(Minghui.org)

Greetings, compassionate and venerable Master!Greetings, fellow practitioners!

I started practicing Falun Dafa in 1994. I was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2003 due to the persecution of Dafa and served five years.

I would like to share how I cultivated myself and saved sentient beings while incarcerated.

Resuming Dafa and Persuading People to Quit CCP in Prison

When I was arrested, I had a strong sense of fear and did not do well. I felt ashamed of myself and did not have ample righteous thoughts. I felt distressed. But Master had been arranging all kinds of opportunities to awaken me.

It suddenly rained when everyone in the Training Team was queuing. Everyone rushed underneath the eaves to avoid the rain. Practitioner A stood in front of me. He told me that Hong Yin II had just been published.

Master wrote:

“Pause for a moment of self-reflection,and increase your righteous thoughtsThoroughly analyze your shortcomings,and progress with renewed diligence”(“Rational and Awake” from Hong Yin II)

My heart was enlightened and I knew that Master was awakening me.

I came across a practitioner on the way to the restroom one day. He said that Master's new article “Let Go of Human Attachments and Save the World’s People” was just published. Then, when I was working in the workshop, another practitioner recited “Plum Blossoms” from Hong Yin II. Master was awakening my righteous thoughts step by step.

One day, a team leader took me to see my family members. When we walked to the second floor, he suddenly said, “If you were not 'transformed', I would not take you to see your family members.” I turned back immediately. He went to see my family himself and brought back items they left for me and a note from my sister.

The poem “The Catastrophe” from Hong Yin II appeared in my mind. I knew that I had to resume practicing Dafa full-heartedly again. When a prison officer asked me about my practice later, I said firmly that I indeed still practiced Falun Dafa.

In the Training Team, an inmate previously worked in Dawu County, Hubei Province. I told him about Falun Dafa. He said that he knew practitioners were good people but that the People's Congress was the ruling policy. I told him that their policy did not mention Falun Dafa at all.

He said, “Thank you for the reminder. You are right. It does not mention Falun Dafa and does not state the reason for the persecution. It should not be used as the policy to persecute practitioners.” I told him to acknowledge the goodness of Falun Dafa with his heart, and he would be blessed. He then came to realize something that he could not understand before: He'd been hit with 10,000 volts of electricity when he was working in Dawu County. But his life was not in danger, which surprised everyone. He realized that he had a predestined relationship with Dafa. I told him that everyone came for this Dafa.

Another inmate was from Changchun City. “Falun Dafa originated in Changchun,” I told him. “People there have a great predestined relationship with Dafa. Many people in history knew that Dafa would start spreading in Changchun, so during the 18th century there was a big movement of the population to Northeast China, with Changchun being the center. People came to look for the ‘three treasures,’ which were thought to be ginseng, mink, and antler horn. Actually, they were awaiting the spread of ‘Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.’”

He told me that one of his friends had given him a copy of Zhuan Falun when he was in the hospital in 1995, but he did not start learning the practice. He was later imprisoned for running an illegal business. After chatting with me, he realized that Falun Dafa is a treasure for saving lives.

When I was clarifying the truth to inmate C, he was barefoot, so I gave him my slippers. He was touched. After he learned the truth, he helped me to clarify the truth to others. He told people about the wonders of Dafa, and when I was clarifying the truth to inmate D, C told him a story that he personally experienced.

He said that a family of nine people from three generations practiced Falun Dafa in his village. There was a severe drought one year. It did not rain anywhere else, but it rained twice on the family's cornfield. The other families did not reap anything, yet that Dafa family had a good corn harvest from their field. People near and far knew this story. C witnessed the miracle of Falun Dafa, so he helped me clarify the truth from his perspective.

Practitioner D was a new arrival. He told me about practitioners persuading people to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on a large scale in 2005. I then inscribed my CCP withdrawal statement on the marble ground with a shovel and dated it.

Creating the Appropriate Environment

I eventually left the Training Team and was sent to another cell. Practitioners in this cell cultivated diligently and helped each other. I was deeply moved.

Practitioner E passed a quilt to me, along with a hand-copied small book of Master's lectures. It was written on cigarette papers. The book cover was made with thick paper. It was the first time I saw a Dafa book since I'd entered the prison a year before. I was very moved.

Practitioner G was older than me. He called me by name and said that I should study the Fa more. He showed me Master's two articles, “Cautionary Advice” and “True Cultivation,” that he had hand copied. I read the two articles repeatedly until I could recite them. I used them as a reminder in cultivation.

Practitioner H was young. Before he started practicing Falun Dafa, his brother had surgery. The doctor would not accept any money from them. They tried to give the doctor a tin of oil as a small gift on their second visit. The doctor said that he practiced Falun Dafa and did not accept any gifts from patients. Practitioner H was very impressed by this doctor. After he obtained the Fa, he cultivated diligently. He memorized Zhuan Falun. And during lunch breaks in the workshop, Practitioner F and I sat with H and listened to him recite Zhuan Falun.

Master published many new articles during those years. Almost every hand-copied article was passed to us. We memorized them and then passed them on to other practitioners. We recited each article from morning till night. With the help of practitioner H, we started to memorize Zhuan Falun bit by bit every night.

After the hand-copied Zhuan Falun was passed to us, practitioner F hand-copied one lecture in his bed every night. There were a total of 20,000 characters on over 50 pieces of paper, with 400 characters on each page. How fast he had copied it! It was not done on a flat desk but written on cigarette papers on the bed. He did not write much before that. But during those unforgettable days, he was able to write experience sharing articles while practitioners were sharing their experiences. It was like witnessing a miracle, the extraordinariness of Falun Dafa.

With the improvement of our xinxing, we realized that it was not good enough just to study the Fa. We had to break through, with righteous thoughts, all the limitations imposed on us. We had to create an environment for sending forth righteous thoughts and practicing the exercises freely. To do so, we had to dissolve the evil factors in the other dimensions. Every practitioner started to validate the Fa in their own way according to the understanding at their levels.

One night, I was doing the sitting meditation on the bed and then sending forth righteous thoughts. The inmate on night duty told me that he would not say anything if we practiced the exercises, but he was reluctant and afraid that other people would report him. I shared about his situation with the other practitioners. We reckoned that we had to dissolve the evil factors behind the inmate on duty so that he would not interfere with us. He was still concerned on the surface, which meant that we had not yet truly helped him understand Falun Dafa. It was our problem.

We also regarded all the inmates in the cell as our friends and clarified the truth to them on a deeper level. We told them about the principle of karmic retribution and how they would be blessed if they acknowledged Dafa well and treated practitioners kindly. We also told them that the guards were merely bluffing and that they were concerned about someone being in danger or injured. If there was a problem, they would come to us directly. It was a rare opportunity for them, and they were fortunate to come across a practitioner. They understood what we meant and laughed with joy. With Master's protection, everyone elevated in the Fa, and the cultivation environment became better and better.

Treating Sentient Beings Equally

The prison we were in had over a dozen cells. Most of the prisoners there were on death row or serving life sentences. Since practitioners were detained with them for so long time, these inmates were able to learn more about Dafa in depth.

One day, several inmates beat practitioner M harshly upon instigation of the guards. M shouted out loud, “Falun Dafa is good,” and the whole cell heard him. We shared together and realized that many guards did not know the truth about Dafa. They were deceived by the lies and driven by personal interest and were thus more willing to harm practitioners. Their minds were controlled by the evil, but they too were beings who came for the Fa and should be saved. We realized that we should send forth righteous thoughts to dissolve the evil that manipulated them. Then we clarified the truth and exposed the slander of the CCP to dissolve their misunderstandings. We knew we should not leave any sentient beings behind.

Inmate E was previously a CEO of a large factory. Practitioner F told me about the CEO inmate because they shared the same cell. The CEO inmate came over to shake hands with me and we introduced ourselves. I told him about the murder case supposedly committed by a practitioner, which was broadcast on China Central Television, and how it was a lie fabricated to deceive the Chinese people. A guard agreed, saying that the murderer indeed did not practice Falun Dafa. The guard told me about the murderer's family, his work, and how he had committed the murder.

Inmate E confirmed that I was correct. The suspect's father was a CCP cadre and was used by the 610 Office. The 610 Office said they would reduce his son's sentence if he admitted to practicing Falun Dafa. He said that the cadre was a colleague of his in-laws who told the in-laws the story.

I told the political instructor in the prison about this murder case. He listened and asked me if I interviewed the person myself. I replied yes, but that I could not disclose the interviewee. I suggested that the instructor speak to other people who knew the cadre if he was interested. They all knew the story, I said. He understood and was moved.

Practitioner F told us that he had read on the propaganda board in the corridor that it was the guards' responsibility to check if a clause from the legislation was applicable or if there were such a clause. I used this as a topic to clarify the truth to guard C. I told him that the persecution of Falun Dafa was against the law, that it was a political campaign initiated by Jiang Zemin and was supported by lies.

Guard C became angry. He was usually someone of a mild character. He shouted, “It has been determined by the State.” I told him that he had been deceived; there was not any legislation banning Falun Dafa. He was surprised and said he would leave it until the next day. I guessed that he was not quite sure after I questioned him, so he went home to find out. I noticed that he did not mention anything the next day. When I was reading Zhuan Falun, he came in to look through the book and returned it to me. He said, “You are reading this?” He did not criticize me anymore. I felt that he understood the truth.

Practitioner B was held in solitary confinement for refusing to wear the prison uniform. Practitioners in other cells supported him in various ways. We shared and agreed that we should clarify the truth to the guards more. Practitioner F drafted a letter to the leader on our behalf. We demanded the immediate release of B from solitary. All practitioners signed the letter. I was asked to deliver the letter to the political instructor, who indeed read it. He said that we should mind our own business, but then added that each practitioner should write one.

Since Practitioner B was in solitary confinement, we felt that it was our responsibility to take care of him. I asked the brigade leader to pass on our request to management. I told him that I would speak with other practitioners about the suggestion that practitioners write letters individually. We did not realize that it was Master's hint for each of us to write a statement expressing our determination in Dafa and in opposing the persecution.

When we received Master's new articles “Turning the Wheel Towards the Human World” and “We Are Not Getting Political,” we understood the profound meaning of withdrawing from the CCP in order to keep safe. Practitioners then started to ask inmates to withdraw from the CCP.

One night I heard a conversation between two inmates in the corridor:

“My mind became very clear after I quit the CCP.”

“How come it did not work so well for me?” asked the other.

“You should know why. You only withdrew from the Young Pioneers but did not withdraw from the Communist Youth League. You have not completely quit the CCP. Your heart is not sincere. So hurry up and withdraw your Youth League membership!”

When we received a hand-copied version of Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, Practitioner F read one chapter a day during lunch break. I listened to him read. After we finished the last chapter, the inmates said they’d been listening as well. Indeed, it was so quiet during lunch breaks on those days, nobody walked around or spoke. The booklet was circulated among the inmates too.

One day it rained before lunch. A man from another cell stood beside me. I started to clarify the truth to him. He looked very happy and told me that he had learned about the truth before and withdrew from the CCP. He was a prisoner on suspended death row. He started to practice Falun Dafa and told the inmates that he was a Falun Dafa practitioner. He said that Master had given him a second life.

Prisoner G often spoke to practitioners. He withdrew from the CCP and wanted to learn Falun Dafa too. The guards warned him about it. However, he did not listen to them and told the other inmates, “Yes, I am close to them. During my stay with practitioners, I saw how they behave. They told me many values and the inner meanings of traditional culture. I know they are good people by their behavior. They are practitioners with high virtue. They help other inmates selflessly each day. You should all know this.”

Whenever there were new inmates who happened to sit beside a practitioner, each practitioner grasped the opportunity to clarify the truth. Practitioner L learned the inmates' name from the attendance list on the board and clarified the truth to those who had not withdrawn from the CCP.

We continued asking the inmates to withdraw from the CCP. The inmates became more and more eager to quit the CCP. One day, an inmate stopped me in the corridor and said that I looked down on him. I asked him why he felt that way. He said that I had treated other people well but not him. I realized that I had not asked him to quit the CCP. He said that he had joined the Youth League and the Young Pioneers but was not a Party member. He then chose an alias and withdrew from those organizations.

Master Has the Final Word

I was memorizing Lecture Eight of Zhuan Falun in the workshop one day in 2008. It was the first time that I recited the whole lecture without stopping. Suddenly there was something happening with my heart, and I spat out blood. I shared it with practitioner F who was in another workshop. We thought that was a good thing. Several days later, I had excruciating pain in my chest and heart and spat out something pink. Someone alerted the guards. They measured my temperature. I had a high fever and was sent to the prison hospital.

Still, I was clearheaded and in high spirits. I was not afraid. My temperature decreased during the night and I was discharged the next day. I was intercepted at the hospital gate and sent to the infectious disease ward for TB. The doctor gave me injections every day but did not tell me what he was doing. I was treated as a TB patient. I told the doctor that I did not have TB and did not have TB symptoms. The doctor did not say anything and left.

One day, a specialist came to check my chest and stomach. He did not tell me anything after he finished the exam. The prison doctor told me that he was preparing a critically-ill report on me. The guard notified my family members, who then came to see me. The guard also asked them to persuade me to take medicine.

My wife, who was also a practitioner, my younger brother, and my auntie came to see me. They saw my swollen legs and cried. They demanded my release from the prison. The authorities said that they had to follow procedures if they wanted me to be released for medical treatment. The officer said to ask the prison management. The practitioners in the prison were sending forth righteous thoughts for me all the while.

The prison doctor sent out my urine sample for a pathology test. He said that my kidneys and liver were functioning normally. Facing the complicated situation, I just firmly believed in Master and the Fa.

Practitioner M had an opportunity to take care of the patients in the hospital. He saw me in the hospital and suggested that I share with practitioner N, who was in the next room. N understood the Fa very well. He studied the Fa well and always looked within. After I shared with him, I understood my two key problems.

He thought that it would be best to take the medical bail as an opportunity so that I could clarify the truth and do the three things outside the prison. He asked me not to be concerned, as the situation might have been arranged by Master.

Then he suggested that we do not spend too much time sharing our own experiences. The most important thing was that we completely negate the arrangements of the old forces and look within under any circumstances. Master was giving me a rare opportunity to look within and elevate myself.

One issue appeared on my mind: I'd drafted a document for a project for my previous CEO whom I used to work under. The new CEO did not approve of the new project and criticized me for it. I had started practicing Falun Dafa at that time. I dealt with all parties nicely and solved the problem without embarrassing anyone.

I knew it was Master who helped me out. I supported the new CEO whole-heartedly. But deep down in my heart, I had grievances against him and had a show-off mentality and pursuit of personal interests. I was jealous as well. I did not realize these issues until I shared with practitioner N. Master dissolved the tribulation for me while I attributed it to my own capability. This was a strong attachment to myself and was disrespectful of Master and the Fa.

As soon as I found my attachments, I felt a layer of bad substances dissolve.

Master wrote:

“Imprisoned as you are,don’t be sorrowful or sadCarry on with righteous thoughts and actions,and the Fa is with youCalmly reflect on the attachments you haveRemove your human thoughtsand evil will naturally die out”(“Don't Be Sad” from Hong Ying II)

Several days later I was notified that my family members had sent me new clothes for my release. They would pick me up in the morning.

With Master's protection, I was released two years early on bail for medical treatment. I was able to clarify the truth and save sentient beings on a larger scale outside.

Thank you, compassionate and great Master!Thank you, fellow practitioners!