(Minghui.org) I was a death-row prisoner with a two-year reprieve. Due to the hardship of life in prison, coupled with my poor health and the intensive labor, I almost lost confidence in the future.
In 2006, the prison guards assigned me to monitor Falun Gong practitioners. Living with Falun Gong practitioners, I was fortunate enough to understand the true meaning of life. I started practicing Falun Gong.
In prison, although I did not study the Fa systematically and did not read Zhuan Falun, during the many tribulations I endured with my firm belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and under the protection of Master I came through the difficulties with dignity.
When I was released in 2022, I wrote down my experiences in practicing Dafa, reported them to Master, shared them with my fellow practitioners, and encouraged myself to improve.
1. I Saw Hope for Life in Dafa Practitioners
After 2000, many Falun Gong practitioners were sent to the prison where I was detained. Due to the slanderous propaganda about Falun Gong on TV, at first I just stayed away from Falun Gong practitioners and silently watched them.
The prison guards later arranged for me and two other inmates to monitor a young Falun Gong practitioner, Anyu, who had just arrived. The prison guards asked us not to allow Anyu to talk to other inmates, to monitor him at all times, and to report his situation to the prison guards.
Anyu was a relatively thin young man with glasses. He was very kind. At that time, the prison’s 610 Office personnel wanted to “transform” him and force him to write a guarantee statement that he would not practice anymore, but he would not write it. The guard-in-charge instructed inmates to attack Dafa, insult him, beat him, and torture him. Anyu told us that no matter how the prison guards treated him, he didn’t hate them; he regarded them as his own family members, and told them not to do bad things.
Anyu’s kind words and refusal to fight back touched me. We were all educated in the Party’s philosophy of tit-for-tat struggle, and brainwashed by the CCP’s negative propaganda about Falun Gong. So, at that time I did not understand Anyu’s behavior of treating prison guards kindly, and I felt that Anyu was a bit cowardly. Listening to his words and watching his deeds, I found that Anyu worked hard, was not afraid of dirt, and if others had difficulties he took the initiative to help. He was a good person in everyone’s mind.
A Falun Gong practitioner named Baifan was also sent to the prison. Anyu asked me to take daily necessities to Baifan, and asked me what Baifan needed. I asked Anyu whether he knew Baifan. He said he didn’t know him, but they were all practitioners of the same practice. I was touched to hear that in prison. The inmates all talk about self-interest; they are all extremely selfish; they do things with strong selfish purposes; and they would never do anything altruistic. I developed admiration for Falun Gong practitioners and began to reach out to them. I heard that Falun Gong practitioners don’t get sick and don’t take medicine, and I was interested. I later understood that after practicing Dafa, the body does not have sickness, but only elimination of karma, so I didn’t take medicine either.
I was very disgusted by the inhumane torture in prison. Many prisoners worked overtime in the workshop for four or five months and were not allowed to return to their cells to sleep. Many people constantly thought about self-harm or suicide.
I saw hope for life in the disciples of Dafa. It turned out that people could still have such a way of living, according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and be good people, better people.
Later, a Falun Gong practitioner named Chuming was sent to the prison. He often lectured prisoners on the principles of Dafa. One day, a prisoner suddenly suffered a stroke and fainted. Chuming happened to pass by. He said to the person several times: “Remember ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good’ and you will be fine.”
I had a good relationship with that prisoner, and I cared about him. For three days, I went to the prison doctor every day to ask about his condition. The prison doctor said, “He has been unconscious for three days and nights, and he may die.”
Unexpectedly, on the fourth day, he woke up without any paralysis. When I saw him, I asked, “How are you OK after not waking up for three days and nights?” He said, “I didn’t know anything, I just repeatedly recited ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,' and somehow I came back to life.” In the days that followed, he constantly recited the two phrases in his heart. People gradually found that he had become very healthy.
There was another inmate, who had severe vitiligo from his face to his legs. After he understood that Dafa was good, he recited “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” every day, and also memorized Master’s poems. Four months later, a miracle happened: his skin returned to normal.
Because Chuming often told people about Dafa, many people pressed their hands together when they saw Chuming, and would move their lips to say: “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” Chuming responded to them in the same way. The prison guards seemed to have no reaction to all this.
The prison guards tried many times to force Chuming to write the three statements to renounce Falun Gong, and Chuming always said no. If they tried to force him, he would go on a hunger strike. Once, someone asked Chuming, “If you write the three statements, you will have an easier time in prison, you can also reduce your sentence, and you can continue to practice after you get out.” Chuming said, “If I betray my belief, how can I still be a human?” The person who asked him was speechless. I was very touched to see this. Their noble minds deeply touched me. With an understanding of Dafa, I secretly made up my mind to be a good person according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and strive to be a true cultivator.
Once when I met Falun Gong practitioner Anyu, I said, “I can recite some scriptures of Master’s.” He didn’t believe it, and I wrote down a long poem of Master’s. He said happily, “You are saved.” One day, in the corridor, I saw Falun Gong practitioner Dayu. I put my hands together toward him and said, “Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!” He was stunned for a moment, so I said it again, and he was happy, “You are saved.”
2. Starting Cultivation and Learning Dafa
Falun Gong practitioners Anyu and Baifan often talked about Dafa to me, and gradually I learned that cultivation has a spiritual requirement, that is, assimilating to the characteristics of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Although I had not read a Dafa book, with the help of fellow practitioners, I memorized many of Master’s teachings. I also started to look inward during conflicts, read the Fa, send forth righteous thoughts, and clarify the truth to others.
I had poor physical health since I was a child. I suffered from gout, lower back pain, arthritis, and frequent stomach bleeding in prison. I began to recite “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” and learned the Falun Dafa sitting meditation with Chuming. But I couldn’t let go of the exercises I had learned before. After doing the Falun Gong exercises, I couldn’t fall asleep for several days. Chuming told me that I should focus on only one practice, so I decided to give up the exercises I had practiced before and focus on Falun Gong. Soon, the pain throughout my body disappeared.
Chuming also told me that Master said,
“To tell you the truth, the entire cultivation process for a practitioner is one of constantly giving up human attachments.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
“One’s gong level is as high as one’s xinxing level.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
“Meanwhile, a practitioner should also be able to make sacrifices, abandoning different attachments and desires of everyday people.” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)
I said something very silly at the time: “I don’t have attachments anymore.” At that time, my competitive mentality was quite strong, and I didn’t know to look inward when I encountered conflicts. I always looked outward, which caused my cultivation to be very bumpy initially. Chuming gave me several Dafa articles to memorize. He told me, if you carry it in your heart no one can take it away.
So I started memorizing Master’s teachings. Later, whenever I met Falun Gong practitioners, I asked them for new teachings. Secretly obtaining Dafa articles became part of my prison life.
Through communicating with Falun Gong practitioners and memorizing teachings, I discovered that I had a strong competitive mentality. During conflicts with inmates, Chuming advised me that I was a practitioner and should not care. I said, “I will cultivate again after fighting with them.” Because I didn’t look inward, I didn’t let go of my attachment to fighting, and the conflicts with others were not resolved. After many years, I realized that Master had used this form to dispel my fighting mentality, but I did not look inward to cultivate myself.
Once, Chuming told me about the celestial eye. About a year after practice, during meditation, I saw red roses blossoming. I told Chuming, and he said, “Your celestial eye may be open.” One Sunday, I saw a small golden Falun and swastika. Chuming said, Your celestial eye is open. I was very excited. This is something that I couldn’t have achieved in my lifetime by practicing other exercises.
There was a prisoner, and many people bullied him, scolded him, and even beat him. He suffered from severe arthritis. Chuming taught him to recite “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” After half a year, his illness was healed. One day, he suddenly saw a big eye. He asked Chuming, and Chuming told him, “It's a good thing, your celestial eye is open.” From these phenomena, I witnessed the power of Dafa, which further inspired my confidence in practicing. Not long after this, Falun Gong practitioner Chuming finished his wrongful sentence and was released.
I tried to meditate in the double-lotus position. With the help of a practitioner, I finally did it. At first I could only sit in that position for five seconds, and my whole body sweat. Later, I recited the teachings during meditation. Five minutes, ten minutes, half an hour, and finally I was able to sit for an hour.
I didn’t know much about the Fa, but I knew that Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is the highest Fa in the universe. I tried to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, starting from being a good person, moving forward step by step, and finally being able to be an extraordinary person.
I learned that my parents were sick and had been hospitalized. My labor remuneration in prison for many years was several thousand yuan, and I usually did not spend any money. I explained the situation to the prison guards, hoping to get these thousands of yuan to my parents. My behavior touched the prison guards: in all these years no prisoner had ever sent money home before. Prisoners only asked for money from home. Many people admired me, and everyone knew that I was quietly practicing Falun Dafa. Through this incident, the prisoners knew that the people who study Dafa were really different, and it also eliminated the prejudice of many prison guards against Falun Dafa.
3. Clarifying the Truth and Saving People
After I began practicing, I also wanted to tell others about Dafa, and I began to take various opportunities to clarify the truth and tell others to sincerely recite “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” and good deeds will be rewarded.
In 2018, the forced labor in the prison was too intense, and a prisoner, named Yan, could not stand it, so he stood out and said that he was in a bad mood and he would not do the labor. At that time, this incident was very sensational. Many prison guards threatened him. The prison chief nicknamed “madman” talked to Yan a few times, but it was no use. He angrily ordered a guard to lock Yan up with shackles and torture him.
I visited Yan during the prison guard’s lunch break. Yan said that he was afraid of being electric shocked, hanged, and placed in solitary confinement by the guards in the future. He wondered if there was a better way to resolve the issue. He was friendly to me, so I told him, “They all wanted to punish you. Now there is only one way, that is, to constantly chant “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” and pray for protection from divine beings. He was convinced. All the inmates were talking about it. They were waiting to see something dramatic happen. Some said that the head of the prison was a new arrival, and he would definitely want to do something to Yan.
After leaving work the next day, the newly arrived prison head called Yan into his office. He patted him on the shoulder and said, “I am new here. Don’t make trouble for me. You can do any kind of work you want.” But Yan didn’t agree. A week later, the prison guard asked Yan to pack up his things because he had been transferred to work in the prison kitchen, which was a great job in prison. Yan said to me as he left, “Thank you so much!” This incident also surprised the other inmates.
Later, I was transferred to another prison and worked in the prison clinic. I used this convenience to clarify the truth to patients. There was a prisoner, whose lower back was injured in the detention center. He had not been able to walk upright for 12 years. I taught him to recite the teachings:
“Righteous thought, righteous actionAdvance wholeheartedly, do not stop Purge the ghosts that disrupt Fa Treat all beings with kindness” (“Righteous Gods,” Hong Yin II)
Three months later, his severe hemorrhoids were cured. The hemorrhoids had caused his rectum to be exposed and it had drooped by five centimeters, but now it was healed, and his stomach problem of many years was also better.
I also taught him to recite “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” telling him that reciting these words is to agree with the great Fa of the universe, and he will be protected by divine beings. He really believed and kept reciting. Half a year later, when he completed his sentence, he was able to stand up straight. Even the warden who escorted him out was stunned: how could a person who had never stood up since he came in suddenly stand up straight and run?
Once, I escorted a 67-year-old prisoner with a heart attack to the prison hospital. When the doctor diagnosed him, he suddenly fainted, and his blood pressure was very low. He eventually died. The next day, I escorted another 67-year-old prisoner to the prison hospital. He had also suffered from a heart attack. We just got there and he fainted, and his blood pressure was very low. After he woke up, I said to him, yesterday a patient died because of a heart attack, if you want to live, quickly recite “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” He said, “I can’t remember the words.” I said, “Recite it with me.” When the doctor arrived, he was able to recite it. He was then hospitalized and recovered. When he saw me at the end of his sentence, he thanked me. I said to him, “Don’t thank me. Thank Master Li and Falun Dafa.”
4. Under the Protection of Master, I Have Overcome Many Difficulties
I was severely tortured once in prison for studying Dafa, and I was imprisoned in a solitary cell twice, where I was subjected to inhuman torture. But none of these shook my belief in being a good person and firmly cultivating. Under Master’s protection, I walked through many demonic disasters calmly.
In 2008, a man was detained in the prison. He said that he was a “deputy contact person of a Falun Gong practice site.” Because I was new to cultivation, I thought that his cultivation level was high, and I wanted to communicate with him. So I took the initiative to contact him. But he couldn’t even memorize any teachings, and he said that one cannot cultivate in prison, because it is useless if one had not read a Dafa book.
The prison guards thought that he was a contact person, so they provided preferential conditions to “transform” him. He was quickly “transformed,” and also cooperated with the guards to “transform” other Falun Gong practitioners. He disclosed several information production sites and did many other bad things. He saw that I was firm, so he reported me to the prison guards. I was tortured with shackles in a solitary cell.
A prison guard asked me to write a confession, but I refused to do so. I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil factors behind him. As a result, he sprained his left foot while playing basketball that day. A few days later he got better. He came to me again, and I was calm and sent righteous thoughts again. As a result, he sprained his left foot while running. One week later, he got better, and came to me again. I sent righteous thoughts again. Later he fell on the stairs, and seriously injured his left foot again. He probably realized something and never bothered me again.
Four months later, I was transferred from the solitary cell to another one. I had lost 10 kilograms, was forced to squat for 16 hours a day due to the pressure of shackles, and was not allowed to sit on the ground. Because of the torture, my right ankle was numb, and I could not walk. I practiced the fifth set of exercises, and recited Master’s teachings and poems that I knew. Two months later, my foot recovered. Many people witnessed it and called it amazing.
Once, practitioners were reported for passing around Master’s new teaching, which caused the 610 Office staff to panic. They wanted to investigate this issue. I sent righteous thoughts with fellow practitioners. Under the protection of Master, the 610 office staff could not find who had passed around the teachings, and the investigation ended with no result.
I was shackled and went to the deputy prison chief and said, “There are only four situations in which a prisoner is forced to wear shackles, and I do not belong to any of them.” He was angry and then tortured me more severely. I went on a hunger strike and a water strike for five days, reciting “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” The prison guards talked to me many times, and they wanted to dig out some information about the practitioners in the prison. But, I would rather suffer than sell out my fellow practitioners. Soon I was relieved from the solitary cell.
Because a prisoner went to the prison guards to complain, saying that I taught people to recite “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” the prison guards arranged for me to join the production line to do the hard labor for a heavy electrical project. I said to myself, “let go of life and death, let go of attachments.”
“If you do not care and do not put them on your mind, with the master and the Fa here what is there to fear?” (Lecture in Sydney)
I sent forth righteous thoughts. When I was working, I recited “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”
Although I obtained Dafa in 2006, I have only recently come out of prison. So I have not systematically studied Dafa, and my understanding of Dafa is only perceptual. After I was released from prison, I read Zhuan Falun several times, and I still can’t understand some of Master’s teachings, so I am still a new practitioner. Fortunately, I’ve received help from the practitioners I met in prison. In my future cultivation, I will double my efforts to do the Three Things, cultivate myself, fulfill my prehistoric vows, and go home with Master.
I am still new in cultivation, and my understandings are superficial. If I said anything that is not in accordance with the Fa, please correct me with compassion.
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