(Minghui.org) It has been a little over four years since I became a Falun Gong practitioner. I did not experience the ongoing persecution until I was arrested in June 2015, because phone calls of a local practitioner were monitored.
Although I was released that day, the police kept my mobile phone and computer, which I hoped to get back. While talking to people about Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) to the personnel of the police department, I was arrested again.
No Trace of Resentment
The police demanded that I sign the interrogation record before I was taken to the city detention center, which I refused to do. They then turned the unsigned record over to higher authorities. I was given 15 days of detention.
“We communicated well today,” said the officer who took me to the detention center. “Rest assured, I will inform your family where you have been detained. We are powerless to effect your release, and we just try to keep our jobs.”
I did not hold a trace of resentment against the police officers. I just felt sorry that they were used as a tool to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. For that they will have to face the consequences in the future.
At the detention center, I was held in a cell with a dozen inmates. I saw this as a great opportunity to talk about Falun Gong.
Explaining about Falun Gong
While meditating, the prisoners gathered around me and asked why I was detained. I told them that I was persecuted for practicing Falun Gong. They looked shocked.
“Don’t be surprised,” I said. “Falun Gong is not a cult. This misconception arose because Jiang Zemin, the former head of the Chinese communist regime, slandered this cultivation practice and manipulated the government-owned media. This was done to incite hatred against Falun Gong. We are good and kind people that are not interested in worldly pursuits! Just because I practice Falun Gong, I was arrested.”
One inmate asked about the faked self-immolation incident on Tiananmen Square.
“The self-immolation is a lie,” I answered. “Falun Gong forbids committing suicide. How could a practitioner commit suicide? They were actors hired by Jiang Zemin, posing as practitioners to incite hatred towards Falun Gong.”
From their reaction I knew that they heard the truth in my words, which helped them to understand a decade of vicious lies.
Practitioners Only Persecuted in China
All new prisoners had their photos taken and had to each sign a document. When I was asked to sign, I noticed that they had written on top of the document, “Using cult to harm society.”
“I’m not going to sign,” I said. “Falun Gong is not a cult, and practitioners do not harm society. We are just a group of good and kind people.” To my surprise the guards did not force me to sign the paper.
Some prisoners complained, “The person who was arrested for practicing Falun Gong did not have to sign. No one can control them!” When the guard was finished with his work, he said that he wanted to talk to me about Falun Gong.
I told him that Falun Gong is not a cult, and its practitioners are good and kind people. “How could I sign the document?”
He responded, “When I was on special police detail, I met many Falun Gong practitioners. Practicing it is legal in Hong Kong and Taiwan.”
“It’s not just Hong Kong and Taiwan,” I said. “Falun Gong is practiced in over 100 countries. Practitioners are only persecuted in Mainland China. Are the leaders of other countries not clear-minded? Why does the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecute Falun Gong clandestinely? Because they are the only ones saying Falun Gong is a cult, while all others say that it is a good practice.
Selfish Thought
The inmates wanted to learn the Falun Gong exercises. A prison guard caught me doing the exercises and said, “You’re still doing the exercises. If you do, we’ll lock you up for a few years!” At that moment, I became fearful. I looked for the reason why I was afraid and found that I did not want to lose my freedom. Thus, I sent righteous thoughts to disintegrate this selfish thought.
Everything suddenly seemed cheerful! So, I continued to send forth righteous thoughts, meditated and did the exercises.
A Red Cover Enveloped Prisoners
I also continued to tell prisoners about Falun Gong and urged them to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. Sometimes, prisoners were held only a short while. I knew that they were all coming to listen to the facts about Falun Gong. Every night, prisoners asked me to tell them stories.
The night that I told all inmates in my cell the facts about the persecution and how to quit the Party, I saw the Buddha body of Master Li, the founder of Falun Gong, sitting in double lotus over our cell, and a huge red cover enveloped everyone in the cell.
I silently thanked Master, and I was moved to tears.
Last Test: Told to Write a Repentance Statement
Each prisoner about to be released needed to write a repentance statement on the last day of detention. I planned to write that Falun Gong taught me to be a good person and follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
A prison staffer gave us one pen and enough paper for each prisoner to write a statement the night before we were to be released. We had to take turns writing.
While I watched everyone, my mind raced back and forth: “To write or not to write? If I didn’t write it, they might not release me. If I did write a statement, would there be trouble if I changed the title to An Understanding of Falun Gong?”
Then, a prisoner asked me, “Why would you write a repentance statement? You have not done anything wrong.” Then, another prisoner warned me that I could not be released the next day because I had not written the repentance statement. I wavered again. Then, the other prisoner told me to give him the paper if I was not going to write. This helped me come to my senses – I knew I should not write anything.
The prison staffer collected the statements and left without saying anything. I thought that this was the end of it. However, he came back a few minutes later and asked why I had not turned my statement in.
“I did not violate the law,” I said. “How do you expect me to write a repentance statement?” He looked at me without saying another word and left.
Nothing Is in Vain
I wrote on the cell wall the nine words “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” This covered up the graffiti left by former prisoners.
In the future this will give those detained an opportunity to learn about Falun Gong. I was not there in vain.
That night, a prisoner from the next cell slept over in my cell because of a water leak in his. I talked to him about Falun Gong and quitting the CCP. He accepted what I said and quit the CCP.
Many prisoners were reluctant to have me leave. They told me that they would visit me after they were released because they wanted to practice Falun Gong.
I was the first to leave the detention center the next morning. The prisoner who quit the CCP the night before asked me for 20 yuan for a taxi. He promised to pay me back. I told him that he could keep the money. He called out loudly: “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!” and shocked the guards and the relatives that had come to take their loved ones homes.
