(Clearwisdom.net) In May of 2005, I was involved in training a fellow practitioner in the use of computers. At that time, I felt that my cultivation state was not very good and planned to take time out and work on my improvement. Alas, I had been bogged down with too many assignments and was unable to find anyone to help me. I thought to myself that after completing the assignments, I would take time out to work on my cultivation status. However, the dark minions had already stretched out their talons towards me.
I had in mind to leave, but the fellow practitioner begged me to train him for one more day. Therefore, we continued the training session after breakfast. Soon after, we heard some suspicious noise coming from outside. We decided to immediately turn off the computer. We didn't have to wait. Four policemen rushed into the room. Without any preamble, they asked: "Is this room rented? Turn on the computer, let's see what you have stored on it." I sent forth righteous thoughts to stop the evil from seeing Dafa materials stored on the computer. Alas, they discovered the information, arrested us and took us to the local police station.
At the local police station, I was handcuffed to the toilet, and the police asked for my name and home address. I refused to answer. They beat me. My nose was bleeding and became very swollen. I did not cooperate. Consequently, they beat me with a police club. I looked straight into the eyes of the policeman who tortured me. He asked me why I stared at him. I replied: "Because you beat me. I have noted your police identification number and be assured that I will expose your wicked actions in the near future." He said: "Fine with me! You can look at me and I can beat you." But, in fact, he stopped beating me.
Shortly after, several depraved policemen arrived and began to torture me. I sent forth righteous thoughts and said to Teacher in my heart, "Teacher, please do not worry, I will certainly not do anything that reflects negatively on Teacher, Dafa or fellow practitioners. I will not discredit Dafa."
I held no fear. Instead, I felt I towered high above the evil. The entire situation felt absurd, contemptible and pathetic when seeing their threatening gestures and overbearing behavior. They were in the maze! They were deceived and did not realize that they behaved disgracefully. I felt concerned for them. I explained the truth to a young policeman who looked at me. I displayed a Dafa disciple's matchless mercy in my words. The effect was that he slowly calmed down and no longer shouted loudly.
The police robbed us of our belongings, including a computer, hard disk, electronic notebook, 300 yuan worth of printing paper for a high speed printing machine, a cell phone, a motorbike and between 500 and 600 yuan cash. They turned on the computer and hard disk. They were very happy and thought that they had gained great merit, because the information on my hard disk was very extensive. They behaved as if they had acquired a treasure. They also continued to ask me some questions. Later, they turned in my stored data to the city police department for further analysis. They turned in the computer hardware and software to the Internet police of the 610 Office, which is responsible for monitoring Internet traffic and censoring data. They claimed that I was the key person at the material production site and conducted training sessions for Internet use.
After the policemen returned, they alleged that I was in big trouble and nobody could save me. They told me: "The first order is to detain you under the pretext of maintaining public order. Then you will be held in criminal detention, which is followed by sentencing." Faced with this, I totally negated it in my mind. I only listen to Teacher. Teacher said:
"Speaking from another angle, my disciples, when the old forces are able to do what they want to do, isn't that because you've silently consented to what they want to do? When they tell you to go you go, when they tell you to write something you write it, when they tell you to do something you just do it, and when they arrest and sentence you, you just helplessly, silently consent to it. Of course, that's caused by your having attachments inside and not being able to let go of them, but the more you can't let go, the more severely you're persecuted, since the wicked beings that are controlling and ruining Dafa disciples can see your attachments and what you're attached to. In contrast, those disciples who've let go of life and death aren't afraid of anything, and the evil beings are in fear of them. But the reason they can let go is that they've cultivated well." ("Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference.")
I did not say a word during the interrogation. The police tried to deceive me, "You do not have to answer questions relating your arrest, but we can always chat. You can tell me how old you are, right?" I was not caught off guard. In this place, even chatting is cooperating with the interrogation. Even if I were allowed to write, "Falun Dafa is great" on a piece of paper and I write it, it would be considered cooperating with them.
At night, they sent both of us to a detention center. The detention notice contained no names, addresses and other personal details, but the word "not talking" was all over the pages. The interrogation did not result in an oral confession. In the cell, the guards ordered the prisoners to extort a confession. I told them that Falun Dafa is great, and that it was unjustly persecuted. Many of the inmates understood the truth. One of the prisoners said ruefully: "If I had met you earlier, I would not have hurt people." I went on a hunger strike. The prisoners could not understand my actions. I explained, "I am innocent! I did not violate any laws! I have gone on a hunger strike to protest the illegal detention! If I eat and drink, it equates to my admitting that I violated a law, which would be an insult to Dafa." The prisoners considered my explanation reasonable. Therefore, they no longer bothered me. Because they did not know my name, they called me "Elder Brother Lun." (Referring to "Falun")
I sat on the wooden bed in the detention center, remembering the unforeseen events of the day. I was free in the morning, but now I am imprisoned in a detention center. I must have significant loopholes, resulting in the remnants of the evil and rotten ghosts being able to take advantage of me. My sorrow was beyond words. The Fa-rectification time is so tight, and I'm actually sitting here and wasting precious time. There are many fellow practitioners who need training in computer techniques. How much damage was caused to the material production site because of my arrest. These losses are the result of my not being as diligent as I should be! I felt ashamed of myself when thinking of Teacher, Dafa and fellow practitioners. Tears blurred my vision.
My past actions and activities came to my mind, one after the other. I was not diligent, and I didn't pay attention when studying the Fa and sending forth righteous thoughts. I often could not keep my hand straight when sending forth righteous thoughts. The interference had increased continuously. I had too many attachments, and even when I realized it, I was too slow in letting go. A few days ago, I was angry with a female practitioner because of a small matter. Therefore, I now apologize to this practitioner from within my heart. I had hoped so much that I could study the Fa for some time now, but it was too late.
Actually I had found that my cultivation state was not adequate. I wanted to change my schedule, but I was too busy doing Fa-rectification work. Everything appeared to me to be of importance and had to be completed fast. I now realized that I had walked into the evil's arrangements with closed eyes. I was unable to stop staying on that path, although I knew I should stop.
Teacher told us in "Don't Be Sad"of HongYin II:
"Your body lies in prison - don't be sorrowful, don't be sad
With righteous thoughts and righteous actions, Fa is here
Calmly reflect on how many attachments you have
As you get rid of human mentality, evil naturally disappears."
Within a short time, I found many of my attachments and shortcomings, and many that I had not entirely let go. One example was the attachment of lust. When I saw an attractive person of the opposite sex, I always had to look and could not take my eyes away. How could this meet Dafa practitioners' standards? Also, my attachment to fame and gain was very strong. I was happy to listen to compliments, but when others pointed out my faults, I felt very unhappy and was unwilling to look inward. Besides that, I was very selfish and I was not able to consider others first. My tone was not friendly, and frequently people would turn away from me. I suddenly realized that all the aforementioned attachments were results of my not studying the Fa well.
Why can the evil take advantage and exploit us? Looking for reasons is like searching for symptoms instead of the causes. When one looks one can find many symptoms, but when one finally begins to search for the causes, one will find the basic reason for the symptoms and the problem suddenly becomes simple. Just like a pyramid, the higher one goes, the simpler it becomes. One finds that the fundamental problem was not being diligent in studying the Fa. Looking at myself, I had spent enough time studying the Fa. As a matter of fact, I study the Fa for a long time daily. But my mind was not studying the Fa. I was familiar with the content of the book. After reading a sentence, I already knew the next sentence. Therefore, my mind would often sneak away and think of other things.
Teacher told us: "You all know what state of mind a person must be in to see the Fa's principles. You know it without my having to say much. When your eyes read the Fa and yet your mind isn't on the Fa, think about it, aren't you reading in vain? Who are you reading for? You yourself aren't really studying the Fa, then. Haven't I told you to make sure that you yourself truly obtain gong? Then if your mind isn't on the Fa when you're studying the Fa, who are you studying it for? This isn't to criticize you--I'm just telling you that this is a really critical situation. So, no matter how busy you get, when you study the Fa you have to set aside all other thoughts--don't think about other things at all, just study the Fa. Maybe as you study the Fa the issues you've been thinking about will be resolved, since behind every word are Buddhas, Daos, and Gods. How could they not know exactly what you want to resolve and what you're anxious to get done at that time? Then how could they not tell you? But there's one thing: you must achieve the state of studying the Fa without any pursuit. You understood this a long time ago--you can't read the Fa with an attachment to solving your problems. Just read calmly, and the effect is sure to be excellent." ("Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.")
I finally realized that I did not study the Fa with a calm mind. Therefore, I could not gain from the Fa, which was the same as studying in vain. This results in doing things to validate the Fa as an ordinary person. I asked myself, how could one have fewer attachments? Could the attachments be abandoned? What could one do to not encounter interference? If we truly study the Fa well, then everything is in the Fa and can be done well, because the Fa is powerful. Teacher said: "When a cultivator's mind departs from the Fa, the evil will find its way in." ("Fa-Lecture at the Conference in Florida, U.S.A.") The lesson I suffered was too big. Please, fellow practitioners regard my experience as a warning!
When I really calmed down to look inside myself, I experienced the changes. The attachments I had previously became not worth mentioning and no longer meant anything to me. My body felt as if being thoroughly remolded, and became like a piece of white paper, with no attachment at all, and I felt so much more at ease than I had ever experienced before. The ugly words and deeds by the prisoners made me feel the horror of today's declining human morality. I sang the song of "Praising Teacher's Kindness" in my heart. When I sang "Merciful, you know that all the sentient beings are expecting, expecting Dafa to arrive in the world," my tears rolled down my face. Sentient beings are so fortunate to live during the time when merciful Teacher is teaching widely the great law in the world, and saving the universe from destruction. Otherwise, sentient beings would have no hope! Teacher removed these problems for me and let me see how depraved the things that I could not let go of before had become. How could I still hold on to these dirty things? The second sentence of Teacher's poem "Don't Be Sad" says, "With righteous thoughts and righteous actions, Fa is here" touched me deeply. Teacher told us in Zhuan Falun: "If you are a true practitioner, our Falun will safeguard you. I am rooted in the universe. If anyone can harm you, he or she would be able to harm me."
As long as our thoughts and acts are righteous, the mighty power of Teacher's Fa will be displayed, and nothing can harm us. Therefore, as long as we do as Teacher's requests of us, nobody is able to harm us.
On the fourth day of my hunger strike, I was interrogated. A group of policemen came, and dragged and pulled me to the 2nd floor. A person who claimed to be the head of 610 Office asked for my name. I did not tell him. He said: "Even if you do not tell us your name, we still can find your name and address on the Internet." (In fact he had no clue. He had no way to check.)
I asked for his name, but he did not dare answer. Therefore, I told him, "If you tell me your name, I will certainly expose you after I am free. I've memorized all the police identification numbers. I will expose your evildoings to the whole world." They were scared and dared not give their names. One of the policemen threatened me, "You can remain silent, and we won't give you trouble. But this is your opportunity. The next interrogation will be with the criminal investigation squad. I am afraid that you will have too much to say to them." I thought: "I do not care about you and I am not scared, your trick has no effect on me." In fact, from the day that I was arrested, I had let go of life and death. The evil's intimidation could not move me. I ceaselessly sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil behind them. I firmly believed what Teacher said: "What I'm telling you is that when you're truly able to let go of the thought of life or death you can do anything!" ("Teaching and Explaining the Fa at the Metropolitan New York Fa Conference")
Later they wanted to take my photo. I did not cooperate and closed my eyes. They pulled open my eyes. But when they forced my eyes to open, my face became distorted. Finally, they had to take photos with my eyes closed. They were desperate. Therefore, they sent me back to my cell, and did not interrogate me further until they released me.
On the fifth day of my hunger strike, I suddenly collapsed. The prisoners helped me get on the wooden bed and called the guards. Shortly after, the prison doctor arrived (the prisoners and guards called him a veterinarian) and injected me with a 25ugar solution. I sent forth righteous thoughts to not allow the drug to have any affect on me, and I asked Teacher to help me show more serious sickness symptoms.
When writing this, I suddenly remembered some thing. A fellow practitioner once shared on the Internet his experience of conducting a hunger strike. He said that he did not eat or drink for more than ten days, but he remained in good health and showed off the supernatural abilities of practicing Dafa to the prisoners. I was of a different opinion on this issue. The supernatural ability of practicing Dafa manifests in many aspects. Why show its supernatural power through a hunger strike during detainment? Why do we conduct a hunger strike? Isn't it to protest the illegal detention? Shouldn't we strive for freedom, so we can rejoin the Fa-rectification force as fast as possible? The evil forces are scared of our hunger strikes. Don't they fear that our physical bodies can't cope with it and thus they can't persecute us for a long time? Once our life is in danger, they become scared. They fear to take responsibility (including the accusation from the family or direct retaliation). Also they incur costs when they send us to a hospital. Those policemen are very selfish, they don't think of others! Even, if you really die, their hearts won't be moved. But if your death affects their interests, then they will not be willing to mistreat us, even if it is only a tiny bit of interest. It is one of the most important reasons why they fear that we'll die in prison.
Therefore when we are conducting a hunger strike, it is my understanding that we should ask Teacher to have us display symptoms of a critically ill person, send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the ability of the drug's potency, have force-feeding fail or vomit the force-fed food, not permit any further persecution of us, and have our physical bodies show sickness symptoms. Under such conditions, they will be at a loss and unable to deal with us.
The evil hopes that our bodies do not incur serious problems during a hunger strike. They hope that the long term suffering of the hunger strike would wear down the practitioner's will, and they inflict force-feeding pain so they can intensify the persecution and force the practitioner to compromise. A state of "good health" during a hunger strike does not comply with what we want to achieve during the hunger strike. It does not accomplish the real aim and effect of conducting a hunger strike. As a matter of fact, whatever we fear during the anti-persecution is what the evil can take advantage of. On the contrary, we attack what the evil fears most, that is the war between the good and the evil. During the process of counter-persecution, it is not enough to merely be firm like an ordinary human. In addition to steadiness, we also need to be rational and wise, keep a clear mind, and be able to see through any deceit or trick of the evil. Such a demeanor requires extensive experience and maturity, to successfully counter the persecution and negate the old forces' arrangements.
On the seventh day, my arms and legs became icy-cold and turned blue. My face turned as pale as that of a dead person. I no longer had any strength left and it was difficult to breathe. At midnight, I felt as if I was on the edge of death, but I knew I wouldn't die. I had already let go of the thoughts of life or death. Teacher even more clearly told us in "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York": "If a cultivator can truly let go of [the fear of] death, then that death will forever be far removed from you." I firmly believe in Teacher's Fa. I have Teacher and the Fa and fear nothing. I said to Teacher: "Thanks be to Teacher for helping me. I won't die. I still have many things to accomplish. I negate any arrangement by the old forces, no matter how difficult it becomes later on. I am not afraid of anything. I must conduct the hunger strike to the end, I won't let them detain and persecute me in the long term."
I said to the lawless policemen: "Either you set me free or you will have to imprison my dead body. There is no way you can detain me alive any longer. If you torture me to death, practitioners worldwide will hold you accountable. Your evildoings will be exposed to the entire world and you will be brought to justice." They thought that I might die, so they carried me outside the cell and force-fed me. They threatened me that they would feed me half a kilogram (about 1 lb.) of salt. "Are you sure you still will not drink?" they said. I warned them sternly, "If you force-feed me with saltwater, I won't drink a drop of the water. If I am poisoned by the salt, you won't be able to handle the responsibility." After the evil force-fed me, I sent forth righteous thoughts to vomit it all. As a result, I vomited all of it.
That night, the guards came to the cell one after another and asked the prisoners whether I drank any water. The prisoners answered: "He did not drink any water." Then they got worried, because the doctor told them that if I did not drink that night after being force-fed, I would be in great danger. The guards were very worried. They ordered the prisoners to stay awake all night and watch me. The inmates were responsible to immediately report any changes. When I saw the evil's troubled behavior, I knew that the evil had been eliminated.
That night, I felt as if death was near. I felt I was flying in a dark space, but had no direction. I said to Teacher in my heart: "Teacher! Where will I fly to?" Teacher told me: "You will fly to that city that has 'Falun Dafa is great' posted all over the place." I suddenly woke up, my hands suddenly gained strength and my body too. I realized Teacher was strengthening me and bringing me back because I had more responsibilities in validating the Fa. The next morning, the guards opened the iron-gate, and the policeman who had interrogated me arrived. He stood next to the prison door and said loudly, "Well mister, I'm convinced. You did not give your name, so I don't know what to call you, and so I'll just call you 'mister'! Can you answer questions?" I acted as if I did not hear him. In front of the other prisoners, he said: "We are taking him to see a doctor." A few people came over and carried me out, and put me in a taxi.
Under the protection of merciful Teacher and righteous thoughts by fellow practitioners, I rejoined the force of Fa-rectification.