(Clearwisdom.net)
I attained the Fa in 1997. After Master's article "Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference" was published in 2000, my fellow practitioners and I began to clarify the truth to the world's people and distribute truth-clarifying materials. In April 2001, the local police station arrested me when I was distributing truth-clarifying materials with a fellow practitioner at a farmers' market.
When we arrived at the market, the policemen arrested and handcuffed me and the other practitioner to two large metal doors. I was not afraid. I just thought about and recited Master's poems "Non-existence," "Mighty Virtue," and "The Knowing Heart." They handcuffed us there from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The director began to interrogate us about the source of the materials and the number of the people distributing truth-clarifying materials. I did not say a word. The director and the Party Secretary of the Political and Judicial Committee took turns hitting my face with a book. They then kicked me forcefully and shocked me with electric batons. I thought, "Master, please help. I absolutely should not allow the evil to continue to persecute me." The next day I was released and returned home with Master's benevolent protection.
After I got home, I continued to clarify the truth to the world's people and to save the sentient beings. In less than a month's time, the county started the first brainwashing session. On May 12, 2001, the county 610 Office and the local police station took me and five other fellow practitioners to the center's office, forcing us to write the "Guarantee Statement." We all refused to write. Then they forced us to pay 800 yuan to the brainwashing center. None of us cooperated. They pushed us into the vehicle and transported us to the detention center. My husband was with us.
More than ten of us practitioners refused to enter the cells. In the rain, we read the Fa in a group and recited "Lunyu" and "Hong Yin." The detention center tried many times to intimidate us into the cells, but we did not cooperate. We stayed there until the next morning.
The next day, I discussed matters with other fellow practitioners: We are Dafa practitioners, and we must act according Master's requirements. Some fellow practitioners brought in Master's new article "Dafa Disciples' Righteous Thoughts are Powerful." After we studied the article, we realized that we should not cooperate with the evil, so we decided to have a group hunger strike.
During the three months in the detention center, we could read Master's new articles repeatedly. We improved a lot. One month later, most of my fellow practitioners were sent to the brainwashing sessions. Only myself, my husband, and two other fellow practitioners stayed. The deputy director of the police department came to the detention center, saying to us, "We're waiting to send you two to the forced labor camp." I said, "What you say does not count. What our Master says counts." Then he left without even a word. After we got a copy of Master's "Teaching the Fa at the 2001 Canada Fa Conference," like other practitioners, I continued to send forth righteous thoughts simultaneously with practitioners all over the world every day. I kept on studying the Fa and practicing the exercises. I ignored the supervisor's orders forbidding me from doing the exercises, so they came to the room and pressed my arms down. After they pressed my arms down, I put them up again. After they repeated this several times, they finally left me alone.
Two months after our detention began, they upgraded our detention status from "administrative" to "criminal." During our criminal detention, we studied the Fa, practiced the exercises, and sent forth righteous thoughts as a group every day. I continuously studied the Fa. In particular, my strength and wisdom increased after I read Master's new article "Dafa is Indestructible" several times. Master says in the last paragraph:
"A Dafa disciple completely opposes everything arranged by the evil old forces. Clarify the truth thoroughly, eliminate the evil with righteous thoughts, save all beings, and safeguard the Fa with determination, because you are a part of Dafa, indestructible; rectify all that is not righteous. Those who are "Reformed" and those who are being saved can only be beings who were deceived by the evil. Those who are being eliminated are the evil beings and the evil old forces. Those who are reaching Consummation through all this are Dafa disciples; and through all this Dafa's mighty virtue is established."
I realized that my detention prevented me from saving more sentient beings. Nor could I clarify the truth comprehensively. So I decided to break out at any cost in order to clarify the truth and save the sentient beings. But how could I get out? Then Master gave me wisdom. I had but one thought in my heart: Their detaining me here is not reasonable. The administrative detention can be extended every two weeks. The criminal detention can be extended every month. We had to find an opportunity to confront them: Why were they still detaining us? After a discussion with fellow practitioners, I agreed to talk to the director of the detention center, requiring people from the police department to come and listen to us. Several days later, the people from the police department came and talked to each of us in turn. We told them the benefits of practicing Falun Gong and asked them why they continued to detain us. We validated Dafa to different degrees. This is what I said at that time, "Why do you continually detain us here? What crimes did we commit? Why did you always prolong our detention terms?" I also told them the benefits of practicing Dafa and how irrational it was to suppress Falun Gong.
A few days later police department officials came again to interrogate me. This time I did not have even the slightest fear. They asked me to come into the interrogation room and sit in the metal chair. I said that I was not a criminal and that was not the place I should sit. Then they began to interrogate me. This time I used the opportunity for validating the Fa and telling all that I understood about the Fa. However, they dared not write a word in their notebooks. Then I said to them, "Didn't you ask me to talk? Don't you want to write it down? So write everything in your notebook." I continued talking like this. They wrote every sentence down in their notebook, even though they were so scared sweat was pouring off their heads. At the end, I said, "Falun Dafa is the righteous Fa! Return Teacher Li's good reputation! Release all practitioners detained in this county!" They wrote each sentence after I said it. When they did not want to write, I said to them loudly, "Write!" and pointed to their notebooks with my hand. They obeyed me and wrote down everything I said. It was more than two pages long. They read it to me in the end. I signed it after I was sure there were no mistakes. Several days later they released me. The excuse they gave was something like this: "We heard that your son will be getting married soon, so you go home to prepare for the wedding." In fact, no such thing was happening at all.
Recalling what happened and measuring it again the Fa, I conclude that it is truly "As soon as your mind is righteous, the evil will collapse." ("What Is There to Be Afraid of" from Hong Yin Vol. 2) (Note: draft translation subject to further improvement.) Although I did not have a sophisticated understanding of the Fa at that time, I may have conformed to the different requirements of the Fa at different levels. The evil had no excuse to persecute me anymore.
