I Am A Falun Dafa Practitioner, Not A Cult Member

I am a 24-year-old male Falun Dafa practitioner from a small town near Xi-an city.

In recent months, as almost everyone knows, the Chinese government has declared Falun Dafa "a cult" and has banned all related activities. Here I do not want to enter into political topics, as we practitioner shave no interest in politics.

But you may ask: "According to the Chinese government, more than 10,000Falun Dafa practitioners protested around Zhongnanhai (the Forbidden City) in Beijing on April 25, 1999. How to explain this?" My answer is:it is true that more than 10,000 people "gathered", instead of"protested" at the Zhongnanhai. They carried no signs, no demonstrations, no bad words and no violent behavior. When they left,these "protesters" as called by CCTV (China Central Television) picked up all the garbage on the ground, including a lot of garbage that was already there before they gathered. It was called "a miracle" by somej ournalists. Has there ever been such a kind of "protesting"?

The main reason for the gathering, as I understand, is that we had hoped our government could really understand us and would not drag Falun Dafa and its practitioners into political campaigns. But quite unfortunately ...

I have been practicing Falun Dafa exercises almost everyday since March1998. In March 1998, when I was in Shijiazhuang city, a friend of mine introduced me to a book called "Zhuan Falun" written by Mr. Li Hongzhi. In the book, Mr. Li teaches a person to follow the principles of "Zhen(Truthfulness), Shan (Compassion), Ren (Forbearance)". When I first read it, I felt it was so great because I have been searching for the truth for a long time.

Shijiazhuang city, the capital of Hebei province, is a medium-sized city. But there were thousands of people practicing Falun Dafa exercises outdoors every morning. They are from all walks of life and from all spans of age. Every morning they spent about 2 hours practicing Falun Dafa exercises together outdoors. Then children would go to kindergarten or schools; workers would go to their factories to work; aged people would go to markets or go back home for household work, etc... Just as simple as this.

Now this poplar morning exercise is banned, for some people in the government are concerned that it is "illegal and a cult congregation". I am shocked.

I have benefited from practicing Falun Dafa. Physically, I have become very healthy. I have not taken any medicine since March 1998.Spiritually, I have learned how to get along with people with kindess at all times. I quit smoking and drinking alcohol. I do not gamble. I do not watch pornography. I do not listen to rock-n-roll. I use polite words all the time. I dress cleanly all the time. I keep my word all the time, etc...You may ask my friends; ask my employer; ask my neighbors and even visit my family. They are all going to tell you that I am an honest, reliable person.

Several weeks ago, 15 Falun Dafa practitioners practiced Falun Dafa exercises together at Tiananmen Square during UN secretary Annan's visit to Beijing. They wrote a letter to Annan and pleaded the UN to send investigators to China to find the truth. These 15 peoplei ncluding some children risked their lives only wanting people around the world to know that Falun Dafa is not a cult and 100 million practitioners are not cult members. I wish I had been there too.

I believe that not every one on this planet treasures political power desperately. At least we do not.

I strongly suggest that people go to the Internet or visit the local bookstores (not in Chinese mainland, books are banned there) to get an original Falun Dafa book written by Master Li , "Zhuan Falun" for example. And please note, if you start to read, please be sure to finish the whole content. Then you will know why so many people with different nationalities love Falun Dafa so much.

You too will benefit from it .

Thank you very much.

Hengyuan Shie -- script on 24th, Nov. 1999