“Child, where have all your smiles gone?”
5 min read“Take a step back and you’ll see things in a whole new light.” I always use this sentence to encourage myself. In the eye of my friends and classmates, I am a happy and content person. Whatever happens, I always deal with it magnanimously and forebear it easily. Seeing my compassion as a virtue, people always told me, “You should appreciate your parents for this. They protected you so well that you have not been contaminated by this mean society. Your innocence is god-given and the environment of your life is so happy and harmonious.” I just smiled in reply.
To be honest, in this society with a declining morality, many people lead selfish lives with all sorts of thoughts, pursuing their own gains. This makes people very tired.
Once, my school friend said to me, “I think you are really like a lotus, so innocent without any dirt when blossoming out of the mud.” I stopped writing and answered, “You know, I admire the lotus for its purity and dignity.”
In fact, none of them knew that my character and breadth of mind were given by my practice in Falun Dafa, (a traditional Chinese meditation) and not because of my family upbringing. I did not have a happy family. Nor was it from inexperience with knowing how the world works. Only through my practice did I learned how to be good, magnanimous and righteous.
I had experienced the harmony and magnanimity of the practice from a young age. My mother gave me immense love and care. By practicing Falun Dafa, my mother’s health returned and my family was full of happiness.
Then, the black storm of terror launched by the regime of Jiang Zemin came to our family. All the lies and propaganda broadcast day and night were really absurd and ludicrous. The so-called 1,400 death cases, not allowing people to take medicine, suicide and self-immolation were all blatant lies that were used to deceive the public.
It was really unbelievable that the national central TV (CCTV) told these lies and confused right and wrong. So many people in mainland China were deceived by these lies and propaganda. Some people would even grind their teeth once they heard about Falun Gong. They ridiculed Falun Gong without knowing the truth.
In China there is no local place for appealing. After thinking seriously, my mother decided to go to Beijing. She went to tell them the facts, to tell the officials in the Chinese government that Falun Gong helps people. She wanted to tell them her own experiences. However, some of our family members strongly opposed her decision and it caused a huge crisis in our family. I knew it was really difficult for my mother at that time and she wept every day.
Before my mother began practicing Falun Dafa, she lost someone dear to her. It made her completely dispirited. Her body became very weak and she had many diseases, which almost took her life. My mother began to practice Falun Gong and she became more and more energetic from practicing and her illnesses and depression disappeared. The discord between her and her mother-in-law also was solved. She became more and more kind to other people. She always considered other people first. I was so glad to see the great change in her and this led me to support her decision to go to Beijing.
My mother often said to me, “Everyone should pay back the benefits received from others. As a Chinese idiom says, once someone teaches us for a day, we must treat him as our teacher for our whole life. I cannot imagine what my situation today would be like if it weren’t for Falun Gong. How can I pretend that I do not know this, against my conscience?”
Suddenly, I felt proud of my mother–capable and virtuous, loyal and willing to give anything for the truth–isn’t that a traditional Chinese virtue?
Nowadays, people with this kind of virtuous intent may be regarded as being foolish. During the long-standing state of competition in society, people have abandoned virtuous ideals. On the path of telling lies and cheating people willfully, if no one stands for truth for justice, the whole society will be governed by lies and disasters. In the end, people will suffer.
Going to Beijing to appeal is very risky, because people who go there to appeal may be beaten to death by the armed policeman in Beijing or suffer much abuse after being arrested.
My mother went to Beijing to appeal anyway. She is a dainty woman who just wanted to say a few fair words. However, she was encircled by a group of policemen even before she stepped into the appeal office.
The policemen beat my mother terribly without any justification. She was sent to a forced labor camp for one year. I lost my mother who loved me so much and I cried all day.
At home, I faced misunderstandings and frequent scoldings from my father. At school, I suffered pressure and many troubles. I even lost my hope in life. Every time I came home, I cried a lot, holding my mother’s picture in my arms.
I made it through all of these difficulties because I am a practitioner of Falun Gong. The magnanimity and compassion of my mother kept my spirits up and gave me the ability to forbear.
Our Teacher requires us to always consider others first and put ourselves second. Whatever we face, we should consider other people first. Gradually, I found that I could handle the relationships at home and school better.
Dafa gave me the strength to be magnanimous, practice forbearance and have wisdom. Whatever the trouble is or whatever taunts or insults I receive from others, I will treat it with magnanimity and a smile. My academic performance also ranked well in my class.
Facing all of these troubles, I am quiet and calm as still water; facing all of these inhumane and unprecedented persecutions, I became more and more mature.
In this persecution against Falun Dafa, the evil people have shown their various ugly appearances and natures. I decided to insist on my way of cultivation and practice, to help end this persecution through my own experiences, and let more people know the truth.
Let us be the lotus, pure and clean as it emerges from the mud.
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