(Clearwisdom.net) I began Fa study in February 1999. Even as I immersed myself in Master's great compassion, suddenly the lies the evil was fabricating blotted out the sky and shadowed the land in China. Master was framed and Dafa persecuted, but I just knew that Master was blameless and Dafa righteous.
Held at a local detention center for 50 days for going to Beijing to appeal
In 2001, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Jiang's regime directed the so-called "Tiananmen Self-immolation" incident as a pretext to further persecute Falun Gong. The local 610 Office agents took advantage of this incident and forced practitioners to be brainwashed. They came to harass me day and night, and arranged for people to keep me under surveillance. I knew the preciousness of Dafa and would not accept what they were doing, not to mention would I let them "reform" me. I made the decision to live away from home and suffered a lot. I lived in many places and anywhere I went I would tell people I met how good Dafa was and how those in power had framed Dafa and Master. People I spoke with then knew the truth about Dafa and knew how good Dafa and practitioners are.
Remaining firm and steadfast while in prison
I persevered in clarifying the truth with help from other practitioners, even in a very difficult environment.
I was arrested and held in a detention center when I distributed truth-clarifying materials. They interrogated me by turns. I answered no questions, except to tell them the facts about Dafa. They threatened me and tried to confuse me with sweet words. They even asked "reformed" former practitioners to try to brainwash me. I refuted them one by one and told them that they had forgotten practitioners' responsibilities. They had not only let the evil "reform" them, but also became traitors to persecute other practitioners. They had no argument against me.
The jailers ordered other prisoners to torture me in all kinds of ways, making me work overtime and having prisoners beat and curse me. But I never gave in, no matter what they did. I started a hunger strike and lost consciousness. After that I wrote an article protesting their persecution of Falun Gong. An inmate read it. I taught them to recite Master's poems; a few prisoners said they would practice Falun Gong after their release.
The jailer was scared, saying that my article might implicate them. I promised not to involve anyone but would personally hand this article to the police. About 50 days later I was sentenced to forced labor for three years.
I refused to be "reformed" while in the camp. Practitioners there cooperated with each other. We often went on hunger strikes to protest our illegal detention. When July 20 rolled around, practitioners in two teams in the camp shouted, "Falun Dafa is good" and frightened the evil. In the meantime, no matter whom I met--prison head, team leader, guard, prisoner, or anyone else--I would clarify the truth to them. Once a guard said to me in private, "Auntie, thank you for telling me how to behave myself." When a drug addict read Zhuan Falun, her third eye opened and she saw a Falun (Law Wheel) rotate. A few drug addicts wrote Master's poems in their notebooks and recited them. They said they would practice Falun Gong after being released. They also read articles I wrote to disclose the persecution of practitioners.
In a meeting attended by a thousand attendees, the camp leader defamed Falun Gong. Every practitioner stood up bravely and shouted, "Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good! The heavens will punish the CCP for its suppression of Falun Gong!" The vicious perpetrators beat us, pinched our necks, and covered our mouths. I was thrown into the guardhouse, beaten, and tortured, but the evil was frightened.
I was beaten many times for doing the Falun Gong exercises. One night as I sat in the lotus position, they dragged me out of the cell and tucked me into the toilet pit of the restroom. They said viciously, "If you like to do the exercises, do the exercises in the pit." I told them the place was too dirty for me to practice. Later on I thought, "I practice the ultimate Dafa of the Universe, the most divine Fa, and will go on practicing even if I am not allowed." I wanted to do the exercises on the camp square. Once my righteous thought emerged, we practitioners really could do anything.
I managed to find an opportunity. One night I rushed out of the workshop. None of the people monitoring me observed this, as if something blocked them from seeing me. It is just like Master said,
"Actually, when you can truly be tranquil, one thought is more than enough to shake Heaven and Earth, there's nothing that it can't do, and it's as if it immediately immobilizes and restrains everything covered by your domain; you're like a mountain, and you instantly restrain them." ("Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference")
I just felt a kind of strength push me, and I knew that it was Master helping me. I ran as quickly as I could to the square, rushed up onto the stage, and started practicing the exercises. Twenty minutes later they discovered my disappearance and started looking for me. When they found me on the stage, I shouted loudly, "Falun Dafa is good!" They struck me, pinched me, covered my mouth, and covered me with cloth, making me breathless. Everyone in the camp was shocked, and I did frighten the evil.
The invisible jail
In the visible prison, I could maintain righteous thoughts and clearly do the things that practitioners should do, and well, with reason. When I returned home, the environment was friendly.
But it is not easy for practitioners to follow the Fa-rectification process. The evil old forces not only want to destroy practitioners when they are incarcerated, but also want to persecute when they are "free." Everything I experienced during my prison time had been etched into my memory. Those disturbing memories followed me everywhere. They might enter my mind subconsciously and disturb me severely. Besides, I was exhausted and just want to live more comfortably.
These interferences held me back and prevented me from diligently cultivating myself. Even when I watched the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party disc for just ten minutes, I would fall asleep. How could I let these kinds of things, the hidden prisons, control me, a practitioner in the Fa-rectification era? Master said,
"As long as there is no one interfering with your practice, all sentient beings in the heavens and on earth can be saved. " ("Teaching the Fa at the Conference in the Midwest-U.S")
The disturbance originated from myself and would chain me like a prison if I couldn't overcome it. Practitioners will only have supernatural powers and break through the invisible jail when we have completely denied and annihilated the arrangements of the old forces and do the three things well.
Resisting the evil with righteous thoughts
Toward the end of 2007, a group of police suddenly came to my home and ordered me to sign a search warrant. They declared that they would ransack my home. I refused to sign and told them in no unmistakable terms that what they intended to do was illegal. They still confiscated my Dafa books, discs, and copies of "Minghui Weekly" and transported me forcibly to the Police Department. They interrogated me. I said that I was a good person and had not violated any law. I refused to answer any question but kept on sending righteous thoughts whenever I got a chance. I told them that we are now in a special historic period, and they should position themselves well to leave themselves an escape route. In the middle of the proceedings they brought in an official who actually had interrogated me when I went to Beijing to appeal. I told him the facts and how important it is to do the three withdrawals (withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party and/or its two youth organizations). He said he knew what to do. I felt happy that a life had been given a chance for salvation. Then they had a different officer interrogate me. They did this again and again, but couldn't get any word from me. At last they said that so long as I signed the summons letter for trial they would release me. I told them that I had not violated any law and wouldn't sign. With Master's compassionate care and protection and fellow practitioners' cooperation, the evil was dissolved, and I returned to the current of Fa-rectification.
I couldn't turn off the tap one night after my return home. The water at first kept dripping and then flowed steadily. Water was everywhere; it was out of control. Something was wrong, even with the main turn-off valve closed. In the end I asked someone to change the tap. I knew that Master was reminding me to search inside. I found my shortcomings. When I calmed down to search inside I was frightened to find so many attachments: to relaxation to living comfortably, to considering myself always right, to showing off, to validating myself, to not studying the "Fa" with concentration, to not sending righteous thoughts with a tranquil mindset. How dangerous it was! I was far from a practitioner's standard. Master kept on giving me chances again and again. I recalled the painful experience and said to Master that I regretted my behavior. "Master, please forgive me! I will be diligent, correct myself in cultivation, and hopefully deserve the title 'Dafa disciple.'"
Doing all I can on my way to become a divine being
After I corrected my attitude, I began to memorize and recite the Fa in order to assimilate into the Fa. I know from the Fa that all beings came here for the Fa. If they can't be saved this time, they will no longer be able to return. Offering sentient beings salvation is our biggest responsibility. I will explain the truth to anyone I meet: people who sell vegetables and fruit, collect waste, ride tricycles, work for others, and drive taxis; relatives, friends, police officers; people working at the bank; doctors; teachers; and students. As long as I meet them, I say hello and clarify the truth and encourage them to do the three withdrawals from different angles, according to their different situations. 95 percent of them withdraw.
I clarified the truth to a peasant vegetable seller. He did the three withdrawals after I persuaded him. Several days later I sent him discs and booklets. I told him that those things would save people's lives, and he should share them with the other villagers. Later on he told me that the villagers watched them one by one, and they all understood. He wanted to give me vegetables in appreciation. I refused. I told him of the good he had done when he told villagers about the truth, something with boundless benefits.
When I took a taxi once and clarified the truth to the driver, he also did the three withdrawals and said he would not let me pay the taxi fee. I told him that he must get paid. If he could tell others about the truth, he actually would be doing the best thing in the world. He said he would.
Another time I explained the facts about Dafa to workers from the same village. Once they understood, they all did the three withdrawals. They said gratefully that their whole family was now safe.
Some people were quite excited once they learned the truth and would thank me. I told them not to thank me, but to thank our Master Li. They then kept thanking Master.
I put truth-clarifying discs, booklets, or flyers in different residential districts and villages. Villagers are usually uncomplicated people and will spread the information. Thus, people in the nearby areas would learn the truth and be saved.
We only have the wish--to offer sentient beings salvation, passing the truth to them. It is Master who really saves them. We all understand, "Cultivation depends on one's own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one's master." (Zhuan Falun)
Master and the Fa are here with us. Let us use the righteous thoughts of divine beings to do what Master wants us to do and rescue sentient beings. In these final moments of the Fa-rectification period, let's cultivate and correct ourselves and become genuine Dafa disciples.
Please correct me if I have made any mistakes!