(Clearwisdom.net) On June 21, 2006, while clarifying the truth of Falun Gong to others, practitioners A and B and I were taken away by the local police. That evening we were sent to the county detention center. During the unlawful interrogation, the police tried to find our truth-clarification materials production site, trying to find clues from the materials in our hands and obtained from our homes. The police hit and beat me and practitioner B as well as threatened to send us to a forced labor camp. The three of us faced the persecution with righteous thoughts and did not cooperate with the questioning. Seeing no effect in the interrogation, the police then illegally detained us for 10-15 days. To protest the persecution, immediately we started a hunger strike.
On the second day at the detention center, practitioner A and I stared to clarify the truth to the police and others in custody. By the 5th day of our hunger strike, practitioner A had become very weak and was not able to stand up, and I was nervous and without any strength. We started to discuss about what should be done. Practitioner A thought that if we kept going with the huger strikes, we would not be able to clarify the truth and our sending forth righteous thoughts would be of no power; then how could we save so many people inside the detention center? Practitioner B had another consideration that hunger strikes would be the only way for us to break away from here so we should stick to it. Meanwhile, I remembered that Teacher had mentioned about the following. One practitioner was shouting out, "Falun Dafa is good" everywhere she went and she was able to clarify the truth safely without any trouble; saving people is the mission and duty for all the practitioners. Validating the Fa and saving the sentient beings must be placed in the top priority. Thus, we finally decided to stop the hunger strikes for the more critical mission of saving others. In clarifying the truth to save people, we did the most righteous thing and there was nothing wrong or criminal about it, so it was unlawful to detain us here. We refused to eat any food provided by the detention center but had some bread and fruits sent in from our family members. With this arrangement, we were no longer weak and had stronger spirits and so we were able to calm down for Fa-study. We felt more powerful while sending forth righteous thoughts, and were strong enough to stand up for truth clarification.
Dafa Songs Inspire the Sentient Beings
The people inside the detention center were confined into rooms and the separation made it difficult for clarifying the truth to them. What should we do? At that moment I thought of singing Dafa songs. As Teacher's poem, "Waist Drum Team" (from Hong Yin II) says, "Every sound of the Fa drums pipes Zhen Shan Ren / Purging evil in the Three Realms," we may use Dafa songs to eliminate all evil factors within other dimensions of the detention center. In this way we can save people with predestined relationships, through their hearing the songs. So again and again I sang the song, "Falun Dafa is Good." While singing, tears flowed from my eyes; I felt, from the tiniest particles of my life to my surface being, that all my cells were crying. Opening up my eyes through the tears, I unexpectedly saw Master's Law-body sitting on a lotus seat while smiling at us benevolently. Immediately pressing my palms together to Him, I mentioned to the fellow practitioners that Master was watching us from above and they should join in to sing. The fellow practitioners joined in the singing and their tears flowed too. We sang continuously for more than one hour; the song reverberated in the air of the center for a long time and I felt that it moved the whole universe.
After hearing our singing, the criminal inmates in the other rooms stopped talking and tried to listen quietly to the song. Later, some sang along with us, some clapped their hands along with the music's rhythm, and others gave us the thumbs-up sign out of respect and said "Falun sisters, take a break and don't get too tired before eating."
Dafa songs inspire people's conscience, their root of compassion, and their Buddha nature. Songs cleanse the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) evil factors and bolster our confidence in saving the sentient beings. From that day on, we sang the Dafa songs every day until we left the detention center. On that last day, to leave Dafa songs forever in the air of the center we started singing earlier. From 7:00 a.m. until the time we left, we kept singing and singing.
Inside the Cage Clarifying Truth to the Police
Although we lost our physical freedom inside the detention center, the cage cannot enclose the hearts, the mouths, and the hands of the practitioners. We used our hearts in reciting the Fa and sending forth righteous thoughts, used our mouths to clarify the truth, and used our hands to write letters persuading others to be good. We realized that now that we were here, all the others detained here were people we should try to save, including the detention center police and the guards who had been misled about Falun Gong.
Without regular paper, practitioner A wrote two letters to the detained criminals on tooth-paste boxes and toilet paper. While drafting one letter to the police, I could not control my tears. My fellow practitioners broke into tears after reading it. After copying our letters squarely word by word, we passed them on to the criminals and the detention center police for them to read. In the letters we told them the facts about Falun Gong's being persecuted, we mentioned to them that they should remember, "Falun Dafa is good," and "Truthfulness Compassion Forbearance is good," and gave them the reasons why one should be a good person. We told them that Heaven is to extinguish the CCP, and to be safe they should withdraw from the party. We also cited Teacher's poems such as "The Cleansing," "For the Good of the World," and "To Be Human." We recited loudly the poems, "The Foretelling," "Demonic Change," "The Catastrophe," and "Ten Evils in the World" for them to hear. We tried to talk to those who were close to us face-to-face, and talked loudly to those farther away through the small window between us.To the police, in addition to clarifying the truth, we also told them the history of the evil Chinese Communist Party and the possibility of the CCP preparing to sacrifice a bunch of police as scapegoats. After that, most of the detention center police realized the truth and made their sensible choice. They stopped interfering with our reciting the Fa, doing the Falun Gong exercises, singing, or clarifying the truth. When they encountered our activities, they would pretend they didn't see it at all. Within those 10+ days , 42 people (31 detainees and 11 police officers) understood the truth and withdrew from the evil CCP organizations. Looking at those whose lives who were saved under this special circumstance, we wished them the best from the bottom of our hearts.
It's Good Fortune for People to Know the Truth
There were two detainees waiting for their final sentences. According to the law, one might be sent to 5 years and another one to a 3-year prison terms. During our clarifying the truth to them, these two not only withdrew from the evil CCP organizations but also kept saying, "Falun Dafa is good" and "Truthfulness Compassion Forbearance is good" every day. Both of them also memorized Teacher's poems, "To Be Human" and "Tempering the Heart and Will." At night they sat quietly reciting "Falun Dafa is good" repeatedly. One of the two was full of tears while listening to my truth clarification. He said, "Big sister, in my 30-some years I did not remember the taste of crying. I did not have one drop of tears even at my dad's passing away. Now I really know that tears are salty." He did not know that it was his knowing side that was crying. A few days later, these two detainees were extremely happy to receive a one-year and a half-a-year sentence, respectively.
Then I told them, "It was because both of you believe in Dafa, withdrew from the evil party and recited 'Falun Dafa is good,' that you are so fortunate and received such a good result. When you believe in Gods and Buddhas, they will bless you." Others thought it was inconceivable for these two to receive so light a sentence.
Using Righteous Thoughts to Get Out Of the Evil Den and to Witness the Power of Dafa
On the 5th day of our hunger strike we became very weak, but in order to validate Dafa, we persisted in doing the Falun Gong exercises inside the iron bars. Then I saw various Faluns rotating and jumping around in the air as if dancing. I realized that was Teacher's merciful hint to us. As we are based on validating the Dafa and saving sentient beings, with firm belief in Master and in Dafa, we would surely pass this test.
On the 8th day, we heard that fellow practitioners outside the detention center were displaying posters, sending forth righteous thoughts, and clarifying the truth in order to rescue us. I was touched by this news and had tears in my eyes. Then inside the detention center we calmed down and searched inwardly to realize that our original base was not upright; hunger strikes simply for the purpose of getting out of the detention center were selfish, not based on validating the Fa and saving people. Furthermore, our hunger strikes did not go on in a dignified and noble way; hearing about brutal forced feeding, we were scared of that terrible suffering. Through our searching inward, the three of us united to be of one body in our understanding. We wanted to tell them in a dignified and noble way that it was alright for us to clarify the truth for saving others, and that therefore we were not guilty of any crime at all; it was unlawful to detain us. As long as we were inside the detention center, we would protest with hunger strikes. From that day on until the day we left, we did not touch any of the food sent in by our family members.
Several days ago, to constantly remind myself, I wrote the following words of Teacher's Fa on the wall of our cell in the detention center:
"...you completely let go of everything, behave like an upstanding and noble Dafa disciple who has no resentment or attachments, and leave it to Master to arrange whether you stay or go." ("2006 Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles"), and,
"When disciples have ample righteous thoughts / Master has the power to turn back the tide." ("The Master-Disciple Bond" from Hong Yin II)
At that time I did not have a deep enough understanding, but now I have enlightened to the Fa principle that believing in Teacher and in the Fa should not be merely lip service; only doing it is the real cultivation. When we realized this Fa principle, and we truly elevated ourselves and the three of us united to be one body, again I saw the scene of many rotating Faluns in the air. When sending forth righteous thoughts, I saw that my fellow practitioners were covered by red light. Then I saw three female Buddhas hold up their right palm and standing on lotus flowers, gradually fly up to the sky. I knew that our benevolent Master was encouraging us for doing well.
When the other detainees learned that we were to be sent home free that day, one of them was excited to say that she would sing a song for us. She sang a song with the following words: "Falun Sister is good. Falun Sister is good. Falun Sister told me Falun Dafa is good. Falun Dafa is good. Falun Dafa is good. Falun Dafa is the Righteous Fa. Buddha's light is shining all over the world." After singing, she added,"Best wishes to you. May what you wish for come true. And may you reach Consummation soon!" Another said, "Big Sister, this time you are leaving. In the future when I come upon others, I'll tell them that Falun Dafa is good and Falun Dafa is the righteous Fa. I am willing to spread the Fa for you." Looking at these lives that had been truly saved, I said to them, "May you soon get out of the bitter sea too. All of you are lives coming for the Fa. Good things are waiting for you."
After our hunger strike of more than 10 days, we were still able to gather up our own quilts and carry our personal belongings and walk steadily out of the detention center in a dignified and noble way. People were surprised to see this scene. Once again, we verified to the people in the world that Falun Dafa is a magnificent practice.
Sailing through the wind and rain for more than ten days, my most prominent feeling is that "Buddha's Grace is Vast and Mighty." The greatest and benevolent Master has always protected His disciples; it is beyond words for the disciples to express their thanks to Him. We are also thankful to fellow practitioners within and outside China for their joint rescue efforts and for sending forth righteous thoughts to help us break out of the evil's den.
During this tribulation, I realized that I had too many shortcomings, including the following:
- We did not start from a righteous base when we started the hunger strike.
- With too much of a human heart, a fearful heart, and attachments, when encountering the sudden persecution we did not really have a firm belief in Teacher or in Fa.
- We did not totally deny the arrangements of the old forces. (For example, during the illegal detention period, we were satisfied not to be sent to a forced labor camp and so signed the paper agreeing to the evil's arrangement of how long to detain us.)
- Lately, in doing the three things, clarification of the truth went on so smoothly that I developed the heart of being in charge of doing a certain thing. Thus I ignored the other two things and did not study the Fa and send forth righteous thoughts enough, but only focused on clarifying the truth. I did not do the three things equally.
I'll take the lesson from Teacher's poem, "Analyze shortcomings explicitly, advance again wholeheartedly" ("Be Rational, Awaken" Hongyin II). I shall do each of the three things well, and walk every step firmly and steadily. I shall walk straight my path with a clear head and with reason, and become more mature.
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