(Minghui.org) Since I started cultivating, I have stumbled from time to time. During the process, there have been many lessons learned: bitterness, joyfulness, as well as elevation and improvement. I’d like to share my experiences in validating Dafa by doing small things.
A few years ago, I was arrested and taken to a detention center. There was a person with hemiplegia (paralysis on one side of the body) as a result of a craniotomy after a serious car accident. He limped all the time, was always dirty, and smelled bad. Because of this, everybody tried to stay away from him. I felt a lot of sympathy for him. Though I was very picky about cleanliness, I didn’t avoid him. Instead, I helped him wash, fold his clothes, clean his soiled underwear, and cut his nails. My kind actions made him truly feel a practitioner’s benevolence, and his heart was filled with gratitude. After he witnessed the beauty of Dafa, he gladly quit membership in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
After he did that, he was transferred to another cell. Whenever he had the chance to come out, he would visit me. He would say hi to me, then chat for a bit. When he ran into me in the hallway, he greeted me enthusiastically as well. He was someone who always had a somber face. However, every time he saw me, he would smile. Since it came from the bottom of his heart, his smile gave me a warm feeling.
Though I only did small things for him, a practitioner’s kindness left an eternal memory with him. I knew it was Master encouraging me, using my every little action to validate the beauty of Dafa, and to showcase a practitioner’s demeanor to establish the very positive image of a Dafa practitioner.
At the detention center, regardless of one's age and health condition, every detainee had to work evening shifts. Once a detainee’s medication fell out of his pocket during a noontime nap. I happened to see the bottle and realized that he had a heart problem. Later, after I learned that he also had high blood pressure, I proposed to the guards that I would cover all his shifts.
The terrible environment at the detention center put people under a lot of stress. The detainees already had to do hard labor during the daytime, so being on a night shift was extra difficult. But I managed to cover his work until he left. He truly appreciated what I did, and praised me by saying how wonderful I was. Right before he left, he ordered some food for me to return the favor. Instead of keeping it, I distributed it among the people who had little money. After he went home, he began telling people how wonderful our practitioners were, which helped people around him eliminate their misunderstandings about Dafa and practitioners to a certain extent.
I came to understand that as long as I have the Fa in my mind at all times, and treat myself as a practitioner in everything I do, the power of the Fa will show. Cultivation is not paying lip service. It is reflected in our actions. I came to feel that when we are in detention, we should hold ourselves even more strictly to the Fa's standards. When we do well, people around us will admire us. Moreover, we can truly change the environment for the better. In their repetitive attempts to transform me, I decided not to cooperate with the guards, so that they eventually backed off.
Whether we are in the Fa or not manifests in our every thought, word, and action. If we can use the standards of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” to maintain ourselves and influence others, the power of the Fa will be displayed continuously, so that others will understand that practitioners are good people.
I once went on a hunger strike to protest being tortured at the detention center. Seeing that, some inmates put a chocolate bar in my pocket and said, “When the guards can see you, carry on with your hunger strike; but when they can't see you, go ahead and enjoy this chocolate bar.”
I understood their kindness and consideration. However, I am a Dafa disciple, I have the standards of the Fa to guide me and so didn't do as they suggested. I continued my hunger strike until I completely stopped the guards from using torture to force a “confession” from me.
At the detention center, a high-ranking guard beat me because I refused to wear the prison uniform. I sued him without hesitation. After that, he didn't turn up to work for a while. Later, his attitude toward me completely changed. He often called me to take care of something so that I could take a break outside my cell. I knew it was because the evil interfering with him from other dimensions had been eliminated, so his true nature was revealed.
Another inmate, last name Gao and serving a suspended death sentence, hardly looked at me before. But when he observed my behavior, it left a great impression on him. One day, he introduced himself and told me about his family situation, then he asked me sincerely, “Can I leave my wife and son with you? Please help take care of them, would you?”
He asked me this a few more times after that. Unfortunately after I was released from prison, I lost the contact information for his family.
The team leader in charge of transforming me in prison was an extremely malicious person. When I didn’t cooperate with their order to defame Master or write the guarantee statement, he punished me by squeezing my neck very hard. I didn’t really care, but he remembered the incident. Before I was released, he came to me and said, “I did something wrong to you, I am so sorry. Please accept my apology.” This was a confession and apology from the bottom of his heart. I truly felt happy for his sincerity and the awakening of his conscience.
Because I paid attention to small things, I managed to wake up people’s consciences. As a result, many decided to quit the CCP. I made a list of their names, managed to bring it out of the detention center, and recorded them on the Tuidang website.
