(Minghui.org) While serving a prison sentence, I was introduced to Falun Dafa by a detained practitioner of this cultivation practice and began to practice it. It has been over a decade, and I have experienced the power of Dafa.
I was known in my hometown for getting into fights every day. One such encounter resulted in a prison sentence. The police first took me to the detention center and told the guards to monitor me closely, as I had blood on my hands. But no one dared to provoke me, and I was only minimally supervised.
After the nationwide persecution of Falun Dafa began, practitioners were taken to the detention centers. From time to time, prisoners had to denounce Falun Dafa. Even if they knew nothing about it, they had to come up with some bad words to say.
When it was my turn, I too wanted to show off and say something. However, there was something stuck in my throat and I could not speak. Then, the guards rounded up everyone to defame Dafa again 10 days later. When it was my turn, I wanted to say something. But, just like the time before, I simply could not say anything. I wondered what was going on.
Then, a practitioner was detained in my cell. I asked him to show me the exercises. I watched and said, “That's it? That's a crime? What's wrong with the communist regime?”
Once the practitioner was reading something, and I asked that he show me what he was reading. It was a few poems. I did not understand the meaning of the poems. He told me these were written by Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa. I found it hard to believe he was imprisoned for this. He also told me Dafa taught him to be a good person. I began to have a good feeling about Dafa.
There was another elderly practitioner who was also detained in the same prison. I asked him about Falun Dafa. He said, “You won't understand it, nor will you be able to practice it.” This made me even more curious about this cultivation practice.
I was transferred to another detention center about six months later. For some strange reason, I had a good impression of Dafa practitioners. I thought these people were different from ordinary people. I now believe that this was arranged by Master. Otherwise, how could someone like me find out about Dafa?
A practitioner who had not eaten for three days was put into my cell. The next day, the guards ordered two inmates to force feed him. I told the inmates that this was very cruel, saying, “Don't you know how torturous this is?” As they were afraid to go against me, they reported to the guards.
The section and deputy head of the detention center came to see me. They asked why did I stop the convicts from forced feeding him. Did I know him?
“I don't have the authority to stop you from doing this,” I said. “But I hope you won't do it. This is for your own good. The trachea and esophagus are next to each other. If you insert the tube incorrectly it may lead to death. Then it becomes your responsibility.” The deputy head left and the section head said, “All right, let it go.”
When I returned to the cell I saw that the practitioner was in pain. I guessed he was beaten up by inmates and his ribs were broken. At night, I asked who had done it. Four inmates stepped out, and I hit them, as I was an ordinary person back then.
The practitioner was grateful that I stood up for him. We started to talk. He talked to me about Dafa. I asked him to teach me the exercises. Although I was wearing shackles on my legs, I forced myself to do the sitting meditation. Of course it was extremely painful. Once a guard saw me meditating. He asked: “What are you doing?” I told him I was practicing the Falun Dafa exercise. He shook his head in disbelief and walked away.
The practitioner taught me some of Master's teachings. He could only remember half of the first lecture in Zhuan Falun, the main book of Dafa. He said: “I think you are predestined to learn Dafa. This won't do. Once I'm released I will send you a book.” Based on the teachings he could remember, I knew Dafa is good. The next day my shackles were taken off.
Around a month later, the practitioner was released. I knew he would soon send me the Falun Dafa book.
A few days later, he came to the detention center and asked to see me. The guard refused and sent him away. The next day, I was in the visitor room talking to someone. A person came into the room. Although we did not know each other, I had a strong feeling he had come to give me the book. I asked who he was looking for. He said are you so and so? I pointed to the table in front of me. “Are you here to bring me a book? Leave it here.” He was startled and left quickly after leaving Zhuan Falun.
I started to read Zhuan Falun but somehow after reading half of it, I could not bring myself to finish it.
Another practitioner was put into my cell. One day, I picked up the book and tried to read it, but did not feel like reading it. I said to the practitioner that I wanted to show him a book. Realizing it was Zhuan Falun, he borrowed it and kept reading it for several hours and even skipped dinner. I became curious as to what is in the book Zhuan Falun that made him read it so eagerly.
I read the book in one go and felt that it was well written. One day a guard saw me reading Zhuan Falun and asked what I was doing. I told him I was reading a book on Falun Dafa. He thought I was joking. I showed him Zhuan Falun and he was astonished. He remarked: “If someone like you reads Zhuan Falun, then there would be no chaos in society. Go ahead and read it.” I read the book over and over again.
Subsequently I was transferred to another cell. I asked if there was a Falun Dafa practitioner in the cell and an inmate pointed to a practitioner: “Yes, he is a practitioner.” He, too was surprised that I had Zhuan Falun. At first he was about to succumb to pressure and write a guarantee statement promising not to practice Falun Dafa. After we spoke, he regained his faith in Dafa.
He was formerly an assistant and his exercise movements were very accurate. Through him, I learned all five sets of the exercises.
Later, I was asked to manage another cell. No one could get the inmates in that cell to obey the rules. I went to the cell, sat down, started reading Zhuan Falun, and did not say anything, yet everyone started to behave themselves. There was also a practitioner in the cell. Every morning we did the exercises together.
Once a relative came to see me. When he knew I had become a Dafa practitioner, he said: “Uncle, we are waiting for you to return home. Why have you taken up the practice?” I told him: “Don't tell me to give this up. I am determined to practice Dafa.”
I started to pass black blood. Although I had been passing it for some time, I did not feel any discomfort. I was shocked initially, but because I felt all right, I just ignored it. After the bath, I went on to do the exercises. When I mentioned this to a practitioner, he said, “That's great, Master is purifying your body. He has taken you as his disciple.”
From then on, I truly began practicing Dafa and became more diligent in cultivation.
When taken to a prison, I started to practice Dafa in public. I had all the teachings including Master's new lectures. Every day, I studied the Fa and did the exercises. In my spare time, I told new inmates the facts about Dafa and persuaded them to quit the CCP.
Once I said jokingly to a practitioner who just came into the prison: “You practice cultivation in your spare time. As a longtime detainee, I practice cultivation full time.”
Usually, I don't participate in the activities organized by the prison. Now, I look forward to attending these celebrations. The more people there are the better. It gives me a chance to shout “Falun Dafa is good!”
One day I went to make a phone call to give the names of those who had quit the CCP to practitioners outside the prison. Usually I hid the phone in a hole in the pigsty's wall. That day the prison warden saw me from afar and came after me. I asked a man from my hometown who was in charge to cover up for me. He told me not to move and went to greet the warden.
The warden asked him how many inmates were in his team, and he told him 11. The warden wanted to count the inmates and found that there were 11 prisoners. Then he checked the area to find the additional person he had seen.
I was sitting in the last row of the pigsty. I began to send righteous thoughts. I heard his footsteps approaching. I sent a strong thought, “Don't come over.” He stopped in his tracks and mumbled, “Where did he go?” Then he turned and left. If he had taken two more steps, he would have seen me in the corner. If not for Master's protection, I would have been caught.
The man from my hometown asked where I had hidden and I told him exactly what had happened, and said, “I did not let him see me, so how could he have seen me?” He raised his thumb and said, “Falun Dafa is truly remarkable.”
In prison, I often brought books to practitioners who wanted to study the Fa. One winter, it was still dark at 6 a.m. I went to give a book to a practitioner. Halfway there, I bumped into the prison head guard. I ran and he chased me. I hid in a practitioner's cell.
The head guard stopped chasing me and decided to wait on the path outside the cells. Perhaps he did not know which cell I was hiding in and thought it best to stop me on the only path out.
I told the practitioner what happened and gave him what he wanted. However he was afraid that the guard would search for me and he would get into trouble. I had to return to my cell, so I walked in the opposite direction. The guard saw me and quickly came after me. I ran to the dining quarters and asked someone from my hometown to find a car used to transport meals and I sat in the driver's seat. I drove the car to my cell and got out. The guard was still patiently waiting for me on the path back to the cell.
Upon returning to my cell, I went around greeting everyone so that they would not suspect I had ever left my cell. Then, the head guard came to my cell and wanted to know if everyone was there and where I was. I pretended to be asleep, so the head guard stopped searching and left, mumbling, “That's strange. What's going on?”
As long as we have faith, Master will always watch over us and protect us. Just like Master said, “If you can commit your mind, no difficulties can stop you. I would say that there is not a problem.” (Zhuan Falun)
(Submission to “Celebrate World Falun Dafa Day” 2018 on the Minghui website)