What Goes Around, Comes Around

By a Chinese Falun Dafa practitioner in Germany

My younger sister-in-law is a westerner. After she heard about Falun Dafa and read only a few pages of Falun Gong [An introductory book to Falun Gong], she arbitrarily assured that it was something heretical. She then intended to persuade me to give up my practise. Half a year later, after the evil persecution began in 1999, related reports from overseas TV and radio stations were misled by the propaganda from China. What was reported were only articles that attacked and slandered Falun Gong.

The persecution of Dafa by Jiang's regime has been unceasingly escalating. However, not only have I not given up on Falun Dafa and my cultivation practise but my family members have also started to distribute truth clarifying newspapers and to reveal the truth under the burning sun. When my younger sister-in-law found out about this, she rebuked me loudly: “Falun Gong is banned in China. Why do you still practise it? You don’t think about yourself. But you should at least think about your family! ...?” No matter how I explained, she just would not listen. So, I thought in my mind: “Please do not slander Dafa. It is not good!” Just as I expected, her voice gradually became lower and lower and finally she left by herself.

Since then, my younger sister-in-law has suffered from various hardships in her daily life, her body and her work. It was as if it was some sort of karmic retribution [in traditional Chinese culture, people believed that good deeds are rewarded and bad deeds punished. This is known as karmic retribution. In the west we commonly refer to it as 'what goes around, comes around']. My sister-in-law had all sorts of bad things happening to her. At first, she was found to have a gallstone and had to undergo surgery. Later, she had different complications. Not only that, but after she returned to work, her supervisor began to intentionally make trouble for her. She had no choice but to resign.

Things went from bad to worse! The first words the unemployment bureau said to her were, “You are so elderly (actually she was only 40 years old). It is very difficult for you to find a full time job. Now, there are so many people that are unemployed. You will have to wait for several years.” With great difficulty, my younger sister-in-law managed to make an appointment for an interview with a company. However, the first question of the interview made her feel uncomfortable for quite a few days: “Why did you resign from your previous job? Why is it that a person like you who has such a high level of education wants to join our company?” It seemed to have a heavy toll on her.

Another thing that affected my younger sister-in-law was that the financial help for being unemployment was very small because she resigned from her job via her own initiative. Moreover, the assistance that she was given only lasted for a year [Other unemployed people are usually helped for two years]. The money was just sufficient for her basic monthly expenses so that she, a person who used to be quite fastidious about food and clothing, had to shop at the cheapest stores.

After witnessing all these misfortunes, my 77-year-old mother-in-law could do nothing but look at her daughter’s suffering carrying on day by day until she was unable to eat well or sleep well. During those days, everyone in the family was worried and had a bad temper. It was not unusual for my family members to quarrel over the phone with each other.

My younger sister-in-law had plenty of time for leisure. She felt very stuffy at home and frequently drove to my home for beguilement. It gave me a good opportunity to clarify the true situation of Falun Gong to her. By then, I had already found out the reason for her aggressiveness towards Dafa. Hence, I introduced Dafa to her from various aspects and different perspectives that she would be able to accept. My younger sister-in-law 'worshipped' modern science, so I would clarify the truth to her from this angle. Her body was not in good condition so I then told her stories about people who had been healed by practising Qigong [A modern term for traditional cultivation practices] and I also talked about Chinese traditional medicine. She was interested in Buddhism, so I then talked with her about samsara [The six paths of reincarnation in Buddhism]. I also gave her a flyer that contained the true facts about Falun Dafa and I also played some Falun Dafa music for her. Gradually, she changed her manner towards Dafa and me. Sometimes, she even asked me to show her the movements of the exercises.

One month later, we had a family gathering. Someone suggested that our whole family should go to Beijing to watch the Olympic Games in 2008. But my younger sister-in-law said: “I am not going.”, “Why?” I asked. “Your government is persecuting people like you. They will arrest you. The persecution is now escalating. I would not like to see you be arrested and put in jail.” I was truly amazed at her change of attitude.

My younger sister-in-law always pays attention to the reports about the persecution of Falun Gong in China. As we continue to clarify the truth and send forth righteous thoughts, the overseas media are gradually starting to report the truth of the persecution of Falun Gong. My younger sister-in-law has changed her attitude towards Dafa and has started to treat Dafa in a friendly manner. I really feel happy for her in my heart.

After this, the 'retribution' seemed to go away! Her previous company fired her supervisor and asked her to come back to work for the company. Her salary would be unchanged. A week later, she happily returned to her previous post and started a “new” job.

When receiving the first month’s salary, my sister-in-law was so excited that she made phoned all of us. She also told us that she had remitted 30 Euros to the people in the disaster area who were suffering from the effects of a flood since she had realised how difficult it was when people were in difficult position. I knew that she had already started her brand-new life.

This story raises an interesting question about karmic reward and retribution. If there is indeed karmic retribution, I sincerely hope that those people who persecute Dafa will wake up and realise the truth for their own sake.