I am Li Yang. I work for the Zhenxing Group in Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province. My father is Li Ruiqing. He was born in September 1940, and retired from the No. 716 Research Institute in Lianyungang.
My father had a gastric ulcer. Relapses of the condition bothered him very much despite medication. One summer morning in 1996, my father ran into his high school classmate, surnamed Li, when he was doing exercises in Cangwu Green Park in Haizhou District. Li gave him the book Zhuan Falun. Out of curiosity, my father read the book and soon got obsessed with Li Hongzhi’s teachings about truthfulness, benevolence and forbearance, as well as ascending to higher levels, achieving consummation, and curing all diseases without medical treatment. Thus he began practicing Falun Gong under the “guidance” of Li Hongzhi.
He often went to Cangwu Green Park in the morning to join group practice, following other practitioners to practice the Five Exercises. After the morning exercise he would read the book Zhuan Falun at home. At first. his practice of Falun Gong did not interfere with his work or family life, but as he got increasingly obsessed, he regarded Li Hongzhi as a God and a Savior and worshiped him from the bottom of his heart. In order to improve his physical health and to achieve consummation as early as possible, he spared nothing to practice Falun Gong. He gave up his job and family, stepping onto a road of no return.
My father was very eloquent. Once at a meeting with his fellow practitioners, my father said, “After I began practicing Falun Gong, the master cured my gastric ulcer. Now I am really relieved. I will never get ill as long as I keep on practicing.” As a matter of fact, he made such a speech only to show his diligence and his commitment to Falun Gong. When he attended the meeting, he still felt a dull pain in his stomach. Instructor Zhang, the organizer of the meeting, seized the chance to ask other practitioners, “Do you have the same feeling?” All practitioners present answered in chorus, “Yes.” But the practitioners hid their illness. None of them dared to talk about their illness under such circumstance.
One morning in late July 1997, instructor Zhang came to my home. He asked my father to go to Beijing to “safeguard Fa”. He told my father, “It is time to achieve consummation. If you do not step forward, you are about to truly lose the chance and to be elevated.” My father was scared. In order to achieve consummation, he followed the instructor to Beijing to “safeguard Fa”, despite the opposition from my mother and me. Later he was arrested and was sent back home.
Falun Gong did not cure my father’s illness. On the contrary, his condition worsened. In the fall of 2001, he felt bloated, had a stomachache and had diarrhea, which upset him very much. I advised him to go and see a doctor, but he refused. He told me, “My master has said illness is a result of karma. Karma is the root reason for all diseases and disasters. I don’t need to see a doctor. My master will help me eliminate my karma.” It is obvious that Li Hongzhi’s teachings about karma and diseases were contrary to common sense, but my father had deep faith in these teachings.
Due to the lack of medication, my father’s condition deteriorated. One afternoon in March 2002, my father spat blood when he was taking meditation at home. I immediately took him to a local Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital. After endoscopic hemostratis treatment, he took a turn for the better and was out of danger. Doctors advised him to stay in hospital for further treatment, but he rejected. He said to doctors timidly, “Coming to a hospital means betrayal to my master. I will probably be eliminated both mentally and physically. I don’t dare to stay here. “ When we left the hospital, the doctors prescribed some antibacterial medicines, but on our way home, my father threw the medicines out of the car window.
Social workers in our neighborhood invited anti-cult volunteers to help my obsessed father but he refused to listen to whatever they said. When the volunteers talked to him, he did not listen to them while just reading the book Zhuan Falun. I suggested that he should talk with the volunteers, but he responded, “I am a superman. How can I talk with such ordinary people?” Then he left without saying goodbye. I failed to stop him.
One Sunday morning in October 2004, my father’s conditioned worsened again. He felt a pain in his upper abdomen and spat blood. I was so frightened that I drove him to the emergency center at once. Doctors immediately gave him the endoscopic hemostratis treatment and took some living tissue for pathological examination, the result of which revealed that my father had terminal gastric cancer.
During his last days, my father suffered from agony, but he still refused medical treatment. He kept on reading books and learning Falun Dafa, expecting his master to eliminate his karma and to take him to the Heaven. When he was dying, he was still obsessed with the Li’s Heaven. He told me, “I am achieving consummation. I will live a free life back in the Heaven.”
On the evening of January 19, 2005, my father’s gastric cancer was complicated by gastrointestinal bleeding, which led to sudden shock. He died on the way to hospital.
Photo of Li Ruiqing
