(Minghui.org) I was illegally arrested in 2008 and made to do forced labor in prison. The following is my experience in keeping up with studying the Fa, doing the exercises, and clarifying the truth in prison to create a cultivation environment for myself.
1. Creating a Cultivation Environment
Seven of our practitioners were held in one ward. One practitioner, whose righteous thoughts were very strong, did not comply with guards' orders. Instead, she kept doing the exercises and sending righteous thoughts. She ended up being thrown into solitary confinement. In that room, she kept reciting the Fa, doing the exercises, and singing songs composed by Falun Dafa practitioners. The guards then moved her to a concentrated training team, where practitioners were monitored 24 hours a day.
Seeing the guards looking at her through a small window, this practitioner greeted them and sang practitioners' songs. She also wrote a letter to convince the guards to pursue kindness. After seeing that they couldn't do much to change her, they had the practitioner return, where she created an environment for herself to do the exercises and send righteous thoughts.
My cell was next to hers. Whenever I saw her, she was either doing the exercises or sending righteous thoughts. Seeing that, I also had the desire to do the exercises. The next day, I began to do the sitting meditation, but someone reported me. After that, the inmate in charge of the cell, as well as the prisoner who was responsible for monitoring practitioners, was called to the office. The atmosphere was very tense.
An inmate whispered in my ear, “Don't be afraid. Look, so-and-so also did the exercises, and what did they do about her?” Hearing their encouragement in this evil environment, I relaxed, and my fear diminished.
After a while, both of them came out of the office. The discipline committee secretary followed them and said, “Xinhui (my pseudonym) is a good person. She didn't do anything.” I knew that it was Teacher encouraging me. After that, I moved from the top bunk to the bottom, so that it was more convenient for me to do the exercises. They all knew it but no longer challenged me. Later, other practitioners began to do the exercises and send righteous thoughts, too.
One morning, when I was doing the second exercise, the person in charge of our ward came over to check on us. She saw what I was doing and hit my hand. I opened my eyes and saw that it was her. I patted her on the shoulder and said, “Oh my goodness! It was you.” She said, “What are you doing? Why don't you go to bed.” Then she left.
Another evening, when I was sending righteous thoughts, all the other inmates went to get hot water, except for me and another person. The person in charge of the ward came in and went straight to my bed. I righteously said, “Oh, it's you. Please have a seat.” She replied, “No, don't mind me, I don't want to destroy your field.”
2. Studying the Fa
In the prison, I wrote down Teacher's articles and poems I had memorized, such as Hong Yin, Hong Yin Vol. II, and Essentials for Further Advancement. I passed the copies to other practitioners. Teacher looks only at our hearts. Soon enough, we received “Fa Teaching at the 2013 Greater New York Fa Conference” from practitioners in other wards.
Through Fa-study, our moral character improved. Later, some veteran practitioners gave us compact-sized Fa lectures that were copied by hand. After a while, I received a copy of Zhuan Falun and “Fa Teaching Given at the Epoch Times Meeting,” as well as other Fa teachings. I later received Teacher's article “Be More Diligent” among others. We used the time of fetching hot water, doing physical labor, and breaks to share ideas with other practitioners. We encouraged one another and elevated together.
Later, because the prison was relocating, in order for us to carry the Fa with us, another practitioner and I copied Zhuan Falun onto a piece of clothing and took it with us.
3. Negating the Persecution by Refusing to Do Forced Labor
When I started doing prison work, I always had a sentence pop up in my head:
“If you don't cultivate yourself based on the Fa, you can't cultivate higher by just enduring persecution, much less reach the standards for a Dafa disciple.” (“Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference” in Teaching the Fa at the Conference V)
I realized that it was Teacher hinting to me that I should stop doing the work. One practitioner who had very strong righteous thoughts decided not to participate in the labor. At night, I began to think that I should stop doing it as well. But I didn't take this thought seriously and still went the next day. As soon as I got there, I had a strange feeling. There was a pile of clothes beside me, and they had moved the machine over to my side. I had no room to stand, and the prisoners were not happy about it.
When I shared with other practitioners, they said that it was because Teacher didn't want me to continue doing prison work. My husband was divorcing me at the time, so I used it as an excuse not to participate in the work. They threatened me and forced me to go through physical examinations. When my ECG results came back, I could tell from their facial expressions and conversation that the results were not good. I knew that this was an illusion that Teacher had created for me.
When I stopped doing the labor, the guards tried everything to get me to go back to work. They ordered inmates not to provide me with food or to swear at me. I wasn't moved. I would listen to Teacher, as no one can shake me. Later, they had to give up on getting me back to work.
4. Guards Moved Tough Prisoners to Practitioners' Cells
In such an evil environment, we tried very hard to inform everyone about the persecution of Falun Gong and help people withdraw their membership in the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organizations. We managed to help the person monitoring us to withdraw. She said that if she had known Falun Gong a bit earlier, she wouldn't have been arrested in the first place.
During the weekend, we used the opportunity of watching TV to tell prisoners about the persecution. Newly arrived inmates were nervous and didn't trust anyone. We took the initiative to look after them and talked to them about the beauty of Dafa, how Dafa is practiced throughout the world, and the lack of human rights in China compared to overseas. We also taught them to sing Dafa songs.
After they learned the facts, they always smiled at us. This was the true manifestation of sentient beings after knowing the truth. They considered practitioners the ones who were truly trustworthy.
Actually, the guards also knew the beauty of Dafa and the kindness of practitioners. They moved difficult-to-manage inmates to the practitioners' cells, where they changed for the better after a while.
I tried to make opportunities to clarify the facts to guards in prison. Almost all of them have learned about Dafa and the persecution from us. I clarified the facts to a young guard and helped her withdraw from the Party. She said, “I have been overseas, and I know the truth. You should be careful once you're released from here.”
These are some experiences I had while imprisoned. I have truly felt Teacher's benevolent protection and fellow practitioners' overall cooperation. I hereby thank fellow practitioners and Teacher.
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Category: Improving Oneself
