[Celebrating World Falun Dafa Day] My 88-Year-Old Father Tirelessly Raises Awareness about Falun Dafa

(Minghui.org) My father is 88 years old this year, but he looks much younger. His complexion is healthy, his back is straight, and his thinking is sharp. Because of his integrity and kindness, my father is trusted and respected by our entire extended family.

During the 20 years the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecuted Falun Dafa, because of his righteous actions, many relatives, friends, and people now have come to a correct understanding of Falun Dafa and have chosen a bright future for themselves. I'd like to share a few stories about my father.

My Mother Begins to Practice Falun Dafa 

I was fortunate to start practicing Falun Dafa in October 1995. Several illnesses that plagued me for many years disappeared in less than a week. I thought Dafa was so wonderful that I must let more people know about it. I first told my parents, younger siblings and other relatives. I also told my friends, colleagues, and acquaintances.

My mother was constantly sick and suffered from severe headaches. She had to wear a hat at all times. Severe anemia and gastrointestinal problems made her too weak to walk very far. Because of the pain she constantly frowned.

At that time, my father was not in good health either. He worked in the CCP government for decades as an administrator. The atmosphere at work was tense, and people competed and constantly fought. As a result he usually came home angry. He suffered from heart disease, high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, and gastrointestinal disease. 

I hoped my parents would practice Dafa and live happily in their later years. When I went home and told my parents about Falun Dafa, my mother happily said that she would try it. My father didn’t say anything. When I later asked him to practice, he said, “You practice first, and I’ll try it later.” In early 1996, my mother, in her 60s, began to practice Falun Dafa.

My mother only went to school for one year. When she got the book Zhuan Falun, she was happy but worried as she could read only a few words. When my father saw my mother’s anxiety, he comforted her and said, “Don’t worry. I will teach you to read it. As long as you are determined to learn, you will be able to do it.” From that day on, my father had a sacred task—teaching my mother to recognize characters and learn Dafa.

My mother wrote down the words she didn’t know. My father then taught her. Sometimes her writing was wrong, and my father wrote the correct character to show her. My father consulted the dictionary when he found a word he didn’t recognize. He carefully taught her, and my mother seriously applied herself. Sometimes my father had to tell her a word several times before my mother remembered it. My father patiently helped her. 

With the compassion and blessings of Master, my mother’s reading quickly improved. My mother was soon able to read Zhuan Falun. Later, my mother read more than 40 Dafa books fluently. Several Dafa books were in traditional Chinese.

Over the years, my mother used a stack of notebooks for memorizing new words. My father often read Dafa books to my mother. On several occasions, my mother excitedly told us, “I can study the Fa and practice Dafa. Your father is helping me with my cultivation.”

Winter mornings are dark, so my father accompanied my mother to the group practice site in a park. When my mother went to Fa study, my father escorted her across the highway.

My once sick mother became healthy. She threw away her hat and no longer needed her reading glasses. Her eyesight was like a young person's. Her temper became better. My mother never took another pill or an injection.

What’s even more incredible is that several of my father’s illnesses also disappeared even though he did not start to practice Falun Dafa—he just assisted my mother. This is all Master’s compassion. My father knew that Falun Dafa was good, but he still didn’t want to practice. 

Standing up to a Perpetrator

In 1999, the CCP initiated the persecution. Local police abducted me from home and took some Falun Dafa information materials and other items. I was taken to the basement of the police substation. A notoriously bad policeman tried to force me to name other practitioners, but I did not cooperate. He slapped me severely. My whole face burned with pain, and I couldn’t sleep at night.

Just before dawn, I suddenly saw my father come to the basement. At a distance of more than three meters away, he asked me loudly, “What happened to your face?” I said, “I was beaten by the policeman.” When my father heard this, his facial expression became stern and left without a word. 

A policeman who was working with the notorious policeman called me out of the basement later and said, “I apologize to you on his behalf. He was wrong to beat you. He also realized it. Our supervisor criticized him and ordered him to write a repentance statement. I hope you can forgive him and give him a chance to change. He promised he will not beat you again.” 

I said, “Not only me. He should not beat other Falun Dafa practitioners. We practice Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to be good people. We do not break the law. It’s wrong to arrest us. By knowingly breaking the law, he doubles his wrong deeds. I hope you can tell him not to participate in the persecution of good people. He should think about his future.” He said, “I will tell him.”

My mother later told me that the night I was beaten by the police, my father, who rarely suffered from insomnia, couldn’t sleep. He told my mother, “I don't know why I can't calm down. I feel like something happened to our daughter.” Before dawn, my father got up and went straight to the basement of the police substation where I was illegally detained. As soon as he walked in, he saw my swollen face. When he learned that I was beaten by the policeman, my angry father almost collapsed.

After leaving the police substation, my father went directly to the Municipal Public Security Bureau. He waited in the receiving room for the officials to arrive. My father went directly to the director’s office. He described the issue first and insisted with a very firm attitude that the policeman who beat me must be disciplined and his illegal and criminal behavior should not be allowed to continue. The director agreed.

After my father left the Public Security Bureau, he didn’t go home but went to the City Procuratorate and consulted the relevant personnel. They told my father that if the person who was beaten had obvious injuries, the perpetrator would be sentenced to less than three years in prison. 

Afterwards, my father returned to the Public Security Bureau and told several bureau chiefs and political commissars separately that he was determined to have the perpetrator disciplined. Under my father’s insistence, the director of the Public Security Bureau not only apologized to my father, but also ordered the policeman who beat me to write a repentance statement.

After that incident, the perpetrator behaved much better. Later, I was illegally arrested several times, and he was involved every time. But his attitude was different, and his arrogance was gone. Once I was incarcerated in a brainwashing center in another city and was illegally detained for nearly 20 days. He went there several times and was polite when he saw me. Later, the head of the brainwashing class asked me, “Why is your city so considerate of you? The policeman told us not to hurt you.”

I knew that Master was protecting me. My father’s righteous action also played a role in deterring evil. Later, when the persecution became worse, I thought, “If practitioners’ family members could be righteous like my father and stand up to resolutely resist the persecution when facing the injustice, the situation would be better. The CCP wouldn’t dare to persecute us so blatantly.” Practitioners' family members are also a huge force in protecting practitioners from persecution.

My Father Starts Practicing Falun Dafa

My father worked in the atmosphere of the CCP culture for many years and was instilled with atheism for a long time. So he had the warped concept that “seeing is believing.” He only believed what he saw, and did not believe what he could not see. 

He told my mother and I, “Falun Dafa is indeed an upright and good practice, which has a great effect on health improvement and raises people’s morals. You can learn the exercises to keep healthy and be a good person. There is no need to think about divine beings. No one has seen divine beings or Buddha.”

I was anxious about my father’s stubborn concept, but I could not change it. Later, my father witnessed two miraculous things, which made him change his mind. 

Ten years ago my sister-in-law suddenly became seriously ill. After the operation the doctor told us that she may live another six months. When our family heard the news, it seemed as if the sky had fallen. My niece wasn't that old. My parents were very sad and often cried. I was also sad. I knew that only Dafa could save my sister-in-law.

I comforted my family members and convinced them that Master would save her. I went to the hospital and told my sister-in-law, “Sincerely recite the two phrases, ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.’ It will work if you are sincere. Compassionate Master will definitely save you.” She started reciting the two phrases quietly. Her miraculous recovery amazed the doctors and nurses. She improved every day, and was discharged from the hospital in less than ten days.

I gave her Zhuan Falun and taught her the five exercises. Soon she recovered completely. Ten years have passed and she remains healthy. She recently retired and takes care of her grand daughter. 

I advised my father to practice Dafa. He said, “I will start practicing if your sister-in-law recovers.” Another incident occurred before he decided to start practicing. 

The daughter of my mother’s neighbor, in her 40s, who had always been healthy, suddenly became ill. The diagnosis showed she had advanced stage breast cancer and required immediate surgery. But the doctor told the family that there was no guarantee that the operation would remove the cancer. My mother’s neighbor borrowed a lot of money to buy a house for her son’s wedding in Beijing, so she had no money for the treatment. 

After her daughter was told how grave her condition was, she didn’t want to be treated. She wanted to see her relatives and friends while she was still alive and was able to walk around. As soon as she left the hospital, she asked me to take her to my parents’ house. Because I had something to take care of that afternoon and had to leave, I found a set of DVDs of Shen Yun shows and let her and my parents watch it.

That evening when I went to pick her up, I saw that she looked very different. She looked happy and relaxed. She smiled and said, “This DVD is so good. I just watched it for a while, and then suddenly felt hungry. I ate a lot of food at noon. I have not eaten so much for many days.”

I happily said, “You really have a predestined relationship with Dafa. As soon as you watched the DVD, Master cleansed your body!” After she heard it, she said excitedly, “Falun Dafa is so good! Master is so good! I am not going to have surgery. I want to practice Falun Dafa.”

She asked me for a Dafa book. When I got up at three o’clock in the morning to do the exercises, I saw the light was on in her room. I thought she forgot to turn it off. I went over and saw she was sitting upright on the sofa, holding Zhuan Falun in both hands, and reading it carefully. I watched her for a while, but she didn’t notice me.

On the fourth morning after she returned home, she phoned me and said that she had a very clear dream the night before: a doctor in white coat came with several doctors and removed tumors of varying sizes from her diseased breast. The doctor said, “Now all the tumors are gone.” 

When she woke up her breasts no longer hurt, and the tumors were gone. I said, “Master has taken the sickness away from you, and you are not sick anymore. Study the Fa carefully and practice diligently. Don’t disappoint Master’s compassion and salvation.” She said excitedly, “I must study the Fa and practice well.”

Her husband felt that this was hard to believe. He didn’t feel relieved, but forced her to go to the hospital for another checkup. After the test result came out, she was told by a doctor, “You are not ill.” Many people were amazed by what happened to her, and several of her relatives started to practice Falun Dafa. 

My father's thoughts also completely changed. He said, “There are divine beings in the world! It’s just that human eyes can’t see them.” Since then, my father also began to practice Falun Dafa. I cannot express my gratitude to Master in words. I can only say from the bottom of my heart: “Thank you, Master!”

Clarifying the Truth with Personal Experience

After my father started practicing Dafa, his physical and mental state became better and better as he continued to study the Fa and do the exercises. My father also learned that Dafa cultivation is not just to improve oneself, but we also need to clarify the truth to save people. This is what Master asks. After my father read the book Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party his mind became more sober, and he truly understood the meaning of why people need to withdraw from the CCP’s organizations. So when I told him to quit the Party, he immediately agreed. 

Over the years, my father has constantly clarified the truth to others by telling them about his experiences. Everyone he talks to understands. He told me, “Master asked us to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa. I can’t just do things perfunctorily—I want to really save people. I want to let people know why withdrawing from the CCP is so important. I must expose the evil nature of the CCP and let people know the consequence of not withdrawing from the CCP organizations. People must really understand it to be saved. We cannot just do it hurriedly or on the surface.”

I've watched my father clarifying the truth several times. He was very serious. No matter whether he spoke to relatives, old colleagues, or neighbors, he explained in great detail: What Falun Dafa is, its wide spread across the world, its benefits to society and practitioners, the CCP-staged Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident, miraculous experiences in practicing Falun Gong that he witnessed, the history of the CCP’s struggle, the disasters due to the CCP’s harmful movements, and the significance of withdrawing from the CCP organizations. People understood after listening to his explanation. 

One day when I went to my parent’s house, two of my father’s former colleagues were there. My father was earnestly clarifying the truth to them and he was talking about the CCP’s previous campaigns against people. They listened carefully and kept nodding. 

One of my father’s two colleagues happily said, “What you are telling us is the truth. We have all experienced it [the Party’s corruption].” Before they left, my father gave them copies of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. 

One relative did not know the CCP’s nature and felt that people depended on it. My father explained what he experienced, how the CCP started, how many innocent people were killed in many campaigns, how many hard-working people were robbed of their wealth, and how the CCP changed the history books to fool people. In the end, this relative fully understood what the CCP was. He respected my father very much, and sincerely asked him to come back and talk some more when he had time.

My father clarifies the truth at family banquets and birthday celebrations. All my family’s friends and relatives now understand the truth. They have all seen how extraordinary Falun Dafa is from my father’s tireless explaining, and from my father’s physical and mental condition after practicing Dafa. 

Whenever my father encounters someone who slanders Falun Dafa, he immediately says, “Do you really understand Falun Dafa? Don’t talk nonsense. You are doing bad things and hurting yourself.” The other party becomes quiet when he says this.

Considerate of Others

Both my parents are in their 80s. Since he began practicing Falun Dafa, my father always considers others first and never treats himself as an old man. My parents do their own grocery shopping, cooking and their own house chores. When my siblings and I cook we often bring them meals. Sometimes we come and offer to do some household chores, my father politely declines. He says, “We are in good health. Doing a bit of work is good for us. You all have your own things to do.”

My father is very frugal. When we sometimes buy him new clothes he doesn’t wear them for a long time so as to ensure they last longer. If there is some delicious food at home, he would share it with my siblings. He never ate it alone. My father has strict requirement for himself, but is willing to help others. For relatives and friends whose conditions are not good, he often gives them some money. Last year, a neighbor’s son fell ill and was hospitalized. When my mother heard of it, she told my father. He immediately gave the neighbor several thousand yuan. The family was moved to tears. 

A few years ago, my father went out on a bicycle to do errands. He saw a smart phone on the road. He didn’t know how to use a smart phone. He waited for the owner to come to look for it on the roadside for more than half an hour. But no one showed up. My father went home. My sister went to my parents’ house at noon. My father gave her the phone and asked her to find the owner as soon as possible to return it. My sister quickly contacted the owner through the information on the phone. 

In the afternoon, the phone owner took some fruit to my sister’s work unit and said emotionally: “Thank you! I have really come across a good person. I didn’t expect that the phone could be found after I lost it. Nowadays there are few people picking things up and taking initiative to return them to their owners.” 

My sister declined to accept the fruit, but the phone owner put down the fruit, took the phone and left. My sister brought the fruit to my parents’ house. My father lamented that my sister was unable to reject the gifted fruit, as the returning of the phone was simply the right thing to do, without taking anything in return.