Braving the Storm with My Head Held High (Part 1)

1. Predestined to practise Faun Dafa

On the morning of July 12th, 1996 I woke up and saw two books on the coffee table in the living room. One of them was Falun Gong, and the other one was Zhuan Falun. At the time I didn't know their names since they were wrapped up, but I knew that I wanted to read them. This seemed a bit strange, though, since I was a person who didn't read anything aside from textbooks. Later I learnt that a Falun Gong practitioner had loaned the books to my mother when she practising the Faun Gong exercises in the park.

As I started reading, I knew I had finally found something for which I had been searching for many years. I cannot put into words how excited I was. The moment before I opened the books I was a hard-line atheist, but several pages later, I had realised the meaning of being human is to return to one's true original self. I learnt that people can change themselves for the better and be forever freed from illness and death through the practise of cultivation. I learnt why people should conform to the principles of Truth-Compassion-Tolerance, and why people should care about their morality and their character. More than a decade of atheistic theories instilled in my head completely fell apart, and my heart was moved countless times by Master's Fa principles. I thought, "Master, I will cultivate myself according to Truth-Compassion-Tolerance, and I will return to my true original self!"

2. Cultivate in Falun Dafa with determination and closely follow Master

The next morning I followed mother to a practise site. It was the first day they were teaching the exercises, so I learnt them right then and there.

In 1997, a certain university accepted me into their law school because of my outstanding grades. There was no practise site at my university. Since the Guangming Daily incident in 1996 [the Guangming Daily published a deceptive article attacking Falun Dafa], a few university officials forbade Falun Gong practitioners from doing the exercises at school. I practised on my own.

On the 20th of July, 1999, a historically unprecedented persecution began. China was shrouded in an atmosphere of terror. The morning of July 20th, 1999, my mother and I went to the practise site as usual, and we saw police in uniform and plainclothes police everywhere. It was mother's turn to teach the Falun Gong exercises. When we got home, my father was furious; he struck me to the ground with a four-edged wood club and pointed it at my nose and asked, "Will you still practise Falun Gong?" Looking at my father straight in the eyes, I gave a firm answer, "Yes!" He put the club away and never hit me since. He said beating didn't work on me.

Soon after I returned to school from summer break, the university officials had a talk with me during which they threatened to expel me if I didn't give up my belief. I was an excellent student and my grades were the highest in my department, yet I was to be expelled only because of my belief in Truth-Compassion-Tolerance! At that time, Falun Gong practitioners in China were forced to choose between their faith and career, faith and education, faith and family and sometimes even faith and life!

Master said, "A magnificent cultivator, on the other hand, is able to let go of his Self and even all of his ordinary human thoughts amidst crucial trials." ("Position," Essentials for Further Advancement II) I explained to the school officials the wonders and the facts about Falun Dafa, as well as the illegality of the persecution. One instructor who was assigned to "reform" me learnt the truth about Falun Dafa and asked the school authority to stop persecuting me, but the authorities said he was "not taking a firm stand" and berated him. However, at a class meeting this instructor said, "There is a girl at our school who practises Falun Gong. She is the most intelligent student I have ever taught, and she always persists in her belief."

In early June 2000, I stood in Tiananmen Square and shouted to the whole universe, "Stop persecuting Falun Dafa!"

Officials from my university took me back to school

Some fellow practitioners helped me get in touch with a Falun Dafa materials production site in my city. I used all my spare time to study the Fa (universal law, the teachings in Falun Dafa). I studied as many as nine chapters of Zhuan Falun in one day, and I was never tired although I slept only about 10 minutes a day. I took the bus to the Dafa materials production site and picked up hundreds of leaflets by myself. I separated the leaflets and went to faculty dormitories, student dormitories, staff residential areas and to the communities surrounding the university. Two security officers were guarding each building at night, but I successfully delivered the leaflets without any difficulty.

I realised I was not an ordinary person doing things for Falun Dafa. Rather I was a Falun Dafa practitioner doing things for Dafa, and there are fundamental differences between the two. An ordinary person does things with a show-off mentality, a competitive mentality or the desire to achieve a certain goal, while a Dafa practitioner offers salvation to deceived people with the compassion Falun Dafa bestows on them and by constantly eliminating attachments and degenerate notions. A Dafa practitioner does the work but is not attached to the outcome. I gave out every leaflet with a pure and compassionate heart, and I also sent forth righteous thoughts, "Eliminate the evil's persecution of Dafa! Let predestined people learn the truth about Dafa." The leaflets were rarely torn up or thrown away. Sometimes right after I posted the leaflet on a door, someone would immediately start reading it.

During the process of revealing the facts about Falun Dafa to people, several people started to practise Falun Dafa and we distributed the leaflets together. We left home after sending forth righteous thoughts, and no matter how many people we encountered in the streets, we always openly posted leaflets and hung up Dafa banners. One person did the posting or hanging while the rest of us sent forth righteous thoughts. Once, other practitioners went home and I was the only one distributing leaflets. Suddenly I felt very tall; the city and the whole earth felt very small in comparison. My whole body felt empty and I was completely void of fear. I knew Master was helping me.

In May 2001, a friend of mine who worked as a tour guide asked me to help with daily translations for the CEO and managers of a company owned by the family of a powerful American politician. I was writing my dissertation at the time, but I thought it was a good opportunity to clarify the truth, so I went. Arriving at the country villa, I openly carried Zhuan Falun (unwrapped) with me all the time. The staff at the villa looked shocked at my boldness, but I smiled and told them the truth about the persecution. They listened. It was a little difficult to clarify the truth to the Americans, and I used almost all the words I could think of. I also gave them the URL of the Clearwisdom website, and they liked Falun Dafa. Later, the CEO of the company sent me an e-mail in which he said, "Bless you and your book!"

One night, some security officers called for me. They pointed at the Falun Dafa informational VCDs on a table and said, "You should know that we are closely connected with the city police department!" I didn't feel the slightest fear, because their threats had no effect on a Falun Dafa practitioner. As a Falun Dafa practitioner, my mission is to save people and it's not to suffer persecution. I solemnly clarified the truth to them with benevolence, and in the end they nodded and said they now knew the facts. Only one person was very stubborn. He walked me home and when we parted, he suddenly said, "Truth-Compassion-Tolerance is really good!" Although I could not see his face in the dark, I felt the genuine gratitude of a person whose heart was illuminated by the benevolence of Falun Dafa. I was again moved beyond words by Master's benevolence!

When I returned to school, all my classmates were worrying about the dissertation. I wrote the draft in one afternoon, 20,000 words in all, and spent another day and night to complete the written dissertation. I received the highest overall score in my department after successfully defending my dissertation during the stressful verbal portion of the process.

3. Validating Falun Dafa amidst the storm

(1) Coordination as a whole body

In late October 2001, during the flag-hoisting ceremony in Tiananmen Square, I held up a banner with red characters and a yellow background that read, "Falun Dafa is good" and shouted, "Falun Dafa is good! Falun Dafa is a righteous Way! Restore Dafa's reputation! Restore Master's reputation!" A police officer snatched the banner from behind me and stuffed it in my mouth. I pulled the banner out and shouted to the crowd, "The government staged the Tiananmen Square Self-immolation!" The police shoved me into a car and drove me to the Qianmen Police Department in Beijing. They put me in a cage used only to hold practitioners who appeal for Falun Dafa on Tiananmen Square. More than ten Dafa practitioners were arrested that day, and many other practitioners came and left safely. We shared our experiences and sent forth righteous thoughts.

In the evening, we were sent to the Fangshan District Detention Centre. After exchanging our understandings, we realised we should not cooperate with the evildoers and decided to hold a group hunger strike to resist the evil persecution. We are a whole body and we must advance together. Two practitioners didn't want to hold a hunger strike; one of them was about to be transferred to a prison and the other one thought she was about to be released. Several days later, the practitioner who was supposed to be released was instead sent to a forced labour camp. When the guards came to escort a practitioner to the force-feeding room, we stood in front of that practitioner and would not let the guards take her away. Seeing us protect a fellow practitioner with our bodies, the practitioner who was about to be sent to a prison was very moved. She said we were the only practitioners among those she has encountered who did this for a fellow practitioner. She later joined us in appealing Falun Dafa.

Once, the guards dragged us outside individually and beat us. They put handcuffs and shackles (weighing more than 10 lbs) on us. They connected the handcuffs and the shackles behind our backs. This torture was called "backward stringing." Our bodies were forced into the shape of an ellipse. We experienced great physical agony if we stayed in any position for more than a few seconds. It would have been hard to endure if we didn't have righteous faith in Dafa. It felt as if time had slowed down as I gritted my teeth and endured. I clearly knew that I must completely do away with the old force's arrangements. I recited Lunyu (preface to Zhuan Falun) in my heart again and again. When I remembered that Master bears the actual hardship for us while I was only enduring a little physical pain, I couldn't hold back my tears. The next day, a miracle happened: all pains disappeared, and my arms and legs felt as if they were stretched out flat in front of my body instead of being tied up behind me. In the evening, the guards unlocked the handcuffs and shackles because they realised nothing could change Dafa practitioners' righteous faith in Dafa.

I was able to do as Master had said, "...just by having your heart unaffected you will be able to handle all situations." ("Eliminate Your Last Attachments," Essentials for Further Advancement II) I knew Master was right beside me and he was protecting me!

Nine days into the hunger strike, police officers from my hometown picked me up and planned to take me back on a train. While on the train I had two dreams, the gist of which is I still have unfinished tasks and cannot leave yet. I knew dreams cannot guide my cultivation, and I must understand Fa principles and regard the Fa as the teacher. I am a Fa rectification Dafa disciple and I absolutely cannot walk the path arranged by the old forces. I still have much Fa-validating work to do. I asked Master to help me as I looked inward to find my attachments. I discovered that I was afraid of the persecution that may be awaiting me should I fail to escape. I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate that fear.

When the train stopped, I escaped right in front of three police officers, and again I validated the magnificence of Dafa.

(To be continued)