(Shared at 2000 Great Lakes Conference)
[Minghui Net]
Greetings to honorable Master Li!
Greetings to fellow practitioners!
My name is Xu Aihua and I am 64 years old. I obtained Dafa on March 3, 1997. Falun Dafa changed me from a person with multiple diseases to a healthy person, and enlightened me to the true meaning of life. I went to Tiananmen Square May first of this year to validate Dafa. I was arrested and detained for 20 days in the Beijing East City Detention Center. They called me No. 001 because I did not tell them my name. I wrote down my experiences while in custody and published them on "Minghui" on July 10, entitled "Custody Experience of an Elderly Shanghai Female Practitioner in Beijing East City Detention Center." I arrived at Detroit on Nov. 27 after overcoming many difficulties. I cannot describe my happiness being here and meeting everyone.
Since July 20, 1999, the evil forces have desperately persecuted Dafa and brutally suppressed Falun Gong Practitioners. If one wants to continue practicing Dafa, introducing Dafa to others, and validating Dafa, one has to face stern tests and give up every attachment, even his or her life. Master Li said in "Hong Yin": "Has to pass the barriers, demons are everywhere. Bitterness comes all together, and see how does one live." Yet, the evil force will finally be eliminated no matter how crazy they are right now, because we are practicing the Law of the Universe. Those evil forces and evil persons are not even worth a finger to crush.
Now I would like to talk about how three fellow practitioners continued their practice, promoted Dafa to others, and validated Dafa under the desperate suppression of evil forces. I know a female fellow practitioner, at the age of 63. She used to be a lay Buddhist. She obtained Dafa in 1996. She had multiple diseases and even had difficulty walking. After practicing Dafa all her diseases were gone. She could walk with ease and faster than a normal person. She felt deeply the enormous power of Falun Dafa and Master's boundless benevolence. It was impossible to prevent her from practicing Dafa and to ask her to accept the unfair treatment against our Master. She stood firmly by Dafa and by Master Li even though she had to give up everything.
On the morning of July 20, 1999, the police got her out of bed, searched her home, and took her to the local police station. She did not believe what she was seeing since she had done nothing wrong. But she was fearless. In the police station, she sat in a chair and positioned herself in the double lotus posture and kept her back straight. She held "Zhuan Falun" with both hands and read the book, ignoring the screaming insults of the evil people. She was totally unmoved. She was very kind to the other people all the time; they call her "Good Auntie." Because she was not intimated by the evil force, the evil force was suppressed. The second day she was released.
She firmly believes that Falun Dafa is the law the universe, and that nobody can damage it. She knew that to continue practice Dafa, introduce it to others, and to rectify the Fa, she had to be prepared. She knew that she would have to pay a great price, possibly even with her life. She was prepared to give up everything. She has achieved the level of total selflessness. She carries a copy of "Zhuan Falun" with her all the time, and introduces Dafa to others whenever she can. She does not let anyone take "Zhuan Falun" from her even if she has to give up her life. She often gives practitioners Master's new Jingwen (articles written by Master) and related material and organizes study groups. One time she was followed by evil people and arrested. She was jailed and beaten. Her body was covered with bruises and she had difficulty walking. She did not give in. She continued learning Dafa, kept practicing and kept introducing Dafa to others. She was released a month later. She defeated evil, endured suffering, and smiled. She endured the suffering with a joyful mind.
On May 9, 2000, she went to Beijing to appeal and was arrested by The Tiananmen police. When a policeman wanted to destroy her "Zhuan Falun", she said loudly: "If you destroy my book, I will die right in front of your face." Then she shoved her head toward a wall. Police pushed her to the ground, stepped on her and beat her, until the blood came out of her mouth and she lost consciousness. Other practitioners cried, concerned that she might not live.. They carried her to a hospital for emergency treatment. Three days later she regained consciousness, and her copy of "Zhuan Falun" was returned to her. A week later, she was escorted home. Her daughter wept when she met her mother in Beijing. She talked to her daughter with a weak voice and with a smile on her face saying: "Don't cry! This time I eliminated a significant amount of karma! Later I will be as healthy as a young man. Why do you cry? You should smile." Therefore, no matter how crazy the evil forces are, they could not move her heart. She still continued practicing Dafa, introducing Dafa to others, and validating Dafa. She wrote me a letter in mid-November, and said, "I, for Dafa and for all living beings, will keep stepping forward. As long as I am still alive, no matter where I am, our hearts are always connected. I will keep thinking of you. I firmly believe that when the flowers are blossoming in the spring, we will meet again." I have never received any information about her since. Three days after I arrived in the US (11/9/00), I heard that she was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison. She did not commit any crime. She only wanted to be a good person.
Another two fellow practitioners are a young couple. The husband has a Ph.D. degree, was a communist party member, and had a job. The wife was getting her Master's degree. They have a lovely two and half-year old boy. Because they both continued practicing Dafa, the husband was fired from his job and lost his party membership. The wife was expelled from the university. One of their parents wrote them and said, "You have lost the best in you life." They answered, "We obtained the invaluable treasure that a normal person will never get." The family of three went to Beijing to appeal in August of last year. Then they were escorted back. The family of three lived in a room of about 10 square meters. They slept, cooked, ate and lived in this one room. They don't have any income and live poorly on limited help from their families and other practitioners. One time I visited their home and saw the couple and the boy eating corn flour porridge without any vegetables. They endure the bitterness with a joyful mind. They continue practicing Dafa, learning Dafa, and hold experience sharing meetings with fellow practitioners in this room.
This July, this family was practicing outside with other practitioners at around 4am when the police arrested the boy's father and other practitioners. The next day the mother and the boy went directly to Tiananmen Square by train. The mother held one end of a banner reading "Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forbearance" while the boy held the other end. They both sat in the lotus posture in front of Tiananmen Square. How can this magnificent deed not be touching! Everyone passing was very impressed by this scene. A policewoman said: "The boy came to Beijing to appeal when he was one and half years old. Now he is here again when he is two and half, why? Is this suffering? These people are not even afraid of death!" How could they understand a Falun Dafa practitioner's heart? Orthodox Fa cultivating is not for fame or profit, it is for Dafa and for all lives, and for creating a wonderful world for later generations.
In China, every true practitioner has his or her truly moving stories. Their experiences inspire others to song and tears. They all understand that no matter how crazy the evil force is right now, the evil force eventually will be destroyed. The evil people will be destroyed. Even a little finger can crush the evil force and the evil people. It is because that we are promoting and assimilating the Fa of Universe -- the absolute truth of the universe. With the presence of our Master, we will cultivate to consummation.
On behalf of the practitioners in China we thank the practitioners abroad for everything you have done. The hearts of the practitioners in China and those abroad are joined.
Sincere greetings to our merciful Master Li.
Thank you.