Please understand the truth about Falun Gong and the brutal persecution of Falun Gong in China. Please do not believe the Chinese Communist Party's lies. Falun Dafa is Good. Falun Gong (Falun Dafa) teaches 'Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance', it teaches us to be a GOOD person, and it makes us HEALTHY.
And it is embraced in over 100 nations!
请了解法轮功和中共残酷迫害法轮功的真相。法轮大法(法轮功)好,114个国家都热爱她,请不要被中共的谎言欺骗。(http://falundafa.org)
“What is most miraculous about Falun Dafa is that it really has the mighty power and virtue to change people’s hearts, since it is not just a concept. Whenever I run into conflicts, the first thing on my mind is Dafa principles, and naturally I can control myself and calm down. I always wanted to become a friendly and peaceful person, and Dafa is making my dream a reality. I’m getting closer and closer to being the type of person I desire to be.”
June 24, 2013 | By Heyu, a Minghui reporter
(Minghui.org) Drew Parker is a popular singer and songwriter from Canada. His Falun Dafa-themed song “Mother China” received honorable mention in the 2010 Billboard World Song Writing Contest and ranked in the top 500. His album “On My Way Home,” which includes “Mother China,” made it onto the 2009 Grammy Awards entry ballot.
Singer and songwriter Drew Parker
Drew graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a computer science degree and is now a video game software designer. He and his wife, along with their three lovely children, live in Toronto, Canada.
Born into a musical family, Drew has been sharing his talent and passion for music on stage since he was young. At the celebration of the 21st anniversary of Falun Dafa’s introduction to the public in front of Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 8, 2013, Drew performed a song titled “Changed in the Maze,” in which he wrote about how Dafa cultivation has changed his life.
Drew, his wife and their son in front of Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 8, 2013.
Changed in the Maze
Drew started Falun Dafa cultivation in 2000 while he was still in college. A young man with a keen interest in traditional Chinese culture and spirituality, he happened to come across the Falun Dafa website while surfing online. After he finished reading Zhuan Falun, he realized it was exactly what he had been looking for:
“What struck me the most at the beginning was Dafa’s emphasis on the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance that one should follow to be a good person. The very first time I read Zhuan Falun, I got a strong feeling that Dafa is so pure and sacred. I’d tried many other spiritual things in the past, yet never had this feeling. Unlike other [qigong] schools, Dafa is totally free of charge, yet what it gives me is priceless.”
Soon, Drew found himself changing from the deepest layers within:
“I’d read a lot of books in the past, but none of them seemed able to change me. I still had trouble controlling myself whenever there were conflicts. I used to be a quick-tempered person who appeared nice but would fly into a rage when annoyed.”
“What is most miraculous about Dafa is that it really has the mighty power and virtue to change people’s hearts, since it is not just a concept. Whenever I run into conflicts, the first thing on my mind is Dafa principles, and naturally I can control myself and calm down. I always wanted to become a friendly and peaceful person, and Dafa is making my dream a reality. I’m getting closer and closer to being the type of person I desire to be.”
Singing was once Drew’s whole life, but it also brought him a lot of anguish:
“When a singer performs on the stage, he always wants to bring happiness to his audience. However, I found that for the most part I was trying to show off my talent and as such often felt anxious about the results. When the performance didn’t go so well or smoothly, I’d throw a tantrum at my team. I always felt it was other people’s fault. I worked hard for my reputation and fame, and my obsession with perfection bothered a lot of people. I didn’t know why I had to behave that way.”
“After my Dafa cultivation, the answer gradually became clear to me. My problem resulted from my lack of confidence. I always felt that I wasn’t a good enough musician. I knew that only through cultivation could I change myself.”
As he kept cultivating and improving his xinxing, Drew finally got rid of his show-off mentality and constant desire to get attention:
“This was a wonderful change in my life. Now I sing with a pure heart, and I only think of my audience. I hope to help them with my songs, and I am no longer the old me who only wanted to feel good about himself.”
As a composer, Drew feels that the most important part of a song is a good theme, one that resonates with the audience and brings light and hope to them. “Changed in the Maze” is one such song, which he uses to share his wonderful experiences in Dafa:
“I was once deeply mired in personal troubles, and there seemed no way out. I always failed to control myself during conflicts with others and thus caused tremendous harm to my family. I’m sure many people have similar experiences. Nobody wants to live that way, but somehow they have trouble mitigating conflicts, which eventually spiral out of control. The end result is everyone is angry and sad.”
“We all want to be saved but see no miracle happening. Can you imagine that kind of helpless and desperate situation? For a long period of time I lost any sense of shame and saw my hope shattered. I doubted if I’d ever recover and bounce back. ‘Changed in the Maze’ is an accurate depiction of what happened to me.”
“It is Dafa that changed me and saved my family from breaking up. Everything that I was about to lose came back to me, and the endless worry and anguish were gone. I saw light in my life again. What a wonderful thing to be saved in despair! Falun Dafa is good! It changed me in the maze.”
Mother China, Please Tell Me Why all This Happened to You?
Drew was extremely shocked when he first learned of the brutal persecution of Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) practitioners in China:
“People [are] killed for practicing Falun Gong and following Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance just like me? I was in disbelief and had to check the news online every day to see if there was a turn for the better. When I saw the death toll growing, I knew everything was true. Reading about the victims’ plights pained my heart and made me cry.”
Being jealous that the number of Falun Gong practitioners in China exceeded the number of Communist Party members, then Party chief Jiang Zemin launched the nation-wide crackdown on Falun Gong in July 1999. Under his policy of bankrupting practitioners financially, ruining their reputation and annihilating their physical bodies, hundreds of thousands of practitioners were sent to forced labor camps and prisons, where they were tortured and injected with unknown substances.
Drew explained: “The state-controlled media fabricated one lie after another to fool the Chinese citizens. Every day we see innocent people harmed. It is not a new tactic for the Chinese totalitarian regime to pit one group of people against another one considered ‘outlaws.’ Several decades ago, Hitler used the same tactic and killed 6 million Jews. It’s extremely important to tell China and the world the truth of the persecution.”
In order to appeal to the Chinese regime to stop the persecution, some Western practitioners made the long journey to Beijing to have their voices heard. On February 24, 2002, Drew stood on Tiananmen Square and unfurled a banner reading, “Falun Dafa is good,” together with over 40 other practitioners from the United States, Canada and Europe. They were met with beatings, detention and, eventually, deportation.
Upon returning home, Drew began to use music to inform people of the persecution that is still happening in China today. In 2004, he composed a song called “Mother China,” in which he wondered why Falun Gong practitioners were being framed, defamed and even killed for upholding benevolent traditional values.
The message about the persecution deeply touched people’s hearts, and the song received honorable mention in the 2010 Billboard World Song Writing Contest. Drew’s album “On My Way Home,” which included the “Mother China” single, also received multiple Grammy nominations.
On September 18, 2005, Drew performed another song on the subject, titled “Child, I’ll Take You Home,” at the Orphan Rescue Concert held at Sanders Theatre at Harvard University. Many people were moved to tears.
Drew singing “Child, I’ll Take You Home” at the Orphan Rescue Concert held at Sanders Theatre at Harvard University on September 18, 2005.
Drew said: “Falun Dafa teaches people to follow the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to conduct themselves. Even if a person cannot commit to cultivation, he can still benefit from following this principle. Attack on this principle equates to telling people to be bad. No wonder no one in any normal society ever agrees with the persecution of Falun Gong. They all think it’s too crazy to persecute such a group of people who work hard to be good.”
“Chinese people are deprived of the right to be good and are persecuted instead. This is scary injustice.”
Looking Forward to the Day When Everything is Renewed
Drew once sang a song composed by another practitioner, called “When Seawater Turns Sweet.” The soul-searching lyrics hit home with many people; they couldn’t help but shed tears.
Drew’s deep voice and excellent delivery has further made this song a favorite piece for many:
Seawater is so salty, but why, oh why? A poet quietly replies, “It’s from thousands and thousands of tears, bitterness and suffering for ages and years.
I look forward to the day, when seawater turns sweet.”
When all good people all over the world, Together, finally, have made it through to the spring in which everything everything is renewed.
When seawater turns sweet.
Why is sea water so salty to the tongue? It’s said a sage left this answer once, “It’s from Buddha’s tears of compassion, Because of all his lost children.
I look forward to the day, When seawater turns sweet.”
When all good people all over the world, Together, finally, have made it through to the spring in which everything everything is renewed.
This song depicts the struggle of lost souls during the seemingly endless reincarnations and shows their desire to return to their true home. It also reminds people that we were all once beings in higher realms, and that Gods and Buddhas have never given up on us and are awaiting our return.
Drew and Falun Dafa practitioners all over the world are working diligently to wake up lost souls. We all look forward to the day when the persecution ends and everything is renewed.
四月二十四日是加拿大卑诗省齐里瓦克市(Chilliwack)Sardis高中的健康生活日(Healthy Living Day),该活动的组织者今年特别邀请了温哥华法轮功学员为学校师生介绍法轮功。老师们表示,感受到很强的能量场,非常想学功。很多师生询问什么时候有法轮功学习班。来自中国上海的留学生表示,一定去看更多的法轮大法资料。
Father was released in winter 2004. He was extremely thin.
When I first saw him, many emotions were welled up in my heart and my tears were uncontrollable.
I threw myself in his arms and cried loudly.
June 26, 2013 | By Xiaotong
(Minghui.org) My mother was arrested and taken to the Xincheng Police Station in Qitaihe City in late October 1999, when she went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. When our entire family went to see her, hoping to bring her home, the police told me that she was not allowed to go home unless she signed a statement saying she would stop practicing Falun Gong. Instead of being released she would be sent to a forced labor camp. I was young and very scared. I cried for a few hours until I passed out. My heart has since been weak, and I have had to avoid strong emotions.
My mother was illegally sentenced in December 1999 for refusing to give up her belief in Falun Gong. She was sent to Jiamusi Forced Labor Camp. At the same time, my father was taken to Qitaihe City Detention Center, where he was detained until New Year’s Eve of 2000.
My father was sentenced to forced labor six months later. I was only ten years old. My elder brother and I lost parental care and were left at home without our parents.
I was born in 1989 to an ordinary family in Qitaihe City, Heilongjiang Province. When I was young, my father smoked and drank, and heavily relied on medication. He took medicine every day, and he also had tuberculosis. The cost of his medication was more than his monthly earnings. My mother fell from a great height in the early years and experienced health issues due to concussion sequelae. She had bad headaches on rainy and windy days. Because my father smoked and drank so much, my mother often argued with him. I grew up in a noisy family.
My parents started practicing Falun Gong in Spring 1997, and subsequently became healthy. My father stopped drinking and smoking, and no longer quarreled with mother. It was amazing. We had a happy family. Although our family condition was average, it was filled with love, and we no longer fought. I had love and care from my parents, and I enjoyed the time we spent together.
However, our happy family did not last long. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a large-scale persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. The decade-long rampant persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, including my parents, deprived me of a warm family home, and it took away my happiness. I began suffering tribulations, and started my journey to adulthood in a financial crisis and with mental challenges.
My father’s parents passed away before I was born and my mother’s parents live far away in Sichuan. After my parents were illegally detained, my brother, who was two years older than me, and I were left to fend for ourselves.
In the icy cold winter, brother and I had to light the wood stove and cook our meals. How could we manage the house at such young ages? It was very difficult for us. We didn’t know how to ignite the stove. The boiler and heater froze up because of the low temperatures. We often woke up at night feeling icy cold, and we huddled together to warm each other. I could hear mice squeaking at night, and sometimes one would come under the quilt on the bed, which frightened me, and I screamed and cried. Brother and I sometimes hid in bed, looking at photos of our parents, quietly wiping our tears, and then encouraged and comforted each other.
We knew our parents were doing the right thing. Our family benefited greatly from Falun Dafa. When Falun Dafa was treated wrongfully by the CCP, our parents went to tell people the facts about Falun Gong and so safeguard the reputation of Falun Dafa. My parents educated us in word and deed, and wanted us to be honorable and grateful. Although we missed them so much, we were very proud of them.
We had never had to cook before, so we had no idea how much water to add to make rice. When we cooked rice for the first time, it was as hard as rocks. But because we were so hungry, we had to eat it with tears in our eyes. We did not have winter clothes. There were holes in our shoes, and our toes protruded from them. That winter was unusually cold, and my feet were frozen. We had to wear the winter clothes that were thrown away by adults. The clothes were too big for me, and they didn’t keep me warm. The cold wind penetrated my body. I felt pained and missed my parents even more.
We had no income. In order to survive, brother and I used school holidays to recycle garbage. Every morning at six o’clock, we went to the dump to pick out cardboard, plastic bottles, and glass scraps. Half a kilogram of cardboard sold for 20 cents (RMB), a plastic bottle was 5 cents, better ones were worth 10 cents, glass scrap was 5 cents for 500 gm. The glass scrap often cut our hands and legs, leaving scars on us, which are still visible. Bleeding was a common thing. I was only 3′ 9” tall, and wasn’t very strong. My brother looked after me and did not let me lift heavy things. We were small and skinny due to chronic malnutrition.
We were very careful how we spent our hard-earned money. We tried hard to control the urge to buy an ice block on hot days, because we could not afford it. We had to save money for school tuition and only buy delicious food on rare occasions. The hardship of making a living and not having my parents around, changed me from a cheerful girl to a very quiet person.
In these difficult circumstances, despite financial and spiritual persecution, we did not fall behind in our studies. Both my brother and I had excellent scores each semester.
Mother was released in late December 2000, which was a great relief for me and my brother. However, mother had been a housewife, and had no job or source of income. In order to keep us in school and support the family, mother learned to make tofu. She was less than five feet tall, and weighed less than 90 pounds. She got up at midnight every day to make tofu until 5:00 a.m., then went out to sell the tofu. Winter mornings in northeast China are freezing cold. A north wind blows full force, stinging people’s faces. A big bucket of tofu weighs 75 pounds, but my mother weighed only 88 pounds. When it snowed, it was difficult to push the trolley with the bucket. One person simply could not move it. Mother came home very late on days that it snowed.
During the winter school holiday, brother and I helped mother to push the trolley, by tying a rope to the front and pulling the trolley, while mother pushed from behind. Sometimes it was still difficult to move around in the deep snow. After we sold the tofu, we had to discard the leftover water, which we had to move little by little. We also needed to wash the cheesecloth used to strain the tofu. By the time everything was done, it was almost noon.
Mother’s hands became very rough in winter from the hard work. Both of her hands had cracks in the skin and even bled sometimes. She worked so hard, but only earned 200 yuan per month. In order to afford our education, mother lived frugally, and never bought clothes for herself. She took others’ old clothes to wear. As the family burden became heavier, we only had good food on special occasions. Although our condition was slightly better, I deeply missed our father. I had not seen him for over a year.
Father was released from Suihua Forced Labor Camp in December 2001. We finally reunited after nearly two years. I was in heaven, with both parents now home. My dream finally came true. My cheerful spirit returned, and I felt happy every day.
Life is full of uncertainty. Father was arrested again in May 2002, less than six months after he returned home. Again he was sent to Suihua Forced Labor Camp for two years. He was actually detained for more than two years. Home was again shrouded in dark clouds, and mother bore the heavy burden. As we saw her becoming thinner, brother and I felt so pained, but what could we do? We studied hard, did what we should, and we shared some of the chores to help mother.
When brother and I started high school, we had outstanding academic records. In September 2003, brother was admitted to the key high school with honors, after going through immense psychological pressure. I was in my third year of high school. Because of our school expenses, I hadn’t purchased any new clothes for four years. I picked up others’ old clothes, and mother made them smaller to fit me. Mother still sold tofu to support the family, while brother and I still recycled garbage during school holidays to make some money.
Father was released in winter 2004. He was extremely thin. When I first saw him, many emotions were welled up in my heart and my tears were uncontrollable. I threw myself in his arms and cried loudly. Father’s return gave me more motivation to do well in school. I was also admitted to the key high school in the city. Life became peaceful once more.
However, in March 2008, about midway through the second semester of my final year of high school, before starting university, father was again taken to Qitaihe City Detention Center, and mother had to flee and become homeless to avoid persecution. I was grown up by then. I could understand my parents even more. I wanted to seek justice for my father, so I gave up my studies, gave up the college entrance examination, and gave up university. In other words, I gave up my future career. I went to talk with people in the Public Security Bureau and the detention center. Through unremitting efforts, father finally returned home after 56 days of detention. Although I abandoned school, I continued to study at home after father returned. I eventually passed the entrance exams and was admitted to a university.
Our whole family now practices Falun Gong. Without the guidance of the great law of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, I would probably drift like so many others, and would not have my own beliefs and principles. My parents suffered so much from the CCP’s persecution. However, the pain of my childhood did not break my spirit and did not twist my mind, because I firmly believe in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, which guides me in the right way of life.
I wrote out my childhood experiences in hopes that the international community will pay attention to the tragic persecution in China. I hope the unlawful forced labor system will be abolished, as it should not exist in the first place. I hope that the international association of women and children pay more attention to the suffering of children of Falun Gong practitioners. I hope no more children or relatives of Falun Gong practitioners have to go through what we had to endure.