(Minghui.org) I began to practice Falun Dafa (also called Falun Gong) in 1996, and everyone in my family is a Dafa disciple. Whenever I recite Teacher’s poem, “To the Original State,” I cannot help but ponder how much our merciful Teacher has endured and sacrificed for us. I also think about fellow practitioners who are still incarcerated and are being persecuted or mistreated. I have cried many times whenever I think about these thing.
Teacher said in “Touring North America to Teach the Fa:”
“During today's persecution, if an ordinary, everyday person can say to another person, ‘Don't persecute Falun Gong, Falun Gong is good,’ and as a result that person doesn't persecute Dafa disciples, and in the future he even has the opportunity to remain and obtain the Fa, if he came down from a high level to obtain the Fa, then his cultivation will be rapid. Then think about it, his Consummation will be the Consummation of an enormous group of beings, and the Consummation of a Lord, or a King. Yet his Consummation was made possible by an everyday person. That everyday person, an ordinary everyday person, will even become a great God.”
I enlightened that, by collecting signatures on petitions from ordinary people to rescue Dafa practitioners, I am offering these sentient beings an opportunity for a bright future. Teacher is merciful to sentient beings. Collecting signatures is also a good opportunity for me to clarify the facts to people and save them.
A local practitioner was arrested for telling people the facts about Dafa and was held in the local detention center. We collected signatures on a petition calling for his release. Because it happened in our local area, Dafa disciples’ mighty mercy and forbearance was a striking contrast to the vicious deeds of the local government officials. As a way to counter the persecution, collecting signatures for a petition is readily accepted by sentient beings because they can empathize with us.
Everything is difficult at first. I have met all kinds of people while collecting signatures. The first person I talked to when I started out replied, to my consternation, “Nobody has signed, not even you. I won’t sign it.” Some people said, “I don’t know you or the person in question. I don’t even know if everything you say is true.” They refused to sign. During Fa-study, fellow practitioners’ encouragement greatly helped me. I collected over a dozen signatures from fellow practitioners’ relatives, and, from there, I went to the public to collect signatures.
More than four months later, about 1,500 people had signed the petition and put their fingerprints in red ink on it. About 1,400 people withdrew from the CCP and/or its affiliated organizations. I would like to share some things I came across while collecting signatures.
To protect their personal interests, giving their fingerprints in red ink is not something Chinese people do lightly. When so many people are willing to do that, it is apparent that more and more people understand that Falun Dafa is good.
1. “Practicing Falun Gong does not violate any law”
I had a vivid dream one night in which I went to collect a signature from a certain person. She had actually refused to withdraw from the CCP when I had offered it to her before, and, now, in my dream, she refused to sign. When I showed my respect to Teacher the next morning, I held my hands together in front of my chest and asked Teacher, “Teacher, I’ll walk on the path you arranged for me. If the dream was a hint from you, please let me come across that person when I go out today.”
Soon after I left home that day, I ran into her. I told her how some practitioners were being persecuted and said, “We’re collecting signatures for a petition to stop the persecution. Will you sign it?” Without hesitating, she said, “Yes, I will sign it. Practicing Falun Gong does not violate the law. Those police officers have quit minding their own business; instead of arresting real criminals, they arrest good people!” She then withdrew from the CCP.
2. A retired government official: “Please collect more signatures and charge the perpetrators!”
When I asked a lady to sign the petition, she said, “I read a flyer outside that a Falun Gong practitioner was beaten to death by police officers. Is it true?” I told her, “Yes, it’s true. And she was not the only one. There are hundreds of others like her throughout China.” Right after I said that, several people that were around her also agreed to sign.
A retired government official said, “Please collect more signatures, and take those perpetrators to court. What they have been doing is completely illegal.” In the end, he quit the CCP.
3. “My life was saved by Dafa; signing my name to help practitioners returns the favor to Falun Gong.”
I told a vegetable vendor the facts about Falun Gong, but she didn't believe it at first. Another vendor beside her said, “You have to believe it! Falun Gong saved my life! It's miraculous! A Falun Gong practitioner gave me an amulet. I always wear it. If not, I would have died from a car accident. The car's windshield was completely shattered. Everyone at the scene thought I was certainly dead. But I only had a minor scratch. Don't you think Falun Gong is great? Signing this petition is my opportunity to do something for Falun Gong in return.”
After hearing that story, the lady who did not believe the truth at first told me, “I will not take your money for the vegetables you bought today; just give me some of the amulets.” I told her, “Falun Gong practitioners will not take anybody’s belongings. A practitioner once found nearly 100,000 yuan in cash, but he returned it to the owner and did not take a penny from the owner as a reward. I’ll bring some amulets to you next time.”
4. “If it’s for Falun Gong, I’ll sign.”
When I was buying vegetables from a middle-aged man, I told him that I was collecting signatures for a petition. I said, “A person was in an accident and seriously injured her head. The injury did not completely heal even after she spent a lot of money. After she began to practice Falun Gong, the injury healed right away. Yet now she is incarcerated because she practices Falun Gong. The reason we’re collecting signatures is to help rescue her. I hope you will do a good deed by signing the petition.”
He said, “Okay, but wait. How do I know if you’re indeed Falun Gong? What if you’re a liar, but she gets released after I sign the petition? Wouldn’t it be doing something bad?” After I took out the amulets with the words “Falun Dafa is good” written on them, he believed me. As he signed, he said, “I’m signing my name because you’re Falun Gong. I know Falun Gong practitioners, and you’re all good people.” After hearing his comment, other people also signed the petition.
5. “That’s very cruel!”
After I clarified the facts to a new high school graduate, he was shocked and said, “Doesn’t the law allow freedom of faith?” I replied, “Yes, but the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) doesn’t follow the law. Falun Gong has been been embraced in over 100 countries—only the CCP persecutes Falun Gong and harvests Falun Gong practitioners’ organs.” Astonished, he said, “That’s very cruel!” Then he signed the petition and withdrew from the CCP.
6. From not understanding to knowing the truth
As I was telling people at a farmer’s market the facts about Falun Gong one day, a young man asked, “The government has banned the practice, so aren’t you afraid of being arrested? You'd better stop doing that. Don’t Falun Gong practitioners go mad because they’re too obsessed with it?” A person listening to our conversation said, “I know many people who practice Falun Gong, and they’re all good people. One had leukemia and was not cured after spending lots of money. However, he was cured after practicing Falun Gong. Another practitioner found money on the street, but returned all of it to the owner without taking a penny. It is these government officials who are not doing their jobs: instead of arresting corrupt officials, they arrest good people. I’ll sign the petition.” The young man was somewhat convinced. After I told him more, he not only signed, but also withdrew from the CCP and asked for some truth-clarification materials.
7. He also signed!
A middle-aged man accosted me in a threatening voice in a market, saying, “What are you doing?” I said, “We’re collecting signatures. Why don’t you sign?” He replied, “Do you know who I am?” I said to him with a smile, “Just by looking at you, I know you’re a good person.” He said, “How do you know? If I catch a Falun Gong practitioner, I could get a 2000-yuan reward.” I said, “You look so kind—you wouldn’t go after that kind of reward.” Somewhat surprised, he asked, “How did you know? I arrested over two dozen practitioners but released them all.” After that, I told him more about Falun Gong. He understood and signed his name as well as quit the CCP, which he had been a member of for many years.
8. After signing, her business improved
When I passed by a vendor in a market, she asked if the person she had signed a petition for had been released. When I told her, “Not yet,” she said, “I’ll find more people to sign.” She told her acquaintances and people nearby to sign their names, then shouted, “Come quickly; come do a good deed; sign your name to rescue a good person. After I signed my name and used the bills with words about the truth of Falun Gong on them, my business got better day by day.” Many who heard what she said signed and withdrew from the CCP. They were grateful for the amulets I gave them and thanked me.
9. Thank you letter
A person who signed the petition wrote me a thank you letter. It said: “Even though I'm not a Falun Gong practitioner, I have read Mr. Li Hongzhi's Zhuan Falun and know some Falun Gong practitioners. I'm shocked to know how this group of kindhearted people has been terribly persecuted. Why does the CCP regime persecute these people who have done nothing wrong and even benefit society? Instead of fighting back, they've quietly suffered incarceration, even sacrificing their lives to safeguard their belief and their Teacher. I think they are great! Only a great Teacher is able to accomplish this. I especially want to thank Master Li for his care. After I signed the petition calling for the release of Falun Gong practitioners, I found a perfect job, and everything in my life started to work out great. I would like to extend my heartfelt respect to Master Li and hope that all Falun Dafa practitioners will complete their missions and have a great future!”
A fellow practitioner shared in his article, “We’re cultivators. Ordinary people respond to our attitude; when we are competitive while clarifying the facts to people, they will have a fierce debate with us; if we have hatred in our heart, ordinary people will have hatred toward Dafa; if we have fear, ordinary people will be afraid to hear the truth about Dafa.” His sharing helped me to obtain a deeper understanding of Teacher’s Fa in Zhuan Falun:
“This field corresponds to the universe. Whatever exists in the universe out there is correspondingly reflected here. Everything can be reflected. It is a kind of image, but it is not real. For instance, there exist on this earth America and Washington, D.C. Within a person’s field, America and Washington, D.C. are reflected, but they are reflected images. Reflected images are nonetheless a form of matter’s existence, and they are the result of a corresponding reflection that changes according to changes over there. Thus, the supernormal ability of clairvoyance that some people refer to is to look at things within one’s own dimensional field.”
I recognize that our cultivation status is reflected in our own dimensional field: whatever energy matter exists in our dimensional field, ordinary people, engulfed in our field, will demonstrate the status accordingly.
