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Letting Go of Human Notions and Leaving the Labor Camp with Dignity

November 08, 2004 |   By a Dafa Disciple in Hunan Province

(Clearwisdom.net) In the second half of 2002, Baimalong Labor Camp sent Falun Dafa disciples to the "strictly controlled team" for persecution. The guards adopted techniques like solitary confinement, tying up a practitioner's body and suspending it in the air for long periods of time, sleep deprivation, limiting the use of the restroom, limiting the time for washing up and teeth-brushing and forcing practitioners to stand for long periods of time.

They forced the practitioners to work like slaves and ordered them to write "Guarantee Statements." Some practitioners gave in to the evil against their will because they could not bear the harsh treatment, and they were not clearheaded at the time. The guards were eager to expand their "achievement," so more and more practitioners were sent to the strictly controlled team. Practitioner A was one of them.

When practitioner A first came to the strictly controlled team, she was subjected to vicious torture, exhaustion, pain and loneliness. She felt helpless and only thought of getting out of this living hell as soon as possible. However, she immediately realized that this was a human attachment -- thinking that being here was too painful and she must get out of here as soon as possible. Practitioner A then remembered that she was a true Dafa disciple who was bearing a great mission and responsibility. Having understood from studying the Fa (1), she knew that Fa-rectification would not be postponed for anyone, and if she did not do well at a certain stage of Fa-rectification due to the interference of human notions, then the sentient beings in her corresponding systems could not be saved. Moreover, since some previous practitioners did not do well, the evil was emboldened, and the environment for Dafa practitioners became more and more difficult. Each time when one more practitioner gave in, the mental pressure on other practitioners became heavier. Furthermore, those who compromised knew they were wrong and had a strong feeling of guilt and self-criticism. It was difficult for them to get out of this mental state quickly and do what Dafa practitioners were supposed to do.

Practitioner A decided that she would not let the current trend continue. Master said,

"Why should you, a Dafa disciple, fear the evil ones when enduring persecution? The crux of the matter is that you have attachments. If not, do not endure passively, and face the evil people with righteous thoughts at all times. No matter what the situation, do not cooperate with the evil's demands, orders, or what it instigates. If everyone does this the environment won't be this way." ("Dafa Disciples' Righteous Thoughts are Powerful")

Practitioner A gave up her idea of trying to leave the strictly controlled team as quickly as possible, and she was determined to follow Master's teaching and walk out of the division with dignity.

During the six times a day when roll call was made, practitioner A neither stood up nor responded. An inmate monitor who was a drug addict pinned an inmate sign on her clothes, but she immediately took it off. If her hands were cuffed, she would use her teeth to bite off the sign without any hesitation. She knew that if she hesitated for even a fraction of a second, the perpetrators would take advantage of it until they completely destroyed her will. Thus, each time after the roll call, they would stretch her arms and handcuff her to a metal bed. The pain from where her hands were cuffed was like a fire that spread to every part of her body. She had cold sweat all over her body; her stomach felt like it was turned upside down and she vomited uncontrollably.

The monitor on duty who was assisting the guards (the guards picked some drug users from the production line to assist them to persecute Dafa disciples) took a container to collect the vomit and told her that anyone underwent the tight discipline had written the "Guarantee Statement" and asked her how long she could hold on. She also said if practitioner A could not hold on after a few days and had to write the Guarantee Statement, then what she had suffered would be a waste, and it would be wise for her to write the statement sooner rather than later. Practitioner A overcame the pain and told the monitor, "I have no time limit. I will hold on to the end."

As time passed, her vomiting became more and more serious, and the guards took her to the infirmary. Several people held her down while giving her an injection and then they sent her back to the team. When they saw that she still did not compromise, they cuffed her up in a different position. She then leaned her body toward one of her cuffed hands and tore away the sign pinned on her clothes. She did this several times, and the monitor on duty became furious. She took a color marker and wrote the words "Baimalong Labor Camp Inmate xxx" on the practitioner A's shirt.

After a few days, they handcuffed practitioner A to a metal bed in an upright position and constantly changed the position of the limbs to aggravate the pain. After a long period of standing and lack of sleep, she was extremely exhausted and her two feet became swollen. In order to avoid going to the restroom too frequently, she controlled her food and water consumption because the handcuff key was kept by the guards, and it was very difficult for her to use the restroom since the monitor did not have the nerve to ask for the key from the guards. The monitor even told her that one practitioner wrote the Guarantee Statement against her will because she was not allowed to use the restroom for long periods of time and had to defecate in her pants.

Under such circumstances, practitioner A's health deteriorated, yet she did not yield to the evil. When the guards saw that she would not give in under the physical pain and discomfort of the daily torture, they had a talk with her, saying that she did not need to write the Guarantee Statement as long as she agreed to wear the inmate sign and respond to the roll call. At the same time, they hinted that if she would do those things, she could be released that month, following her original sentence term. She was not moved and firmly rejected the requests since she knew if she wore the sign and responded to the roll call, the guards would send her back to the 7th division. That would add more pressure on other practitioners and would be in fact helping the guards to form the environment that the old forces wanted and would accelerate the deterioration of the current situation.

The next day, the guards told her that her sentence had been extended until December. She told the guards that the labor camp only had the power to extend her sentence by one year. She was very clear in her mind that this place could no longer imprison her.

She was still bound and hung up each day. The guards sometimes let her down before dawn to let her sleep for a couple of hours. On the ninth day, she felt she was going to fall down, and her whole body became empty. Her mind felt empty too, and it was so pure, without any mixed thoughts.

During the afternoon roll call, she said to a guard on duty that she wanted to have a talk with them. The guard asked her to have the talk in the office. The office was less than 10 meters away, but she had trouble getting there. She managed to get there with the help of her monitor. She made a gesture to the guards to stop talking and listen to her. She said in weak and calm voice, "Please stop treating me like this, something will happen if you do not stop." She then made her requests: 1. She wanted to see the head of the labor camp. 2. She wanted to see a representative from the procuratorate. 3. She wanted a lawyer. 4. She wanted to see her family members. 5. An inmate on duty wrote some words on her shirt, and she wanted the inmate to pay for the shirt.

After she finished what she wanted to say, she struggled to leave the office, but she did not have any energy to move. The monitor dragged her back to her cell and put her down on the bed. After a while, the guards directed the inmate on duty and her monitor to search her bag and bed. They found the shirt with the words written on it and took it away. Soon she heard the sound of the shirt being washed in the washing room. Then the inmate on duty came in with the wet shirt. She spread out the chest area of the shirt and told Practitioner A, "Your shirt has been washed clean. I will hang it up in the laundry room to dry." In the evening, the inmate on duty came in and held up practitioner A, saying, "Let's go to the infirmary."

That night, Practitioner A slept on a bed. In the morning of the next day, she still refused to cooperate with the evil during roll call. The guards once again handcuffed her to the metal frame of the bed and pinned a sign on her back. She struggled to tear down the sign. The guards saw that she had no fear at all and she had become very weak, so they removed the handcuffs and let her stand against the wall. She stood for a while, then slipped down and sat on the floor. After a while, the inmate on duty came in and whispered to the monitor, "They are going to release her." After she finished packing, the guards told her that someone from her work unit had come, and she had to wear the sign to be able to see that person. They said if she did not wear the sign, she would not be taken to that person. She still refused to wear the sign. A guard called the reception room and people on the other end of the line said she did not need to see that visitor any more. Her mind still stayed calm and she did not think of anything.

A few days passed and her body became a little stronger. She went to ask the guards when she would be released. They told her it would be at the end of the month. That morning, the labor camp did not ask her to fill out any form. They didn't even ask her to pay any "medical expenses." They just let her out. Before leaving, she refused to sign the release form and firmly walked out of the labor camp gate with dignity.

Note:

Fa: Law and principles; "Dafa" means "The Great Law."