the truth." I clarified the truth to the criminal prisoners and guards, and exposed how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) fabricates rumors and lies to slander Teacher, Falun Dafa and Dafa practitioners. I told them the facts about the Tiananmen Square self-immolation event, how kind Falun Dafa practitioners are, the spreading of Falun Dafa around the world and the different prophecies.
After learning the truth, many guards understood the Falun Gong practitioners better. However, there were some who didn't want to listen to or believe the truth. Still, I always maintained a good attitude towards them because what I do is really for their benefit. I patiently answered all their questions. When one guard asked me many questions based on the evil propaganda, I answered all of them until his confusion and misunderstanding was gone. Then he said, "You are a teacher, I couldn't convince you." Another guard told me that his wife used to practice Falun Gong. However, he had many questions about the teachings in Zhuan Falun. I answered all of his questions until he was no longer confused. One practitioner detained in the same cell as me went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution and was cruelly force-fed by the guards. I continuously advised the guards to stop their crime and told them the principle of due retribution for good and evil. All the detainees in my cell understood the truth and tried to protect me. Later, I wrote down my cultivation experience and gave it to the guards and detention authorities to read. When a guard asked me why I signed the letters with an alias, I told him, "The meaning of my alias is to let people know the beauty of Falun Dafa." Because I kept righteous thoughts, one guard kept telling his supervisor that my health was poor and gave me a medical examination. Soon I was released, diagnosed as having a "liver problem."
During that period, there were things I did that were not in accordance with the Fa. I wore the prisoner's uniform, did forced labor, allowed them to take a photo of me, signed the sentencing document and paid a 2,000-yuan fine. I did these because I didn't completely deny the old forces' arrangements. After being released, I studied the Fa more diligently and with help of fellow practitioners, I made a public statement denying all the arrangements made by the old forces.
Denying Forced Brainwashing with Righteous Thoughts
I understood that having strong righteous thoughts can only come from having a clear understanding of the Fa. After I was released from the detention center, the school I used to work at only allowed me to work as a janitor (I was an award winning teacher before being detained). The school's top official closely followed the CCP in persecuting practitioners to try to gain political benefits. He suggested to the 610 Office that they make us Dafa practitioners attend a conference that slandered Falun Gong. We denied the arrangement with our righteous thoughts. Many times, four or five policemen dragged my wife into a police car to take her to these types of conferences. During that period of time, I repeatedly found the school officials and requested them to restore my job and pay me my salary, which the school owed me. I also repeatedly wrote letters to them and went to their offices to clarify the truth. I really understood that the evil is afraid of us, not the other way around. What the evil fears most is that their evil nature will be exposed. When I actively looked for the administrators to talk with them, they would try to avoid me.
In August 2003, my wife was arrested again and sentenced to one year of forced labor at the Kaiping Forced Labor Camp of Tangshan City. There while under extreme pressure, she was moved by former practitioners who were "transformed" and wrote a letter to the school principal to admit her "mistake." One day, the principal called me to his office and showed me my wife's letter. At that moment, I felt impatient and said, "I don't want to read it. She wrote the letter under intense pressure and it is not of her own will." He asked, "Do you recognize her handwriting? It is a letter she wrote!" I told him, "This can't trick me, as I know what is happening there." At that moment, I really wanted to tear the letter into pieces. But then I thought, I'm a Falun Gong practitioner, I have to be compassionate. So I told him I would like to bring the letter back home to read it. He agreed and asked me return the letter as soon as possible. When I got back home, I burned the letter.
The next day when the principal learned that I had burned the letter, he became very angry. He yelled at me, "You are not compassionate. You should know the letter was not written to you, but to me. I haven't gotten a chance to let other school leaders read it yet." I was very calm and told him, "Principal, please listen to me. I really care about you. If you had spread that letter that was written under intense pressure, wouldn't you be harming others?" "I will not listen to your explanation. Get out of here! I don't want see you around!" he yelled and pushed me out. A big crowd had gathered in the hallway. A teacher held me and took me away. Since then, no one ever mentioned "transformation" in front of me again.
The Changes in My Family Members
When the persecution first began, my father, mother, brother and sister were influenced by the CCP's propaganda and by what they saw and heard about those who used to be practitioners, but were "transformed" under the persecution. After we clarified the truth to them and validated the Fa with our righteous thoughts and righteous actions, they gradually understood the truth. Later, I helped them publish a statement to void any wrongdoing toward Dafa that they had committed in the past.
Two years ago, I often went to deliver truth-clarification materials to the practitioners in my hometown. Once, a practitioner and I passed by my brother's home on the way to deliver the materials. My brother saw me and told my father that I hadn't stopped at home. My family didn't understand the reason and got mad at me. After I did more to clarify the truth to them and sent them truth-clarification materials, they gradually understood why I didn't stop at home. Every time when I went back home, my father always asked me, "What material did you bring back this time?" When I handed him the truth-clarification materials, he would immediately put on his glasses and read them very carefully. When my uncle passed away, I went back home. One day I saw a torn piece of a Dafa flier that I had distributed the night before, but I couldn't find the other half. Later I learned that my father had already picked up the other half.
Every time I went back home, I always talked about Falun Gong with my father and brother for at least a night. Although they don't practice, they have a very positive understanding about Falun Gong. My father said, "In this world today, I don't see good people any more except for Falun Gong practitioners." My brother said, "Falun Gong practitioners are truly unselfish. They do everything to save others."
The above is only a few of my personal understandings and experiences. Please kindly point out anything that is improper. I'm determined to study the Fa and cultivate myself more diligently so that I will be worthy of Teacher's mighty compassion and saving.