(Clearwisdom.net) This happened to me several years ago but I remember it vividly still and probably will never forget it. I often think about these events.
That year, the summer was hot with the temperature peaking over 38oC (108oF) for several weeks straight. I was put in a detention center and two dozen people were imprisoned in a small room (about 10-20 square meters). We all ate, slept, and used the bathroom in that small room. Two high-powered light bulbs were left on 24 hours a day. That place was hell on earth.
Within a month, the police interrogated me eight times. I did not cooperate with them. I remembered what Teacher said in "Eliminate Your Last Attachments,"
"...just by having your heart unaffected you will be able to handle all situations."
I told the police to read Zhuan Falun since they had no idea what Falun Gong was really about. The interrogation turned into a discussion session about Zhuan Falun. They asked many questions and I talked about my personal experiences and understandings, so their attitude toward me changed. I also told them that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) lied about Falun Gong, making reference to the CCP's staged self-immolation tragedy at Tiananmen Square.
I remember one time the interrogation lasted until 3:00 a.m. and I wasn't allowed to sleep. I pressed my hands together and said to Teacher, "I can't betray Falun Dafa and Teacher. I can't betray my fellow practitioners." I dreamed I was taking a test and I saw that there were white and pink flowers all over the sky like fireworks. It was magnificent! This was encouragement from Teacher because I thought about nothing but protecting the Fa.
In the detention center, I also taught prisoners to memorize poems from Hong Yin and how to do the sitting meditation. I was surprised to see that all prisoners in the same cell as me could sit in the full lotus position even though they were not practitioners.
One person started to practice Falun Gong in the detention center. Two days later, he told me he had a dream in which I took him to heaven on a boat. Teacher and other practitioners were there to receive us. I enlightened that this was nothing accidental--practitioners are here to validate the Fa and people are here to obtain the Fa. This happened to another prisoner--he told me that when he closed his eyes at night, he saw me in front of him. I told him it was a sign telling him to learn Falun Dafa and he started the practice in his cell as well.
In my cell, I talked about Falun Dafa and did the exercises, and nobody reported me. I knew that Teacher was taking care of everything. The police are human beings too and understood what I was doing. In my final interrogation, they tried to tell me not to "shoot my mouth off." I told them to write down what I had said and I talked about why I practice Falun Gong and how it saved my life. I told them I would not betray who had healed me and saved me.
Later they asked me to hire a lawyer because I might be sentenced to prison. I wasn't moved and refused to hire a lawyer and said that I wanted to defend myself. That day, a third prisoner had a dream. He told me he saw me become a butterfly and I flew out through the window. I knew that Teacher was encouraging me. I let go of everything, including life and death.
Teacher said in "Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Australia,"
"If he is able to let go of life and death, he is a God; if he is unable to let go of life and death, he is human."
That night, I slept well and the next morning, with my celestial eye, I saw an orange graduation certificate on a small platform. I also saw five red flowers on the door. There are no words I could use to describe what I felt at that particular moment. That day the police came to let me go and I knew Teacher had called it. I left the detention center openly and nobly. Some practitioners who "cooperated well" with the police were sentenced to two or more years.
When I got home, when I did the sitting meditation, I saw a white towel with a stain. I tried to remember what I did wrong in the detention center. I was very careful not so sign anything inside but I had heard that I could sign the document when they let me go and I did. I took out the document I signed before I left and saw that it said "...disturbing public security and was hence imprisoned for...days." I realized that signing this was one of the things I did wrong.
On the path of cultivation, I personally witnessed Teacher's compassion and Dafa's power. I am grateful for Teacher's compassionate protection from the bottom of my heart. Without the Fa and Teacher, nothing that I have would have existed. Everything came for the Fa and exists for the Fa. The Fa created everything. I will do everything I can to validate the Fa and save more sentient beings.