(Minghui.org) When I was part of an effort to rescue a relative of mine who had been arrested for practicing Falun Gong, a police officer arrested me in retaliation. Whenever I recalled the officer’s arrogance, stupidity, and ignorance, I grew angry and resentful.
With the guidance of Dafa, I eventually calmed down, let go of my resentment, and became compassionate, though the process took quite a long time.
Letting Go of Resentment
The day I was taken to the detention center, a guard asked why I was there. I told her that it was police retaliation for trying to rescue my relative. The guard looked at me and said, “You look quite good. Why do you practice Falun Gong?” I told her about how I had benefited from it.
Sleeping space in the detention center was tight. I had to sleep between a thief and a 200-pound drug addict. Her weight pressed on my legs. The thief kept pinching me to get me to move away from her to give her more space. Each night felt like torture.
The guards and head inmate tried to force me to memorize the rules of the detention center. I didn't listen to them and instead only recited Dafa teachings. I was there for about 15 days before being transferred to another cell.
Inmates who felt wronged became angry whenever they talked about their cases. They couldn’t make their points clear because they were so angry, and no one could understand what they were talking about. From observing them, I understood that if I was not rational, if I still held resentment toward police officers, if I was still angry and felt I was treated unfairly, each sentence I said would contain these substances, and I wouldn’t be able to clarify the facts about Falun Gong effectively. I realized I should let go of these attachments.
While there, I recited the Fa and let go of my human notions, although it was difficult to let go of the resentment against police officers. Two months had passed, and I still was filled with resentment. I recalled Master’s teaching of gaining “four ways in one shot” and finally understood the situation from the Fa’s perspective. Those police officers persecuted me because they had been indoctrinated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). They gave me virtue each time they persecuted me. I realized I should take it lightly and thus improve my xinxing and increase my gong.
I felt that my suffering was nothing compared to what I had gained. I felt sympathy for them. They came to this world to obtain the Fa and to be saved by the Fa, but because they had been poisoned by the CCP's propaganda, they participated in the persecution of Falun Gong. If practitioners can't awaken their conscience, they will be in peril, and it will be because I hadn’t cultivated well enough that they can’t be saved.
Learning to Tolerate Harassment
Practitioners were not allowed to tell others about Falun Gong and the persecution. If reported, they were beaten or tortured. When I clarified the truth to others, I was reported by an inmate and later beaten by a guard and inmate in charge. Another inmate sitting next to me, the one I had told about Falun Gong and who had agreed to quit the CCP, tried to persuade the guard not to beat me. When the guard asked her why she tried to stop them, she replied that she feared that I was injured badly. When they beat me, I actually didn't feel any pain, as I knew Master was protecting me.
On the same day, the inmate who reported me was punished for a trivial thing. She was ordered to face the toilet for a whole afternoon. She later regretted reporting me and asked me if I would hate her because of it. I said in a low voice, “No, I don't. Please don't do this again.”
This inmate told the guard that it was wrong to report the Falun Gong practitioner and she would not do so again.
For all that I suffered from inmates, I couldn't pass the tests based on my xinxing at the time. Master began to help me pass these tests. He gave me hints in my dreams about what I would face the next day. Truly, the next day, the inmate in my dream would be the one who gave me trouble, slandered me, or verbally abused me. Because I knew about it in advance, I could tolerate it.
One inmate was a drug addict. Since the first day she was put in the cell, she held hatred toward me because of the Communist Party propaganda that vilified Falun Gong. Every day for over six months, she tried her best to denigrate me. Whatever she and other inmates did to me, I never defended myself, sometimes not even one sentence.
One day, after we finished our lunch, someone saw that there was chili oil on the bed. An inmate said it was I who dropped it on the bed. If all the inmates agreed with the accusation, I would have to clean the area. One inmate defended me and explained that I did not have chili oil.
Later, a senior inmate admired me for being so tolerant. She gave the inmate some food her family had sent and asked her to stop making trouble for me. She also said she would ask that inmate to take care of me if she was sentenced to prison.
That inmate sat next to me. I asked Master to strengthen my righteous thoughts so I could tell her about Falun Gong. That inmate said later, “I couldn't fall asleep during the whole lunch break. I thought about what you said and finally figured it out. You are correct.” I successfully persuaded her to quit the CCP.
When the lead guard made trouble for me and punished me, this inmate defended me. Her term was shortened, and she gave me her phone number.
The thief who had pinched me from my heel to my thigh also quit the CCP after she understood the truth. She told me about more than ten of her relatives who had passed away and asked me to help them quit the CCP.
She had previously been sentenced twice to two years each, and this was her third arrest. She said she no longer wanted to suffer and would commit suicide if she was sentenced to 14 months or longer this time. I said, “Then you can recite 'Falun Dafa is good’ and ‘Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.' Only Master Li (the founder of Falun Dafa) can help you.” She held my hand and said, “I will recite it every day.” Later the judge announced the verdict–she was sentenced to 13 months.
A deaf inmate sat next to me. I clarified the truth to her through writing and helped her quit a CCP youth organization. In order to better communicate with her, I learned a little sign language. When I was on duty, she helped me and insisted on giving me food that her family had sent her. After I was released, her term was shortened.
