(Minghui.org) I began practicing Falun Dafa in 1997, and on the occasion of May 13, World Falun Dafa Day, I’d like to share my story of how the practice taught me to be a good person.
Four Precious Books that Changed My Life
I took a wrong turn in life when I was a young man, and spent my days in decadent, corrupt, and debauched places. I lived my life as if there was no tomorrow, until I was sentenced to life in prison, and incarcerated.
The lengthy prison term hit me hard. I began to reflect on my failed life and asked myself: “Why do people live? How am I going to live?” I started reading, trying to find the answer in books. There were all kinds of people in the prison: Some believed in Buddhism, some believed in other religions, and some studied “Dream of the Red Chamber” (one of the Four Classic Novels of Chinese literature). I borrowed their books and also asked my family to send me “Dao De Jing” (The five-thousand-word book by Lao-zi). I read all of them but did not find the answers I was looking for.
In July 1997, a Buddhist inmate gave me two books, “Lecture Given at the Conference in Sydney” and Zhuan Falun Volume II. I turned the first page in the “Lecture Given at the Conference in Sydney” and saw the photo of Master Li (Falun Dafa’s founder). He looked kind, thus I had a favorable impression, and read it all at once. Master’s expositions on the human body, life, the universe, and the relationship between qigong and cultivation gave me the answers I had been looking for. My mind opened up and I was very happy!
I couldn’t put the books down and I asked the inmate where he got them. He asked me if I thought they were well written, and I said they were excellent! He told me that the books were given by the relatives of an inmate who was about to be released. He didn’t want to take them home and offered them, plus two other books, to anyone who wanted them.
I said, “I want to keep these two and I also want the other two.” We found the inmate and I bought all four books for 25 yuan. The other two were Zhuan Falun and Explaining the Teachings of Zhuan Falun.
Holding the precious books, I told the man, “I’m going to learn Falun Dafa now, and I won’t read Dao De Jing and all the other books. Let’s study together, and you should skip your Buddhist scriptures too.” He replied, “Go ahead read what you want, and I’ll read what I want.” That day I began practicing Falun Dafa.
After reading the Dafa books, I understood the relationship between karma and retribution, and that good deeds are rewarded and bad deeds are punished. I understood that in my case, I was paying for my bad deeds in this lifetime.
Master said,
“A wicked person is born of jealousy. Out of selfishness and anger he complains about unfairness towards himself. A benevolent person always has a heart of compassion. With no discontentment or hatred, he takes hardship as joy. An enlightened person has no attachments at all. He quietly observes the people of the world deluded by illusions.” (“Realms,” Essentials For Further Advancement)
I was a wicked person that ended up in prison, and I wished to cultivate in Dafa to become a good person. I no longer wanted to do bad things, and I hoped to be a practitioner who could meet the standards of Falun Dafa.
The Atmosphere in the Prison Improved
I was the only Dafa practitioner amongst 200 inmates in my prison ward at first. As Falun Dafa became more popular in China, other prisoners borrowed Dafa books from me or asked me to teach them the exercises. Dozens of inmates practiced in my prison ward prior to April 25, 1999 (the day 10,000 Falun Dafa practitioners gathered in Beijing for a peaceful appeal). We organized Fa study groups and listened to Master’s lectures on tape. We also did the exercises outdoors. It was a spectacular scene and the guards came out to watch.
Dafa changed people’s behavior instantly. Many prisoners smoked, drank alcohol, and gambled year round. After they learned the practice, their characters improved and they quit smoking, drinking, and gambling.
Some stopped cursing, pretending to be sick to be absent from prison work, or slacking off, and were proactive in doing prison work. Those who were chronically ill became healthy shortly after they began practicing Dafa. Everyone experienced the amazing influence of Dafa and became diligent in their cultivation. No prisoners liked to clean the workshops and the restrooms, but those who practiced Falun Dafa volunteered to clean them and their names often showed up on the “exemplary deeds” board.
An inmate told me one afternoon, “The prison ward supervisor asked me who is organizing Falun Dafa activities. I told him that you are, so he wants to talk to you.”
I met with the supervisor and he asked, “How many people are learning Falun Dafa in our ward?” I told him the number, and he said, “You’ve all done well. Can you get more people to practice?” I was amused and replied, “We don’t force people to learn the practice, since it’s all based on each individual’s will.”
He understood and said some words of encouragement. I shared them with other practitioners and they were happy to hear it. Our good behavior and Dafa’s positive influence were recognized by others.
Experiencing and Resisting the Persecution
After practitioners’ peaceful appeal on April 25, 1999, the prison prohibited us from practicing and demanded that we turn in all the Dafa books. There were over 200 practitioners at the time, and most of them stopped practicing when we heard the news. I told everyone, “If you don’t want to practice, please don’t turn in the books. I will pay you 10 yuan per book.” I collected two bags of books and stored them in the workshop.
Around that time, the local Falun Dafa coordinator sent me Master’s two articles, “Position” and “Calm” (The Essentials of Diligent Progress II). I followed Master’s suggestions and wrote open letters to the prison and my ward heads. I explained the goodness of Dafa, how forty-some prisoners and myself benefited physically and mentally from the practice, and the good things we did to improve the prison environment. I hoped the leaders would treat us fairly and allow us to continue to practice.
The prison ward supervisor who encouraged me to get more inmates to practice Dafa received my letter, but his attitude had changed 180 degree. His kindness and encouragement were replaced with warnings and threats.
After July 20, 1999, the day the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched the persecution of Falun Dafa, the whole prison seemed to be covered with a black cloth. It was the darkest moment, without a gleam of light. We could no longer play the exercise music, and former practitioners began to behave like non-practitioners. Those who quit drinking or smoking picked up the habits again. Those who stopped cursing swore even more. The CCP turned human beings into demons!
The supervisor ordered all practitioners to take a stand and declare that they would quit the practice. Everyone renounced the practice, including myself. I knew that Dafa is good, and that the persecution was just another CCP campaign.
I continued to read Dafa books secretly, but someone turned me in a few months later. The guard found the books I had hidden, and put me in solitary confinement. They revoked my eligibility for commutation of sentence, and forced me to conduct self-criticism in the prison ward. I renounced the practice again. But Dafa’s principles had already taken root in my heart, and couldn’t be erased by the CCP’s intimidation and persecution. What should I do?
In 2002, practitioners were illegally sentenced and imprisoned, one after another. A practitioner was sent to my prison ward, and I talked to him about my situation. He told me what was happening with the practice inside and outside of China, and explained the relationship between personal cultivation and Fa-rectification cultivation. He shared new lectures with me, and I was in tears when I read “A Prophecy as Reference.”
Master said,
“The process of Master’s Fa-rectification among humans is, as gods see it, just like a process of resurrection.” (“A Prophecy as Reference,” The Essentials of Diligent Progress II)
Master endured so much for us, and what I had done was so disappointing. I became clear-headed and understood what I was supposed to do; I must negate the old forces’ arrangements and make up for the loss I’d caused. I knew that I must return to Dafa and be a upright and dignified practitioner.
I sent a public statement to the prison and the ward heads, nullifying my previous statements on renouncing the practice. I explained they were words said against my will, under intimidation and pressure from the guards. I once again explained the wonders of Dafa, how I benefited from the practice, and why Jiang Zemin, the former CCP leader, persecuted us. I added that I hoped the prison leaders would treat practitioners fairly and allow me to practice.
In response to my letter, the prison ward leader sent inmates to monitor me 24 hours a day, forbade me to have contact with other inmates or meet my relatives, and refused to commute my sentence.
My attachment to fear grew under the suppression. I panicked every day and even felt chilled down to my bones. I was afraid the guards would put me in solitary confinement, beat me, verbally abuse me, and shock me with electric batons.
Thus, I started to send righteous thoughts at all times―as soon as I opened my eyes, while lying down, sitting, walking, and doing labor, until I closed my eyes to sleep. I memorized “Righteous Thoughts” and continued to enlighten to that teaching. I felt my righteous thoughts grow stronger.
I also memorized and recited what I remembered of Master’s lectures. My attachment to fear was completely eliminated in three months. And I truly understood what Master said,
“...you will always find that there is light at the end of the tunnel.” (The Ninth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
I didn’t care whether or not my sentence was commuted or if my relatives could visit me, but understood that these were forms of persecution forced on me by the prison ward, so I negated and refused to accept them. I talked to the prison ward’s supervisor and the prison head about Falun Dafa and the persecution, and asked them to let me practice.
The prison head slapped the table and yelled, “You are not allowed to practice!” I looked at him and replied calmly, “If you don’t let me practice in my cell, then I’ll practice in your office.”
He said with a grin, “I’ll see if you dare!” So I sat on the floor, crossed my legs in the lotus position, performed the mudras (hand movements), and began to meditate. I entered into a state of calm right away, and I heard a voice from far away, “Stand up!”
“Bam!” I was kicked in the face, and blood flowed from my nose. A few more kicks followed and shook my upper body, and then came the fists. The strange thing was none of that hurt, it was as if I wasn’t the one being hit.
I sat there quietly, with no distracting thoughts. The door opened and two inmates took me out. Back in the cell, the inmates looked at me but no one spoke to me. I looked in the mirror and saw that my face was swollen from being kicked, my lips were cut but the blood had dried up. There was blood all over my chest but I didn’t feel any pain. I knew Master was by my side and bore it for me, and I was grateful for his grace and compassion!
I knew I shouldn’t passively accept the mistreatment and that I must validate Dafa while resisting the persecution, because that was the cultivation path arranged by Master. I wanted to continue to write open letters to expose and stop the persecution of practitioners.
Knowing that my letters wouldn’t be on display for everyone to see, I thought of sticking them on the light post located in the middle of the prison yard. This way the prison leaders would definitely notice it.
I tore off the front and back pages of a notebook and wrote twelve large Chinese characters: “Falun Dafa is good! Stop persecuting Falun Dafa!” I shared my idea with other practitioners, and they were encouraged. I said we should all stand in front of the light post and do the exercises in the morning when we went to work, and it would have a greater deterrence against the persecution. They heard what I said but didn’t respond.
Master said,
“But a person always has to enlighten on his own to what he should do in the face of tribulations.” (“Path,” The Essentials of Diligent Progress II)
The next morning I hid the letter and the paper inside my clothes. I followed the crowd out of the rest area and stopped in front of the light post. After sticking the letter and the paper on the post, I began to do the first exercise.
There were over a thousand inmates and guards from different prison wards gathered at the yard. Some inmates saw the paper and read out loud, “Falun Dafa is good! Stop persecuting Falun Dafa!” There voices were so clear that people around them could hear it. Several guards ran over and yelled, “Which ward does he belong to?” Then two guards took me to a solitary confinement cell.
I was locked up for two weeks and then transferred to another prison ward. Practitioners in that ward had already created an environment where they could read Dafa books and exercise freely. I asked them, “I couldn’t practice at the previous ward but I can here. Am I riding on your coattails?” Practitioners replied with a chuckle, “There’s no free ride when it comes to cultivation,” meaning that I had earned it.
Master said,
“The trials that a cultivator goes through are something an ordinary person could not endure. That is why throughout history so few people have succeeded at cultivation and achieved Consummation. Human beings are human beings. At critical moments it is hard for them to let go of their human notions. Instead, they always try to rationalize things. A magnificent cultivator, by contrast, is able to let go of Self and even all of his ordinary human thoughts amidst crucial trials. I congratulate the Dafa cultivators who can come through the Consummation-determining tests. The eternity of your never-ending lives and even your future levels are established by you, yourselves; mighty virtue comes from your own cultivation. Be diligent! This is most magnificent, and it is the greatest privilege.” (“Position,” The Essentials of Diligent Progress II)
Whenever I read this passage, my righteous thoughts become stronger pushing me forward on my cultivation path. I hope my sharing will encourage practitioners. Let us make the most of our lives and not disappoint Master. Let’s walk out of the darkest moment and welcome the arrival of the new universe.
This is my current understanding, please kindly correct me if there is anything inappropriate.
I’m grateful for Master’s merciful deliverance!
(Selected Submission Celebrating the 24th World Falun Dafa Day on the Minghui website)
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