I started to practise Falun Dafa in late 1998. At the time my mother was already practising, and encouraged me to take up the path of cultivation. When I read the Falun Gong teachings in Zhuan Falun I felt great, but I was very busy with taking care of my young child. I told myself, "When I have time I will study the Falun Dafa teachings and practise the the Falun Dafa exercises diligently." One autumn day, my mother told me that there would be a Falun Dafa experience sharing conference in the area, so I went.
Thousands of people squeezed into the large conference hall, and as the "PuDu" music played there was an aura of unexplainable comfort. Practitioners' experience sharing really moved me. I felt that Zhuan Falun is truly a divine book, which turned this previous fighter into a benevolent person. I was an ill-tempered and self-centred person who became a reasonable and considerate lady. When I got home I kept thinking about the scene, and I decided the time had come, I should start cultivating.
After reading Zhuan Falun and practising the Falun Dafa exercises, my corrupt thoughts gradually began to take a turn for the better. I developed an open and cheerful mood, and I understood how to view things from others' perspectives, and to be more considerate. My mother encouraged me, which helped me to be steadfast in my cultivation.
The April 25th appeal by 10,000 practitioners occurred shortly after I began cultivating. At the time I felt that it had nothing to do with me since I did not know what was going on. On the 20th of July, 1999, when the persecution began, a few of us were studying the Falun Dafa teachings together when a practitioner from another village told us that Falun Dafa was about to be banned, and that many practitioners were on their way to Beijing to peacefully appeal to the government for their unlawful decision. We couldn't see a reason why such a great practise should be banned, so we went as well. In Huludao City, the four of us were arrested by plainclothes policemen and sent to the police station. Later many more practitioners who had travelled to Beijing were also detained there.
Whilst in Beijing I met an older lady from Jianchang City. She told us of her cultivation experiences, and told us not to be afraid. When an old police officer said many disrespectful things about Master, I didn't know how to reply to him. That old lady told him sternly, "You have never even read the books, so stop this nonsense." The police officer suddenly stopped and never mentioned this subject again. I felt much respect for her courage in safeguarding Falun Dafa.
After the local authorities took us home they forbid us to practise Falun Dafa or go to Beijing, and they confiscated our Falun Dafa books. Then they took our proof of identification and closed down our practise site. Whenever I turned on the TV, there were false cases depicting murder and suicide that slandered Falun Gong. I was confused, was this possible? According to everything in Zhuan Falun, the reports on TV seemed very doubtable. But there was no channel for justice. People both within and out of my family began to treat me like a hated enemy, hurling insults and ridicule, and treating me most disrespectfully. At that time I thought the world was very cruel and I had no place in it. So I went to my mother and shared my questions and anxieties with her. She said, "How can Dafa be fake? Through practising Falun Dafa, my illnesses have been cured and my body revitalised. The stuff on TV is just nonsense." After hearing my mother's words I felt reassured. When the worldly people misunderstood, I could clarify the truth to them according to Master's words. I once again began to read Zhuan Falun and secretly practised the Falun Dafa exercises at home.
As the persecution escalated, one day a fellow practitioner came to our place. She was young and pretty. Because she validated Dafa, her workplace completely cut off her salary. She told us of the situations outside, how many practitioners were arrested and beaten, and how some were even tortured to death. Since there was no place to appeal, many practitioners continued going to Beijing and to Tiananmen Square to determinedly validate Dafa.
Falun Dafa practitioners' inspiring words and deeds touched me, and I also wanted to go to Beijing. On December 18th, 2000, I boarded a train to Beijing with another practitioner. When the train arrived at Shanhaiguan City, we were pulled off the train by police and body-searched. The police took our money, banners, and Falun Dafa books that we carried with us. We were then illegally detained in the train station police office waiting to be picked up by our local police.
I found an opportunity and was able to escape. Under the dim light of night, I walked along a road to the south. When I arrived in Qinhuangdao City, I ran into my mother at the train station so we went together to Beijing. We took busses, trains, and even walked to avoid checkpoints. Finally we took a bus headed straight to Tiananmen Square.
There was high security on the square with guards positioned every few steps apart. Before we entered the square a man in military uniform stopped us. My banner was taken away. When my mother tried to get it back she was shoved to the ground. We were taken to a police vehicle, and we heard intermittent shouts from the square, "Falun Dafa is good!" and "Return innocence to our Master!" I was in tears. Fellow practitioners were fearlessly persisting in their beliefs and the truth. They directly faced violence and danger with a cultivator's courage and state of mind.
We were detained in the Fangshan District Detention Centre, where we met Falun Dafa practitioners from all over the country. With different local accents but a common aspiration, we all came to Beijing. We were like family members that hadn't met for a long time. We studied the Falun Dafa teachings, shared cultivation experiences and encouraged each other.
Soon the detention centre was saturated with practitioners. Twenty-five of us were taken by armed police to the Wuqing District Detention Centre in Tianjin. There was a young practitioner from Benxi City, Liaoning Province. She gave up a comfortable life to go to Beijing to validate Falun Dafa three times. She brought a copy of Master's lecture, "Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America." The police took away the lecture but she took it back from them. She gave us an opportunity to study the lecture, and she took the initiative to clarify the facts to the police. She encouraged us to study the Falun Dafa teachings and practise the exercises, and to never give up cultivation no matter how tough the environment is.
The Minghui Weekly (a weekly posting on the Chinese version of the Falun Dafa website Clearwisdom.net) we read now is like a global Falun Dafa Conference. We read each issue with our hearts. Fellow practitioners' experiences were like what we personally went through. We worried when they were detained in prisons, and we were awed and cheered when they turned danger into safety with their righteous thoughts and actions. Although we didn't know each other, Dafa tied us closely together.
Every fellow practitioner should find opportunities to share experiences with other practitioners. It doesn't have to be long. We can see our shortcomings from our fellow practitioners and learn from their strengths. We should do better the three things that Master has asked us to do, and together strive forward diligently.
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