(Clearwisdom.net) In the autumn of 2001, the police arrested a fellow practitioner and me for posting materials about the truth of Falun Gong. At about 3 a.m. that night, with the help of our Master and righteous thoughts, we were able to escape, but we had to leave our homes to avoid further persecution.
In the past three and a half years away from my home, although I have tried hard to follow Master's Fa, I have always felt that in my cultivation I didn't maximally conform to the ordinary human society, which made it difficult for my relatives, friends and neighbors to learn the truth of Falun Gong. To some extent, I followed the old forces' arrangements. Since the summer of 2004, I have been thinking of rectifying my path by going home to validate Dafa in an open and dignified manner.
On December 24, 2004, I was arrested on a bus in a city. My mind was very clam at that moment and my first thought was: I will grasp this opportunity to break through the evil's arrangements and return home openly. So at the police department, I told them my name and home address, and I also exposed the persecution and clarified the truth to them.
At the police station, police officer Zhang searched me and illegally confiscated my watch and 187 yuan. They handcuffed me for the night and sent me to a detention center the next day.
In the detention center, I could feel that Master was protecting me and helping me all the time. The Fa principles constantly appeared in my mind, and I was very clear-headed. So with Master's help and through my righteous thoughts and actions, I walked out of that place openly on January 7, 2004, and returned home.
Just after my arrest, I protested with a hunger strike. But sometimes a thought like, "You were arrested because you didn't cultivate well" would pop up. So I followed Master's teaching in a Hong Yin (II) poem called "Don't be Sad":
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 [Unofficial translation]
I looked inside myself for any remaining attachments and got rid of them. In the meantime, I refused to acknowledge the thought and understood that it didn't come from me but was rather imposed by the old forces, so I completely denied it. I still had attachments, and I would cultivate them away, but I shall never let them be the evil's excuse to persecute me.
"I'm Li Hongzhi's disciple, I don't want other arrangements or acknowledge them." ("Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference")
Therefore, I totally negated the persecution. I am a life created by Dafa • a Dafa Disciple. My mission is to validate the Fa and save sentient beings; it is definitely not to bear any persecutions.
Those10 days in detention were the coldest I had ever experienced. The temperature dropped to minus 10 degrees below zero Celsius with snowstorms. There was no heat in the cell, and the water instantly froze when it dripped. The wall to the north was covered with ice. Under such circumstances, it would be inconceivable for ordinary people to go on a hunger strike without food and water, but I sent forth strong righteous thoughts: I am a Dafa disciple, a life created by Dafa. I have energy from other dimensions to help evolve my physical body, so I will not feel cold, hungry or thirsty. Once again, I confirmed that Dafa is supernatural, amazing and powerful.
During my hunger strike, other practitioners reminded me that I might be subjected to force-feeding, which would be much more painful than the hunger strike. I denied it completely and thought that nobody had the right to do that to me. No matter at how high a level the old forces existed, they were still lives to be rectified by the Fa. I am a Dafa disciple and I am saving sentient beings, so no one has the right to persecute me. In the meantime, I tried my best for a benevolent solution by following Master's teaching in "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York":
"During the Fa-rectification of the cosmos, I can make a reasonable arrangement for those of you who don't interfere with my validating the Fa; I can have you become beings in the future. Those of you who seek a benevolent resolution should leave me and wait in my surroundings. If you really cannot leave me, then don't have any part in interfering with me. In the future I will be able to achieve Consummation, and I will offer you a benevolent resolution. Those who are completely bad, who still interfere with me and who cannot remain will, according to the standards, have to be eliminated. Even if I don't eliminate you, the Law of the cosmos won't let you remain."
I sent out this thought and was deeply moved by the grand mercy of our Master. With strong righteous thoughts and a compassionate heart, the police dared not touch me during my hunger strike.
My family came to visit me but was not granted permission from the detention center. However, an inmate who knew that Falun Dafa is good cleverly helped me to meet one of my family members during visiting hours. My relative told me that our family knew someone in the police department, and they were considering asking the person for a favor to bail me out. I replied, "Don't do that, since nobody can save me except Falun Dafa and my Master. Tell the others in the family that, if the police ask for money for my release, don't come, but if they release me unconditionally, you may come."
While in detention, my mind was very calm. In addition to reciting the Fa, I sent forth righteous thoughts and could feel that Master was right by my side. Ten days into my hunger strike, Master gave me a hint. I could faintly see the Chinese character "xiong," which is composed of two parts, the upper part "neng" meaning "can do" in English and the lower part with four point strikes. What could it mean? I suddenly realized that it meant I "can do" after removing the four points. It might refer to my leaving that place after getting rid of four attachments or to waiting four more days to go home. Sure enough, beginning on day 11, the magpies sang happily each morning, which gave me tremendous confidence and courage. In the end, 14 days after I began my hunger strike, I was released unconditionally.
In my experience, in every circumstance we should have unshakable faith in our Master and Dafa and should enlighten on a righteous path given Master's hints. Always fill our minds with the Fa principles and be prepared at any moment to refuse to accept the persecution. We should refuse it actively, proactively break it up, and fundamentally negate the arrangements by the old forces. I have felt the great power when Dafa disciples become one body and when practitioners inside and outside of detention centers cooperate well. I am greatly touched by Master's boundless graciousness.
January 30, 2005
