(Minghui.org) Greetings, Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I was arrested in July 2006, and jailed in a local detention center. Since I refused to give up my belief in Falun Dafa, I was sentenced to prison.
Reaching Out to People in a Detention Center
I was beaten up by convicts on the first day in the detention center. They forced to me to mop the floor 100 times. I asked myself how can I save people in such an environment, and Master's teaching appeared in my mind: “Validate the Fa with rationality, clarify the truth with wisdom, spread the Fa and save people with mercy—this is establishing the mighty virtue of an Enlightened Being.” (“Rationality” in Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Since I had such a wish of saving people, Master changed my environment. The head of the cell approached me, and asked me where I was from. We found that we came from the same town. He became nicer to me, and let me sleep on a big bed.
Two young guys shared the bed with me. I told them what Falun Dafa really is, and encouraged them to recite “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” They both decided to withdraw their memberships in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) youth organizations. One of them, who was not 18 yet, said to me: “Had I known about Falun Dafa, I would not have ended up here. Here in the detention center, I beat a Falun Dafa practitioner. It was so wrong of me.” I said to him: “Now you are saved, since you know the truth, and quit the CCP.”
They chief of the detention center could not accept the fact that I got along with the inmates well. So, he moved me to a cell with murderers. Many of them were wearing foot locks, and they all looked scary. So, I intensively sent forth righteous thoughts.
Many inmates did not have enough food, so I shared my bread with one of them every day. He was grateful. I told him about Falun Dafa and how practitioners strive to be good people. He listened carefully, and finally decided to quit the CCP. I talked to other inmates, and got along with them pretty well. Some young convicts respectfully called me “uncle.”
A few months later, I was transferred to a cell for sick people. I clarified the truth about the persecution of Falun Dafa there, and convinced a few to quit the CCP. One young guy told me that he had a dream after quitting the CCP, in which he saw a giant golden Buddha watching him. I said to him: “You have a predestined relationship with Buddha. You will have a bright future if you cultivate Falun Dafa. You should do it, if you have a chance.” He happily agreed.
I got along with the head of the inmates pretty well. But one day he reported to the chief of the center that my sickness was gone, and I should be transferred to a normal cell. So, they sent to me a different cell. At the beginning, I didn't understand why he would want me to leave. Later, I realized that this was Master's arrangement, so that I could reach more people.
At the new cell, I kept sending forth righteous thoughts. Then, I talked to the head of the inmates in this cell about Dafa. I explained in detail the teachings of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to him, and wrote down Lunyu for him. I also convinced him to quit the CCP. Thus, I created a good environment to clarify the truth in this cell. Later, most of the inmates quit the CCP.
Overall, in that detention center, I convinced more than 30 people to withdraw from the Party's organizations.
Changing the Harsh Environment in Prison
A year later, I was transferred to a prison. On the night of my arrival, the prison had a meeting for all the criminals jailed there, the theme of which was that nobody was allowed to talk to me, and whoever breaks this rule would be punished.
There was another practitioner held in this prison. The prison was afraid that we would talk to each other, so they assigned four people to watch me 24/7. I was not allowed to talk to anybody.
I started to send forth strong righteous thoughts. Then, some criminals started to approach me and talk to me. After a while, once we knew each other a little better, I started to talk to them about Dafa. I told them how I gained better health and spiritual well-being from practicing Falun Dafa.
I also helped them financially, and often lent them money or food. Some inmates told me not to do so, because I would never get the money back. I said: “It's OK. Anyone can have financial difficulties.” When my family brought food to me, I shared it with the inmates. They were grateful. Later, some of them were willing to share food with me. We talked more often, and they became more and more interested in what I had to say.
One day, one of the inmates who was assigned to watch me, asked: “Do you have Master's new article? If so, why don't you make a copy, and give it to the other practitioner?” I wrote the article down, and he helped to deliver it to the other practitioner. Since I clarified the truth to all the inmates who were assigned to monitor me, and convinced them to quit the CCP or its associated organizations, my environment got better and better.
I actively approached newcomers and tried to help them in different ways. Then I told them that the stories the communist party publicized to attack Falun Gong were all a hoax, and convinced them to quit the CCP.
A military veteran often chatted with me. I told him that Falun Gong is practiced in more than 100 countries. I also told him facts of state-sanctioned organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners, especially in the military hospitals. He was outraged by the injustice. I also gave him a few short articles and poems of Master's. He loved them, and asked me to help publish his announcement of quitting the CCP.
There was another chess fan in the cell. He was weird, and didn't hang out with anybody. I approached him, and asked him to teach me how to play chess. After a while, I talked to him about Dafa. He said: “Falun Gong practitioners are kind. There are so many bad people nowadays. Those people are not trustworthy.”
Right before he was about to be released, he was out of food. I shared mine with him. He said: “I cannot take it, because very likely I won't have a chance to pay you back.” I told him not to worry about it. He exclaimed: “You Falun Gong practitioners are really nice people!”
Once, I gave my stool to a newcomer, and took a broken one for myself. He was grateful. I clarified the truth to him. He said: “I heard about some of this. My cousin used to practice Falun Gong, but gave it up after the persecution started.” I convinced him to withdraw from the CCP. Later, whenever he ran into me, in the hallway or in the yard, he shouted: “Falun Dafa is good!” Somebody asked him to be careful. He said: “So what? I just want to shout out 'Falun Dafa is good.' Falun Dafa IS good.”
Knowing that I talked to a lot of people, the prison didn't allow me to go out of the building during recess. How can I talk to more inmates that were jailed in other divisions? I said to the head of the prison: “I must go outside. I have bad headache and I need fresh air.” So, he gave the permission.
During the outside recess, I ran into a fellow practitioner who was jailed in the same prison, but in a different division. I asked him if he tried to clarify the truth. He said he had not. So, I shared my experiences and understanding with him. I said to him: “We should take all the chances to save people. Since we are already here, we should use this environment to save people.” The next time I saw him, he told me that he had also convinced quite a few people to quit the CCP.
One month before my release, a practitioner was sent to this prison. Since he started a hunger strike, a few inmates were sent by the prison to conduct a force feeding. I had talked to those inmates before, and they all had quit the CCP. So, I said to them: “You already know that Falun Dafa is good. You cannot torture that practitioner.” They said that they had to do whatever they were told, but that they would try to find away around it.
One of them later told that newly jailed practitioner: “I know another practitioner (referring to me), who is about to go home. Tell me how he can help you, and I will convey your message to him.” That practitioner asked me to make a phone call to his family, because they were not informed that he was arrested and jailed there. The inmate gave me his number, and I made the phone call after I got home.
Right before my release, I talked to the head of the prison. I told him that Falun Dafa is good and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good. I told him about the lies that government made, how severe practitioners were tortured in many prisons, and the organ harvesting. He was shocked.
“Are these all true?” he asked. I said: “There is solid evidence for all of this. The international community knows about it. In the near future, all this evidence will be publicized in China too. Everybody will know about the persecution.”
Although he did not quit the CCP, he knew well that Falun Dafa is good.
I was jailed in prison for three years. Including those I talked to in the detention center, I convinced 120 people to quit the CCP and its associated organizations. I brought the name list with me, with Master's help, and published it on the website where all the declarations of withdrawal from the CCP are posted.
It has been six years since I left the prison. Some of my memories began to fade when I tried to write them down. Perhaps it was interference. Compared to what other practitioners have done to save people, my effort is very little. Encouraged by fellow practitioners, I wrote down my experiences for this online sharing conference.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
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