(Clearwisdom.net)
The police arrested me and took me to the detention center, after someone reported me just before the New Year of 2000. The next morning, Zhang, a section director in charge of registration, swore at me and interrogated me at the steel door. He hit my stomach hard through the gap in the door with his registration book. I had to take several steps back just to stand still. I was in such pain that it was hard to stand straight, but I endured, and stood up straight to stare at him. He seethed with filthy words, too filthy to hear, just like a hooligan.
Fellow practitioner Shuhua, told me that Zhang had more than ten criminals tie her up and strip off her clothes to humiliate her and beat her. I asked, "Were you afraid then?" She said, "No. You must look down upon the evil. Who can move me if Teacher and the Fa are with me?! Nobody can!"
I asked, "Did you feel pain when more than ten people beat you?" She said, "I felt pain from the first hit. After that, Master endured everything for me. But you must enlighten to that through the Fa. We can overcome any difficulties."
I cried. I had felt afraid a few moments before, then I did not, since I knew that Master protects Dafa disciples all the time. I thought of Master's words:
"Having heard the Dao in the morning, one can die in the evening." (from "Melt into the Fa", Essentials for Further Advancement)
Fellow practitioners and I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate all the evil beings behind the corrupt police and criminals, to destroy all the evil factors persecuting Dafa, to completely oppose the arrangements of the old forces, to eradicate all the evil beings and evil old forces in other dimensions, and to break away from the trap with righteous thoughts.
Before I was illegally taken there, other practitioners had begun a strike against required penal service. Some practitioners had started a group hunger strike to protest against the illegal detention and requested immediate release. The prison guards encouraged the criminal prisoners to tie them up on "dead person's beds" (a torture where the four limbs of the practitioner are stretched out and tied to the four corners of an icy-cold metal bed. The practitioner cannot move at all. He is not allowed to get up to eat, drink, or go to the bathroom.
This treatment would last from several hours to more than a dozen days, causing severe damage to the practitioner both mentally and physically.) The practitioners did not compromise or cooperate. Some criminal prisoners were moved to tears by the unwavering Dafa practitioners, and could not bear to participate. After several days of hunger strike, these practitioners could not move their legs when they were illegally sent to the forced labor camp. They were already very weak when they were tied up to "dead person's beds", and were even denied the use of washrooms while suffering force-feeding, beating and swearing. Instead of releasing them at this point, the detention center illegally sent them to forced labor reform.
Three Dafa practitioners did not pass medical examination at the forced labor camp, so they were returned to the detention center. Fellow practitioners and I studied the Fa, practiced the exercises, and sent forth righteous thoughts every day. The environment was getting better and better. The supervisor pretended not to see what we were doing. All the prisoners agreed we were innocent and that the place was not for us. Some of them studied the Fa and practiced the exercises with us. Others stood at the door with the intention of protecting us from being seen by the supervisor.
One day, the door was opened. Some one asked me, a fellow practitioner Ms. Liu, and a criminal prisoner to put on a number and a vest and come out for photos. I resolutely refused, thinking it was humiliating to Dafa practitioners to be forced to put on a vest and hold a paper board with their names on it. When this righteous thought emerged, I told the supervisor who was in charge of taking photos, "I am telling you I am not a prisoner and you can't take photos." He said, "You don't have to put on the vest. We'll just take a photo." I answered firmly, "No." Unable to do anything, he told me, "Then you go back." Ms. Liu would not be photographed either, and followed me back.
Two people stood at the door. One of them questioned me, "What if we put you on the "dead person's bed"? Then will you be photographed?" Another said, "This person looks very energetic." The first one said, "She looked more so when she first came. Now she has lost weight from the hunger strike. She did not eat until recently." My face turned red immediately. I had compromised and ate for fear of being put on the "dead person's bed" and being force-fed. I failed to validate Dafa after two weeks of hunger strike. I thought of what Master said,
"...just by having your heart unaffected you will be able to handle all situations."
("Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s) "Essentials for Further Advancement II)
I would rather die than be photographed. I am a Dafa practitioner. What can they do to me?! Fellow practitioners and I spent most of our time reciting Dafa and upgrading ourselves continuously.
Two more practitioners were illegally sent back to forced labor reform. Two practitioners who went to Beijing to validate Dafa were arrested and brought in. They told me that the local police hiding in Tiananmen Square discovered them, handcuffed them and took them away. Three of them were arrested. One of them voiced her righteous thoughts to all at Tiananmen Square. She got out of her handcuffs on the train and hopped off. When the police discovered her escape, the train had already started. They were enraged but could do nothing about it.
Another day, the door was opened. I heard someone calling fellow practitioners to take photos again. Some fellow practitioners followed the instruction. I was not moved. Some fellow practitioners from the male cell also cooperated to take the photos. I still was not moved. I recalled what Master said,
"If you want to be a practitioner, it all depends on cultivating your heart and on you, yourself being enlightened since there are no role models." (Zhuan Falun)
The director of the detention center persuaded us to do forced labor such as wrapping toothpicks. We held to the idea that were not prisoners, and refused. All the female prisoners supported us. Because of our refusal to work, they were deprived of decent food. But they did not complain at all. Instead, they admired us very much and supported us to study the Fa and practice the exercises.
One morning, I felt pain in my stomach and went to the washroom immediately. While I was out, Zhang, the section director, came to take a photo of me. He looked inside the cell and did not see me there and said, "She is not here. She has been sent away." The police taking photos then crossed out my name. I knew this resulted from my firm resolution. Even Ms Li, a criminal prisoner, had enlightened to that.
She said, "Your Master let you feel pain in your stomach and go to the washroom. Director Zhang came to look for you and could not see you. So you have passed this tribulation. This strengthened my righteous belief in Dafa. Meanwhile, I enlightened to the deeper meaning of
"Cultivation depends on one's own efforts, while transferring gong is done by one's master." (Zhuan Falun)
Master just looks at a disciple's heart. If one's heart is in the Fa, Master can do anything for him. How fortunate I am to be able to cultivate Dafa of the universe and be protected by Master!
Fellow practitioner Ms. Liu and I were sent to the forced labor camp where brainwashing was conducted on a daily basis. Everyone was forced to attend the so-called "patriotism" sessions and watch videos like the "self-immolation", full of lies and slander. We were also forced to do heavy penal service work. No matter how furious the evils became, genuine Dafa practitioners took the Fa as Teacher and opposed the arrangement of the old forces. Writing reports on their thoughts twice a month, they validated Dafa instead. I wrote this in my report: "Falun Dafa is good. Falun Dafa is the righteous Fa. Falun rotates forever. Buddha Fa is boundless. Dafa is judging all beings' position in the universe. One thought of yours toward Dafa will determine your future."
The genuine practitioners detained in section one effectively validated Dafa when they were forced to read materials slandering Dafa. They shouted "Falun Dafa is good!" As a result, they were beaten and kicked, and shocked with electric batons. The prison guards enticed the criminal prisoners to carry out corporal punishment and personal defilement on these Dafa practitioners. The prison guards often shocked steadfast practitioners with electric batons in the classroom. One could smell the odor of burned skin and flesh outside.
We began a hunger strike on April 18, 2002 to protest the persecution. The prison guards changed a bit and the environment turned better. Fellow practitioners and I continued to recite the Fa every day, to send forth righteous thoughts continuously, and to eliminate the evil factors.
The section head beat me for refusing to recite the rules of the detention center. With Master's benevolent protection, I did not feel the pain. Master miraculously solved some of my tribulations. One can not feel it if he is not in it. At critical moments, I knew what to do immediately after I recited "Expounding on the Fa" (Essentials for Further Advancement I) and I enlightened to deeper meaning of "Cultivation depends on one's own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one's master." Everything has come from Master and from Dafa.
The detention center organized various activities, including exercises, dance instruction, and singing. It looked good on the surface; but the purpose was to destroy practitioners' will. I did the broadcast exercise out of fear, but many fellow practitioners did not do it, and effectively validated Dafa. Enlightening to the fact that I must oppose the arrangement of the old forces, I did not dance at all. Expressing my attitude to the supervisor I said, "What I say counts. I won't dance." Many other fellow practitioners also enlightened to that they should not dance.
The supervisor deprived Ms. Xi Zhen of sleep because she refused to give up practicing cultivation. Because she did not dance, the criminal prisoners beat her and kicked her, and poked her in the thigh with needles, making it hard for her to walk. Some collaborators [Former Falun Gong practitioners who have gone astray due to brainwashing and torture.] read deceptive articles around her in order to brainwash her. All fellow practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts to clear away all the evil factors in other dimensions that persecuted Xi Zhen. She held fast to her righteous thoughts, and refused to cooperate with the evil. The prison guards could not do anything and left her alone.
Ms. Yanxia refused to give up practicing cultivation. As a result, she was beaten and kicked by the section head. She was also shocked with electric batons and tortured all morning. One fellow practitioner told me of the bitter pain to see her body full of bruises and smell her burned skin and flesh.
Ms. Donghui was arrested for the third time. During medical examination, the doctor did not discover any illness, despite her 84 day hunger strike (maybe longer according to the section head). The prison guards tortured her cruelly in this extremely weak state, shocking her with electric batons for a long time, almost to the point of death. She endured it all with righteous belief in Dafa. I saw her several times in the washroom. Each time, we smiled to each other and understood all since we knew that our steadfast hearts in cultivating Dafa were connected.
One day, during dance practice in the corridor, the section director shouted at me, "Are you going to dance or not?" I said, "No." Then she gathered several criminal prisoners together to hit me. Before they dragged me off to a room, I had begun sending forth righteous thoughts. I shouted, "Falun Dafa is good. Falun Dafa is the righteous Fa." while the prisoners hit me. They slapped my face and demanded that I dance. I told them to give up their intention, I would rather die than dance. I also told them that we Dafa practitioners were different from them. If I wanted to leave, I could have done that when I was in the detention center. I would have been set free if I had just written a "Guarantee Statement" [A statement to declare that he or she is remorseful for practicing Falun Gong and guarantees not to practice Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners]. Five days later I began a hunger strike. I told a prisoner, "I would rather die than write the guarantee statement, because I did not do anything wrong. What I have learned is the righteous Fa. Nobody can change my heart in cultivating Dafa. There is predestined relationship between you and me, so don't persecute me." The prisoner shook hands with me. But the head of the prisoners did not let me go. She took me to the section head. To her surprise, the section head not only cursed them but also threatened to increase their terms if they continued to beat people privately. I knew he said that for me to see his position. Without support, the criminal prisoners dared not persecute us. The section head told me, "If you really don't want to dance, just stand in the back." After so many attempts, they finally ran out of ways to persecute us.
Since then, there has been no more dance practice in the forced labor camp. As for singing, I let it go calmly and it naturally stopped. In less than a month's time, I was released from the forced labor camp in a dignified way.
Although I did not write the so-called "Disssociation Statement" [a statement to declare a dissociation with Falun Gong and promise not go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong] nor betray Master and Dafa, I did write a statement saying that it was my responsibility when I appeared to be sick. I did this with human sentimentality, assuming loyalty to the supervisor. Now I solemnly declare: "All the materials I wrote, all the actions that were not suitable for a Fa-rectification disciple, and the "Patient Card" I wrote (They tricked me to sign this patient card, with which I could enter the hospital, then go home.) null and void."
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