(Minghui.org) I was arrested and placed into a detention center. Dozens of people were held in a cell that was only a couple of hundred square feet. It held more than 80 people sometimes. They slept everywhere on the floor and on the planks. I had to sleep on my side on the floor at night. There wasn’t enough space. We were packed in like sardines, and it was even difficult to turn over.
But I fell asleep quickly and slept till I was woken in the morning. My mind was empty, so I could fall asleep quickly.
Life in the detention center was abnormal. Newcomers arrived every day. They looked lost, afraid, and agonized, and would cry as if the sky were falling. I was usually the first person to go comfort and help them. I would help them get water and food, especially the elderly, those with illnesses or those with difficulty walking. They all knew that I practiced Falun Dafa because the two phrases: “Falun Dafa is good” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” were written on my clothes.
It was not easy to live with dozens of people. We had to be quick to do everything. We were only allowed five or ten minutes to eat. Sometimes we couldn’t finish eating. There was no shower. We had to use basins to wash. We had to wait in line to get a basin. We were only allowed several minutes to get basins. If we couldn’t get basins in time, we weren’t allowed to wash. We had to use cold water, even in the winter.
Master looked after me during this tribulation. I could wash with hot water with the cell leader, and I could use a little more water to wash with. Inmates had to wait in line to get boiled water to drink before breakfast. Some couldn’t get water within the scheduled time, otherwise they wouldn’t have time for breakfast. I volunteered to help beside the hot water barrel with a big ladle, pouring hot water into each inmate’s cup, thus saving time. Everyone could have water and eat breakfast in time. All of them thanked me. I was the last one to have breakfast. I ate little, one little bun would do.
I helped them whenever or wherever I could. In winter there was no room for inmates to fold the quilts and coats. They were required to be quick and make the quilts square, otherwise they would be punished. I helped those who were slow or elderly. Later on, my sleeping space was doubled and I had two new quilts, while the other inmates only had one. Those of other religions saw I that I was allowed to do the meditation and practice the exercises at night. They wanted to do the same but were not allowed. They became jealous and caused trouble for me. They bad mouthed me and belittled me behind my back. I didn’t defend myself but faced them peacefully. I helped them get water and folded the quilts for them as usual. The conflict dissolved.
I used to be in poor health before I practiced Falun Dafa. I had diarrhea all year round. I was sleepy all the time and had no strength. I didn’t like to help other people. I became healthy and energetic after I started to practice Falun Dafa. I comply with the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in daily life and help others willingly. Though I’m in my sixties, I’m flexible and quick like a young lady. The cell head said with emotion: “Whoever needs help, Auntie is always helping.”
One inmate was sentenced to seven years for manslaughter. She was mean to me and bad mouthed me behind my back so that she could earn rewards. But I was friendly to her as usual. We slept side by side at night. She could hear clearly when I recited the Fa, recited the two phrases and sang Dafa songs.
One day she said to me suddenly: “What you recited and sang were so good. It made me feel comfortable.” She said that she had secretly been learning from me but the cell head discovered it and didn’t allow her to practice the exercises. She felt fortunate to have known me, but felt sorry that she was going to prison. I told her that there were Falun Dafa practitioners in the prisons and that she could learn from them. Whenever there was a farewell party for inmates who were leaving the cell, she always asked me to sing Dafa songs on the stage and she cheered vigorously for me.
Every time I went on the stage to sing Dafa songs, I would even be moved myself. It was splendid and joyful. I could only sing four Dafa songs. The inmates were of different ages, ranging from seventeen years old to seventy years old, all from different backgrounds. I didn’t know why they were detained. At that moment they all listened to me attentively, some with tears, some with hope and some feeling helpless. Though I was old with no singing experience, thanks to Master’s strengthening, I sang so movingly and beautifully that even I was surprised. With the strong applause rising up, I was deeply moved.
I felt nothing was important during this long period of time with no freedom. I could have nothing, but I couldn’t do it if I didn’t have Falun Dafa. What I feared the most was forgetting Master’s Fa. I didn’t dare to become slack in cultivation. I regretted so much that I hadn’t memorized the Fa before. I recited whatever Fa I could remember. I recited the poems from Hong Yin and “On Dafa.” We were required to sit on the planks and recite the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) propaganda. I sat with legs crossed and recited the two phrases until time was up. Dafa is rooted in my heart.
Another practitioner was sent to my cell. We recited the Fa together. She could recite the first part of “2018 Fa Teaching Given in Washington, D.C.” I learned from her and memorized it quickly thanks to Master’s strengthening. We recited it every day. We started to do the five sets of the exercises at 3:40 a.m. every day and did the second and fifth exercises again in the evening. We once did the second standing exercise for three hours. The inmates said that we made a beautiful scene in the cell.
That practitioner clarified the truth to every newcomer. All of them agreed to withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. Everyone sat beside me in the evening. I told them my stories and my family's stories during the Great Leap Forward Movement, the Three Years’ Famine and the Cultural Revolution, and how the CCP caused hardships to the Chinese people. I explained the June 4th Massacre and the CCP-staged Tiananmen Square Self-Immolation Incident to them. I told them about the changes I went through after I practiced Falun Dafa. Many of them understood everything and became supporters of Dafa.
A prosecutor and a police officer went to talk to me six months later. They asked a few questions and then left. I didn’t receive any news after that. Some inmates asked me when I could leave. Some asked why they didn’t give me an answer. One inmate who used to be a senior officer in a bank said: “Falun Dafa has strong support outside. Who’d dare mistreat them here?”
I was notified that I would see a lawyer some time later. I asked the lawyer if he was going to plead guilty or not guilty for me. He said “not guilty.” He said that I might be implicated by another practitioner, who might receive a heavy sentence. I smiled at him and said: “They don’t have the final say.”
After I was released and went home, another practitioner told me that the lawyer was very touched by our meeting, and said that I was like a young lady when he saw me walking back to the cell with brisk steps and greeting the guard happily.
Several people went to see me and claimed that they were going to transform me. They said a lot but I didn’t listen to them at all. They showed me videos and said Master charged money for healing illnesses. I pointed to the so-called Qigong master and said: “This person is not my Master.” They turned off the video when they saw that I was not fooled by them.
They said that Master had said this and that. I asked them how come I didn’t know, and I didn’t know whether what they said were true or false. They turned on the computer. I saw articles from Essentials for Further Advancement. I hadn’t seen Master’s articles for nearly a year. I was excited. I read the articles quickly. I took this opportunity to study the Fa for a few days. They then realized that I had taken advantage of them. They left. The so-called transformation ended without following up.
I finally received a notice of hearing. I sent forth righteous thoughts for the occasion: The judge and jury members would not make a wrong judgment, because I was not guilty for practicing Falun Dafa, and they would leave a way out for themselves and their family members so that they would stay safe in the future.
My lawyer pleaded not guilty for me. His speech was righteous and sound. He said that practitioners were heroes. I was very touched.
There wasn’t any news for eight or nine months. One day I was called out and was released. It came too suddenly. I was stunned. The inmates cheered for me. They surrounded me, laughing and crying. They hugged me. I could hardly describe my feelings at that moment. I asked them to take care of themselves.
I shouted “Falun Dafa is good” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” all the way to the gate. The receptionist at the gate asked me what crime I had committed. I said: “Falun Dafa is wonderful. I didn’t commit any crime.” The two young prosecutors behind me shook their heads and said: “No crime committed.”
I knew that Master had protected me so that I was able to walk out of the detention center free. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the practitioners who I know and don’t know for their selfless help to rescue me.
When other practitioners asked me what I was thinking in the detention center, I didn’t know how to reply to them. I didn’t think of my children. I didn’t think of whether I would be persecuted. I was not attached to fame, personal interest or sentiment. I only had one thought: “I might have an unfinished task that Master asked me to perform here that I haven’t finished yet.”
I realized that I would be free if my heart was free and that if my heart was not free, I would not be free no matter where I was. My heart was with Master and with Dafa, so I was free. I thank Master so much. Master has done everything for me. My abilities and the wisdom that I displayed in the detention center were given by Master.
Thank you, Master, for your compassionate salvation. I will walk my cultivation path solidly and walk well the final leg of the path that Master has arranged for me.
Please kindly point out anything that is not in line with the Fa.