(Minghui.org) My short temper was well known in the neighboring villages, and even my wife and my mother-in-law were afraid of me. I used to curse and hit and often argued with people.
After I became a Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) practitioner in 1997, I realized that one loses virtue when one bullies others. Master Li Hongzhi said, “...not hit back or swear back.” (Lecture in Sydney). By being kind to others, I gradually changed my aggressive behavior.
My mother-in-law now tells people, “Many thanks to Falun Gong for changing my son-in-law. He has indeed changed for the better.” People in my neighborhood and surrounding villages witnessed the changes in me, and all agreed that Dafa was amazing.
A “Transformed” Government Official
Jiang Zemin's regime began to persecute Falun Gong in 1999. I went to Beijing twice to petition for the right to practice Falun Gong and was fined, detained, and taken to a forced labor camp.
While in the labor camp, the head of the local Chinese Communist Party (CCP) visited me and asked if I would give up my faith. I said that I would never change my mind.
“I have turned into a good person,” I said, “and follow the Falun Gong principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. If you want to talk to me, first you should ask the people in my village whether I have indeed become a good person since I've practiced Falun Gong. I will talk to you after that.”
He talked to people in my village and then returned to talk to me. I clarified the truth about Falun Gong to him. He told me that he had visited three villages and everyone had told him that I had become a good person after I practiced Falun Gong. I asked him if he still wanted to “transform” me, and he said that he didn't.
After returning to the town government, he told many government officials: “I went to 'transform' him, but instead I was transformed by him. Every sentence he said made sense.” Everyone laughed.
The guards in the labor camp also wanted to “transform” me. I talked to them about Falun Gong and the lies told by the Party to incite hatred against practitioners.
“You want to force us to give up cultivation,” I said, “and give up being a good person. Is this really what you want? Where is your conscience?” They were speechless and no longer tried to “transform” me.
Stopping Extortion
After I was released from the labor camp, I realized the importance of Fa study, and the principles of Dafa became clearer and clearer to me.
A fellow practitioner who was distributing flyers explaining the truth about Falun Gong at a marketplace was reported and arrested. Her husband often berated and hit practitioners and frequently fought with other people. When his wife was arrested, he tried to extort money from practitioners who'd distributed flyers with his wife. If they did not pay up, he threatened to report them to the police. He sent me a letter, demanding that I give him 10,000 yuan. If I refused to turn over the money to him, he said he would report me to the police and have me arrested.
After reading that, I talked with other practitioners, and we decided not to cooperate with him. We could not let him create karma for himself. We sent forth righteous thoughts to disintegrate the evil beings and evil factors behind him. When I went to his home, he asked me if I had brought the cash. I told him that I would not give him any money. “Everything we did was legal,” I said. “It is a crime for the police to arrest practitioners. I can go to the police station and report you for extortion. We did nothing illegal.
“I came to see you today because your wife is a fellow practitioner. Since she was persecuted, your family has undergone great hardship. I will do whatever I can to help you, because that is what I should do. If you have any difficulties in your everyday life, please let me know, and I will try my best to help.”
He no longer mentioned anything about the money.
Police Chief Awakens to the Truth
After being released from prison, a practitioner went to the local police station to clarify the truth and ask for the return of her gold jewelry. Several practitioners accompanied her to the police chief's office.
The chief immediately became angry and shouted, “You are so bold! How dare you come to the police station and to my office to promote Falun Gong!” He then called the head of the county State Security Division.
He could not explain the whereabouts of the gold jewelry and used CCP tactics to try to intimidate us, pressuring us to say whether we were practicing Falun Gong and detaining us in the police station. An hour after he called the State Security Division, the police took us to the detention center.
Once there, I asked for documents to file a lawsuit against the police chief but was turned down. So I went on a hunger strike for five days and was consequently taken to the hospital. When my son came to visit, I asked him to call the police hotline to file a criminal complaint against the police chief. The head of the detention center called and told the chief. Fearing that I would indeed sue him, the police chief released me unconditionally.
Master said,
“Wherever there's a problem, that's where you need to go resolve things and where you need to go clarify the facts.”(“Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference” in Collected Fa Teachings, Col. III)
I realized that this was a good opportunity to clarify the truth to the police. I took my complaint statement to the police chief, but he was not available, so I clarified the truth to the officers at the police station. They told me to return the next day. I asked them to hand the complaint to the chief, but they were afraid to take it.
I then went to the town government to submit my complaint. At their office, I explained that I wanted them to review my complaint against the police chief. I described how he had illegally arrested me, because I wanted them to know that it is illegal to arrest practitioners for their faith. Then I went to police stations in other townships and delivered my complaint.
The next day, I went to the police station again and again the police chief didn't seem to be there. “Please let the chief know,” I said to the receptionist, “that it is for his own good that he meet with me. Tell him not to be used by Jiang Zemin and not to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. He should not do anything wrong or illegal. He should avoid ruining his future. As long as he realizes his mistakes and corrects them, I will not sue him.”
That afternoon, he came to my relatives' home and asked to see me. I told him that it was illegal for him to detain me. His attitude softened and he said, “I have seen your brochures and flyers over the years and know that you are all good people. But I am under orders from my superiors to control Falun Gong. I am just carrying out those orders.”
This gave me the opportunity to address what he was doing that harmed practitioners.
“Since you know that Falun Gong practitioners are good,” I said, “when your superiors tell you to persecute good people, do you think that is it right or wrong? Officials tell you to violate the law and persecute good people. They think that whoever is handling the case will be held accountable. Isn't it simply a trap—getting you to do their dirty work and then letting you take the fall? For decades, haven't the higher authorities always done things like this?”
The chief was silent. I added, “Falun Gong practitioners cultivate the Buddha Fa. Those who persecute cultivators of the Buddha Fa will meet with karmic retribution. You should act according to your conscience. Don't let yourself be used as cannon fodder. Please read more about Falun Gong. When you understand it, please support Falun Gong and be kind to its practitioners. That will bring you blessings.”
After he understood, he apologized to me and said, “Please don't sue me. If you are going to sue anyone, please sue the police department.”
