June 16, 2013 | By Dachun, a practitioner from Liaoning Province
(Minghui.org) I am now 44 years old and have spent half of my life in prisons or detention centers, having been incarcerated six times for criminal activity. On the sixth occasion, a miraculous experience completely changed my life.
Obtaining Dafa in detention
I was taken to a forced labor camp in 2004, shortly after being released from prison. I was placed into a team consisting of Falun Dafa practitioners. The head guard used criminals like me to monitor them. I knew nothing about Falun Dafa except from what I’d heard from the guards. I didn’t understand them. I believed the guards, so I often helped them to persecute the practitioners and participated in monitoring them for three years. No matter how cruelly and viciously we treated them, they never showed any hatred towards us for it. They often advised us to not blindly follow along in the persecution, because of the harm we’d accrue. They also explained the truth about the propaganda that smeared Falun Dafa, including the staged self-immolation at Tiananmen Square. They all described how wonderful Falun Dafa was and spoke about the benefits.
The Dafa practitioners often touched my heart with their kindness, tolerance and consideration of others in all situations. I was torn between belief and doubt: Was Falun Dafa really this good? Were there really gods and divine beings? One day, I truly believed them and did as they suggested, and truly experienced the supernatural nature of Falun Dafa. My life completely changed at that moment.
At around 12:00 a.m. on December 23, 2006, I felt unbearable pain in the lower right of my abdomen. I rolled back and forth on my bed, and my head sweated profusely. Inmates suspected that I was was having an appendicitis attack and urged me to go to the hospital. A Falun Dafa practitioner who slept near me suggested instead for me to recite with a sincere heart: “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” He said that this would definitely benefit me. I thought that if this worked, what was the point of having a hospital? I didn’t take his words seriously. I was taken to the camp’s hospital and diagnosed with acute appendicitis. An immediate operation was necessary, otherwise my life would be in danger. The cost for this operation was 5,000 yuan. I’d been thrown into prison six times already, and my family had deserted me a long time ago. They wouldn’t even provide 500 yuan. With no other resort, I recalled what that practitioner told me and decided to give it a try. With a sincere heart, I started thinking, “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” To my surprise, the pain suddenly stopped just as I finished the third recitation. I felt my lower abdomen go instantly ice-cold – it was so amazing. The feeling at that moment was beyond description. The guard saw me suddenly become well as if nothing had happened. He was very angry and scolded me for pretending to be sick.
I was excited after coming back to the cell. I told the practitioner what had happened. He replied happily, “Falun Dafa can save one’s life. As long as one truly believes that Falun Dafa is good, the Master of Falun Dafa will help him.” I said, “Gods really exist! Falun Dafa is truly miraculous. I want to study Falun Dafa. I will definitely study Falun Dafa after I get home.” He told me, “Start right now. When you get home and get in touch with your friends, you might change your mind and miss the opportunity. I have a copy of Zhuan Falun written by practitioners from memory. Take it to read.”
I started reading the book. More miracles occurred a few days later. I used to smoke almost two packs of cigarettes a day. I failed many times in my efforts to drop that addiction. After I studied Falun Dafa, I suddenly couldn’t smoke cigarettes any longer. I got rid of that addiction with no difficulty, no pain. The process was just like it is described in Zhuan Falun . I used to curse as naturally as I talked. Suddenly, I stopped cursing, and even felt uncomfortable hearing others curse. This was also similar to how Zhuan Falun describes the situation “The Buddha-light illuminates everywhere and rectifies all abnormalities” (Zhuan Falun) that occurs when one’s morality ascends. At the same time, I also experienced a light body free of illness, which was described in the book as well. When practitioners learned that I was about to complete my prison term, they advised me again and again, “Be sure to connect with practitioners after your release and get a copy of Zhuan Falun .”
Understanding the greatness of Dafa
I met practitioners in my local area soon after my release. I got a copy of Zhuan Falun and started practicing Falun Dafa. As I continuously read the book, its broad and profound principles helped me to truly understand how to be a genuinely good person, as well as the principle of good being rewarded and bad being punished. I realized why practitioners had such unshakable faith in the face of such brutal persecution that they would risk their own safety to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa. They had experienced its wonders and knew, as genuinely good persons, that they should show its wonders and explain the facts about it to those deceived by the lies of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and who held hatred towards Falun Dafa or participated in persecuting practitioners. Only by understanding the truth, were people able to avoid disaster and secure their lives when the heavens punish the CCP and those who persecute practitioners. I admire Falun Dafa; it is such a great law of high virtue that it enables people to reach a noble realm. I regretted my ignorance and all the wrongdoing that I’d committed in the past. At the same time, I felt fortunate for obtaining such a great law that will help me become a good person, and even become a cultivator who can achieve a higher realm than even a good person.
Becoming a genuine practitioner
I decided to become a true practitioner and to always discipline myself with the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I no longer contacted those friends whom I used to hang out with to commit wrongdoing. I told them that I’d started practicing Falun Dafa and wanted to become a genuinely good person. I explained the facts about Falun Dafa and also advised them to do good. I was no longer among those who fought, stole and swindled. I’d stopped smoking and no longer involved myself in inappropriate relationships with women. I helped my parents with housework daily. When my neighbors left their garbage bags at their doors, I’d take them when I went out and threw them away. I also got a stable job. One time, I went home with my pay and found a fake 100-yuan bill. I would have spent it before, but now that I practiced Falun Dafa, I knew not to harm other people. Whoever received a fake bill would feel sad, so I tore it up and threw it away.
People sometimes bullied me at my workplace. I wouldn’t have tolerated it in the past, and I was the one who bullied others before. Now, I was a practitioner.
Master said,
“As a practitioner, the first thing you should be able to do is to not fight back when you are beaten or sworn at—you must be tolerant. Otherwise, what kind of practitioner will you be?” (Zhuan Falun)
When I thought about it, I became tolerant and my mind was peaceful.
Witnessing my changes, my parents told everyone they met, “Falun Dafa taught my son to be good.” Whenever they met people who misunderstood or defamed Falun Dafa, they used my case as an example to clarify the truth. Their righteous deeds brought them blessings. My mother used to suffer from asthma and had to go to the hospital for intravenous injections every winter. Now she no longer needs medicine. The bone spurs on her knees also disappeared without her noticing it.
My neighbors and others who knew me were amazed by the tremendous changes in me. They wondered what kind of force could turn a man who’d committed all kinds of crimes into a good person. Even six prison terms had failed to turn me into a good person, whereas a Falun Dafa book made me a genuinely good person!
Actively clarifying the truth
There were also those who didn’t understand me. They understood that I’d stopped committing wrongdoing, but felt that I was participating in a political group. Subsequently, they stayed away from me and didn’t want to be involved in case I was targeted by the CCP. I felt sad, because I knew that we’re not a political group, and even less do we want to seize power from the CCP. We are simply a group of kind practitioners. I shared my personal experiences to explain the facts about Falun Dafa to people around me.
I was questioned as to why we were against the CCP’s decision to ban Falun Dafa and persisted in practicing Falun Dafa. Additionally, why did we distribute materials everywhere and persuade people to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations? I explained that the reason they thought negatively about Falun Dafa was because they didn’t know the truth about Falun Dafa and were deceived by the CCP’s propaganda. I informed them that there were millions of practitioners from all walks of life. Why would they persevere in their practice at the cost of being thrown into prison? What was at the core of their actions? I suggested that it was worth their thinking about it with a calm mind. Every practitioner benefitted from Falun Dafa and experienced its wonderful and supernatural nature. How could they believe those claims that Falun Dafa was not good? With such wonderful results, why would they stop practicing even when the CCP told them to stop?
The CCP fabricated so many lies to deceive them, and made them hate Falun Dafa and practitioners, so they didn’t dare to get close to us. They knew that Falun Dafa was good and the CCP was bad, yet were still afraid of being persecuted by the CCP if they spoke a few words in support of Dafa. Falun Dafa is a cultivation practice of Buddha Law, and is a serious matter. Practitioners cultivate Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, so they of course speak the truth and consider others first. Otherwise, where would Compassion manifest? We distribute informational materials to expose the lies propagated by the CCP, so that they could see its evil nature and would not follow it to defame Falun Dafa and persecute practitioners. At the same time, we also shared the wonders of Falun Dafa that we’d experienced and hoped that they could also benefit. We explained the facts for their benefit; did we do anything wrong?
Out of compassion, we advised them to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. The CCP has ruled China for over 60 years. Atheism and the philosophy of struggle were promoted during its reign. The CCP told people that gods did not exist and there was no heaven, no hell, no good rewarded nor bad being punished. This caused the drastic degeneration of Chinese people’s morality. Pornography, gambling and drugs have been spread widely. Corruption has even become fashionable. People no longer trust each other and stop at no evil to make a profit. Five thousand years of traditional Chinese culture has been destroyed. The CCP philosophy of struggle has resulted in the murder of so many innocent people, who were killed during the great Cultural Revolution, the Tiananmen Square massacre, and so on. Divine beings know of all these bloody debts that must be repaid. Now, the CCP is persecuting Falun Dafa practitioners who cultivate Buddha Law. They have torn apart their families, killed them and harvested their organs while still alive – for huge profits. The CCP is steeped in evil and deserves damnation. Will gods and buddhas allow it to exist for long? We have a saying: An evildoer will ultimately be punished by heaven if he is not punished by humans; when the time arrives, one will receive what he deserves. If you joined the CCP and its affiliated organizations, then you are a part of the evil. When heaven eliminates the CCP, you will be eliminated with it since you are a part of it. Practitioners risk their lives to tell you that only by withdrawing from the CCP and its affiliated organizations, will gods and Buddhas be able to protect you when heaven punishes the CCP. Practitioners are telling you a heavenly secret. Aren’t they saving you? How could this be connected with politics?
Arrested again, this time for upholding Dafa
I was arrested in December, 2009 for distributing Falun Dafa informational materials. The police asked me, “Why did you distribute materials?” I answered, “In order to help people understand the facts about Falun Dafa.” “Aren’t you afraid of being arrested?” “No, because I’m doing good deeds and saving those who are deceived by lies. In fact, you are the ones who are truly afraid. If you’re not afraid, why won’t you let people see these materials?” They were silent. After a while, they asked, “Where did you get those materials?” I said, “I will not tell you, otherwise, you’ll persecute another good person. You will then commit more crimes against Dafa.” I continued to explain the facts about Falun Dafa, and shared how I’d restored my morality and improved my health after practicing Falun Dafa. I told them about the wonders of Falun Dafa and how it builds practitioners who display great compassion and forbearance. I asked why there was no incidence of violence from practitioners, despite the persecution lasting over ten years. Certainly not because practitioners were cowardly, but rather that practitioners have great forbearance. The officers said that they knew all about this, but had no choice since the CCP ordered them to persecute practitioners. I was illegally sentenced to a two-year term and taken to a forced labor camp for the seventh time. I truly saw what true righteousness was, and also what true evilness through this incident. My heart became more firm in cultivating Buddha Law.
In the camp, the guards ordered me to stand facing a wall, which I did not obey. They asked me why I refused to follow their orders. I told them that Chinese law stipulates freedom of belief, so I hadn’t committed a crime by practicing Dafa. Ordering me to stand facing a wall infringed my human rights. They ordered me to wear a prison uniform, but I told them that the uniform was for criminals and that I was innocent. They ordered me to do labor. I told them that I strived to be a good person, yet the CCP took me to the camp to persecute me. I told the guards, “I am not making trouble for you. The rules here were prepared for true criminals, not for good people. Following your arrangements is the same as acknowledging that I committed crimes, and this also means that I allowed you to participate in the persecution. This will do harm to you because those who persecute good people will receive retribution.”
I once went to the bathroom without reporting to the guard first. The guard called me back and asked why I hadn’t requested permission. I answered that going to a bathroom was my right, and asked whether he needed to ask for permission to use the bathroom. Why did I dare to speak so boldly to them? I knew that the Falun Dafa I practiced was the most righteous practice and was embraced in over 100 countries and territories. By comparison, the CCP’s actions were exceedingly disgraceful.
A guard asked, “Can’t you be a good person without practicing Falun Dafa?” I said, “No, I can’t. I was imprisoned six times before, and that didn’t turn me into a good person. Instead, I became even worse because you guards are not good. You directed inmates to monitor other inmates. You cursed, beat us and accepted bribes from inmates.” The guard asked without shame, “Do you have any proof?” I replied confidently, “I’m the best proof. I bribed guards with money and stuff when I was imprisoned before I practiced Falun Dafa.” The guards immediately turned around and left.
A guard told me, “The CCP also has good people, like Lei Feng.” I said, “The CCP has 70 million members, but how many Lei Fengs does it have? Every single Falun Dafa practitioner is better than Lei Feng.” [Note from editor: The Lei Feng in reality was not like what the CCP propagated. Almost all models set up by the CCP were fabrications.] The guard said, “The CCP’s guiding principle is to serve people wholeheartedly.” I asked him, “Did you join the CCP in order to serve people wholeheartedly?” He immediately responded, “You practitioners are really skilled in debating. I cannot win against you.” I said, “It’s not that we are skilled in debating. We have the truth at hand and what we say is true and reasonable.”
The guards explored every avenue in their attempts to make me give up my beliefs. I told them, “Falun Dafa has remolded me into a good person. If you make me give up this practice, I would be like I was before, committing all sorts of bad deeds.” An inmate once offered me a bankcard with a balance of 20,000 yuan ($3,262 USD) to trade me for giving up my belief. His reward would be a three-month reduction of his term if he succeeded. I asked him, “Would you betray your benefactor for 20,000 yuan?” He said, “You can lie and say that you’ll stop practicing Falun Dafa, then resume the practice once you’re released.” I said, “We cultivate Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, how could we lie? I can deceive human beings, but am I able to deceive divine beings?”
I knew that people were deceived by lies and didn’t understand the truth about Falun Dafa. We have to follow principles taught by Falun Dafa and conduct ourselves correctly in order to convince them that Falun Dafa is good. We can then truly save them. I strictly followed the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. An inmate was arrested for buying pornographic DVDs. He had only one arm and couldn’t wash his own clothes, so I helped him, including with his underwear. He was grateful: “Thank you. Good people like you no longer exist nowadays.” I said, “You should instead thank the Master of Falun Dafa, Li Hongzhi. He told us to help others and treat others kindly. If I had not studied Falun Dafa, I would not have helped you.” He said, “I will definitely study Falun Dafa after I am released.” I was truly happy for him.
My family and I sincerely thank Falun Dafa and Master Li Hongzhi for saving me and changing me into a good person who can truly benefit society. I also sincerely hope that those who still believe the CCP’s lies and hold hatred and misunderstanding towards Falun Dafa will instead read Zhuan Falun and informational materials about Falun Dafa, and listen to practitioners’ words. You can also experience the wonderful feeling of becoming a good person and being free of illness. I hope that all people remember in their hearts the words “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations, and choose a wonderful future for themselves.
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