(Minghui.org) A few years ago, after I finished editing a fellow practitioner's long article to commemorate Falun Dafa Day, I felt relieved but then had a strange thought: “I can be arrested now!”
I was indeed arrested the next day. The negative impact of that irresponsible thought devastated myself, my family, fellow practitioners, and the truth-clarification projects I was responsible for.
At home today, as I read articles on the Minghui website, I recall those days when I was incarcerated and witnessed so many of Dafa's miracles. The people I got to know well and how they changed and supported me and other Falun Dafa practitioners gave me the confidence that encouraged me to continue my cultivation in Dafa.
I would like to share some of those experiences.
Inmates Blessed for Being Kind to Practitioners
Since the persecution began in 1999, waves of practitioners have been incarcerated, and they have helped inmates to understand Falun Dafa and the persecution. So, when I was detained, the inmates in my cell treated me as someone they could trust as soon as they found out that I was a practitioner. They were very friendly, liked to be near me, listened to our stories, and wanted to learn more about Dafa.
Some of them were serving long sentences for their crimes. They felt desperate and hopeless. They were willing to talk to me about that, so I helped them understand their situation from different perspectives and also clarified the facts to them.
Some of them had their sentences reduced after learning the facts about Dafa, some were released early, and some were allowed to contact their families with whom they had not spoken for a long time. When they realized that their positive attitude toward practitioners had brought them good fortune, they respected Dafa even more.
When I was first incarcerated, the head inmate of the cell had just submitted her appeal. Appeals courts in China almost always uphold the original verdicts, so she knew that her plea was most likely useless. She was miserable because she believed that she should not have been sentenced to seven years.
She had heard some facts about Dafa before but was not fully convinced. I told her that she had to first have faith in something before it could bring about a miracle. I encouraged her to believe in Dafa, treat Dafa and its practitioners with respect and kindness, and then miracles would happen. I also told her about my personal experiences with Dafa. After that, she began to help us to secretly pass along Dafa articles and messages among practitioners.
When she received her decision from the appeals court, she shouted, “My sentence was reduced! My sentence was reduced!” In tears, she gave me a big hug. I felt happy for her and asked, “Now you believe me, right?” Nodding, she replied, “Yes! Yes!”
An Inmate Repeats “Falun Dafa is Good,” and Her Meniere's Disappears
An inmate learned about Falun Dafa from a practitioner detained in the same cell with her. She was the head inmate of the cell and made sure nobody bullied that practitioner or made any negative comments about Dafa. She was released after being detained for only six months but was arrested again on a different charge. When I talked to her about Dafa, she was very supportive and told me that she was deeply impressed by the other practitioner.
She was later diagnosed with Meniere's disease, a debilitating condition of the inner ear, and fainted several times. She felt everything around her was spinning, so she vomited and could not fall asleep at night. She was desperate but at the same time anxious to know what her sentence would be this time. Now that she had this disease, she could not imagine what her future would be like. She wanted to die to end all the misery.
I told her to repeat, “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” until she forgot everything else, and then she would not feel the world spinning around her anymore.
She did exactly what I told her and slept through the night. She told me the next day, “I repeated the two lines, and then I heard some birds singing beautifully. My head is very clear now.”
I still remember her eyes shining with excitement as she shared that experience with me.
Inmate Sings Dafa Songs
One inmate in my cell was unwilling to hear about Dafa and told others to shun me. I searched inside and also hoped that she would be transferred to the cell with a practitioner named Yin, because I knew that Yin would be able to help her.
She was indeed transferred to that cell a few days later. After a while, I heard them singing Dafa songs together.
Once during recess, she called me over and told me that Yin had taught her to sing many songs. She asked if I'd heard them singing together. I told her that I had and encouraged her to continue.
Inmates Encourage Me to Write Lawsuits Against Jiang Zemin
I decided to file a lawsuit against former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Jiang Zemin for launching the persecution that has caused the deaths of thousands of Falun Dafa practitioners. I had paper, pen, and legal knowledge, so I volunteered to write lawsuits for other practitioners, too.
The inmates encouraged me to begin as soon as possible, and they said practitioners would all be released if the Supreme People’s Court finds Jiang guilty. They also said that they were going to miss me, as if I were already going home very soon.
I had a habit of procrastinating. An inmate who had become a good friend of mine told me, “If you finish writing this suit in ten days, I'll give you a gift. If not, I'll punish you!” So, I started right away. I did hard labor during the day and could only write at night. Sitting on a wooden board against the wall, it took me several days to to write the over-ten-page-long lawsuit. After putting extra postage on the envelope, I gave my letter to the guard, who later handed it over to their chief.
When I was going to be transferred to a prison, the inmates did not want me to leave, and some even looked forward to being incarcerated in the same prison as me in the future.
Inmates Who Protect Practitioners
One inmate who was assigned to shadow me in the detention center had some misunderstandings about Dafa. After I was transferred to prison, she was moved to the cell with a practitioner whose righteous actions convinced her, and her attitude toward Dafa changed after that.
She was in the same cell with me in prison and helped me as much as possible. She told me, “It's a blessing that one has faith. You must protect yourself, and I'll do my best to help you.”
An inmate who had been incarcerated for a long time had been collaborating closely with the guards in their efforts to “transform” practitioners. As she came into contact with more practitioners, however, she learned more about Dafa and was more willing to listen to us. In her own words, “In the past, I sided with the government and thought that you were disobedient. But now, I stand on the side of Dafa. I'll receive blessings from Dafa when the government acknowledges its mistake and clears your name in the future!”
Most Guards Know That No Practitioner Can Be Willingly “Transformed”
Prison guards’ performance evaluations are directly tied to their “transformation” of practitioners. They commonly use brainwashing, threats, and torture to try to force practitioners to renounce their faith in Dafa.
Practitioners have shown by our words and deeds that we genuinely follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, so most guards and inmates know that no practitioner willingly gives up Dafa. Some of the guards assigned to “transform” practitioners do not want to do it, but their situation makes it difficult for them to protect practitioners in public. In addition, they do not want to lose their job.
After learning that practitioners were good people, some guards began to help us as much as they could, and some even took personal risks to reduce our mental and physical suffering.
A guard told me privately that he had seen the agony and desperation of those practitioners who had agreed to be “transformed,” and he would rather that they did not transform. Some guards told me that they never expected to be promoted by persecuting practitioners and that those statements written by the “transformed” practitioners were not the “performance” they wanted.
Family's Trust and Support
I am grateful for my family and all my relatives. Some have read Zhuan Falun, and some have not, but no one believes that I have done anything wrong, nor does anyone think that Dafa is wrong. They are angry with the CCP for persecuting Dafa practitioners.
My family refused to collaborate with the government when law enforcement agencies attempted to use family pressure to “transform” me. Instead, my family asked the authorities to improve my conditions in prison. They believe I am a good person who should not have been incarcerated.
Believing in the Goodness of Dafa Can Change One's Surroundings
My experience has proven that as long as I remember “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” I can create an environment that is positive for me wherever I am.
I began to recite Master's poems as soon as I woke up every morning. The poems helped me to forget where I was.
Dafa has given me a healthy body and a pure heart. I am very fortunate to have become a Dafa practitioner.
Thank you, Teacher! Thank you, Dafa!
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