(Minghui.org) Last April, the Political and Legal Affairs Committee and the 610 Office in Hubei Province stepped up their persecution against Falun Dafa practitioners. They arrested many practitioners province-wide and sent them to Banqiao Brainwashing Center of Hubei Province, attempting to brainwash them into renouncing Falun Dafa.
1. Eliminating the Evil Situation
My hometown is located in a small county in the mountain area where there are only about 20 Dafa practitioners. In the middle of May last year two practitioner coordinators were illegally arrested and detained and persecuted in a brainwashing center. The perpetrators also threatened to detain a dozen more practitioners in the brainwashing center. This was the most desperate situation in my hometown since the persecution began in July 1999. Facing this unexpected situation, some fellow practitioners were afraid to go home, some were afraid of going out and some even gave up cultivating.
More than a month later, the two arrested practitioners were released after being forced to give in and renounce Dafa against their will. Although afterwards they wrote solemn declarations to recant any agreement they had made and announced that they would continue to practice Falun Dafa, they were afraid of speaking up and clarifying the truth about the persecution. Because they were afraid that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) agents would blame them for our truth-clarification activities, they even tried to stop other practitioners from going out to expose the persecution and passing out fliers.
Their families also said that they would report to the authorities if anyone asked the two practitioners to help with our local truth-clarification activities. The CCP agents also told local residents that they would sentence any practitioner they arrested before the Communist Party's 18th National Congress. This caused panic among local practitioners.
No one dared to make truth-clarification materials at the time and few practitioners came out to clarify the truth. The CCP agents were pleased and said, “See, we only had to arrest a few practitioners, and it's quiet now.”
Some practitioners were worried and asked me what to do. I had left my hometown several years before and had been living in the provincial capital. I thought, “There aren't many practitioners in my hometown. Now the situation there is not good, who is saving the people who live there?” I decided to return to my hometown for a while and help coordinate the truth-clarifying activities there.
At the time I was also one of the practitioners that the CCP wanted to arrest. They came to the provincial capital twice last year trying to arrest me, but they did not find me. One fellow practitioner even told the authorities how I had provided the equipment for the materials production centers. My family members strongly objected to my returning there and said, “You are coming here while others are leaving. Be careful!”
I recalled Master's teaching,
“The old forces don't dare to oppose our clarifying the truth or saving sentient beings.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston”)
I came to understand that as long as I studied the Fa well, sent righteous thoughts frequently, and based my thoughts on the Fa, there should be no problems.
Returning to My Hometown to Coordinate
In mid-July, I invited a fellow practitioner who had a technical background to come with me, and we brought some equipment, truth-clarification materials and Master's new lectures. We established a new materials production center in the home of a fellow practitioner who was not exposed yet, and we taught the practitioner how to access the Internet, how to download and how to print truth-clarification materials.
After we resolved the issues that hindered the production of truth-clarifying materials, the practitioner with technical expertise returned to the provincial capital. I stayed behind to continue the other things I planned to do.
First, I shared thoughts with the local fellow practitioners, discussed the situation with them based on the Fa and encouraged them to discard their fear, maintain their righteous thoughts, and to come out to do the three things well.
Second, we organized local fellow practitioners to continuously send righteous thoughts to disintegrate the evil persecution.
Third, we arranged practitioners to deliver truth-clarifying materials and Minghui Weekly to the chosen locations.
Fourth, we encouraged practitioners to use any possible spare time to send truth-clarifying messages to people, speak with people face-to-face about the facts, and to help people announce their withdrawals from the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
Within two weeks, I distributed all the truth-clarifying materials the local practitioners had as well as all the informational materials I had brought with me. I also explained the truth of Falun Dafa face-to-face to local residents and encouraged more than 50 people to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. The local environment significantly improved and most of the fellow practitioners returned back to their normal cultivation conditions.
2. Clarifying the Truth to the Personnel Who Arrested Me
When I was planning to return to the provincial capital, my husband told me that the weather there was very hot. I then changed my plans and decided to stay in my hometown a bit longer until the temperature cooled down.
Being Followed and Arrested
However, on the morning of the third day, just as I walked out on the street, I noticed that I was being followed. I sent righteous thoughts and kept walking. When I walked to the entrance of an alley, the two men who were following me came up and said, “Someone wants to talk to you.” I asked, “Who wants to talk to me? And why?” They shuffled their feet and didn't answer.
Finally they said that they wanted me to have a physical checkup. I knew that they wanted to arrest me and told them that I was not going with them. Then two more people came up from behind and insisted that I go with them. I told them that I needed to go home to change my clothes first. In my mind I wanted to go home, close my door and send righteous thoughts to disintegrate the evil persecution.
They would not let me leave and tried to push me into a car parked on the side of the road. At first I did not want to get into the car; I wanted to shout “Falun Dafa is good!” and expose their plot. But I then thought that I had distributed truth-clarifying materials to the residents on this street and most of them had withdrawn from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. If they saw that the police were arresting me, they might be intimidated and might not dare to read the informational materials anymore. That would destroy them. So I followed the police and got into the car.
In the car, the two who followed me sat right next to me, one on each side. The driver and a policewoman sat in the front. The car drove towards the provincial capital. At first I thought that they intended to send me to a brainwashing center, and I was a little afraid. But I quickly calmed down. I thought that a Dafa practitioner should not be afraid and thought about what a Fa-rectification period practitioner should do when facing persecution.
Thinking Righteously
First of all, a Dafa practitioner should believe in Master and believe in the Fa, and should totally reject the old force's arrangements. I am a disciple of Master Li Hongzhi and I only walk the path arranged by Master. I do not acknowledge and do not want or follow any other arrangements. I knew that Master was with me. I sent righteous thoughts and asked Master to strengthen me.
Secondly, I should treat all the people I am in contact with, with kindness and treat them as lives I am supposed to save. Master said:
"I'm also telling you that all beings in today's world came for the sake of the Fa. If you want a being to clearly understand this point, you should go and clarify the truth to him. It is a master key, the key that can unlock that thing all beings have had sealed off for a long time and been awaiting for ages." (“Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference”)
I should send righteous thoughts to eliminate all the evil beings and the factors behind them, to help them understand the truth and stop committing crimes against Falun Dafa and Dafa practitioners, so that they may have a bright future.
Clarifying the Facts
At the same time I realized that I should also get rid of the attachments to fear, the competitive mentality and other attachments, and look inside for the reason why this happened. I told the police calmly, “You are taking me to the brainwashing center in the provincial capital, right? You probably don't realize that you are doing the worst possible thing! Your taking part in the persecution against Falun Dafa is committing crimes against Dafa and it will bring you very bad consequences in the future.” I then gave them examples of what happened to people who persecuted practitioners.
They began repeating the wicked Party's slanderous lies. I told them, “There are several dozen practitioners in our county and there are more than a hundred thousand practitioners in the provincial capital. Have any of them committed self-immolation? Have any of them killed people? No one in the entire world has committed self-immolation or killed people because they practice Falun Dafa. The self-immolation incident in Tiananmen Square was fabricated by the Chinese regime to deceive people. You are all being deceived by the CCP.” After I analyzed many suspicious points of the self-immolation case in detail, they were all shocked.
After a while, they said, “Our lives are comfortable. Why does Falun Gong want to go against the CCP?” I said, "The entire world knows that the CCP is suppressing and persecuting Falun Gong. The people who persecute Buddha Law and the cultivators will receive heavenly punishment. Dafa practitioners are trying to help people to learn the truth, to learn who is righteous and who is evil, and to learn who is good and who is bad; they are trying to help people make the correct choice so that they can be saved when heaven eliminates the CCP in the future. Therefore, what we have been doing is the kindest and the most righteous thing, and is completely for the good of the people. ”
They then told me that I was superstitious. I began telling them about the many phenomena that had appeared, starting with the Udumbara Flowers mentioned in the Buddhist scriptures blossoming worldwide, I told them about the well-known rock formation that has the characters "Death to the CCP" mysteriously carved into it. I told them about the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, and how the CCP is harvesting organs from Dafa practitioners while they are still alive. I told them about the significant wave of people withdrawing from the CCP and its affiliated organizations and told them that more than 136 million people have already withdrawn from the Party and its affiliates. I also gave them examples of how those people who had already withdrawn from the CCP miraculously escaped danger during the Sichuan earthquake.
The policewoman then asked, “Did you see with your own eyes that they harvested organs from living practitioners?” While sending righteous thoughts I said, “I did not see it with my own eyes. But there is a lot of evidence supporting the allegations. Reporters came out to expose the crime; the wife of a doctor who participated in the crime has come out to be a witness and an independent investigation group in Canada collected 72 pieces of evidence. Wang Lijun turned in proof of the crime to the Consulate of the United States in Sichuan Province when he fled there; he, together with Bo Xilai and Gu Kailai, were direct participants.
“Overseas media have reported these crimes and incidents. I hope you can learn the truth and stop following the CCP to do evil. I sincerely advise you to read Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and to withdraw from the CCP in order to choose a good future for yourself and your family.” Although the police did not say anything, it was obvious that they had been greatly moved.
The driver said, "You know a lot and everything you've said makes sense.” He then asked about my educational background. I told them, “I am a college graduate. I have been working very hard and have contributed a lot to China, and I have been named as an exemplary employee every year.” I also told them, “The long-term hard work stressed my health and I developed serious illnesses that had no cure. However, when I started practicing Falun Dafa all my illness disappeared.”
I then said to them, “Such a good practice is persecuted. Hundreds of thousands people have been sent to forced labor camps or have been illegally sentenced to prison. Furthermore, thousands of people are confirmed dead from the persecution and many practitioners have had their organs removed while they were still alive. You tell me, who is the evil one? It is so obvious that the CCP is completely evil. Our constitution states that citizens have the freedom of belief and practicing Falun Gong is legal. Jiang Zemin uses the country's institutions to persecute innocent people and that is illegal.”
They said, “You're really a good person.” Attempting to comfort me they said, “Don't worry. We are taking you in now, but we'll bring you back this afternoon.” I thanked them for their kind thought but in my mind I understood that to really come back home I had to depend on Master.
I called home. When my husband heard that I had been illegally arrested, he got angry and began shouting. I told him not to blame the people who were arresting me because they were following the CCP's orders and they did not know the truth; they were the unfortunate ones. The people in the car all felt the compassion and tolerance of a Dafa practitioner. They gave me some water to drink and asked me to rest.
Later, they talked about educating their children. The policewoman said that she often punished her son by making him kneel on the ground and not letting him go to his room to sleep. I said, “If you encourage his good behavior and acknowledge his strengths, he will try hard to be good. If you always beat him and scold him, he will become rebellious and lack confidence; he may even develop a defective character." The other people in the car agreed with me. By the time we arrived at the brainwashing center we were chatting with each other.
3. Maintaining Righteous Thoughts and Walking Out of the Brainwashing Center with Wisdom
It was about one o'clock in the afternoon when we arrived at the brainwashing center. While they went to the entrance to make the arrangements, I sent righteous thoughts. I asked Master to strengthen me and to make them reject me because the brainwashing center is no place for a Dafa disciple.
When I was getting out of the car, I saw that the head of the Comprehensive Management Office of the company I worked at as well as two other young female colleagues, were getting out of another car. I was surprised. The two young female colleagues were kind and I had already explained the truth about Falun Gong to them. One of them had withdrawn from the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
For them to be helping at the brainwashing center was putting them in danger. I must bring them with me and leave the brainwashing center. I said to the head of the the Comprehensive Management Office, “Why did you bring them here? You are not only persecuting me, you are also persecuting them. Let me tell you that you are also doing great harm to yourself! Last year after you slandered Dafa, your father died two months later. Do you think that was a coincidence? Why didn't you learn from that lesson? Why do you still persecute Dafa?” He stood speechless with his head lowered.
They took me to the brainwashing center's guard room. A person there asked my name and what illness I had. I didn't answer him. I kept sending righteous thoughts and was determined not to cooperate with the evil. However, the head of the county 610 Office answered their questions. When the person started to take my blood pressure, I asked Master for help and kept thinking that my blood pressure should be high while he measured it. As soon as he finished, he immediately told me to rest. Although he did not say anything, I understood that Master had protected me by showing him that I had high blood pressure.
They took me and my two female colleagues to a room with three beds. I did not go to sleep and kept sending righteous thoughts. The two colleagues wanted to call their families but their phone calls would not go through. They became anxious and said, “We can't even make a phone call. This really is a prison.” I said, “This is the infamous brainwashing center of Hubei Province and it's been specifically set up to persecute Dafa practitioners.”
One of them said, “It looks like none of us can leave if you don't work with them.” I said, “I will not cooperate with the evil. What they say does not count. My Master has the final say. We will be able to leave here if I ask help from my Master.” They said, “Please ask help from your Master. We don't want to be locked up in here. We didn't want to come; it was our employer who forced us to come.”
I thought that since they were already here I should help them to be saved. I then said, “I am going to ask for help from my Master but I need your cooperation. You need to sincerely repeat, 'Falun Dafa is good and Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance is good' in your mind and you need to go and tell the center that you want to go home.” They agreed.
My colleagues went to find the people who brought us to the center and argued with them, saying, “She has high blood pressure and we don't want the responsibility if anything happens to her. We want to go home.” I also found the head of the 610 Office and insisted on going home. He said, “Now your blood pressure is very high and the driver dares not take you home.” I said, “Then I will take a taxi home and I don't need your help. I'll be fine after I do the exercises and study the Fa when I get home.”
I started walking out. They hurriedly stopped me and wanted to check my blood pressure again. I thought, “Go ahead and check again.” I asked Master to strengthen me and to keep showing them that I had high blood pressure. After the doctor finished the second check, he said something to the 610 Office head. I guessed that he had refused to take me because of my high blood pressure. I said, “I have a relative nearby and you can take me there.” The 610 Office head then made a phone call and told my relative to pick me up.
After they heard that I was leaving, my colleagues were very happy. One helped to carry my things and one helped me get to the transportation area. I told them, “See, my Master has the final say.” They smiled in understanding.
It was already two o'clock in the afternoon when we came out of the brainwashing center. My colleagues waited until my relative came and picked me up. I could see that they did not want to participate in persecuting me and that they cared about me.
With Master's compassionate protection I walked out of the brainwashing center less than five hours after I was abducted at 9:30 a.m. that morning. With Master's help I disintegrated the persecution.
4. Searching Inward for the Reason
After I got home, I told my husband that my hypertension symptoms were only an appearance that Master arranged to protect me. I did not feel any discomfort. However he was still worried and insisted that I go to the hospital for a check up. To comfort him and to show him the supernormal power of Dafa, I went. The result showed that my blood pressure was normal. It truly is as Master says,
"When disciples have ample righteous thoughts
Master has the power to turn back the tide"
("The Master-Disciple Bond," from Hong Yin Volume II)
Master also said, “Cultivation is looking within for the cause” (“Don't Argue,” Hong Yin III)
I came to understand that it was not a coincidence that I was arrested this time. I must have gaps in my cultivation. Through studying the Fa and sharing with fellow practitioners, I found that I had deficiencies in three aspects.
One was when I shared with practitioners who came back from the brainwashing centers, I had a thought, “If I were sent to a brainwashing center, I would tell them nothing, sign nothing and I would not cooperate with the evil.” It was possible that this thought was taken advantage of by the old forces. Master said, “Good or evil comes from a person's spontaneous thought” (Zhuan Falun)
I believe that my tribulation was because of my incorrect thought.
The second was because of my attachment to comfort. I should have gone back to the provincial capital as I had originally planned. However, when I heard that the provincial capital was hot I pursued comfort and changed my plans. If I had returned two days earlier, I would not have been arrested.
The third one is also the biggest one, and it was pointed out by a fellow practitioner. My biggest gap is that I am attached to ordinary human sentiments. When I learned that my husband was very close to a female classmate of his, I suspected that something was going on between them. I often felt angry and I could not calm my mind when I read the the Fa, did the exercises and sent righteous thoughts.
Hearing this fellow practitioner's reminder, I came to understand that my attachment to ordinary human sentimentality was excessive and I also had an attachment to lust. These attachments were taken advantage of by the old forces.
Master said,
“Conveying the truth to the world’s people may appear simple, yet it impacts the futures of sentient beings. In order to do this task well, you must cultivate yourselves well.” (“Congratulations to the Taiwan Fa Conference”)
After experiencing this lesson, I came to understand how important it is to discard our attachments through cultivation and how important it is to correct our every thought through cultivation! For practitioners, attachments are barriers that bring tribulations to our cultivation and will slow down our ability to return to our true selves.