[Minghui Net] In order to suffocate the evil, to validate and safeguard Dafa [great law and principles], I started off on my way to Beijing for the third time. As I did not have a penny in my pocket, I decided to walk to Beijing. The following are some of my experiences on the way to Beijing this time.
On the morning of the first day I felt vigorous. But in the afternoon I felt thirsty and hungry and my legs became heavier. I endured these things and moved forward, step-by- step. By evening I could not move any more. I felt too shy to "beg for a meal." Then I happened to see a house that had its door open. I walked there and asked for some water to drink. Then I gathered my courage and asked, "Do you have some food left? If you have, could you give me some? If not, that is okay." The couple was really kind. The wife said, "Give him a bowl of grain." The husband gave me a full bowl of rice and side dishes. I had a chat with them while eating. I clarified the truth and spread Dafa to them. I thanked them after I finished the meal and went on my way. It was very dark outside. I walked some distances and saw a house on the roadside. I cleaned a place at the corner outside the house and planned to sleep there. I wanted to practice the exercises before going to sleep. When I was holding the law wheel (the 2nd set of Falun Gong exercises, "Falun Standing Stance"), a person came by and discovered that I was a Falun Gong practitioner. He hailed a motorcycle driver to take me to the local police station. I took the chance to spread Dafa to him. At the police station I refused to tell them my name and address. I tried to escape once, but was caught and beaten up. I thought since I could not escape I had better take it easy. I clarified the truth and spread Dafa to them and in the meantime. I was able to clear the "fear" in my thoughts and all the other impure ideas. Along with clarifying the truth and spreading Dafa, I felt changes had taken place in their hearts. After learning that I held a bachelor's degree, they changed greatly in their hearts. Their attitudes became gradually better and they treated me less severely. After taking a simple interrogation statement from me, they released me on the second night.
For the following several days I experienced suffering in my legs and feet. At first, the ligaments behind my knees were very sore. I felt the tearing pain when I put more force on my knees. Then a friction blister appeared on my left foot from the rubbing of the shoe. When I was close to Jingmen City of Hubei Province, I got another blister on my right foot. I tried to walk on the heels. I picked up something to eat from the ground when I was hungry and I slept in the woods when I was sleepy. I was usually up 1 or 2 times a night due to the cold. After I passed Jingmen City, my feet were very painful. I endured all this and walked 3 to 4 hours before I sat down and took a rest in the woods along the road. As part of the blisters matured, I took the time to study the Fa and practice the exercises while resting. After a half-day's rest, the next day I felt more aches in both of my feet. I knew I should not rest any more. I started to walk slowly on my heels. After I walked several miles, the ache was relieved. But when I rested, I felt the wounds were swelling as if they would burst. When I walked again, I ached very badly in the beginning. But after several miles, the ache would be relieved. Without me noticing, the ligaments behind the knees were much better. But later I felt very sore in the tendons of my feet. I experienced a tearing pain whenever I used a little force. I found it was swelling and the tendon area was red. I just ignored it and continued to walk with forbearance. Slowly and gradually, the tendon was okay. The blisters in my feet were healed 11 or 12 days later. Then I got a bigger blister on my left foot and a blister on the big toe of my left foot. They were recovered half a month later.
One day when I was walking and putting my left foot forward, I suddenly felt the sciatic nerve on my left side was affected and I felt a tearing pain in the muscles. I could not walk. I had to pull my waist to move my hip and the whole left leg forward. After I walked a short distance, the right side had the same problem. At that time, there was only the word "walk," in my head. I breathed heavily and walked, waddling like a penguin. After less than 10 steps, the right side recovered. Then a short distance later, the left side recovered too. This time, I was enlightened, "When it's difficult to endure, you can endure it. When it's impossible to do, you can do it."
Sometimes when I was really tired, I asked for a lift. Some kind-hearted drivers gave me a lift. When I arrived in Yicheng City of Hubei Province, it was raining and I happened to pick up a disposable rain coat I knew that our Teacher is always taking care of disciples. I continued walking in the rain. A small bus drove by and the kind-hearted owner gave me a lift to Xiangfan City Bus Station. I took the initiative to clean the bus. During the conversation with the female conductor I told her that I was a Falun Gong practitioner and I was heading for Beijing. The lady understood me and said, "I wish you success."
On the way from Xiangfan City to Dengzhou City, an old lonely man asked me the way to Nanyang City; I told him and gave him a sesame seed cake I had begged. He gave me back half of the cake and we walked together for a while.
I checked the map in a newspaper pavilion when I passed Xuchang City, and found out that the next stop on my way to Beijing was Changgeng, a small city, and then cities of Zhengzhou, Xinxiang, Anyang, Handan, Xingtai, Shijiazhuan, Baoding, Zhuozhou and Beijing. When I got a lift on a small bus near Zhengzhou, I helped to clean the bus when it arrived the station. The bus owner gave me a bag of steamed bread and we had a chat while I was eating. I told them I was not allowed to go to work because of practicing Falun Gong and the work unit harassed me from day to day. The question came up: What harm are we Falun Gong practitioners committing when we are try to be good persons in all environments we encounter? They expressed that they look down upon what Jiang Zemin does to Falun Gong. I told them some true stories about Falun Gong. They kindly warned me that it was dangerous in Zhengzhou. I thanked them and went on my journey.
I encountered a little trouble when I crossed the Yellow River Bridge, as pedestrians are not allowed to walk on the bridge. A tricycle came by and I asked the driver to give me a ride, assuming he would give me a ride for free, but he asked for money later. As I had no money to give him he did not let me go at first. I explained a lot of things to him and finally he let me go.
On the way from Xingtai to Shijiazhuang, I got a lift on a tractor. I was very sleepy while standing on it. I could hardly hold on to the tractor and several times I almost fell off. I realized that this was the interference of demons and I should get rid of it. So I strengthened my main consciousness. I forced myself to open my eyes wide, and held on to the tractor tightly with my hands. After quite a while, I was back to normal.
In Shijiazhuang I picked up a lot of food to eat, including a nearly full box of rice. I remembered the story that Master has told us about the begging bowls of disciples of Sakyamuni's time. Just like the disciples of Sakyamuni did then, now I began to save food in case I could not find food later. I knew it was an attachment but it was so hard to give up. I saw 10 Yuan on the ground when I just passed Zhuozhou. I hesitatingly picked it up, but I put it back when I thought that as a Dafa disciple I should follow strict requirements.
The police blocked the bus I took when passing Wangdu. They wanted to search for Falun Gong practitioners. I was not scared at all though I had brought a Dafa book with me. I didn't even think about the possibility that they would get on the bus to search, and they did not. I could not get a ride from Baoding to Beijing. I thought I was meant to walk by myself.
During those days, I felt the scorching hot sun even before 8am everyday. I felt I was sitting beside a fire when I was walking on the road. Sometimes there was a dazzling, shiny long way with only some short trees on both sides and there was no shade to hide from and no wind. I could not drink much water at one time because it would very soon turn into sweat. I had to sip water every once in a while. I really had the feeling that Master wrote about in "Climbing Mount Tai, "With a determined heart, lift the feet with legs weighing thousands of pounds; forbearing suffering, striving forward, and discarding attachments" (unofficial translation of Master Li's poem).
I picked up three pieces of a Beijing map on which I found all the locations I needed. I also picked up a permit to enter Beijing. On its back was the map of the suburbs of Beijing. They were all very useful to me. I realized that Master was helping me with all of this.
On May 24, the 2nd day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar, I walked determinedly into Tiananmen Square. I wrote down on the square my heart-felt wishes: "Falun Dafa Is Good!" with the spring water I brought from the mountain.
In the police wagon, I suffered different kinds of tortures, especially the twisting of my ears and nose and slapping. At the Tiananmen police station, I faced their threats and beatings with my righteous thoughts and refused to tell them my name and address. I met two other fellow practitioners in the iron cage. They told me that they and another 8 practitioners, who were just sent out had been beaten up and fed poison. The skin where the poison touched had festered. A policeman who was called the "director" did not beat us. Instead, he often raised up his thumb to Dafa practitioners when there was nobody else around. We three recited " Lun Yu,"[the forward of Zhuan Falun] meditated, practiced the exercises and eliminated the evil. At night, the police released us all. "...Do not endure passively and face the evil people with righteous thoughts at all times."('Dafa Disciples' Righteous Thoughts are Powerful') It was with these righteous thoughts that I broke through this barrier unconsciously.