(Minghui.org) My wife and I were going to take a train to Beijing in March 2001 to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. However, the day before we were set to leave, police arrested us and put us in a detention center. We were detained there for 15 days.
Guard Reads Zhuan Falun; Head of Inmates Learns Exercises
There were four or five practitioners in the same cell. We recited the Fa and did the exercises together. The head of inmates at the center was ordered to watch us and was told to not let us practice the exercises. However, we talked to him about Falun Gong and he learned the truth behind the persecution and became supportive, and decided to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance. He also started to do the meditation with us.
A guard tried to stop me from doing the exercises. I told him. “I'm over 70 years old. I'm very healthy from practicing Falun Gong. Look at you. You are not yet 50-years-old, but you are not looking well at all." He was speechless. After that he did not interfere with us doing the exercises.
I was sent to the brainwashing center in the municipal labor camp after 15 days at the detention center where I refused to do the labor, but I clarified the truth to the staff. The deputy division chief said to me: "You are over 70 years old. As long as you write down the words 'I am giving up Falun Gong' and sign your name, I will release you." So instead I just started to talk to him about Falun Gong. "I know,” he said. “You are to become an enlightened being in the future, so now you come here to improve your level."
When he opened his drawer to take out a cigarette, I saw there was a copy of Zhuan Falun inside. I said to him, "You are secretly reading Zhuan Falun. Why do you stop us from reading the same book?" He said, "If I read the book openly like you, wouldn't I be arrested too?" We laughed together. He said, "Just do as you are doing now. I will tell them to leave you alone." Later, he indeed told guards to leave me alone.
I recited the Fa and did the exercises alone and sometimes with fellow practitioners. No one bothered me. We clarified the truth to the inmates and told them that Falun Gong teaches people to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
The criminal inmates living in our cell had good relationships with us practitioners. Some said they would practice Falun Gong after they were released. Some started to do the meditation with us at night. Some learned to recite Lunyu and poems from Hong Yin.
There was a guard who had just graduated from the police academy. After we talked about Falun Gong, he said, "I don't understand why it is wrong to practice Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." I told him how Jiang Zemin (former head of China) started the persecution out of his jealousy and venting personal spite. I suggested he carefully read Zhuan Falun.
I said to him, "Think it over. You will understand how to spend the rest of your life!" He read the book later. He did not bother us at all, and sometimes he even talked to us about the Fa principles.
The deputy division chief and guards all came to say goodbye to me when I was released. They advised me to be careful for my own safety. The head inmate also came to say goodbye. I looked at them all and felt happy for them since they understood the goodness of Falun Gong.
Drug Addictions Vanquish After 3 Days of Exercises
I was sent to a drug rehabilitation center in August 2001, and detained with four young drug addicts in the same cell. I told them how wonderful Falun Gong is and how they could get rid of their drug addictions by doing the exercises instead of taking medicine and injections. They began to do the meditation with me, and on the third day, they did not need to have injections or medicine.
They did not want me to eat the regular meals and insisted on ordering a better meal for me. When I refused their offers, they said, "If you don't eat the better food, we won't eat either. As grandchildren, how can we let our grandpa (to which they referred to me) eat steamed corn buns while we eat the steamed rice?
The doctor later found out that they did not take their medicine anymore and asked why. They said to her, "Ask our grandpa—since he came, we don't need to take the medicine anymore." I took the opportunity to tell the doctor about Falun Gong. She said to the young men, "Falun Gong is really powerful. Just do the exercises with grandpa, and it will save me the trouble of coming here to give you injections."
When I was released, they all said they would not give up Falun Gong since it saved them.
The Warden Learns of the Wonders of Falun Gong
I was taken to the detention center at the end of September 2001. Five or six young inmates immediately surrounded me upon my arrival. The head of the inmates said, "No one touch him. Let him tell us how he started to practice Falun Gong."
I told them many stories of Falun Gong and showed them how to do the meditation. The head of the inmates said to the others: "Look! He is over 70 years old. He can double cross his legs so well, and he is full of energy. This gong is really good. You should all learn from him. No one is allowed to touch him."
The next day local police came to question me. They asked how bad my day in the detention center had been. I told them the inmates did not beat me. Instead, they asked me to show them the exercises and even how to do the meditation. The police were quite surprised to hear that.
There were more than 20 inmates in the cell. Some were not healthy. Some regretted their crimes. I told them that if one sincerely recited "Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!" and followed the principles to be a good person, one would become healthy physically and mentally. Some of the inmates learned to do the meditation with me. Some asked me to teach them to recite Lunyu. Whenever we were allowed to sit down, they would sit around me.
Once, a 14 or 15 year-old teenager gave me a beating. I said to him: "I am older than your own grandpa. I didn't commit any crimes, and you came here because you have committed crimes at such a young age. Beating me is just like beating your own grandpa, isn't it? Your grandpa would be so sad if he knew he had such a grandson!" Then I told him the principles of Falun Gong and how to be a good person. Others also listened to me, and some criticized the young man. He said he was sorry and said he would learn Falun Gong and try to be a good person.
The guard in charge of the cell had a conversation with me. I told him about Falun Gong. We both believed in Buddha, and that freedom of religion complied with the Constitution. He came to recognize that Falun Gong has nothing to do with politics and only teaches people how to be good. At the beginning, he argued with me. I presented many facts to help him, and many times I suggested he read Zhuan Falun.
A few days later, he said he had read the book. He told the head of the inmates to take care of me because I was old and was a good person. He said the head of inmates should just play the role of custodian. People should come here safely and leave here safely. Nothing bad should happen under his charge, he said.
I later asked the head of inmates if I could do the exercises. I said I did not feel comfortable if I did not do the exercises. He agreed and allowed me to do them in the courtyard during the morning free activity session and also during the afternoon session. He arranged for someone to watch for me in case the other guards saw me.
There was an inmate who started to study the Fa and do the exercises after he was released. He found my son and gave him 50 yuan to deposit in my account in the detention center.
On the 49th day that I was detained in the detention center, I was released. I did not write the three statements or sign any papers. Before I left, the warden of the detention center told me, "You are brave. Falun Gong is indeed extraordinary!"
