(Clearwisdom.net)
After the government started to persecute Falun Gong practitioners, more than ten of my family members all pressured me to give up the practice. They gave up talking me out of it after observing I was very determined about my Falun Gong practice. I was later detained because I went to Beijing to appeal against the persecution of Falun Gong on October 28, 1999. My mother-in-law refused to acknowledge that I was her daughter-in-law and did not want me back at home. My husband also threatened me with divorce. I told him, "I wouldn't want to divorce because of my appeal in Beijing. I did not do anything wrong. On the other hand, if you were concerned that I might implicate you because I practiced Falun Gong, then I would go along with the divorce." When we went to the court my husband dropped the whole idea after finding out it would cost more than 500 Yuan.
When I lived at my mother's place, my husband also lived with me. Once I talked with another practitioner for quite a while and my husband couldn't stand it and beat me. I said to him: "Do not treat me like this. I did not do anything improper. I cannot tolerate you hating me and mistreating me simply because I insist on practicing Falun Gong. If I did not practice Falun Gong and still suffered from all the ailments that I had before, then you would have to take care of all the house chores. I don't think you could stand it, either. Now I am healthy because of my practice and I can handle any chores, can't you see that? If you still do not believe me, then let's divorce." He was silent afterwards. Later on he told me he did not want a divorce because he would never find another wife as good as me. He knew that Falun Gong practitioners were good role models and citizens. He did not believe the TV propaganda, either. We later rented a house to live by ourselves and that further took burdens off his back.
After my work unit found out that I practiced Falun Gong, the previous Head of the unit and the party secretary suspended my work. They tried to fine me 5,000 Yuan, and threatened to deduct it from my paycheck if I refused to cooperate. I told them that appealing is a constitutional right endowed to a citizen, and their fine was against the law. I earned my pay at work and they cannot deduct it. They forced me to go to a brainwashing class. I signed the "repentance paper" after five days and I felt so bad for myself. When they still tried to harass me, I flatly told them I would continue practicing Falun Gong. They relented after seeing me so determined in the practice, and told me so long I just practice at home without going out it would be alright. Nevertheless, they tried to monitor my whereabouts constantly. They would call me when I was at home, they would watch me when I was at work. They would not allow me to go home during the so-called "sensitive" days.
Later a new party secretary came to our work unit. I tried to tell the truth about Falun Gong to the head and the party secretary of our unit, subunit secretary, and my colleagues by writing letters to them. They all had various understandings about Falun Gong to some degrees. Once the party secretary and the regiment secretary asked my fellow workers and me to watch video programs that slandered Falun Gong. I rebutted the lies openly whenever they appeared in the video. The subunit secretary and leader on duty did not try to stop me since they were also listening to me. Then the party secretary came in and tried to stop me. I told him, "I have the right to speak out. I am a real Falun Gong practitioner right in front of all of you. Why don't you ask me what Falun Gong is all about? Why do you insist on watching this trash?" Now the regiment secretary came in and said, "TV station reporters are here." But he was shocked to see the chaos in the meeting room and people's refusal to watch anymore. The regiment secretary was very mad at me, "How could you do this?" I replied, "I could not help it. They all like to listen to me, and nobody wanted to keep watching that." It was originally scheduled for one hour and a half, but the whole thing was over in half an hour. The TV station reporter left without any ideas.
I thought I should let all my co-workers know the truth so I tried my best to tell them. The officials tried again to get me to talk to them in the office, but I refused to go. The party secretary asked me, "How come you did not come to see me as you were told?" I replied, "I did not want to cause a delay at work. Besides, why not let others know what you are trying to tell me? If you want to talk to me again, just talk to me in my work area." The party secretary never bothered to talk to me again, even including on those "sensitive" days.
During the 16th Party Congress, the head of the unit asked me to talk to him again. He asked where we live but I refused to tell him. He then told the subunit secretary to put me on suspension, telling me I could resume working only after I revealed where I live. The subunit secretary had a private discussion with me and I clarified the truth and gave her other information about Falun Gong. She took it all in and said, "Since you are not afraid of them, why are you afraid to tell them where you live?" I said, "It was not that I was afraid of them. I just did not want to get my landlord into trouble. I will never tell this to them." The subunit secretary had always been on my side and taken good care of me. She knew that I was an outstanding worker, and she had highly recommended me in front of the head of working unit and secretary. Because of this, the work unit secretary commended me as a "model worker."
They allowed me back to work that afternoon. Later I found out they asked my husband to talk to them, including the head of the work unit, secretary, subunit secretary, even the factory secretary. The factory secretary asked my husband, "Where do you live?" My husband replied, "I am not going to tell you. We just settled down not long ago and do not want any more trouble." The secretary said, "We just want to know your address so that it would be easier when things come up." My husband pointed out, "I do not mind telling you, but you would tell the police station and they would do bad things. They would make trouble for my landlord." The secretary threatened, "Oh yeah? I'll send your wife to the brainwashing class to be re-educated by forced labor." Upon hearing this my husband became angry and snapped back, "You all praised her as a model worker, and she takes good care of the family at home. So are you out of your mind? If she committed any crime, the law would judge her without either you or me mingling around. If you get your way then who is going to take care of our child and home?" The secretary caved in, saying, "Just let her resume working during the day shift until the 16th Party Congress is over." When I reported to work the next day, the subunit secretary was already waiting for me. She was obviously relieved to see me reporting to work. She ordered the day shift supervisor to constantly watch me.
They thought they could put me under watch this way, but it did not work out that way at all. They actually provided me with another opportunity to tell the truth and promote the Fa. Now the day shift workers and other work units all knew there was a Falun Gong practitioner among them. They all came to see me. They commented, "Look at her, she is not like what the TV portrays. She is very courteous and well educated. She likes to assist others and is very cheerful." They surrounded me and asked what Falun Gong was all about. They asked about the propaganda on TV. I went over it with them one by one and they listened attentively. I could truly feel that they really wanted to learn the truth. They all got a fresh view about Falun Gong that contradicted what they believed before. One of them said, "I thought Falun Gong was wrongfully accused. Falun Gong is good. Zhen-Shan-Ren (Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance) is good. Just take a look at her and you can tell she is good. Please teach me Falun Gong when you get around to it." I smiled and said, "I will for sure when we have time." By the time I returned to my original work unit, I could sense that everyone had a different and friendlier attitude towards me. Especially the unit administrative and inspection department people, they all liked to take the opportunity to talk to me.
Through the experience mentioned earlier I could feel profoundly what Teacher said, "You are cultivators, whose conduct is [supposed to be] pure and righteous. There are so many people who think you're great just by having seen how you act. If we don't pay attention to our own behavior in our daily lives, everyday people will see our actions and, since they can't get to know you at a deep level such as by studying the Fa, they will just look at how you act. And it's possible that one sentence or one action of yours will make them unsavable or create a bad impression of Dafa." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston")
2003-4-23