(Clearwisdom.net)

I am 57 years old. I have been practicing Falun Dafa for 6 years. At the end of May 2001, while I was distributing truth-clarifying materials I was reported to the police by a person who saw me. For this, I was illegally sent to a detention center. One day, I sat there with my eyes closed and my body unmovable, sending forth righteous thoughts. The prison guard ordered a criminal to pry open my hand by force. At that moment, my mind was very clear and determined. I thought to myself "I listen to my Teacher and eliminate evil with righteous thoughts; nobody has the authority to stop me. This is my duty." A formless power made my hand tight as a rock. He pried and pried but failed to open my hand. A second person came over and tried with all his strength but failed as well. A third person came over and used all her force trying to pry my hands open. She was laboring hard in her breathing and stepped aside to catch her breath. I did not know how much time had passed. When I opened my eyes, the prison guards had left quietly. All the people in the room were watching me. Somebody said loudly: "Finally, righteousness defeated the evil!" All people in the room became excited. From this time on, the prison guards no longer interfered with our sending forth righteous thoughts.

A female manager in the prison was convicted of embezzling money. She was deceived by the propaganda and completely believed the lies about Falun Dafa. We talked to her many times. She was a little bit moved and started to talk with us about her private matters. She talked about her broken family. Her husband had an extramarital relationship. Her twenty-year-old son also behaved badly, learning from his father's example. She was so busy with her work that she had no time to take care of the family. Although she made a lot of money, inside she was miserable. She hated her husband and always pondered hiring somebody to kill him. This thought so occupied her mind that she could not sleep at night. I told her, "I completely understand how you feel. Actually, you hate your husband but hope he will change because you still love him. Being a couple is a great-predestined relationship. Our Teacher tells us to look inside whenever there is a problem. You were busy with your work every day. Didn't you have less time to care for your husband and son? Didn't you think that you earned lots of money so you could be rude and less tolerant to others? If these are true, how could you blame it all on others? If you change yourself first and become more tolerant of your husband in your heart, I think he would be moved. Meanwhile, you would feel more relaxed. Two wrongs don't make a right; otherwise, both of you will be harmed." She nodded her head repeatedly in agreement. I continued to say, "A huge amount of effort has been spent by Jiang's regime to persecute Falun Gong, creating and spreading lies every day, but it cannot change the minds of Falun Dafa practitioners. Why? It is because the principle of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance has truly transformed our hearts from inside. We know the true purpose of our lives. As a human being, one only cares about oneself and doesn't care about others. Nowadays, the moral values of society have degenerated greatly. It is not just your husband; many people have no moral values. Everything they do is to satisfy themselves without a thought for others. They think they have obtained some pleasures, but actually, they are all victims in the end. The fundamental cause for this is the "selfishness" of the human heart. Do you know why we risk our lives to clarify the truth of Falun Gong? Our purpose is to help people awaken from the lies, free themselves from the selfishness, and to give all the people, including you, the chance to live a life full of brightness and happiness." Her eyes brightened. She said, "No one has ever talked with me like this. I thought that people who practice Falun Gong would go and kill people, as they say on TV. In fact, it is completely untrue. This Falun Dafa is so good." She wrote her husband a long letter full of kindness and tolerance. She told me: "When you get out, I will introduce you to my husband. I am sure you can change him." She said again: "I know many senior officials. I will introduce you to them, too. Let them listen to you and learn the truth of Falun Gong." Later, she told me, "For the people here, everything they do and say are connected with one word: 'selfish'. Each of your (Falun Gong practitioners') actions are linked with another word: 'virtue'. I realize more and more clearly that Falun Gong is very righteous." Since then, she started to learn the exercises of Falun Gong and listened to me discussing the principles of Falun Dafa with her. Gradually, her emotions became stabilized, and her insomnia was gone. She treated herself as a practitioner. She would sit down to meditate when others went to sleep. She further said: "When I get out of here, I will spread Falun Dafa to my employees, so they can benefit." She seldom cried. However, she would shed tears every time when she saw practitioners tortured and forcibly fed. Every time when I was interrogated she would worry about me. She had truly changed.

The living conditions in the detention center were very poor. The prices for living supplies were much higher than outside the detention center. Some criminal offenders were short of money. Life was very hard for them. Four of our Falun Dafa practitioners pooled the money we had saved from reducing our own expenses to buy some necessities for them. We also gave our clothes to them. This compassion from the hearts of practitioners moved them and won their respect. Gradually, they started to respect and trust us and discuss their personal matters with us. They all said, people who practice Falun Gong are all truly kind people. They are always thinking about others.

At the beginning, the criminal offenders would often fight with each other. The righteousness embodied by practitioners can straighten out anything that is not righteous. One time, when a criminal, who used to call people bad names, was calling other people names, her eyes met mine and she immediately shut up. Another time, a prison monitor was talking about her experience as a criminal. I watched her solemnly. She immediately said: "I shouldn't talk about this, should I?" Under the purity and greatness of Falun Dafa, the criminal offenders greatly restrained themselves. One criminal convicted of homicide, regrettably said: "It would be much better if I met you (Falun Dafa practitioners) earlier. I would not have committed homicide. I really did not know there is such a great Fa."

The atmosphere in the prison became better and better. Finally, most people could recite Hongyin [a collection of Teacher's poems]. Some have learned all five sets of exercises. At times when the prison cell was searched, the monitors would help in hiding Jingwen (a collection of Teachers articles). One day, a criminal offender suddenly cried excitedly: "Too miraculous! Too miraculous!" It turned out that she had suffered from constipation for many years. No medicine had ever helped improve her situation. After she was sent to the detention center, her illness became worse. She said: "I almost did not know how to move my bowels. I never expected that I would be suddenly healed after I practiced Falun Gong with you. It is, indeed, miraculous!"

Whenever Jiang appeared on the TV, people in our prison cell would say: "Hurry up! Let's send forth righteous thoughts" One time, the TV was showing a news broadcast slandering Falun Dafa. The prison guards asked all the inmates to write their understandings and what they have learned from the TV program. All of the criminal offenders in our prison cell reported that the news broadcast on the Chinese central TV station was all fabricated.

Some policemen with kind thoughts were also moved by the righteousness of Falun Dafa practitioners. Some prison guards even said to the criminal offenders: "You are prohibited from talking nonsense. You should spend more time discussing with Falun Gong practitioners and being educated by them." Another prison guard said to us: "Thank you. Because of your presence, the fighting among prisoners is greatly reduced."

During the four months of illegal detention, I felt that I should break through something, but I could not realize it from the Fa. One day, my lunch box was lost. I had a dream: the drama was ended; all the people walked out, only I remained. I found a new spittoon. I was thinking of using it as a lunch box. A fellow practitioner told me that this revealed to me that I should go on hunger strike. But I did not think so.

In October 2001, I fortunately learned our Teacher's new article "Path". Our Teacher says: "But a person always has to enlighten on his own to what he should do in the face of tribulations." I knew I could not imitate the others. The article also says: "And whether a person can, while breaking and eliminating the evil, step forward to validate Dafa becomes a testament about [letting go of] life and death." Finally, I understood. To validate the Fa, one must break away from the evils. How could I be detained here? So many sentient beings outside were waiting for me to save them. I stopped eating or drinking. Like other fellow practitioners, I was also tortured with forced feeding. One time when I was forcibly fed, I resisted with determination. No matter what, they could not put the nose tube into me. My nose started to bleed profusely. A male prison guard responsible for forced feeding said: "You, old lady, are the most diehard. You have ruined the instrument." He cuffed me up from behind and I could not move. Later, we were sent to the prison hospital. Every day, several people would hold us down and forcibly inject us. They would put the needle in and we would pull it out. My hand and arm turned purplish black due to the injections. We were determined not to cooperate during the forced feeding. They [people working in the hospital] said: "If you have more 'Falun Gongs', don't ever send them here."

After over 20 days on hunger strike, people from Procuratorate [a special legal system in China for criminal inspection and investigation] asked me: "Can you tell us the whole event [as to what you have done]?" I told them: "No. [I do not have to confess anything to you]. Falun Dafa benefits my body and soul. I am innocent." Three days later, I was released unconditionally.

2003-1-10