Falun Gong has spread all over the world and is now known by more and more people. In the Spanish city Zaragoza, the principal of a public school La Estrella was pleased to agree that Falun Gong would be introduced during the school's Culture Week program.

On April 28th and 30th Falun Gong practitioners went to the school to teach a group of children aged 8 to 11 year old made up of two grades with more than 100. One activity was held indoors and another was held outside the building. The principal personally prepared the audio and recorded the music of Falun Gong. Listening to a piece of original music entitled Pudu, the children showed a strong curiosity and interest in Falun Gong.

The Falun Gong practitioners told them that Falun Gong advocates Truthfulness, Benevolence and Forbearance. When they realised that the children had not yet got the point the practitioners explained further in terms of words which the children could understand fully: Truth is to say true words, to do true things; Compassion is to consider other people in advance when doing things, to develop a kind heart; Forbearance is to be able to endure; to step back when something happens, to find out if I have done things in a incorrect way and so on.

When learning the fifth exercise, some children were able to do double crossing sitting immediately, a lot of people were calling for assistance; after being guided, the majority of children were sitting in the double crossing position; they sat still with their hands joined, it looked liked they were quite serious.

When the activities were over, the children waved, saying, "Bye bye! Please come again soon!" The principal also made a sincere invitation: "See you guys again at the next Cultural Week".

Since February 24-25th, 2008, Chaoyang City Public Security Bureau and other city departments have arrested 14 Falun Gong practitioners under orders from Zhang Minghua, the deputy chief of the Public Security Bureau. Mr. Chen Baofeng, a taxi driver, was tortured to death within eight days while in custody. A source exposed that to cover up the murder and find more excuses to persecute practitioners, Zhang Minghua is now colluding with personnel from the Public Security, Procuratorate, and court systems to fabricate allegations and false evidence. The perpetrators are attempting to exaggerate their false evidence all out of proportion in order to aggressively persecute practitioners.

The practitioners from Chaoyang City that were arrested included five practitioners on their way to visit relatives in Shenyang City, one a taxi driver, six private business owners and employees, and one a housewife. Zhang Minghua arrested them simply because they practise Falun Gong. He searched them and confiscated the private business owners' legal property. Also, to cover up his crimes, he has refused to release the practitioners or allow people to visit them.

To bail out practitioner Mr. Chen Baofeng, his family managed to raise 5,000 yuan¹ despite their very poor financial situation. They handed the money to Wang Jinglong, head of the Politic and Protection Team of Chaoyang City, and asked Wang to give the money to Zhang Minghua. Zhang accepted the money. But instead of releasing Chen Baofeng, Zhang ordered that he be tortured, which eventually caused Mr. Chen's death. Chen's family were outraged and reprimanded Zhang Minghua, "You took our money and yet still killed him. How greedy you are!" Chen Baofeng's mother was so angry and sad that she slapped Zhang's face. Zhang had Mr. Chen's body cremated and destroyed all the evidence of his crime, but he refused to release his medical records to his family.

On August 11th, 2007, the Domestic Security Division of Lingyuan City Public Security Bureau arrested more than 40 practitioners and tortured practitioner Hu Yanrong to death. The Lingyuan City Public Security Bureau failed to charge any of the arrested practitioners and had to release them. After learning of this, Zhang Minghua quickly went to Lingyuan City and lied to the Provincial Public Security Office, saying that a big case was developing. Zhang then colluded with the Lingyang City Public Security Bureau, Procuratorate, and court systems during the next few months to fabricate evidence. Eventually they had five practitioners sent to forced labour camps and nine sent to prisons. Meanwhile, they extorted over a total of 680,000 yuan from the practitioners' families.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/4/21/176905.html

Because he persisted in practising Falun Gong, 26-year-old Wang Lihui has been held for nearly twenty days. The National Security Team of the Nangang District Police Department denied his family their right to visit him. His 60-year-old mother is so worried, that her heart attacks frequently recur, and she suffers from extremely painful headaches. Over the past several years, she has witnessed her husband Mr. Wang Shixue being arrested and tortured to near death several times. He died recently, and now her son has also been arrested. She is very worried about her son.

Because he persisted in practising Falun Gong, Mr. Wang Shixue was persecuted by village official Sun Guangxiang in Shuangcheng City, police officer Ge Xiaogang from the Gongzheng Township Police Station, police officer Zhang Guofu of Shuangcheng City, as well as the guards from the Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp. The persecution brought great physical and mental peril as well as financial loss to him and his family. Mr. Wang died in a car accident on February 29th, 2008. Nonetheless, the Gongzheng Township police officers and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials still issued the order to monitor his whereabouts before the Beijing Olympics.

Mr. Wang Shixue's younger son, Wang Lihui, went to work in Harbin City to make a living after he buried his father. On April 1st, he was stopped and patted-down by police officers who were patrolling the streets that night in Harbin City at around 9 o'clock in the evening. The police officers found several Falun Gong exposing the persecution his father had left, so they took him to the Liaoyuan District Police Station in Harbin City. He was detained by the National Security Team of the Nangang District Police Department in Harbin City, and has been held there for nearly 20 days.

Mr. Wang Lihui's family went to the Nangang District Police Department and requested to see him. They also wanted to get him back as soon as possible, and were willing to pay to have Wang Lihui released. The related people told them that right now is a special time (close to the Olympics), and they dared not to accept the money to release him. Some of the police department staff said that it was actually not a big deal to find several flyers on Wang Lihui, but it became hard to handle because of the approaching Olympics.

The Persecution of Mr. Wang Xueshi

Wang Lihui's father, Mr. Wang Shixue, 60, lived in Guoxing Village, Gongzheng Township in Shuangcheng City. He started practising Falun Gong in 1997. He had many diseases before he began practising, including heart disease, lower back pain, and leg pain. His ribs were badly hurt in a car accident. He had severe stomach disease, and he spit up green fluids whenever it acted up. He lived on medicines for many years, and because of the diseases, Mr. Wang had a very bad temper and often quarrelled with his wife. He also had many bad habits, including smoking, drinking alcohol, and gambling. Through practising Falun Gong, all of his diseases disappeared. He also got rid of all of his bad habits, and his family became harmonized. His family, neighbours and relatives were amazed by the tremendous changes in Wang Shixue.

However, after the Chinese Communist Party launched the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in July 1999, Mr. Wang Shixue was subjected to continuous physical, mental and financial persecution from CCP officials.

In the summer of 2000, Mr. Wang went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. He was brought back and held in the Shuangcheng Detention Centre. Guard Zhang Guofu extorted 1,000 yuan¹ from him without giving him a receipt. He was then transferred to the Gongzheng Township Brainwashing Centre. His family spent another seven to eight hundred yuan to treat township and village officials to dinner, in order to get Wang Shixue back as soon as possible. He was finally released after more than ten days.

After New Year's day of 2001, Mr. Wang Shixue went to Beijing again. He was then brought back and held in the Shuangcheng Detention Centre for four months. Because he went to Beijing twice, he was sentenced to one year of forced labour and held in the Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp in Harbin City. During the detention, the guards incited the inmates to brutally beat him. He was also force-fed, and he spat up blood for several months. As a result, he was severely injured mentally and physically and became extremely weak. The result of a physical examination in the No. 2 hospital of Harbin Medical School showed that many of his vital statistics, including heart and blood pressure were abnormal. The guards in the Changlinzi Forced Labour Camp feared that he would die in the labor camp, so they released him.

During his detention, village official Sun Guangxiang demanded that Mr. Wang's family pay 8,000 yuan for the trips to get Mr. Wang back from Beijing. His family could not afford the money. Sun Guangxiang led people to harass his family every day. They didn't stop harassing Mr. Wang's family until the end of the year. Then they made a public announcement, and attempted to sell the farmland Mr. Wang's family leased at auction (the attempt failed). After that, they showed up in a truck and tried to steal the soybeans Mr. Wang's family planted (that attempt also failed). Mr. Wang's family could not endure the harassment, and paid 4,500 yuan.

Before the Chinese New Year of 2002, police officer Ge Xiaogang from Gongzheng Township Police Station drove to Mr. Wang Shixue's home, and forcibly took him away. Mr. Wang 's older son, Wang Lidong, tried to stop them from arresting his father. Ge Xiaogang threatened that they would arrest his son Wang Lidong after taking away Mr. Wang Shixue. Wang Lidong was so frightened that he dared not spend the Chinese New Year holiday at home. His family had to pay another 500 yuan to end the threat.

Mr. Wang Shixue was sent to Shuangcheng Detention Centre. There, he was brutally tortured by the inmates. He was forced to sit on a tiger bench², force-fed with salt water, and badly beaten by the inmates until he was on the brink of death. He was emaciated, and could not take care of himself. His internal organs were severely damaged, and he could hardly breathe. He was released because the authorities at Shuangcheng Detention Centre feared he would die.

Not long after he regained his health through Fa study and doing the exercises, Mr. Wang was arrested again at his home, and sent to Shuangcheng Detention Centre by officials from the Shuangcheng City 610 Office³, and police officers from Gongzheng Township Police Station. His home was also ransacked. This time, Mr. Wang was very weak and could not eat or drink because of the terrible torture to which he was subjected over the past several years. He was released after nine days.

Before Mr. Wang Shixue died, he had been repeatedly arrested and held in forced labour camps by the Gongzheng Township police officers and CCP officials in Shuangcheng City. The continual abuse and harassment, both in and out of detention, brought him severe harm physically, mentally and financially, and he died on February 29th, 2008 from a car accident. His family is in anguish.

We call for all domestic and international justice-loving organizations and individuals to condemn the inhumane atrocities committed by the police officers from the National Security Team of Nangang District Police Department and CCP officials in Harbin City, and help rescue Mr. Wang's younger son, Wang Lihui.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

2. "Tiger Bench": Prisoners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead without movement for long periods of time.

3. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/4/20/176847.html

Since the persecution began on July 20th, 1999, officials in the 610 Office¹ of the police department in Chaozhou City, Guangdong Province, have been actively following Jiang Zemin's, [former leader of China and instigator of the persecution] regime, using various means to persecute Falun Gong practitioners.

I. Some of the Facts of the Persecution of Practitioners at the Hands of Officials with the 610 Office of the Police Department in Chaozhou City

1. Mr. Hong Haoyuan was a university graduate in his 20s. Early in 2000 he went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. He was arrested by the 610 Office of the Chaozhou City Police Department and was sentenced to two years at Sanshui Forced Labour Camp. While there, he was inhumanely tortured and persecuted for practising Falun Gong. Before his arrest he was a handsome and strong young fellow, but by the time of his release, he was just a bag of bones and could barely walk or breathe. Relatives and neighbours could hardly recognize him. He was extremely weak and passed away in the early hours of January 5th, 2003.

2. Mr. Lin Kai travelled to Beijing three times to appeal for Falun Gong. In 2000 he was arrested while dining with practitioners in Zhongshan City. The 610 Office of Chaozhou City Police Department sentenced him to three years of forced labour.

3. Ms. Lin Yanhua was sentenced to three years of forced labour for twice appealing for Falun Gong in Beijing and also attending the Pining Fa Conference.

4. Ms. Huang Shaolan was sentenced to two years in a forced labour camp for going to Beijing three time to appeal for Falun Gong.

5. Ms. Chen Aimei was sentenced to one year in a forced labour camp for practising the Falun Gong exercises at West Lake in Chaozhou City, her appeal in Beijing, and her attending the Pining Fa Conference.

II. Some Cases of the Persecution of Practitioners by the 610 Office Personnel with the Police Department in Raoping County

1. Mr. Lin Xiangrui is 33 years old and a graduate of Jinan University, Guangdong Province. He was a staff member of the Raoping County Radio and TV Station. In 2000, he mailed Master's articles to fellow practitioners and was arrested by the 610 Office of Raoping County Police Department. He was sentenced to two years of forced labor. During the summer of 2000, he was released after he went on a hunger strike. But in less than a week he was arrested again and not released until the end of the year. In May 2003 police suspected that he was distributing truth-clarifying CDs, arrested him and took him to the Chaozhou City Custodial Station. On the evening of the 2004 Chinese New Year, his wife carried their newborn baby to see him but police refused to let her enter. He was detained until March 2004, and then sentenced to four years in prison. His offense was his alleged crime of "Disturbing Law Enforcement."

2. Mr. Yang Chuqiang is 29 years old. In 2002 he was arrested while distributing truth-clarifying materials. He was detained in Sanshui Forced Labor Camp in Guangdong Province on a long term basis. He was still there when the Minghui (Chinese version of Clearwisdom) website reported his case in May 2004. He was severely beaten and tortured for refusing to be "transformed" and was in a terrible condition.

3. Ms. Yu Gangqiong is 25 years old and from Huanggangzai, Raoping County, Chaozhou City, Guangdong Province. She was a full-time private English tutor. In the afternoon on June 14, 2005, while distributing Falun Gong truth-clarifying materials in Zibizhuang Village, Huanggang Town, she was reported to the police by the security guard. The 610 Office of Raoping County Police Department arrested her and ransacked her home. She was detained at the custodial station in Huanggang Town. Officials decided internally to put her on trial on a trumped-up charge on October 21, 2005.

4. Mr. Huang Tuanyang is 34 years old. On October 5, 2005, he was arrested when he was distributing truth-clarifying materials in Changtai County, Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province. On October 10, 2005, police ransacked his home, confiscating a computer and some VCDs. He was detained at the custodial station in Changtai County, Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province.

5. Mr. Lu Youming was formerly a teacher at Xinfeng Town Middle School in Raoping County. He was persecuted several times by 610 Office agents. He was once arrested and taken to the brainwashing center and persecuted. In 2002 he was arrested and sent to Sanshui Forced Labor Camp for 18 months. After he was released, he taught in the First Middle School in Sanrao Town. During May 2006 he clarified the truth during classes and was reported to the police by a student's parent. He was arrested and detained, and in July he was sent to Sanshui Forced Labor Camp.

6. Mr. Wang Shangling is a practitioner from Jiangxi Province. On December 7, 2006, he was arrested while distributing truth-clarifying materials in Raoping County. He was illegally detained at the custodial station in Raoping County.

III. Some Cases of Practitioners in Chaoan County Being Persecuted by Officials with the 610 Office of Chaoan Police Department

1. On February 6th, police from the Chaoan Police Department and the local police station broke into Ms. Lin Yusheng's home and ransacked it. They took her away and the next day sent her to Sanshui Brainwashing Centre.

2. 610 Office personnel with t he Chaoan County Police Department ransacked Ms. Lin Shaoyi's home. They arrested her and took her to Sanshui Brainwashing Centre.

3. In 2003 Ms. Wu Peifen was arrested, and sentenced to two years in prison. Shewas was taken to Guangzhou City Women's Prison.

4. Ms. Chen Jundiao was detained in Chaoan County Custodial Station and the Hongshan Custodial Station in Chaozhou City for 13 months for practising Falun Gong. In June 2004, Chaozhou local government officials sentenced Ms. Chen to eight years in prison without notifying her family. She was later transferred to Guangzhou City Women's Prison.

5. In 2004 Ms. Wu Peifang was arrested by agents with the 610 Office of the Chaoan County Police Department. In June 2004 they sentenced her to five years in prison and took her to the Guangzhou City Women's Prison.

6. Ms. Ke Ruiling was about 40 years old. In 2002 she was taken to a brainwashing centre by local police. After the Sixteenth Party Congress, Ke went on a hunger strike and managed to walk free. She was forced to become homeless and wander around. In May 2003, police in Chaozhou City launched a campaign to arrest practitioners on a large scale, and she was arrested again. On the morning of June 30th, 2005, police from the Chaoan County Police Department and Anbu Town Police Station arrested her outside her home.

Note

1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/4/23/176979.html

Hebei Province Women's Forced Labour Camp authorities detained about 160 Falun Gong practitioners and tried to force them to write the so-called "four statements¹" as soon as they arrived. If they refused to write the statements they were deprived of sleep and subjected to all sorts of cruel treatment and torture. Those who refused to write the statements were detained on the first floor, a completely enclosed area, with each practitioner detained in a separate room. They are monitored by regular inmates and are deprived of seeing daylight all year long.

Ms. Liu Qiaozhen previously lived in Xijia Village, Wangdu County. She held a hunger strike to protest the persecution after she first arrived at the forced labour camp. She is currently unconscious due to her extended hunger strike. Nevertheless, the labour camp refuses to release her and still continues to torture her by brutally force-feeding her through a feeding tube.

People over 60 years old previously were not made to serve forced labour terms. Yet there are at least five practitioners in the labour camp who are over 60 years old. Having to do forced hard labour on a long term basis has taken a toll on many older practitioners. Some have developed symptoms of high blood pressure, heart disease, etc., making them ineligible to serve a forced labour term. Nonetheless, the forced labour camp turns a blind eye and deaf ear to them. What's even worse is that because three older practitioners were not eligible to serve the forced labour term because of their severe illnesses, in order to meet the quota for labour camp inmates, Chinese Communist Party personnel arrested the older practitioners' daughters and put the daughters in the labour camp in place of their mothers. Some practitioners persisted in doing the exercises in order to quickly recover from their illnesses. As a result, they were put under tight surveillance and were forced to sleep on the floor in cold weather.

On dark and quiet nights inside Hebei Province Women's Forced Labour Camp, the screams of those being brutally beaten and the clanking sounds of chains and shackles are often heard, making one's hair stand on end and chilling one to the bone.

In addition to persecuting practitioners physically, the labour camp officials subject them to insidious mental tortures. They also made special efforts to recruit collaborators², including Zhang Junzhe (male), Shi Yuhui (female), and Xu Jie (gender unknown) from Hengshui City, and Wu Yuxia (female) from Shijiazhuang, to try to "transform³" practitioners by using wicked and twisted theories along with brutal violence. Wu Yuxia actually used an alias, "Danlin," to concoct a book in which she used extremely vicious language to slander Falun Gong.

Note

1. "Four Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write the "four statements" as proof that they have given up their belief. Created by the 610 Office, they consist of "a letter of repentance," "a guarantee" to never again practise Falun Gong, a "Dissociation Statement" to declare a dissociation with Falun Gong and promise not go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and a list of names and addresses of all family members, friends and acquaintances who are practitioners.

2. "Collaborators": former practitioners who have turned against Falun Gong under brainwashing and torture. They are then made to assist in brainwashing and torturing practitioners.

3. "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/4/26/177229.html

There were two people living on the same floor in the same building at a residence compound. They both had many potted plants on their balconies. The only difference was that the plants at unit A, where Mr. Fang lives, were always growing well, compared to the dying plants at unit B, which Ms. Wu occupies.

Ms. Wu felt so discouraged because she invested quite a sum of money in flowers and plants. She bought new potted plants every season, but Mr. Fang hardly buys new plants and even rarely goes to the flower market. The appearances of the two balconies were such a contrast. One day, Ms. Wu could not help her curiosity and knocked at Mr. Fang's door and asked for advice.

Mr. Fang said: "I already noticed that you are fond of flowers and have bought quite a lot. You invested so much but the flowers are not growing as well as you would wish. I understand your disappointment. The problem is that the way in which you love your plants is not right, which determines the growth of your flowers."

"I observed that you buy flowering plants every month and, meanwhile, you throw plants away. The plants that you buy are all in full bloom and what you throw away are all withered. Look, I even have some of your throw-aways on my balcony."

Mr. Fang continued: "The biggest problem you have is that you only like the plants that are blossoming but not the plants that will blossom or have passed their season. You only care about their beautiful presences, but don't care about their past and future. You only water and fertilize them when they have flowers, but you don't look after them at all when they need water and care. The result is that you change your plants every day. That way, you can only enjoy the glorious flowers for a very short period; however, you can not keep the long-term lushness."

After listening to Mr. Fang, Ms. Wu did find herself thinking in the wrong way. From then on, she no longer just focused on the blooming season and transferred her energy to minding the plants. In less than half a year, her balcony became as lush as Mr. Fang's.

In fact, there are many people who think just like Ms. Wu did. For example, some executives only want to steal intelligent people from other companies but ignore building up nice environments for people at their own companies. Some husbands only love their wives when they are young and pretty. Some sports club bosses poach top players from other teams and then see them changed into ordinary players, or some institutes only pay attention to immediate achievements but not to the procedures of research.

Those represent the phenomenon of just loving the blooming seasons. That attitude, which is so eager to expect people to achieve quick success, is driving human beings to "social Darwinism." The cons will not show at present as human resources are plentiful, however, after ten or twenty years, when we are entering into a mature society, how will it be?

If you love flowers, you should not only love their blooming seasons, but also their non-flowering seasons, which are necessary for the blooms. It is the same principle that should be applied to caring for talented people.

Every practitioner probably has many understandings and experiences with the attachment of fear. The attachment of fear is an obvious human attachment, one that we cultivators must be able to identify and then get rid of. Otherwise it will affect the diligence of many practitioners.

I personally think that there are two layers of meaning associated with the attachment of fear:

The first sense of fear is the same as its meaning on the surface, meaning fear or being frightened. It is similar to the connontations of being timid. Some practitioners were afraid of dogs, cows, snakes and spiders before they started practicing Falun Gong. This attachment of fear can come back quite often, even after a practitioner has started cultivation. There is a practitioner close to me who was afraid of dogs and cows. One night, on her way back from distributing truth-clarification materials, a big dog ran towards her. She quickly bent over, pretending that she was picking up something from the ground. The dog ran off. That same night she had a dream, in the dream she saw a dog that looked like a bear with a group of dogs following it. Just as she got worried, she woke up from the dream. Later she enlightened that it was time for her to get rid of the attachment of fear. We should not be afraid when we suddenly encounter dogs or other animals; we should quickly stop them from doing bad deeds with our righteous thoughts. I also had a similar experience. Once a dog suddenly ran next to me and started to bite me. I scolded it loudly, "Beast, how dare you bite me?" I was thinking in my heart: I am a Dafa disciple, don't you want to live any more?

Because we are still living under the persecution, some practitioners are afraid of the police and police vans. This attachment of fear indicates a lack of righteous thoughts. Usually if I see a police van on the street, I send righteous thoughts to the people in the van. When we encounter a police vehicle, we must not be afraid. Those people are merely the tools used by the evil specters and the wicked Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to persecute Dafa disciples. Now we are thoroughly eliminating the remaining elements of the wicked CCP. We must also stop these tools used by the CCP from committing evil deeds. Otherwise they must receive immediate retribution. Receiving retribution is to awaken them. How can human beings commit evil deeds against gods? That was the principle of the old universe. We must eliminate this evil with righteous thoughts. This kind of fear is quite easy to be identified. We have Master's law bodies protecting us. Dafa disciples shouldn't allow this evil to stop us from doing the three things.

The second aspect of fear is being afraid of bad things. For example, a practitioner daring not to do something, or maybe he or she was worried that something might happen if he or she chose to do something, or maybe the practitioner was worried about having thought karma. Thus some practitioners dare not contact fellow practitioners lest they be reported; some dare not visit Dafa websites lest they are being watched; some dare not talk to strangers about quitting the CCP lest they may have a bad result; some also betray fellow practitioners lest the police go after them.

I've had my own lessons with this kind of fear. A year ago, an elderly fellow practitioner's life was taken away by the old forces. I was worried that I might have the same illness as her. Then I really had similar symptoms as her. A few days later, I realized that I had invited the illness because of my attachment of fear. Later, I had another kind of fear; I was afraid that I might have the thought of fear of being like her. Then I felt uncomfortable for another few days. My life finally became normal after I clearly recognized the fear of having the attachment of fear. There was another elderly practitioner who was overly worried about her son being persecuted by the CCP after she found out about the CCP's crimes of organ harvesting from living practitioners. Her attachment of sentimentality was taken advantage of, and her life was taken away by the old forces. Cultivation is a serious matter. A cultivator's every thought must be on the Fa to avoid being controlled by the old forces or one's postnatal notions.

I feel very fortunate to have started practicing Falun Gong in the early part of 1999. Before that I had health problems that tortured me so much I didn't want to live. Although I am not old, I had high blood pressure, felt fuzzy in the head almost every day, experienced neck pain, and had difficulty just getting through the day. With three children attending school, chores at home, and a store to look after, I was often teary-eyed at work. I also had a serious gynecological problem that caused continuous menses for three years. None of the medical treatments I tried solved my problems. I was really suffering.

All my health problems disappeared within three months of finding Dafa, and without any medical treatment. While I was so joyful, I also realized the power of Dafa, which solidified and strengthened my cultivating Falun Dafa.

Righteous thoughts paired with righteous actions, assist Teacher's Fa-rectification, and save sentient beings

Since July 20, 1999 Falun Dafa has been smeared and brutally persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Although I was a new practitioner, and still had a shallow understanding of the Fa at that time, I was not deluded by the slander, lies, and smearing of Dafa that I heard on the radio, or saw on television or in the newspapers. What I had already experienced proved that Falun Dafa is a great way with lofty virtue.

With respect and gratitude to Teacher, I made up my mind to go to Beijing with fellow practitioners and clarify the truth about Falun Dafa. In Tiananmen Square, with righteous thoughts and righteous actions we shouted, "Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good! Return Teacher's reputation!" We gathered with fellow practitioners from around the world for Fa-ratification, we shared our cultivation experiences, we mutually understood the great magic and benevolent might of Falun Dafa, and we exposed the CCP's evil actions. Based on our righteous thoughts and righteous actions, and the protection of Teacher, we all returned safely home.

Teacher wanted us to spread the truth with the goodness and compassion of Dafa practitioners, to broadly distribute the "Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party" and other materials, to post all kinds of materials in villages and towns for all those who've been poisoned by CCP propaganda, regardless of whether they are high officials or common people, older folks or young children, let them know the facts and the teachings of Falun Dafa, let them know that heaven will destroy the CCP, and let them know that to be safe they must withdraw from the communist party and its affiliated organizations.

My days are very busy. In addition to cooking, doing laundry and other household chores, I work in a store. While in the store, I use every opportunity to tell customers about the goodness of Falun Dafa, and advise them to quit the communist party. Of course I'd also eliminate the evil meddling elements in other dimensions, and awaken people's main consciousnesses. The results were pretty good. Most young people agreed to quit the CCP and even used their real names. They also thanked me before leaving the store.

Late at night, we posted banners and distributed truth-clarifying materials. The more materials we passed out, the more hopeful we felt that we were saving sentient beings. As I recall, there was one time, very late at night, when my fellow practitioners and I were distributing materials everywhere. As we were walking on a small trail through a field, we were suddenly confronted with a bunch of dark things, causing us almost to fall to the ground. We realized that we'd walked into a group of tombs. Before becoming a practitioner, I was a easily scared. But at that time, I thought of Teacher's poem "Benevolent Might," and my fear disappeared right away.

Benevolent Might

Dafa is what you carry everywhere,

Zhen Shan Ren, rooted in the mind;

A great Arhat walks the earth,

Gods and demons fear with awe.

January 6, 1996

Eliminating human thoughts, replacing them with Godly thoughts

In November 2002 the CCP was relentlessly persecuting Falun Gong and arresting practitioners. One night, while my fellow practitioners and I were distributing materials, we were arrested and taken to a brainwashing center. The 610 Office agents tried every possible way to instill the CCP propaganda into us. When we were in the brainwashing center we recited Lunyu and Teacher's articles every day. We had only one thought: We are Dafa disciples; we don't acknowledge the persecution; and we will steadfastly cultivate Dafa until completion. Consequently, Teacher gave us a hint in a dream, "Return home in sixteen days." On the 16th day, we, with strong righteous thoughts and Teacher's support, pushed through four iron gates and escaped from the dungeon. Again we experienced Dafa's benevolent might.

In 2004, the husband in a family living right next to our store happened to be in charge of a 610 Office, which gave me opportunities to chat with his wife. I gradually told her about the goodness of Dafa and its power. Due to her having heavy karma and a devilish nature, whenever I mentioned Falun Gong, she'd howl at me, and even shout abuses. Then, one day while I was reading in the store, a bunch of people stormed in and dragged me into a police vehicle and then took me to a forced labor camp for a 15-day detention.

However, I realized that I couldn't hate the head of the 610 Office and his wife because they were being taken advantage of by evil forces. I must disintegrate the evils behind them and then do all I could to save them. So I went to their home, and of course sent righteous thoughts first to disintegrate the evil elements in other dimensions in their home, and then to ask for Teacher's help. When I saw him, he was still angry; but my state of mind was peaceful. Using my personal experiences and other facts I told him about the goodness of Dafa in detail. Gradually, his attitude changed from condemning to quietly listening. Finally he said with a sense of regret, "Actually I knew that Falun Gong was good. From now on it will be better for me if I don't help a tyrant do evil!"

As the final drum beat of "Victory Drums" resounded throughout the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, at about 10 p.m. on May 7, 2008, applause and cheers filled the auditorium and the audience gave a standing ovation. It marked the end of a successful world tour of the Chinese Spectacular by Divine Performing Arts in 2008.

Audience of the third Chinese Spectacular show in Edmonton on May 7, 2008 (Photo by Yi Luoxun)

Audience delighted by the show (Photo by Wu Weilin)

Pamela MacKenzie, a teacher, watched the show with her brother, Sanfred. "From the first programme to the end, the show was breathtaking. I cried and waited for the next performance. I am not a person who easily cries, but I could not help my tears. This is a special show," she said.

Pamela continued, "I was touched when I saw those two teenagers sit down and read the Buddhist scriptures [in "The Fruits of Goodness"]. I felt happy that they were saved and started their journey back to their true selves. The show was touching and entertaining. I want to have a DVD of it so that I can watch it again and again."

Sanfred said, "This show purifies one's heart and will purify society. I heard that one lady watched it eleven times. I can understand. There is Buddha Law in this show. It has opened my eyes. I have never seen such a good show before in my life."

Sanfred's favorites were the dances, "The Risen Lotus Flower" and "The Fruits of Goodness." "I want to obtain the Buddhist scriptures too," he said, "[The teenagers] learned the purpose of life, so their lives were different from then on."

Sandy Helland: "The show gave me new hope for life."

Sandy Helland watched the show three times. She said she could not describe her feelings with language. "The show healed the disease in my spine. It not only healed my disease, but also opened my heart. It gave me new hope for life," she said.

Sandy's spine was injured when she was four, which rendered her disabled for her whole life. Her acupuncturist recommended the show to her. She watched the first show in Edmonton on May 5. "I felt energy flowing in my back. It felt warm and stronger and stronger. I was completely healed by the time the show ended," she said. She was so excited and happy that she watched the show again on May 6 and 7. "My heart is full of joy and energy," she said.

Nun Fajun

Fajun, a Buddhist nun, followed the show from Vancouver to Calgary and Edmonton. She watched it 11 times. "The best of the best in history. Very peaceful and very precious," she said of the show.

"Divine Performing Arts displays the divine realm and culture. Only because the performers' spirits reach to such a height, can they manifest the level of Buddha so well through the dances," said Fajun. "The show provided people with pure truthfulness, compassion and beauty."

Wang Kailun is a government official. His grandparents are from China. Influenced by them, Mr. Wang likes Chinese culture. "I liked the erhu solo the best. I wish my grandparents were here to share it with me," he said. "I am proud of my own culture."

Mr. Wang said the show brought real Chinese culture to the West, instead of the culture of communism. Mr. Wang agreed with the principles of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance," that were displayed in the show.

James Mazurok, a sophomore in college, fell in love with the erhu (a two-stringed instrument). He also liked the "Water Sleeves" dance. He said, "I believe in reincarnation, so I was deeply touched by the first program, 'Descent of the Celestial Kings.'"

Ms. Tia Zhang, co-director of Divine Performing Arts, has been traveling with the arts troupe around the world for six months. She was deeply touched by how well the audience understood and appreciated the shows. "Many people traveled long distances to the show, and many of them watched it again and again. I am very touched to see that the audience loves the show and has benefited from it. Our efforts have been worth it," said Ms. Zhang.

Divine Performing Arts held the first show of the season on December 18, 2007 and the final one on May 7, 2008. The two troupes toured in 66 major cities in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia and held 215 shows in total. Approximately 600,000 people enjoyed it.

On May 7, 2008, a "Forum on Human Rights in China" was held in the Canadian Parliament. The forum was sponsored by five Members of Parliament, Scott Reid, MP (CPC), Irwin Cotler, M.P (LIB),Wayne Marsten MP (NDP), Bill Siksay, MP (NDP) and Rob Anders, MP (CPC). Four well-known human rights lawyers made presentations, describing the current human rights situation in China with many facts and discussion on whether Canadian officials and Members of Parliament should attend the 2008 Olympics opening ceremony. Part of the forum covered the persecution of Falun Gong and especially the Chinese government's harvesting of organs from living Falun Gong practitioners.

MP Scott Reid

Four Canadian and Chinese lawyers, including David Matas, co-author of "Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China," Canadian lawyer Clive Ansley who worked in Shanghai, and Chinese lawyer Guo Guoding made presentations. More than eighty MPs, Senators or legislative assistants, diplomats, representatives from non-governmental organizations and others concerned with China's human rights situation attended the forum.

No excuse to turn a blind eye to genocide

Clive Ansley discussed the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners. He said, "Over the last nine years the most barbaric atrocity in modern history has been going on systematically in China. This is the Holocaust over again but with a new and appalling dimension."

He continued, "At the end of the last war, the world was horrified and very quickly adopted the slogan of the Jewish Defense League, 'Never Again.' Never again can we allow genocide to be perpetrated in our world. And they quickly harkened back to the 1936 Berlin Olympics and they said if only we had known. Well now we're doing it all over again, and we do know about it. We have awarded hosting of the Olympics to the most chillingly brutal perpetrator of crimes against humanity on the planet.

Canadian lawyer Clive Ansley

"And history is not going to allow our generation to once more fall back on this excuse--if only we had known. We can't say we didn't know. We know that Beijing is systematically murdering thousands, probably scores of thousands of human beings in order to harvest their organs for profit. The world knows it, at least the knowledge is there, because of the two Davids [David Kilgour and David Matas, who conducted an independent investigation into the allegations of organ harvesting] sitting at the table here. They've produced a report which makes appalling accusations but has been systematically ignored by the media and most Parliamentarians. The UN Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak has recognized the report of these two Davids and has recognized the reality of the slaughter going on in the harvesting of organs. And Beijing has openly proclaimed its aim of erasing the Falun Gong from society.

"Torsten Trey, is a German doctor, the spokesperson for Doctors against Forced Organ Harvesting, and as a German citizen and a doctor he made a speech in Washington, D.C. on April 9. He said that Beijing today is worse than Hitler's Germany in the 1930s. And he said that the world's acceptance of what's going on in China today is worse than the acceptance of Hitler's atrocities because no one in 1936 knew the plan Hitler had for the Jews, but we know China's plans for the Falun Gong."

Former MP David Kilgour (left) and well-known human rights lawyer David Matas

Former MP David Kilgour and human rights lawyer David Matas formed an independent investigation team and released their report to the media on July 6, 2006, "Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China." The two independent investigators came to a conclusion after analyzing thirty-three pieces of evidence. They stated, "Based on what we now know, we have come to the regrettable conclusion that the allegations are true. We believe that there has been and continues today to be large scale organ seizures from unwilling Falun Gong practitioners."

Mr. Kilgour said, "Most independent persons the two of us know who have read our report are convinced of the horrifying validity of its conclusion."

Mr. Matas analyzed the truth of the allegations from four CCP reactions to the report. "The Government of China has reacted to our report in four different ways. One was simply trying to shut us up. Wherever we went, the Chinese consulate, if they knew about the event, would call up the local hosts urging cancellation.

"A second Chinese government reaction to our report was counter propaganda. Here is just one example. The Chinese Government has circulated a statement that the report David Kilgour and I wrote on organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners contains 'verbal evidence without sources, unverifiable witnesses and huge amount of unconvincingly conclusive remarks based on words like 'probably,' 'possibly,' 'maybe' and 'it is said,' etc. All these only call into question the truth of the report.' Yet, all one has to do to is to look at the report to see that every statement we make in our report is independently verifiable. There is no verbal evidence without sources. Where we rely on witnesses we identify them and quote what they say. The report is on the Internet and is word searchable. Anyone who searches it can see that the words 'probably,' 'possibly,' 'maybe' and the phrase 'it is said' are not used in our report, not even once.

"A third Chinese government reaction to our report was destruction of the evidence on which our report was based. Much of the evidence in our report comes from the Government of China itself, from hospital websites and Chinese medical research. The Government of China has been systematically taking down or altering the sites on which we have relied.

"The fourth Government of China reaction to our report was an attempt to change the facts on the ground. A new Chinese law on transplants in May 2007 prohibited the sale of organs."

In China, a human rights lawyer cannot defend his own basic rights

Guo Guoding, one of the lawyers who defended Falun Gong practitioners early on, said, "Facing immense political pressure and life threats, many Chinese human rights lawyers dare not be human rights lawyers. In 2003, there were ten human rights lawyers in China. Currently, all of them have lost their jobs. Four of them suffered torture; four others were forcefully taken away; and five of them were beaten by police. Two of them were imprisoned without judicial procedure."

Mr. Guo said, "Lawyers know the law well. Human rights lawyers know human rights law well. But human rights lawyers cannot defend their basic rights in China." Besides human rights lawyers, freelance writers, reporters, organizers of assemblies were all targets and have been monitored and persecuted by the CCP regime.

Mr. Guo also narrated the suffering of his Falun Gong practitioner clients. One is Zhai Yanlai, a good student who graduated from Shanghai Transportation University. He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for downloading Falun Gong information from the Internet. During the illegal imprisonment, he was force-fed for nearly two years when he conducted hunger strike to protest the illegal detention. In his last four months of imprisonment, his hands and feet were tied up, without any freedom to move. He was tortured until he was emaciated. Another one is Chen Guanghui. He was beaten to a vegetative state and could not speak. Eight police officers monitored him for 24 hours a day until he died. Mr. Guo himself found that Chen's bones were fractured and some parts were missing, due to the severity of the beating. The police lied, saying that Chen attempted to commit suicide. Mr. Guo said, "It was absolutely not suicide because suicide might hurt the forehead, but not both sides of the body."

Mr. Guo said that in China, Falun Gong practitioners do not have human rights at all.

Falun Gong practitioner He Lizhi who was rescued by the Canadian government

Lawyers suggest Canadian officials stay away from 2008 Olympics

Mr. Ansley said, "To speak out against genocide and forced organ harvesting and torture is not politics, it's just basic human decency. To speak out against genocide and organ harvesting and torture is not politics, it's just fundamental morality."

He continued, "What is politics? We're constantly being told that we can't mix athletics and the Olympics and politics. What's politics? At the municipal level, an argument over whether the next crossing over a river should be a bridge or a tunnel, that's a political debate. At the provincial level, an argument over whether we should cut funding to secondary and university educational institutions, that's a political debate. At the federal level, an argument about whether we should renegotiate NAFTA that's a political debate. The attempt by the International Olympic Committee to relegate crimes against humanity ranking with the Holocaust to the same level as debate on fiscal policy and global traffic control is obscene." He suggested that Canadian officials and MPs stay away from the 2008 Olympics.

Mr. Matas gave several suggestions for using the Beijing Olympics to end organ harvesting and human rights abuses, including having the world focus on China's trampling of human rights, promoting the Human Rights Torch Relay, and suggesting that any leader of a state that stands for human rights should not go to the Olympic games.

Mr. Matas said, "There is the general nature of human rights. Each of us lives in our cocoon. Professionals work at their professions. Trades people ply their trades. Athletes compete in their sports. But human rights overarch all of this. Human rights is not a specialty which engages only experts. It commits us all because of a common humanity we all share.

"Killing innocents for their organs is a crime against humanity. That means it is a crime not just against the victims. It is a crime against all of us. When we do nothing about this crime, we do not just abandon the victims. We deny our own humanity. Silence in the face of crimes against humanity is complicity. Everyone engaged in the Olympics movement must do their part to end crimes against humanity in China. To fail to do that is to fail to be human."

Olympic Games cannot be excuse to reduce pressure on China's human rights issue

MP Bill Siksay said in an interview, "I think people make many excuses. They say many things, they say politics should not mix with sports. They say we shouldn't threaten our economic opportunity to trade with China. They have all kinds of excuses.

"We want to make sure that the people have all kinds of places to interact. I don't think that means for one minute [that] we stop putting pressure on China, or any other country, to address the human rights situation of their own countries. We know there are very serious problems. We can't let the participation of Olympics slow down our concerns about human rights.

"We need to remind China of their commitment, when they were granted the Olympics. We need to hold them to that commitment. And we need to be outspoken on our criticism in the meantime. We just can't let it slide. It has to be front and center in terms of all our interaction with China."

"Perseverance," by Wang Weixing, oil painting, 48"x31" (2005)

A new series of paintings by Falun Dafa practitioners will be exhibited in art galleries around the world.

A western Falun Gong practitioner is participating in a Manhattan clarifying the truth activity. Under heavy falling snows, he unyieldingly and serenely raises a truth clarifying poster board. It reflects a cultivator's bearing of perseverance and benevolence.