(Minghui.org) On July 20th, 1999, Jiang’s regime started a brutal persecution of Falun Dafa. All the state-run media including TV, radio, newspapers and magazines slandered and defamed Dafa and Master Li, Falun Dafa’s founder. They made up all kinds of “stories” to frame Falun Dafa practitioners. It felt like the sky was falling.
I was shocked and couldn’t understand why Jiang slandered Falun Dafa. How could they just fabricate lies against Dafa practitioners so casually? After I calmed down, I realized that I had the responsibility to report the true situation to officials, as I am a Dafa practitioner, and I have benefited so much through practicing Dafa.
In 2000, just before the Chinese New Year celebrations were to start, my wife and I went to the State Council Appeals Office and clarified the truth to the office staff. I told them real stories about how Falun Dafa has unique effects on healing and fitness. We explained how many practitioners, including me, found that their illnesses disappeared after practicing Falun Dafa.
However, no matter how sincere we were while reporting the facts, they refused to listen to us. They even called the police, who illegally arrested and confined us at a detention center. I decided to face everything with the mindset of a Dafa practitioner. I would follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and treat people with compassion. I would never discredit Dafa and shame Master.
One day at the detention center, a strong man circled around attempting to strike out at me. But he couldn’t do it, as he saw me smiling at him. Another time, the guard made all the people in the room watch a TV broadcast of the staged “Tiananmen Square Self-immolation.” I spoke up loudly, “This is not true! It’s impossible, as Falun Dafa teaches people to be kind people….” I was then grabbed by a large man who punched me so hard that I was knocked down onto the bunkbed. I stood up immediately. He punched me again and I stood up again.
After several punches he then began kicking me in the stomach. Every time the burly man knocked me down, I stood up again and again. He finally stopped as his hands and feet began to hurt. People around me remarked, “He hit him really hard!” However, I didn’t feel any pain and there was no bleeding or swelling. I know I would have been severely injured without Master’s protection.
Master said,
“In cultivation, there may be two scenarios when dealing with specific conflicts or when others treat you badly. One is that you might have treated this person badly in your previous life. You feel in your heart that it is unfair, “How can this person treat me like this?” Then why did you treat this person that way in the past? You might claim that you actually did not know it at that time, and this lifetime has nothing to do with another lifetime, but that won’t do. There is another issue. In conflicts, the issue of transforming karma is involved. Therefore, when actually dealing with conflicts we should take the high road instead of acting like everyday people. The same applies to the workplace or other work environments. The same is true as well for those who are self-employed since they also have social interactions. It is impossible to not have any contact with society; at the very least there is contact among neighbors.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
After reading Master’s Fa, I didn’t develop any resentment toward the person who hit me. This incident was quickly over like nothing happened. That afternoon, the man who had beat me started to have a high fever and chills. Seeing him in such a pitiful state, I took off my jacket and covered him.
On the seventeenth day of my illegal detention, a prison guard called me to the office and asked, “Are you still practicing Falun Gong? Or do you just practice at home?” After some hesitation I replied, “I will practice at home.” At this time, my wife was also called into the office. That guard asked my wife the same question. My wife answered him firmly, “Yes!” He told my wife, “You will be sent to the Great Northwest area ( very remote area) directly.”
This one word “Yes” expressed my wife’s firm heart toward Falun Dafa. However, I felt really ashamed, as I regretted my weak answer at such a critical moment.
We were both able to walk out of the detention center. As we headed home, we wondered how our nine-year-old child was doing during these days of our detention. We hurried home and our son told us that fellow practitioners took care of him while we were away.
I still don’t know who these kind fellow practitioners are. I thank them and Dafa from the bottom of my heart. After graduating from elementary school, my son attended an average middle school. He exceeded our expectations when admitted to a prestigious university of technology.
On May 13, 2001 (Master Li’s birthday), I went to Tiananmen Square to validate the Fa and was arrested and taken to the detention center once again. It’s also a coincidence that I was detained at the same detention center and in the same room as the time before. The same inmates were still there and we all knew each other. They were surprised to see me again.
This time I’d had plenty of time to memorize the Fa. So I recited Master’s Hong Yin repeatedly. The head prisoner saw me reciting and asked me if I was chanting a spell. I told him that I was reciting Master’s poems from Hong Yin. Then I recited all the poems to everyone, starting from the first poem, “Tempering the Will.”
One day, the guard asked if I would continue practicing Falun Gong. I said loudly, “Yes.” Other inmates said, “Why are you so stubborn? If you said you would stop practicing, then you would be released. You can still practice at home.” I didn’t care what they said as I believed that my answer was clean and tidy, making the evil fearful.
After two days, I heard someone outside the cell say, “Someone called the guard requesting a release for that Falun Gong practitioner. He really found a good way to help him.” I thought that Master was giving me a hint through the words of ordinary people.
As predicted, I was released. On the day I left, the inmates said goodbye and they were very kind to me and asked me not to return. I also said my heartfelt goodbye to them too.
I was tearful on my way home. Our compassionate Master always protects me and offers second chances to do well in cultivation practice. I thank Master and Dafa.
Now, more than twenty years have passed, and I am still tearful when recalling my experiences in the detention center. I am so fortunate to have obtained the Fa. I will follow Master and fulfill the great mission of assisting Master in the Fa-rectification and return to my true home.
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Category: Journeys of Cultivation