(Minghui.org) Xiao Chen has been practicing Falun Gong for 15 years and will graduate from a university this year. When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started to persecute Falun Gong in 1999, she was 11 years old. When the police harassed her, she said to them calmly: “Falun Dafa is wonderful. I will continue practicing even if nobody else in this world practices Falun Gong.”
Having gone through many difficulties and tribulations, she is now very satisfied and full of inner peace. She said: “Though I am not perfect, I try to do everything perfectly. I thank Master and thank Dafa. It is the most enjoyable thing to have Dafa in my life.
Xiao Chen comes from a city in southern China. She grew up in a loving and comfortable family. The whole family looked after her and her brother very well. Her father read widely from religious and philosophy books and seemed to searching for something all the time.
“One day in 1996 my father was very happy and told us how good Falun Gong is. He had started to practice Falun Gong. I was 8 years old in grade three at primary school.”
From then on Xiao Chen followed her father to the practice site to practice the exercises. At first, she could not feel anything and just did the movements. The year 1998 was a turning point for her. Her grandma developed cholecystitis and was hospitalised. She had to have surgery.
“My grandma loved me deeply and we are very close. I went to see her every day at the hospital. Looking at her, I suddenly realized how vulnerable and short life is. I started to think about the meaning of life,” Xiao Chen said.
“My dad told me that nobody can escape from the cycle of birth, getting old, being sick and death and that only cultivation can break through this cycle. To live is to cultivate. One day when I was doing the exercises with Dad. I listened to the verse from the fourth exercise. One of the sentences, 'Return to your original, true self,' woke me up. I shivered and suddenly understood the meaning of cultivation.”
I started to seriously cultivate in Dafa after my grandma was discharged from the hospital. Every Saturday, two adult practitioners led us little practitioners in reading the book Zhuan Falun, watching lecture videos, doing exercises in the morning and studying the Fa at night. We had as many as twenty or thirty little practitioners and as few as seven or eight little practitioners. We shared experiences. I had such a good time then. My dad was very strict with me and required me to read at least one lecture of Zhuan Falun each day during the summer holiday.”
Soon the CCP started to persecute Falun Gong. Xiao Chen's father was arrested when he went to appeal to the government for the right to practice Falun Gong. He was detained in a forced labor camp. Xiao Chen was 11 years old and just starting her study in high school.
The police searched Xiao Chen's house. “The policemen came to my home and took me to their office and interrogated me. They threatened me by saying that they would tell my teachers and the school principal that I was practicing Falun Gong and then they would stop my studies.”
When the policemen asked her if Falun Gong is good, she replied, “Falun Gong is wonderful.” Though her grandfather threatened her, she kept saying, “Falun Gong is good.”
One day several policemen besieged her and lied to her that her dad had stopped practicing Falun Gong and that many other people had also stopped practicing. She said that she was agonised when she heard that her dad had stopped practicing Falun Gong. How was it possible that her dad gave up such a good practice?
She pondered for a while and said: “I will continue practicing Falun Gong even if nobody else in the world practices it. If I gave up, I would not forgive myself when I grew up.”
She learned later on that this was a lying technique that the CCP often used. Her dad never said that he gave up Falun Dafa.
Despite the pressure from the police, Xiao Chen felt that the saddest thing was that her family members and relatives tried to force her to stop practicing Falun Gong due to CCP lies and pressure.
Xiao Chen said: “My family and relatives all knew Falun Gong was good and supported me and my dad. My mum once practiced Falun Gong as well. But they became lost in the horrific propaganda and lies. My dad was arrested and they feared that my attitude would influence my dad. They wanted me to say, 'I will give up,' but I refused.”
“It was heart-breaking when you learned that your family had turned around in their attitude toward you. Only one person stayed at my side. That was my brother who was 4 years younger than me.”
After going through this persecution, Xiao Chen felt that she had grown up suddenly. She was pretty sure she was right and very determined in her heart.
“Despite the adverse environment, I achieved much better results in my study. Previously I was average in the class. Out of 400 students, I was about number 200. My family didn't have much hope that I could go to the local key high school. But my grades soared and I was up to the number 30 when I was accepted by the best local high school.”
Xiao Chen boarded at the high school. She was not diligent in cultivation at the start, and there were no other practitioners at the school. There were 8 girls in her dormitory room. She slept on an upper bunk. One night, at the time for sending forth righteous thoughts, she unexpectedly found that the girl on a lower bunk near her bed was sending forth righteous thoughts. She was very excited.
The next day when she got up, she came to this girl and gave her a big hug and whispered to her “Hello, my fellow practitioner.” They hugged each other and got really excited.
Now Xiao Chen had a fellow practitioner around her and had a good cultivation environment. They agreed to study the Fa together at 5:30 a.m. at the school playground in the summer and in a classroom in the winter. They co-operated well when they clarified the truth to students. All of the girls in the dormitory made withdrew from the CCP youth leagues.
After she finished high school, Xiao Chen entered a university in another city. “My dad was released and at home then. He called me every day and urged me to cultivate diligently. He always asked me if I studied the Fa and if I sent forth righteous thoughts every day.”
Xiao Chen's family migrated to Vancouver, Canada, in 2008 after she had finished 2 years of study at a university in China.
Xiao Chen continues her study at a university in Canada. In her spare time, she participates in a lot of Falun Gong activities to clarify the truth to people and try to persuade them to quit the Party and its affiliated organizations. Sometimes she drives to another city alone to attend Falun Gong activities. Although the trips are tiring, she feels very relieved in her heart.
Xiao Chen is overseas now, but she remembers her practitioner friends in China. She mentioned a young practitioner who was 3 or 4 years younger than her. His Celestial Eye was open and he could see scenes from other dimensions. He cultivated diligently at first, but there was no cultivation environment for him after the persecution started so he stopped cultivating. Xiao Chen feels very sorry for him.
Having gone through all of these tribulations, Xiao Chen has become more and more mature. Looking back on the path she has walked, Xiao Chen said the most enjoyable thing was that she obtained the Fa when she was little and always had the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in her heart.
“Though I am not perfect, I try to do things perfectly. I am very grateful to Master and Dafa. It is most enjoyable to have the Fa in my life.”