(Clearwisdom.net) My health was poor before I began to practice Falun Gong. I often took medication and injections and was hospitalized. My stomach was the worse--I had a big bulge in my stomach. When it hurt, I couldn't eat. In an attempt to cure my illness, I'd been to quite a few hospitals, and my belief in god and Buddha was not helping either. Later I became allergic to all of my medications. I was at the point that I was sick of living.
When there seemed to be no other option, it was Fa that helped solve my life's problems. I understood I was sick due to karma that I had created one lifetime after another. I began to understand how I should live my life. I became a practitioner, and in only one week, my long-term illnesses disappeared; I became free of illness. I also became much more cheerful. My relatives took notice of my transformations and became aware of the power of Dafa. As a result, many of them began to practice. It was Teacher who saved me, and it was Dafa that gave me a happy family.
Since July 20, 1999, I have been detained and arrested many times. First I'd like to tell about being arrested and detained and walking out of a forced labor camp in 2001. On April 23, 2001, I was on my way to visit my mother. Shortly after I left home, the police stopped me, grabbed my bag, and searched it thoroughly. Since they didn't find anything, they had to let me go. The next morning, the same police came to my home, searched the bag, and confiscated my Dafa books, then searched my home, but they could find nothing more. They still arrested me. That afternoon they began to interrogate me. They used several methods to try to force me to confess. Their goal was obviously to get me imprisoned. I refused even to listen to them, I refused to sign anything or say anything. Then they pulled my arms behind my back, handcuffed me, and, while interrogating me, forced my arms upward. It was extremely painful. The police also pounded my chest with their fists. Then I began to recite this poem:
"In life, nothing sought,
In death, regretting naught;
Washing away all wrong thought,
Buddhahood, with less
adversity, is wrought." ("Nothing Kept" from Hong Yin, translation version A)
At that time, I came to understand the power of Dafa and how our benevolent Teacher protects us. I felt numb when they hit me again, but the people who were beating me began to suffer: Their hands got red and swollen.
At dusk, a new policeman came in and demanded to know if I wanted to confess or not. Seeing that I didn't say a word, he punched me very hard on the right side of my face. Momentarily, I couldn't see anything, and my face was burning. They used a piece of paper to cover my nose and mouth. At that time, I felt as if my head were about to explode, and my eyes were about to fall out. It's hard to describe how I felt--rather like my life was about to end. Nevertheless, I was not sad or frightened, I just wanted to safeguard Dafa's dignity with my life. I thought, "I am a Falun Dafa practitioner, I am not afraid of anything. With Teacher here and with the Fa here, I don't want to give in to them even though I am about to be tortured to death." My silence made them even madder; they kept torturing me until I finally passed out.
I don't remember anything until I was awakened by fellow practitioners' cries. I felt as if needles were stabbing me all over my body. I had been beaten so badly that I was unable to stand for three days. I didn't take any of the medication that the guard threw at me. I did the exercises, with the help and care of fellow practitioners, and I made it through these most unforgettable 25 days of my life.
On May 16, 2003, because I had written letters to guards who had tortured me, I was sentenced to two years in a forced labor camp. In those letters I tried to persuade them to be kind rather than evil. I decided to go on a hunger strike, and fellow practitioners joined me. Three days later, the guards brutally forced-fed the male practitioners. They also put a 12.5 kg shackle on me. When other practitioners expressed their concern for me, the police cursed them and put shackles on them, too. Later that evening, I grabbed a pen, and, in those heavy shackles, I lay down on the ground facing the police and began to write letters to them so that they all would understand the truth.
In the labor camp, two other practitioners and I were one body. We worked with each other, we did the exercises and recited the Fa at set times, and together we sent forth righteous thoughts at different times. We bravely broke through all kinds of obstacles and unfairness. Through our nonstop efforts, the guards gradually became understanding of us, and the obstacles diminished.
Then we managed to overcome many obstacles to write truth-clarification letters to people in the Procuratorate court, government offices, police station, and the Domestic Security Brigade. During our last days at the prison, I wrote a long letter to the police officers in Mingcheng, I hoped that my sincere heart would awaken their conscience. At that time, we all knew that we were in jeopardy and that our terms could be extended. However, we were not afraid and were very calm. In the end, our sincerity moved hearts. Even the inmates changed their attitude towards us. Some were doing the exercises and studying the Fa with us. One person who was in for having killed someone cried as he said to us, "You all are good people. If I can get out of here alive, I''ll go to see you." During the two months we were detained, the SARS epidemic was most rampant. We had to buy our own clothes, and we had very little money that our families had given us. We bought only preserved vegetables--none of us wanted the more expensive items. Instead, we saved our money to get pens and notebooks in order to clarify the truth. This is how we spent our two months in detention.
On July 15, 2003, we were transferred to Changchun Heizuizi Forced Labor Camp, where I faced new challenges. New prisoners have to go through the so-called "help education" and ""Reform" or "Transform"." At the beginning, one couldn't tell whether a person was a true practitioners or had been "transformed." In order to "transform" me, some Collaborators appeared to be very kind. They helped me in my day-to-day life, comforted me, held my hand when we had meals, and took "good" care of me. At that time, some true practitioners dared punishment by warning me, "Don't be deceived by fake kindness."
On the following day, they began to ask me to write the the "Five Statements" (similar to the Three Statements). They wanted me to betray Dafa. It was impossible. On day four, they had me write my biography. I decided to take this opportunity to clarify the truth. They brought me a pen and paper. I had no fear and was very calm. I quickly wrote the first truth-clarification letter. When the people in charge of the cell asked me what it was, I said it was the truth about Dafa. They said that it was a forced labor camp, not my home, and that my term could be extended for doing that. I said, "A sentence or a sentence extension is only a formality. I regard it as only a piece of waste paper. When I finish my mission, nobody can stop me from getting out." They considered me stubborn. I quickly passed this trial.
Later I was assigned to a work unit. I thought that, since I was here, I'd clarify the truth. I started with the team leader responsible for reporting prisoners' thoughts. I gave my letter to him. From then on, the prison officials were on guard as if facing a strong enemy. They arranged for people to closely watch me. I wrote another letter to them, pointing out that they were violating my human rights, that I was not even a real prisoner. I did not follow any of the rules in the labor camp. I seldom did any labor, either, because whenever they asked me to do that, I felt dizzy, which was true. I seized the time to write truth-clarification notes to them.
Every time I sent forth righteous thoughts or wrote truth-clarification notes, guards had collaborators persecute us. They did not listen to anything we said, and they came up with all kinds interference. Each time I sent forth righteous thoughts, it was a battle. Seeing their behavior, I wanted to help them, but I couldn't. I hated myself for not being able to do something for them, and I cried for days and nights. The only thing I could do was to use the opportunity to clarify the truth to them in my weekly summary, thoughts reports, or letters to home. I used my sincere kindness to treat them nicely in order to awaken their conscience. I believe that the hard ice will melt one day under Dafa's compassion, and they will be able to find their benevolent nature.
Many collaborators around me were once Dafa practitioners. Because of their one-time mistake, they are being used by others to do many wrong deeds. After having many conversations with them through written notes, they finally came to understand that they had made a mistake, and many came back to the Fa-rectification and have written solemn declarations.
In early August, my husband was called in by the guards. They wanted him to try to persuade me to sign a "Dissociation Statement." I refused. My husband then asked me whether I still wanted our family or not. I said, "Without Dafa, I would not be what I am today. It was Dafa that saved me. I couldn't live my life contrary to my conscience or be unworthy of Teacher's saving grace. I will walk out of the forced labor camp in an upright manner." This upset my husband, who went away and never came back to the camp.
On September 15, I was unconditionally released from the forced labor camp. I had been there only two months out of a two-year sentence.
After I returned home, I talked to my husband about what I had experienced in the forced labor camp. Thanks to Dafa's great benevolence, my husband finally learned the truth, and he decided to become a practitioner, too.
None of the difficulties stopped me, because there is Fa and there is Teacher. I truly believe in Dafa; I also believe in myself. I have the utmost faith in Teacher, who painstakingly saved me. Fellow practitioners, let's strive forward together to do well, validate the Fa, save sentient beings, and complete the mission with which Teacher has entrusted us. Then we can follow Teacher home at an earlier date!
