(Clearwisdom.net) Each year when May 13th comes, I always take time to reflect on my cultivation experience. I am so grateful, from the bottom of my heart for our benevolent and great Master. When I was facing the hardest challenges under the pressure of the persecution, Master guided me through the tough times.

I spent May 13, 2000 in a detention center, having been illegally detained for the second time. Why was I detained? Because I validated Dafa, appealed for Dafa and displayed a banner reading, "Falun Dafa Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" at Tiananmen Square. That day, several Dafa practitioners and I were made to sit on a "sitting board" with several inmates. I kept reciting Master's Hong Yin. All of a sudden I remembered it was May 13th, Master's birthday. I raised my head and announced to the people in the cell, "Today is May 13th. It's our Master's birthday. Let me recite one of Master's poems for you:"

"Unceasingly turns the Law Wheel, saving sentient beings,
Learn the Fa, gain the Fa, cultivate your xinxing;
For in the Age of Fa's End the Wheel turns again,
Illuminating with Fa, the hearts of the predestined."
("Salvation Again" in Hong Yin)

Thinking of Master and thinking of Dafa being slandered in the human world, my eyes filled with tears. Several other practitioners took this opportunity to clarify the truth and offer sentient beings salvation.

Detained with us was a pretty drug addict from Xinjiang Province. She expressed interest in learning Falun Gong after hearing about it from the practitioners and said she wanted to give up drugs forever. Master purified her body right away. It only took several days to discharge the toxins from her body. She was eventually transferred to a rehab center. She told me before she left, "Aunt, next time if they arrest me it will not be because of drugs. It might be because of Falun Gong." We were so happy for her. There were several other inmates who also said that they would start practicing Falun Gong after their release.

That night I had a dream: On a very dark and quiet night, fireworks suddenly showed up in the dark sky. It was extremely colorful and bright. It lit up the earth... explosion of light after explosion... I could not understand on waking up what this vivid dream meant.

There were more than ten cells for women in the detention center, each holding four to five Dafa practitioners. In order to be able to practice the exercises and study the Fa freely, we went on a spontaneous hunger strike that same day. We requested to practice the exercises freely, as well called for our unconditional release and for a stop to the persecution. Instead of granting our requests, the evildoers intensified the persecution against us and force-fed us in attempts to destroy our will. However, all practitioners held their ground peacefully and rationally.

One morning after getting up I heard noises coming from the next cell over. Inmates were ruthlessly beating a practitioner for doing the Falun Gong exercises. Almost at the same time I heard from another cell a practitioner reciting Lunyu:

"The Buddha Fa' is most profound; among all the theories in the world, it is the most intricate and extraordinary science..."

Several practitioners joined in reciting Lunyu loudly. Very soon, practitioners from other cells joined us. Dafa practitioners' loud and clear voices reverberated throughout and beyond the detention center.

The evil was so scared! They gathered many guards from the men's cells and sprang upon all the women's cells. All the inmates were scared. The guards cursed the inmates loudly and ordered them to push us down on the floor and gag us with rags or stinky socks. We could not recite the "Fa" anymore, but practitioners from other cells kept on reciting. The guards sprang upon another cell and beat fellow practitioners savagely. The voices reciting the Fa became lower and lower. Just then, we broke loose from their control and started reciting Lunyu again. The evil guards attacked us again madly. Right when they were about to beat us, the voices of practitioners reciting Lunyu arose again from the other cell, so the guards all hurried over there. That whole morning the guards ran back and forth in the hallway, breathless.

Right then I suddenly understood my dream from the night before: Yes, Dafa practitioners who firmly believe in Master and Dafa and who persist in validating Dafa are exactly like the colorful fireworks at night that bring brightness and hope to the human world. It cleanses the evil in other dimensions and terrifies the evil in the human world. Dafa practitioners' noble deeds are writing a splendid chapter in the history books of the human world.

Several days later I walked out of the detention center with dignity.

During the days after that, though, I sometimes stumbled on my cultivation path. I also fell into a deep abyss due to my strong attachments and human notions. Each time, I was able to climb out of the abyss and wipe away my tears with Master's compassionate protection and guidance and the power of Dafa. I was able to catch up quickly and do the three things diligently and become a true Dafa practitioner during the Fa-rectification period.

Master raised me up from a sinful person full of karma, to a cultivator of Falun Dafa; from an atheist full of deviant Chinese Communist Party-infused ideas and distorted logic to a godly being who safeguards the ultimate principles of the universe, "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." Master raised me from an ordinary engineer to a member in the "The Divine Land Marching Band" and the "Heavenly Chorus." He led me higher, using his heart and blood at each step on my cultivation path. Looking back, it is a golden road Master created for Dafa practitioners!

Today, on May 13, the date that heaven and earth celebrates, I write down these past experiences. I would like to dedicate a poem to Master with my gratitude - "Master Arranged a Path Home:"

Master Arranged a Path Home,
Millions of Practitioners Walk the Path,
Saving Sentient Beings and Clarifying the Truth,
No Matter What Difficulties We Face.

Master Arranged a Path Home,
The Lotus of Fa Blossoms with Fragrance,
The Vast Buddha's Grace Fills the Entire Cosmos,
Heaven and Earth Celebrates a Bright Future.