(Clearwisdom.net) In "Dafa Disciples' Righteous Thoughts are Powerful," Teacher 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." (Essentials for Further Advancement II)
If we do not yield to the evil, do not provide any information, do not acknowledge the old forces' persecution, and do not give excuses for the evil to persecute us, there is no way for the vicious persecution to proceed.
While we were exposing the evil in our local area, the police obtained materials with my real name and persecuted me. On May 13, 2004, the police abducted me. All the way from my home, through the County Police Department, until we arrived at the detention center, I kept calling out: "Falun Dafa is good!" "'Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance' is good." "Falun Dafa is the righteous Fa (1)." I also kept sending forth righteous thoughts.
I did not follow the evil's arrangements, nor did I answer any of their questions. Even when the police brutally beat me, I did not yield. They could do nothing but write a fake statement for the record and tell me to sign it. Of course I refused to sign. The three or four policemen were furious and forced me to kneel. Although there were several of them and they appeared very intimidating, I did not yield. They could do nothing, so they illegally sent me to the county detention center.
There they asked me to sign something, but I refused again. They responded angrily, "We will detain you here until you die. Then we will send you directly for cremation."
I responded by calling out, "Falun Dafa is good." My words could be heard throughout the detention center. They illegally detained me there. Whenever an inmate (a death penalty prisoner) heard me calling out "Falun Dafa is good," he would beat me brutally. As he beat me, I still called out loudly "Falun Dafa is good." I was breaking through the resistance, layer after layer, to rectify the environment there.
As soon as the police took me to the detention center, they announced that we could not practice or spread Falun Gong and had to wear the yellow prison shirts. I replied, "I was illegally sent here just for practicing Falun Gong. I am not afraid of death. How can I be afraid of your threats? Your rule against practicing Falun Gong won't work with me. The yellow shirts are for prisoners. We Falun Gong practitioners are following the principle of 'Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance' to become better people. How can we wear a prisoner's shirt?" I did not follow their rules and did not yield to them.
On the eleventh day after I was there, I announced to the detention center director and police guards: "In order to protest the illegal arrest and detention by the County "610 Office" and the police department, I am starting a hunger strike. I also protest the detention center officials' instigating inmates to beat me to the point of injury."
Soon they replied that, as long as I did not go on a hunger strike, I would be able to practice in the cell and would not have to wear the yellow prisoner's shirt. They would also send me to the hospital for a physical examination, and promised that there would be no more beatings. However, I still continued my hunger strike. Seeing that they were unable to persuade me, they started to brutally force-feed me with highly concentrated salt water. Every time after the force-feeding, I vomited for quite a while. The forced feeding with highly concentrated salt water was very painful. They tortured me in this way for more than ten days. After going on a hunger strike for a long time, the forced feeding was even harder to endure. At mealtime, the food always smelled so good that the temptation to eat would come, but each time I disciplined myself.
On the fourteenth day of my hunger strike, the guards had inmates talk to me. They said, "You win. You no longer need to go on hunger strike. The guards will allow you to practice, and will not require that you wear the yellow prison shirt. If you continue the hunger strike, you are hurting yourself."
That was the first day that the prison served pumpkin. Under the inmates' constant persuasion, I had several sips of the soup. The inmates immediately went to the guards and told them I had eaten the pumpkin soup. At that moment, I realized I had made a mistake. I had not let go of my attachments, especially the attachment regarding life and death. If I took food, wouldn't I be yielding to the evil? In that case, all my previous efforts would be in vain. If I continued my hunger strike, I would be able to make it. With the Fa and with Teacher, what did I fear? Then I thought that the reason I went on the hunger strike was not only to appeal the illegal detention, but also to get released to assist Teacher with Fa-rectification and to save sentient beings. How could I give up so easily without achieving my goal?
Meanwhile, I could not let them continue force-feeding me like that. On the next day (the fifteenth day of the hunger strike), no matter how they attempted the force-feeding, I did not swallow at all. I did not open my eyes, nor did I answer when my name was called. When the guards made the prisoners force-feed me, they saw the highly salted water running from my mouth to my clothing and from my clothing to the floor. Seeing my poor health, the guards did not dare have the prisoners cover my nose for long. Afraid of continuing the force-feeding, they called in the police department.
After the police department officials came, the guards said, "Since this Falun Gong practitioner was sent here, we have not had a stable environment. The detention center has been turned upside down. He has not eaten for half a month. You'd better take him away." In this way, I was released without charge. That was on my twenty-sixth day at the detention center.
During those fifteen days of the hunger strike, Teacher encouraged me many times. In a dream, I received a hint to continue in order to get out of there successfully. I also want to thank local and overseas Dafa practitioners for their help. When I was on hunger strike, a guard told me that a professor originally from Beijing had called from the US and talked to him for more than ten minutes. After the policeman started to know the truth about Falun Dafa, he no longer participated in force-feeding me.
Notes
(1) Fa: Law and Principles; the teachings of Falun Dafa.
(2) The "610 Office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.