My cousin’s name is Zhang Xiaoqing (a pseudonym). She was born in 1959 and once a technical worker in a Construction Machinery (Group) Co., Ltd. in Sichuan Province. I can’t help thinking of what my cousin’s life was like in those years when she was obsessed with Falun Gong, while seeing her enjoy her happy life now by taking part in square dance every day and helping babysit her grandson from time to time.
It all started from July 1996. My cousin enjoyed looking good, so she kept working out, not only for fitness but also for a young-looking face and an attractive figure, which was where her so-called “Master” came along and made her so obsessed with Falun Gong.
One day, on the way back from her fitness session, my cousin was fascinated by her neighbor Ms. Zhang who claimed that practicing “Falun Dafa” was not only conducive to keeping young but also had the magic of making practitioners look ageless. Furthermore, it could cure diseases, help keep fit, improve health, firm up the body, and guide people to be better ones with the principle of “Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance”. She also added that as long as we kept learning Dafa, practicing Falun Gong, cultivating temperament in accordance with “Master’s” requirements, we could grow capabilities, accumulate virtue, improve levels, or even have the possibility to achieve Consummation! Ms. Zhang’s words reached the bottom of my cousin’s heart as my cousin always desired to look attractive. So, my cousin believed the lie and changed over to Falun Gong practice. However, my cousin didn’t tell anyone in the family about her conversion to the Falun Gong cult. Fortunately, at that time, my cousin just regarded Falun Gong as an alternative way to keep fit and stay young, thus, she took good care of her daughter and family and worked diligently as before. On the whole, her life was nearly no different from the past.
In May, 1997, nearly a year after practicing Falun Gong, my cousin didn’t notice any sign of her becoming younger as expected, instead, she was wearier and less healthy than before. Therefore, she wondered what went wrong, was it because she didn’t practice it right or the “Master” didn’t teach her right? My cousin shared her doubts with fellow practitioners and was told that it must’ve been her own fault for not putting all her mind on “Dafa learning” and “Dafa exercise”. They also said that if my cousin wanted to “remain youthful forever” and “improve her level”, she must fully devote herself to Dafa and cultivate away her family and traditional code of conduct so that the “Master” could help her “stay forever young”. After believing what she was told, my cousin started to abstain from work frequently, spend less and less time on taking care of her child, leave all family affairs to her husband, and participate cult gatherings at the excuse of fitness, hoping to impress the “Master” with her behaviors as soon as possible.
My cousin’s husband had been kept in the dark until September 1998 when my cousin became thinner and weaker day by day as a result of replacing doctors and medicines with Falun Gong practice. My cousin’s husband was so worried about her that he tried to take her to see a doctor, but my cousin insisted that she wouldn’t take a medical examination and told her husband the reason after failing to change her husband’s mind. My cousin said, “You would ruin all my efforts for over two years if you take me to hospital right now, it would make my ‘Master’ disappointed with me, then my chance to ‘remain youthful’ and achieve ‘Consummation’ would be gone as well.” Hearing those nonsense, my cousin’s husband immediately realized that his wife had fallen into a trap. Out of anxiety, he shouted at her, “Do you listen to yourself? What a nonsense about ‘stay young forever’! Health is the most important! And you’re so gullible that you’re deceived!” However, my cousin took her husband’s words as malicious remarks upon her “Master”, she had a terrible quarrel with him, stormed out of the house and then moved to live in one of her fellow practitioners’ place so that she could practice Falun Gong wholeheartedly.
Since then, my cousin stopped working or caring for her family, let alone family affairs, and refused to get in touch with her husband. Whenever they met each other, there would be a quarrel. At last, her husband gave her an ultimatum that she either gave up Falun Gong or she gave up her family. But my cousin was so obsessed with the heresies of “reaching Consummation” and “remaining young forever” that she chose to run away from home and live in a rented place. During that time, my cousin spent almost all her savings on buying her “Master’s” books and lecture video tapes and discs. She indulged herself with those to the extent that she kept thinking her “Master’s” words even when drinking, eating and sleeping. But no matter how devout my cousin was, her “Master” didn’t help her at all with her aging issue.
Actually, my cousin’s husband never stopped worrying about her and couldn’t bear to see her suffering outside in a rented place. Therefore, half a year later, he took their daughter to see her and painstakingly persuaded her into moving back home so that he could take care of her. After returning home, she was riddled with a tumult of mixed emotions which were composed mainly of ambivalence and incomparable sadness. She couldn’t assimilate the rush of mixed emotions all of a sudden so that she took a large amount of sleeping pills. Due to her refusal to medical treatment and medicines for a long period of time, those sleeping pills had a tremendous effect on her already deteriorated physical condition. Fortunately, my cousin was rushed to hospital for rescue in time. At the moment of her waking up, my cousin’s first thought was that she was protected by her “Master” and reached “Consummation”, but soon she realized that she was surrounded by her family and relatives who all looked quite concerned, especially her haggard husband. My cousin felt so bitter over the fact that, it was her relatives and doctors who eventually saved her life, not the magic power of the “Master”.
Looking back on those past two years of practicing Falun Gong, my cousin felt quite guilty about the way that she treated her relatives, unreasonably blamed her husband, and indifferently ignored her child. At the thought of that she had put her devout faith in her “Master”, trusted her fellow practitioners, and was so obsessed with Falun Gong and, moreover, she abandoned her family, forwent her career, cut her relatives and friends out of her life, all of which were for nothing and made her end up in this miserable situation, she couldn’t help shedding tears while turning her face away.
Finally, my cousin became disillusioned with lies of “ascension, Consummation and remaining as young as 18 years old”. Looking back on those past days of her practicing Falun Gong and reflecting on what it did to her then, my cousin fully realized that she was deceived, but she was so embarrassed to admit it that she kept silence for several days in a row. My cousin’s husband understood what was on her mind and made appointments for psychological counselling sessions at home right after she was discharged from hospital so as to help her stop suffering from the trauma as soon as possible. And the anti-cult volunteers from local community also frequently came to visit my cousin to play anti-cult educational films to her and explain plenty of knowledge about religions and laws for her, helping her to return to normal life. Half a year later, my beauty-conscious cousin has fully recovered from her trauma and gets back to her normal life. Nowadays, my cousin’s husband often sticks to her like glue on her outdoor activities such as badminton playing, square dance, etc. Additionally, we also never hear my cousin talk about anything about Falun Gong ever again.
