(Minghui.org) I was arrested and illegally detained by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) agents for practicing Falun Dafa. It happened so quickly that when the officers threw me into a cell, my mind was blank except for this passage of the Fa, “Giving people the Fa is better than anything else.” (“Teachings at the Midwestern U.S. Conference”) I knew that regardless of where I was, I should remember that I’m a Falun Dafa practitioner and that I have a sacred mission and great responsibilities.
I would like to share a few stories of how my cellmates learned the truth and received blessings when they understood and acknowledged the goodness of Falun Dafa.
Yunfang was detained for 18 months before I met her. She was accused of embezzling five million yuan. Despite her cold and menacing exterior, she was friendly towards me. I treated her with kindness and discovered that she was a kind and upright person.
I clarified the truth to her and helped her quit the CCP and its youth organizations. I told her stories of how people received blessings or experienced miracles when they sincerely recited “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” She was very receptive, and I told her that in anything we do, we have to hold ourselves to the standards of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. She nodded and said, “I will.”
Whenever we had free time, I would recite the Fa and Yunfang and I would talk. She trusted me and shared her story with me. She asked, “Can you show me how to practice Falun Dafa?” I said, “Of course! Our Master said there is nothing better than giving the Fa to people, and practicing Dafa will bring you blessings.” Yunfang was serious about learning and strove to meet the standards of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance.
All the inmates were made to sit on bare wooden boards for long periods of time in the evenings, and I would utilize this time to meditate. Yunfang would often sit next to me and watch out for me, and whenever people walked by, she would put her arms out to keep people from bumping into me.
Her kindness in the harsh environment brought her blessings. One afternoon, an officer shouted loudly in the hallway, “Yunfang, grab your things. You’re going home.” She was stunned and didn’t know how to react. When it finally sank in, she hugged me and wept. I said, “You should thank Master Li [the founder of Falun Dafa] for being released early.” She nodded repeatedly, “Yes, I will!”
Xia was detained for committing forgery. She was a little chubby and seemed simple-minded and easygoing. I clarified the truth to her and helped her quit the CCP and its youth organizations. She said, “I have a very bad memory and probably won’t remember the Fa. Although I can’t recite the Fa with you, I’ll recite, ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.’” I said, “That will work too, but you need to be sincere.” She agreed.
Xia came back from a court hearing and couldn’t stop crying. I sat next to her, held her hand, and comforted her. She said, “I’m going to divorce him as soon as I’m released.” Her husband and her husband’s nephew told the judge that she was the mastermind behind all their wrongdoings. It was all her husband’s idea but they blamed it on Xia. She felt betrayed and decided she would divorce him.
I told her, “Everything is fair in the end. Don’t cry and don’t think too much. Just focus on reciting, ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.’” She nodded, “Thanks, I will. I trust you.”
All inmates, except the ones on duty, had to take a nap after lunch, but I would meditate. Xia was on duty one day when an officer came over and pointed at me, “Tell her to take a nap.” Xia didn’t move. The officer came back after a while and said again, “Tell her to lie down.” Xia looked the officer straight in the eye and said, “She will when she’s good and ready.” The officer left.
She came back from another hearing and was ecstatic, “Thank you! Thank you, Dafa! I’m only sentenced to seven months.” She had been detained for six months at this point and would be going home in another month. Her husband and nephew, on the other hand, were each sentenced to more than two years of imprisonment.
Limei had beautiful eyes and long black hair. She was detained for being involved in pyramid schemes. By the time she arrived at the detention center, all the inmates knew that Dafa is good. Each time we got a new cellmate, the others would tell the new cellmate to talk to me. “You’ll feel better after you talk to her,” they would tell the usually depressed newcomer, as they had all gone through the same thing.
I mainly focused on clarifying the truth and told them about the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. I would make it clear to them that this is the great Fa of the universe and it would help reconnect them to their innate, kind nature.
Limei was a little different though. She was not receptive and didn’t want to listen to what I had to say to her. She said no when I asked her to separate herself from the CCP. I thought, “Okay. I’m not going to continue if you don’t want to listen.” Four other young women, all in their 20’s, were also involved in the same case as Limei. Three of them quit the CCP and its youth organizations.
I found a ring in the bathroom one day and thought it might be Limei’s. Inmates were not supposed to keep jewelry—if the officers found out, the items would be confiscated and never returned to the owner. I asked Limei that night, “I found a ring in the bathroom, is it yours?” Her eyes immediately lit up, “Yes,” she responded. I said, “I’ll give it to you later.” She gave me a thumbs up. Within an hour, all the young women in her group gave me a thumbs up as a way of saying “Thank you.”
The three young women in Limei’s group who quit the CCP and its youth organizations were released, one by one, over the next several weeks. The fourth one, who didn’t quit the CCP, was taken to court by the public prosecutor and received a heavy sentence. A case was also filed against Limei and court hearings were scheduled.
Limei was assertive but self-centered. A long wooden board set up against the wall served as a bed that slept all 20-plus inmates in our cell. We all had to keep our legs straight when we slept so that we could all fit on the board. Limei, however, liked to curl up, so the others would complain about her. Arguments often escalated into fist fights between Limei and the other inmates.
The officers didn’t know what to do with Limei, so they put her next to me. She pinched me at night to make me move so that she could have more room. One night, the inmate on duty saw what she did to me and started arguing with her. However, as a Dafa practitioner, I tried to be considerate of her. I told her to bring her knees up into my tummy so she could sleep. Since then, she no longer pinched me and she knew that I was kind.
She came to me one day and whispered, “I want to learn how to practice Falun Dafa.” I was surprised to hear this, especially coming from her, but I was happy. I told her, “We’ll talk tonight.” That night, I helped her quit the CCP and its youth organizations. I then wrote on a piece of paper Master’s poem “An Upright Person” from Hong Yin. She memorized it, and in the following days, she also memorized a few more poems from Hong Yin and other short lectures written by Master.
Limei was very upset when she returned from her first court hearing. The public prosecutor accused her of scamming more than one million yuan and proposed a sentence of several years. Tears streamed down her face, and she was brokenhearted. I patted her gently on the back and said, “Don’t cry, Limei, you’re different now, you’re a Dafa practitioner. Your path in life will be rearranged by Dafa, and you just have to believe in the power of Dafa.”
I truly felt that Limei was in the detention center because she was predestined to learn Dafa. She memorized Master’s lectures quickly, she had good enlightenment quality and was able to hold herself to the standards of the Fa. Through studying the Fa, she came to know the real meaning and purpose of life and was no longer anxious about the outcome of her case.
A few months passed and Limei was scheduled for another hearing. All the cellmates waited anxiously and hoped for the best for her. She came back with a straight face and she seemed very calm. She walked straight up to me and said, one word at a time, “I got a one-year sentence.” She couldn’t hold back her excitement and announced loudly, “I’m going home!” Another life received blessings because compassionate Master was watching over and protecting her.
Afterwards, everyone in the cell started learning and memorizing the Fa, and the atmosphere became serene and peaceful.
I was sentenced to three years and ten months by the CCP, and I was detained for more than two years. During the time that I was detained, I clarified the truth to many inmates and they all learned that Dafa is good. Many took up the practice and received blessings.
Every person we encounter is here to help us in our cultivation. I treated everyone I met at the detention center as if they were my family and truly considered them in everything I did, and I often went out of my way to help them as much as I could.
Master hopes that each and every practitioner maintains righteous thoughts in any circumstance and seizes every opportunity to help save people. I will follow Master’s directions and awaken more sentient beings.
Every step I’ve taken in cultivation would not have been possible without Master’s protection. Thank you, Master, for your compassion and salvation!