My Experiences in the Process of Rescuing My Mother

[PureInsight.org] My name is X and I obtained the Fa in 1996 overseas. Every time I reflect upon my daily words and actions with the Fa, I realize that I am doing far from adequately. Under the encouragement and support of fellow practitioners, I would like to share a few cultivation experiences obtained in the process of rescuing my mother. Everyone please feel free to point out my inadequacies.

Initiating overseas rescue efforts when my mother was arrested for the first time

In mid-May 2002, my mother was arrested by the local police station while clarifying the truth. I only got to know this half of a month later. My younger brother told me that he had tried to rescue my mother in a variety of ways, but because my mother refused to sign anything, she remained detained in the detention center.

When I was told that my mother was arrested, I discussed it with practitioners in Toronto immediately. Initially I felt that there were only two or three practitioners who have family members being persecuted in China. In the process of our discussion, I was surprised to find out that in Toronto alone, there are eight Toronto residents whose relatives in China have been sentenced or imprisoned due to practicing Dafa. There were a few practitioners who, until then, had never divulged that their family members were undergoing persecution.

With the combined efforts of Canadian practitioners and the support of the Canadian government and public, Professor Zhang Kunlun was successfully rescued. Even though there are so many practitioners in Canada whose relatives are being persecuted in Mainland China, not being Canadian citizens or permanent residents, I wondered what we could do. In a short period of time we were able to form a temporary rescue team, where practitioners came together to share, discuss, and improve ourselves.

Through our discussions, I noticed two problems: The first being that some practitioners felt that with so many practitioners in China facing persecution, if we only stress the importance of the persecution of our own family members, would that be a form of selfishness? The second problem was that some practitioners were worried that, by publicizing information about their relatives facing persecution, it might aggravate the extent of the persecution on them in China. After we shared our experiences openly, we were able to realize immediately the real meaning of our rescue operation. We should use our own personal experiences of having relatives undergo persecution to expose and clarify the truth of the persecution led by the evil Jiang regime. Our relatives are also some of the thousands and thousands of practitioners facing persecution. By rescuing them we are also rescuing practitioners in Mainland China. As to the actual result, we were able to realize, that as long as we are doing something that is righteous, we would not be hindered by any temporary, superficial results. At this time, the media team, TV team, government team and many other practitioners stood up together to join in our efforts.

On the eve of July 20th, 2002, media conferences were conducted in Ottawa, Toronto and other cities, bringing the rescue operation to the society.

While we were in the midst of discussing the rescue operation, my mother was released. Following that, lots of good news of relatives and friends being released early came to us. The fact that our own relatives are facing persecution became a useful and effective approach to clarify the truth to government officials, the media and the public. Later, we found out from practitioners in Mainland China who have been imprisoned that practitioners in prison were very inspired by our rescue operations. A handful of newly arrived practitioners from Mainland China, who have not been able to effectively participate in overseas activities, were also effectively merged into our overseas truth clarifying effort through our rescue operations.

Sixteen other countries and areas began rescue efforts after that. During that time us practitioners in Canada had already done some activities in the rescue operation, and had a few experiences to share. Practitioners in other countries invited us to discuss our experiences in the rescue operation. We told them that we did not really do anything in particular, except that practitioners who participated in this had a common understanding and goal, while practitioners who did not participate supported us with righteous thoughts. The result came as a natural consequence. Master had clearly told us in his lecture in Philadelphia, that Dafa disciples are a unified body, and that we should cooperate together. I was enlightened by Master's words. When we are able to do things from the perspective of the Fa, everything becomes much simpler. Many other practitioners who helped coordinate the rescue efforts have also mentioned the same feeling. For myself, when compared the rescue operation with other activities that I have been involved in, I felt that I had done many things before with a lot of attachments, consciously or unconsciously. After going through a process of falling down and walking wrong roads, and finally accomplishing them, I would even feel that it was only accomplished because of my efforts, and that the results were my "accomplishments."

Clarifying the truth to people in China and rescuing my mother when she was arrested for the second time

In the middle of March this year, my mother was arrested for the second time by the local public security bureau when she was clarifying the truth. I did not know of her arrest until I phoned my family on the next day after she was arrested. I found the phone numbers of the responsible persons in the public security bureau and the 610 office from the Minghui website and I also wrote down the situation of my Mom being arrested and gave it to the Global Rescue Team and to fellow practitioners in New York and Toronto. I felt very sad upon learning that my Mom was arrested for the second time. I remember when I phoned my father, I could not help shedding tears. When I stopped shedding tears, I heard my father crying on the other side of the phone. As a result of a car accident, the lower half of my father's body was paralyzed, and he relied completely on my Mom to take care of him. My younger brother and his family also felt great pressure. The local public security bureau made use of this opportunity to blackmail my family, asking us to hand over ten thousand RMB yuan, otherwise they would either send my Mom to the labor camp or sentence her to three or five years. I thought: my Mom was arrested for clarifying the truth. I should let more people know about the fact of my Mom being persecuted so as to arouse their conscience and sympathy. Since I work in New York, I visited the members of the Congress and asked for their help to appeal for my Mom. After that I went back to Toronto, and held a press conference in front of the Chinese Consulate in Toronto. The news of my Mom being arrested quickly spread to different places all over the world through the media and the Internet.

I have a friend who does not practice Falun Gong. After he learned that my Mom was arrested, he phoned the main government leaders in my home county. He said even though he never got himself involved in any political events, he really admired my Mom who dared to clarify the truth and was not afraid of being sentenced. He told me what I was doing was really great since I was not only helping my Mom, but also helping those Falun Gong practitioners who are being persecuted in China.

I have another friend who chose to negotiate with the public security bureau and was willing to pay money to get my Mom home. The public security bureau said they would release her after they got the money. At the very beginning I told my friend that I negated the suggestion put forward by my family to rescue my Mom with money. My friend told me that I had been away from China for quite some time and that I did not know the situation in China.

In China, it is the trade between money and power in doing everything and there is no law at all. You can even use money to buy a government position. I hesitated after hearing what he said, and I was thinking at first that it might be good to have Mom home. After a second thought, I understood that if we gave them money, isn't it the same as helping the evil to persecute our fellow practitioners? I phoned him and thanked him for his kindness. Since my Mom was arrested for being a good person, we should not give them a single penny. I asked him to clearly tell that to the public security bureau.

My schoolmates at Texas A&M jointly wrote a letter to the Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, asking him to show concern for my Mom's situation. My friends in China helped either to phone the government officers, 610 Office and the public security bureau at the provincial, municipal and the county levels, or went in person to these departments and asked them to release my Mom as soon as possible. My friends overseas were very surprised and angry after learning that my Mom was arrested because of practicing Falun Gong. They were extremely disappointed with the Chinese government for still using the system of the "Cultural Revolution" to persecute people.

I phoned the local public security bureau. The person in charge of the National Security Team said that they had received phone-calls from all over the world, demanding the release of my Mom. They felt great pressure and they complained that they could hardly do their normal work. I told him that no one would have bothered to phone you if you had not arrested innocent people. They said they would try to release my Mom as soon as possible.

A few people of the Hubei Provincial 610 Office still refuse to come to their senses [and are still] following Jiang's regime to persecute Falun Gong. My Mom is nearly 70 years old. It is within her constitutional rights to clarify the truth for Falun Gong. However they put my Mom's case on file as an important case in Hubei province. They forcibly sent my Mom to the most evil brainwashing class in Hubei Province—Hubei Law Education Center, and tortured her mentally.

In the procedure of clarifying the truth, I realized that many people in the 610 Office and the police bureau know the truth to a certain extent. They understand very well that Falun Gong practitioners are not against the government, nor are they involved in any form of politics. In other words, Falun Gong practitioners are all good people. Yet under the menace of Jiang's threatening state terrorism – a totalitarian-like rule to uproot all opposition, many of them were pushed into participating in the persecution.

A few friends of mine who are mayors of counties and cities have shown great compassion for the fact that my mother was arrested. They would tell me in private, that if they publicly show support for Falun Gong and are compassionate for Falun Gong practitioners, they will be removed from their positions. From this, we could see that the persecution of Falun Gong led by Jiang's regime is in fact very unpopular and against every person's will.

I am very sad to find that, when confronted with the legal system and pressured into participating in illegal violence many people condone it when Jiang's totalitarian government threaten their interests. I wrote several times to those departments who are participating in the persecution, telling them not to follow Jiang's lies and violence. I once called a legal consultation center in my hometown; hoping that they could help to defend my mother's arrest. However, one of the lawyers told me that their Superiors have ordered that they are not to help defend Falun Gong practitioners.

Hence I had to refer to Chinese Law by myself. In June, I handed in my appeal letter to eight units including the Hubei High Court and requested an investigation into the 610 office, the police bureau, the brainwashing class, and all other departments and individuals who have participated in the persecution of my mother. In addition I requested the dismissal of the people at all levels of the 610 Office who have participated in the persecution.

During the detention of my mother, phone calls made by overseas Dafa disciples to all levels of Hubei government officials had a great effect in clarifying the truth, restraining evil and helping to alleviate the pressure on the local practitioners. Since I am a Canadian citizen, the Canadian consulate in China contacted the Hubei foreign affairs office several times to show their concern over the arrest of my mother. The Global Rescue team and WOIPFG have also written letters to people related to her arrest. Many overseas practitioners and practitioners in my hometown made lots of truth-clarifying materials about the arrest of my mother and distributed them to the government and ordinary people in the province. One of my relatives told me that 80% of people at her workplace had received automatic recording phone calls from overseas. They thought that the entire world knew that my mother was arrested and it touched them deeply.

There was one practitioner who made phone calls to my hometown almost every single day, clarifying the truth to all kinds of people in society. I felt that she had done more than I had, and it inspired me greatly. Many practitioners also used their own money and time to prepare and send truth-clarifying materials to Hubei province. Many of them worked so quietly in the background that I don't even know who they are, even now. What touched me the most was that when my mother was imprisoned in the brainwashing class, practitioners in Wuhan city braved their lives to go to the brainwashing class and send forth righteous thoughts at a close distance.

With the help of Dafa Disciples and righteous people from all over the world, my mother was finally released after four months of detention. Here, on behalf of my mother, I would like to say thanks to all the practitioners who have helped to rescue her, to all practitioners who stood up to help my mother under pressure, until she was finally released.

My mother has also told me some of her experiences after being released. She was very healthy before being arrested. But when she was forcibly sent to the Wuhan brainwashing class, the doctor found that her blood pressure was as high as 200 during an examination and that she had noticeable symptoms of illnesses. The people in charge of the brainwashing class did not tell this to any of our family members; instead they claimed that her health was very good. Nonetheless they were worried that there might be some problems. So they let my mother rest in bed for more than one week. She didn't have to join the activities in the brainwashing class during that period.

My mother knew very well what had happened. Afterwards she refused to write anything. She also told me that she was watched by four people every day and forced to watch those slanderous programs against Falun Gong during the daytime. Altogether there were 26 illegally kidnapped Falun Gong practitioners who were forced to attend the brainwashing class with her, and they came from everywhere in Hubei Province. In a short period of time of just over a month, the money spent on persecuting each Falun Gong practitioners reached nearly 10,000 RMB. From this brainwashing class, we could see the large amount of taxpayer's money that has been spent by Jiang's regime to persecute Falun Gong practitioners.

Some sharing of my own personal experiences in the rescue operation

Recalling the entire rescue, I have also uncovered several hidden attachments of mine in the process. When my mother was arrested for the second time, I immediately asked for help from friends in Mainland China. They also went directly to the police department to find the responsible people. The police said that they would release my mother at
once and asked my friend to tell me not to make phone calls from overseas anymore. My friends also asked me to relax and said that they would solve the problem. However, I still heard that the 610 Office wanted to send my mother to do forced labor. During the first few days, I did not dare to call the police department directly for I was worried that I could not answer their questions. I was also afraid to tell relatives in Mainland China that I have exposed my mother's persecution overseas on a large scale. I realized that I have an attachment to fear. What am I afraid of? In the past, when I rescued other practitioners' relatives or called the evil police directly, I was not afraid of the evil at all. But why am I so scared when I am rescuing my mother? I told myself to face it. When I called the person responsible in the police department for the first time, he told me he would hang up phone calls from everyone else except me. That turned out to be true. A few practitioners told me later that whenever they called this person, he would not listen and would hang up right away. A few days later I held a news conference, and this news spread to my hometown quickly. Once, a person in charge in the police department got angry and asked me, "We've told you not to blow up this matter, why did you hold a news conference? Don't you Falun Gong practitioners follow 'Truthfulness, compassion and tolerance'? " He said that I had lied to him. I told him that although he'd shown some compassion over the arrest of my mother, it's actually not a crime at all for someone to practice "truthfulness, compassion, tolerance". Instructions to persecute Falun Gong came from the Central CCP Government. The news conference we held was targeted against the persecution of Falun Gong by JIANG. Once I made this clear, he did not complain about our news conferences anymore. Because I had already gotten rid of my fear, and because I was really doing it for their sake, I used my real postal address, phone and email to clarify the truth to all levels of government in Hubei province by phone, fax and email. This had a very good effect. When one of the directors of a workplace received my appeal letter, as I had expected, he said that my letter was written very well, and so were the attached documents. He mentioned that they were written in a well-organized manner. I thought, every sentient being has a good side, and when we treat them with compassion, the effect of clarifying the truth will be very good.

In the process of rescuing my mother, sometimes I got so angry when I saw how the evil was persecuting Dafa disciples, that I got attached to a competitive mentality. When that happened, I would remind myself, that I should have a cultivator's dignity. Moreover, anger is an attachment that needs to be gotten rid of. Therefore, I tried to keep my heart peaceful and calm each time I called them.

1. Practitioners who have relatives being persecuted have to take actions and initiatives by themselves first. No matter how much you can do or how much other practitioners can assist, the most important thing is that your own heart has to reach the standard. Regardless of whether there are any superficial changes, you have to keep on going and persevere.

2. Do not treat it simply as rescuing one's relative but use it as a good opportunity to clarify the truth to all levels of society. Use all possible methods to clarify the truth, including phone calls, posting truth materials, network transfers, news conferences, media reports, tracking reports, as well as every country's levels of government, human rights organizations, friends and relatives in mainland China, and share with local practitioners, and even go for a lawsuit. Each part of this process requires practitioners to coordinate the work and fulfill the task well.

3. All practitioners should be concerned with the rescue. The rescue operation is not only limited to one practitioner alone. More practitioners should also care about the rescue. Non-practitioners should also be encouraged to get involved.

In the process of rescuing my mother, I realized that in the past five years of persecution, there have been more than 60 Dafa disciples in my hometown – Gongan County, Hubei Province, who have been illegally sentenced, forced into labor or detained, among which one has been tortured to death. (I got this information from the police department; however, there are only less than 20 practitioners listed on the MingHui website). Practitioners in my hometown have many stories to tell about appealing against the persecution and validating the Fa. Because of limited time, I won't talk about it now. A few days ago when I called my mother and told her that the Washington DC Fahui is coming soon, I asked her if there was anything she wanted to say. Mother said, "Please pass on the word that practitioners in our hometown send greetings to Master!"