(Clearwisdom.net) The inhumane treatment I experienced over the past ten days had exhausted me mentally and physically. I just wanted to have a good night's sleep. Once I sat down in the train, though, I felt my energy returning. I stood up. Facing all the people in the train car I started to tell my story. I pointed to my new goose down coat and new leather shoes, now ruined, that the police had cut to shreds with scissors. I started to tell my story, what had happened to me during the previous 12 days. I told them I am a Falun Gong practitioner and as such had come to Beijing, because I trusted the Party and the government and wanted to tell the authorities the real story of Falun Gong. I told them what happened to me on my journey. I told all of what I had experienced, without stopping. People gasped and were shocked. Some cried; some berated the police for not having any humanity left...

-- Author of the article

Respected Master,
Respected fellow practitioners,

Blessings to All!

I entitled my presentation, "Being Grateful for Master's Compassion and Protection; My Story of Going to Beijing to Appeal for Dafa in 2000." It is an episode of my five-year cultivation story during the Fa-rectification period.

Since July 1999, Falun Dafa has endured relentless persecution beginning on July 20, 1999. Master was shamefully framed and slandered and practitioners were cruelly persecuted. I couldn't keep silent any longer. None of the practitioners who benefited from Dafa could keep their concern under wraps. On November 30, 2000, ignoring the rampant arrests of practitioners by Jiang's regime, three of us rented a car and went to Beijing again to appeal for Dafa.

At Tiananmen Square, police with electric batons were everywhere. They were spread out evenly, close together, and stood to monitor people. Police cars frequently passed through, horns and sirens sounding. Groups of patrol police were running around and shouting hoarsely. Big buses were parked everywhere, ready to hold those who were arrested. I knew it was the peak, most rampant period for Jiang's regime to arrest practitioners. Many practitioners were peacefully appealing on a daily basis at Tiananmen Square, but they were beaten, arrested and put in the police vehicles.

Just as I was trying to think of a good place to unfurl a banner, someone hit me with a stick and also gave me a kick. The police officer who had just beaten me shouted at me, "What are you doing here?" Being hit totally confused me since I hadn't even done anything. Why did I get beaten? Instinct made me get up and I stared at the police officer. He said to me, "Will you curse the founder of Falun Gong? Let me hear you say so!" I answered, "I would not curse anyone. Cursing people will make a person lose virtue." Immediately, four police officers came upon me, grabbed me and took me to a police vehicle. Six practitioners were already inside.

The police started to body search people. They were angry and yelling. With rubber sticks in their hands they beat people on their heads and faces. I couldn't think of anything else except that I hadn't fulfilled my mission before the arrest. I said in my mind, "Help me, Master! Let me have an opportunity [later] to display the banner." It worked! The police didn't search me.

We were sent to a district police department in Beijing. Several thousand practitioners were there, and 90% of them were young people. We stood so close together that it was even difficult to turn around. The police forced us to stand in seven rows. Later we heard they were going to send us to five different prisons. They treated us like criminals. We were forced to face a wall standing still and were not allowed to turn our heads. I was shocked by this turn of events. My mind was confused. I was thinking, "In the past, the police loved people; nowadays, the police are taught to curse and beat people."

I suddenly understood why. I remembered a word from a poem in the book Hong Yin

by Master, "Dark gangs and sinister groups --- Governments and bandits, one family." ("Ten Evils in the World," Hongyin) That is it! Jiang Zemin used his power to transfer the police into a "club" in his hand.

When I thought about the tribulation Dafa suffered - the evil lies, frame-ups and how they placed Master on the "wanted" list - with no place for practitioners to appeal, the accumulated sense of injustice in me exploded. I called out with all my strength, "Falun Dafa is great!" "Restore our Master's unblemished reputation!" "Being a good person does not represent guilt." A thousand voices echoed my calls, "The Fa rectifies the Heaven and the Earth!" "It will eliminate all evils!" The combined voices rose like waves, one following another, ever higher and higher. They shook the capital and the universe and shook the layers of layers of beings in the universe.

We were taken to Huairou Prison. After getting out of the buses, we lined up in four long rows, so long that one could not see the end. One practitioner was badly beaten on the face. Spontaneous calls of, "Stop beating!" "The Fa rectifies the Heaven and the Earth." "It is eliminating all evils" "Falun Dafa is the righteous Fa," sounded out again from our combined voices, which made the police really angry. Their sense of power and violence snapped in the police officers' heads. They began to kick practitioners to the ground, one after another. Some practitioners were kicked and forced to lie on the ground or to kneel down on the ground. Then they started the second round of body searches. Each practitioner was taken to a small room and was completely stripped. It was not a customary body search but the officers acted like hoodlums. I saw then what one calls a "political hoodlum."

When it was my turn I stared directly at the young female police officer. I told her that I was even older than her parents and asked her whether or not she would do this to her parents. She seemed struck with awe and didn't strip off my undergarments. I took this opportunity to quickly unfurl the banner and called out, "Falun Dafa is great!" The police officer didn't beat me. She just quickly grabbed the banner from me and then opened it to show others saying, "Hey, come see this one! It is so beautifully made!" Then she carefully put it away. They normally tore up and cut all the banners.

I understood that Master was helping me. When we respect Master and Dafa and have a pure mindset, the evildoers would be persuaded toward goodness and couldn't be evil anymore. I had worked very hard and with great care to make that banner. Every word on it represented a disciple's sincere heart and mind for Master and Dafa.

We were detained at Huairou Prison, which we had heard was the most evil of evil places. Twenty-nine people were held in a less than 10-square meter windowless room. This room was used for everything, eating, sleeping and even for relieving ourselves. It was packed, even for just sitting there. Everyone had to squeeze tight to be able to sit down. It was in the cold of winter and was snowing outside. We warmed ourselves by leaning against each other. To protest the unreasonable persecution of Dafa and the frenzied abuse and mistreatment of practitioners, we started a hunger strike. For the first few days, police delivered food to the room to lure us. Seeing we were so determined, they later stopped sending food.

On the fourth day they began to force-feed us with high-density salt solution plus corn gruel. Everyone had very strong reactions. We felt extremely thirsty and our lips became chapped. We felt burning inside and felt unwell. The force-feeding itself was unbearably painful. The police completely ignored our humanity and let off their personal spite on behalf of Jiang Zemin. Four police officers would hold one practitioner. The force-feeding tube was carelessly inserted through the nose and was later removed suddenly and forcibly, full of blood. It seemed that the heart was taken out as well. The extreme pain made one feel like dying.

On the sixth day a young man kept vomiting blood and then died from the effects of force-feeding. They turned around to intimidate us, "If you do not cooperate, we are not responsible for any death. It will be regarded as a suicide!"

Suffering unbearable thirst, some practitioners felt unable to endure this any longer and suggested, "Let us start drinking a little bit of water." We discussed this but couldn't reach an agreement. Just then I had a strange feeling and felt every cell of my body being full of water. Other could clearly hear the sound of running water rising up from my goose down coat. Suddenly we were all deeply inspired and became steadfast again. Master was giving us a hint, to encourage us to persist to the end.

At that time when evildoers were running rampant, we were called group by group every morning to listen to their speeches, attempting to brainwash us, after which we were forced to stand outside to suffer in the freezing cold. In that icy and snowy weather, even with heavy warm cotton-padded coat and pants, one would feel completely frozen in a short time. Nevertheless, they would force practitioners to stand outside for two hours. Young practitioners were only allowed to wear sweaters usually worn during autumn and older practitioners were only allowed to wear woolen sweaters. Some would stand without shoes since the police had cut the shoes apart. How ruthless they are!

Our righteous belief and righteous thoughts frightened and made the evildoers unable to act. We refused to give our names and had no ID with us. We did not answer any questions or sign anything. Once, when being checked, my high and low blood pressure measures both read zero. On the tenth day my blood pressure rose to 170. I knew Master was helping me to leave the demon's den. Police were panicked and afraid to be responsible. I was released the next day. I spent a total of ten days in prison without drinking a drop of water or eating any food. When I left there, they took all the money I had, 300 Yuan (1).

A fellow practitioner who was released at the same time with me knew another practitioner in Beijing. We went to this Beijing practitioner's home. The warm welcome we had was beyond the welcome usually extended to a family member and we were deeply moved. I drank four thermos bottles of warm water but still felt thirsty! After eating a warm meal I decided to go home. The practitioner sent me to the train station and felt relieved after seeing I safely got on the train from Beijing to Jinan.

The inhumane treatment I experienced over the past ten days had exhausted me mentally and physically. I just wanted to have a good night's sleep. Once I sat down in the train, though, I felt my energy returning. I stood up. Facing all the people in the train car I started to tell my story. I pointed to my new goose down coat and new leather shoes, now ruined, that the police had cut to shreds with scissors. I started to tell my story, what had happened to me during the previous 12 days. I told them I am a Falun Gong practitioner and as such had come to Beijing, because I trusted the Party and the government and wanted to tell the authorities the real story of Falun Gong. I told them what happened to me on my journey. I told all of what I had experienced, without stopping. People gasped and were shocked. Some cried; some berated the police for not having any humanity left. People were incredulous saying "Is it true?" "How could it happen?" I pointed to my clothes and shoes, "These are the evidence. I cultivate 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance;' I do not lie!" Some said, "Where is justice nowadays? Politicians and bandits are one and the same!"

Some people kindly asked me to sit down and to take a break. Some kindly advised me, "If you keep telling your story, maybe they will arrest you again." I was very virtuous and told people, "I just want to be a good person based on 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance' and to tell the truth. How could that be regarded a crime? They have power. Let them do whatever they want to do. The Constitution has clearly stated that citizens have the right to appeal to a higher authority. Those appeals offices are open to the public, are they not? On the other hand, if you go to appeal nowadays you will be arrested, beaten or even put into prison. Who gives them the right to do so? Falun Dafa teaches us to be a good person and benefits people with good health, which saves the government hundreds of millions in medical costs. Falun Dafa has hundreds of benefits without harming society. Why do we have no freedom of belief?"

More and more words came out from my mouth. The more I talked, the more clearly I stated my thoughts. I started when the train pulled out of Beijing. I kept talking, for the entire trip of more than 600 km, without feeling thirsty or tired, until the train arrived at Jinan City. The car was filled with people, and some were even from other cars on this train. These people were listening to my story as if listening to a never-before-heard fairy tale and they were deeply moved. I saw railroad security guards walking around, but no one tried to stop me and no one came to arrest me. A righteous energy field had enveloped all.

Master said, "Indestructible righteous faith in the cosmos's Truth forms benevolent Dafa disciples' rock-solid, Diamond-Like Bodies; it frightens all evil and the light of Truth it emanates makes the unrighteous elements in all beings' thoughts disintegrate." ("Also in a Few Words," Essentials for Further Advancement II) Master bestowed heavenly courage on me. The righteous thoughts suffocated the evils. When we put down selfish thoughts and step out of human concerns, the evil will self-destruct!

The above are some of my experiences during Fa-rectification. I still have a long way to go toward what Master requires. During this last, rare historical period, let us remember what Master teaches and do well on "The Three Things" to fulfill our pledge made long ago in history - study the Fa (2), explain the facts of Dafa and the persecution and send forth righteous thoughts into the universe.

(1) Yuan is the unit of currency in China; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.