Coming for You: Chapter 12 – A Fellow Practitioner

Coming for You: Chapter 12 – A Fellow Practitioner

Zenon Dolnyckyj

Chapter 12: A Fellow Practitioner

[PureInsight.org] I took a seat feeling disheartened by the terrible place I was in. Some commotion caught my attention and I turned around to see what was happening. A friend of mine, Chris, from Australia was being grabbed and pulled around by the collar of his jacket. Finally they let him sit down but shortly after they took him and a couple of others to get their luggage. When they got back I went to talk with Chris to find out what was happening earlier during his interrogation.

Zenon: Hey Chris, why were they so angry with you before you went to get your luggage?

Chris: They didn't like my answers to their questions.

A big smile grew on my face and I continued my inquiry.

Zenon: What did you tell them?

Chris: Well I had already decided before commencing the interrogation that I would not sign any statement they wrote in Chinese. Also I insisted in asking them why they were illegally detaining us when we had done nothing wrong. We had acted within the rights given by the Chinese Constitution and also within the Human Rights covenants agreed to by China. In my opinion there was no legal reason for us being detained, assaulted and harassed. Each time I asked the policewoman who was interrogating me why I had been arrested she either didn't answer me, or told me, "you are not arrested" and "you have broken the law."

Zenon: That doesn't make any sense.

Chris: I asked her, "what law is it that I have broken?" and she replied with "you practiced Falun Gong in Tiananmen Square." I explained to her that what we did in Tiananmen Square was hold a banner up which displayed the words "Truth Compassion Tolerance in Chinese and in English" and asked her how that was breaking the law. I asked her "is it illegal to practice being truthful compassionate and tolerant in China?" By this time the policewoman had become frustrated and did not want me asking her questions she was finding difficult to find just answers for. She replied with "yes, it is illegal in China" and then said "stop asking me questions. I am the police and I am asking the questions. I want you to answer me. I want you to tell me the truth." Then I pointed out that she had just told me that it was illegal to say the truth in China and pointed out the contradiction of what she had just instructed me to do.

Zenon: You're kidding! What did she do?

Chris: This seemed to baffle her for a moment. Not having any rational answer to give me, she then turned to the male police officer sitting next to her and quietly said something to him in Chinese. I wanted to give them the opportunity to see the truth of what was really happening in China, which was contrary to what they had been told by their Chairman. I went on to ask them "how is it possible for any person or government in the world to create a law which stops people from beingTruthful Compassionate and Tolerant?" I pointed out that no one has the capability of doing such a thing and that it was a human right to practice these principles. I asked them what sort of place would this world then become if these principles were truly illegal.

I smiled impressed with his calm sense of clarity.

Zenon: Wow, I bet they weren't prepared for you eh? What happened next?

Chris: Just hold on and I'll tell you. The policewoman became more frustrated as she had no way of logically disagreeing with what I was saying to her. She then insisted again that I answer her questions only and not ask any more questions myself. She firmly told me that: she was the police, she was asking the questions, that we had broken the law and that they were doing their job. She continued to ask me questions about were I lived in Australia, where I worked and other questions that I thought were information that was not necessary for them to know. My home had already had been broken into under suspicious circumstances and other people had their homes and cars broken into and information such as address books and Dafa material stolen. I told her that I did not believe that my work in Australia was any concern to her and that I would not answer unreasonable questions. Both police officers then discussed something and got up asking me to follow them to the back of the hall. They were agitated and did not tell me why I was being moved. The male police officer who was the one initiating the move told me it was so they could ask me more questions. I asked him why we had to go the back of the hall when they were already asking me questions in our current position. He told me that there were too many people there and that I should follow him. Then I stopped following him. I asked him whether he wanted to do something bad like beat me again and whether that was why he wanted to hide me in the back of the hall. I told him if he had nothing to hide there was no reason to move me somewhere where others couldn't closely see him. The policeman couldn't seem to answer me so he just insisted for me to go with him. I refused re-iterating that unless he gave me a reasonable answer as to why we had to move and that he wasn't intending to rough me up to get the answers he wanted I would not follow him. As he did not give me any answer I told him that I was going to sit back where we were. His anger flared as he came over to my seat and tried to lift me by my coat. He found it difficult to lift me and then grabbed me from the collar of my coat, tightened it, lifted and dragged me out of my chair towards the back of the room.

Zenon: Were you scared?

Chris: No. At one point I looked into my heart and thought I may have been trying to cover up my fear but I wasn't totally sure. I was calm and refused to cooperate with them. Once I was at the back where he wanted me, he realized that other people could now see what was happening and he told me to stand at the back of the room and wait until they were ready to get me. As it turned out a superior officer arrived after about half an hour. That's when they asked us to prepare to leave and get our luggage from our hotels. The policeman that had interrogated me told me to sit somewhere else away from the others pointing out to me this time that "we have special police for special people like you." Soon after, though, orders from higher up came telling us to follow them to go and pick up our luggage.

Zenon: Wow we handled our situations so differently. Isn't it beautiful? We both clarified the true situation very clearly in our own ways in the midst of our own enlightening. So many people see us as some organization, especially after this event, but we have no leaders or policy makers, we are sincere cultivators and as taught in Falun Dafa take the Law (Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance) as ones teacher/master. Remember teacher said "Dafa (The Great Law) is boundless, and it is completely up to your heart to practice cultivation." What good would it do to tell someone to cultivate if they didn't do it from the bottom of their hearts? But when we do it's just majestic, eh?

You could see him grin at me a little for saying "eh"

Zenon: You really stood your ground and so did I but in our own ways, trying to help them see the simple truth.

Chris: Yah but I didn't really want to seem confrontational, I didn't want them to get the wrong impression of us. Do you think I shouldn't have treated them that way?

Zenon: No

Chris: I just don't think we should be treated this way.

Zenon: I think what you said was fine. They shouldn't feel good doing these things to people. You were speaking to them with reason and from the perspective of truth, I think this is compassion and from my understanding it's our responsibility. Even if they don't like it, it is important for them to see it. I think what you did was good. You didn't cooperate with them, you didn't bend and you didn't fight with them. You just spoke to them from your heart. If they are trying to do something underhanded then naturally they won't like it. So be it. We have a responsibility to the truth. If we just cooperate with them than we help them commit wrong doing, what kind of people are we? We should also know that helping them do wrong is not good for them, so staying firm on the good side is also compassion, regardless of how they treat you. That takes real strength.

I was touched and encouraged by his clarity of mind and the strength in his heart.

Chris: That's exactly how I feel. Well, never mind that. You have to hear what happened to me when they took me to get my luggage. You aren't going to believe this. When they were taking us to our hotels to collect our luggage, a young policeman left his seat on the bus and came and sat with me. He gave me a big smile and said, "welcome to Beijing." I looked behind me to make sure he was talking to me with such a polite manner and such a warm smile. He was greeting me.

Zenon: You've gotta be kidding me.

Chris: No seriously, he was genuinely greeting me. I told him that Beijing was nice until the police broke my hand. When I lifted my swollen hand to show him, his mouth and eyes widened. Then I began to tell him why we came to China and who we are. I began to tell him what happens to the other practitioners in China and how practitioners have never fought back nor have they swore back. Then a senior police officer ordered him not to speak with me anymore. But that officer was too late. This young guy saw with his own eyes. I asked him, you know all Falun Dafa practitioners are good people right? And he just nodded yes.

Zenon: The second you get on the plane you have to start writing these stories down right away. You need to write them fast before you forget them.

Then Chris grinned and showed me his hand, reminding me that it was broken and that would make writing a little difficult.