PureInsight | August 28, 2024
[PureInsight.org]
Recounting an Experience after Going to Beijing to Rectify the Fa in 2001
On the twelfth day of the first lunar month in 2001, during the severe winter in North China, I went to Beijing to validate the Fa. I was illegally arrested by malicious police officers from the Qianmen Police Station at Tiananmen Square and was later picked up by my local public security officers from the Beijing Office. I was illegally detained in the political security section of the public security bureau, tortured, and then imprisoned in the local detention center.
During this period, I endured various tribulations and torture. Master and the Fa protected me, helping me through each ordeal and danger. The infinite compassion of Master cannot be expressed in words, and I have been deeply grateful for Master's protection and support on my path of cultivation. Without Master's protection, it would have been impossible for me, burdened with karma, to pass through such great trials and tribulations. Below, I would detail my cultivation experience during that time.
1. In the Ice and Snow, Master Gave Me a Thick Comforter
On the first day of being detained in the public security bureau, it was extremely cold with snow and raining (not snowflakes). The malicious police found a large tree, stripped off my coat, and tightly handcuffed me to the tree. I could neither squat nor move, with no room for any activity.
From morning until dark, they gave me neither water nor food. Freezing and starving, I soon lost sensation throughout my body, and my hands were so swollen that the handcuffs were no longer visible.
Looking up at the tree and the sky, I murmured, "Oh heavens! Do you also feel that Master and Falun Gong have been wronged? Big tree, do you also think that being a good person by following Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is not wrong? Persecuting the Buddha Fa and good people is a grave sin, isn't it?"
They seemed to understand my words. The snow and rain flowed down the texture of tree bark like tears.
Seeing their tears, I also cried. I continued, "Big tree, please remember: Falun Dafa is the Buddha Fa, the most righteous Fa. People who practice Falun Gong are all good people. Anyone who persecutes the Fa is committing a sin and is evil and malicious..." I talked to them a lot for a long time.
As night fell, after suffering from hunger and cold for a whole day, I gradually fell asleep hugging the big tree.
In a daze, I saw someone with a compassionate smile walking towards me. To my surprise, it was Master.
Master's face was so compassionate and peaceful. He held a large comforter and quickly wrapped it around me and the big tree. The comforter was thick and soft. Instantly, my body and mind were enveloped with warmth and comfort I had never felt before. I was so happy! I slept soundly, hugging the tree and even started snoring.
Not sure how long I slept, I heard someone yelling in my ear, "Hey! Hey! Hey! Stop sleeping, you're even snoring! Come on, go inside, it's time for your interrogation."
2. Master Endures Tribulations for His Disciples
After being untied from the tree, my body was stiff and my legs were like iron rods, unable to bend. I walked shakily into the room.
As soon as I entered, I saw an iron rod on the ground, a chair, and two policemen sitting there eating walnuts. It was clear they were about to torture me. Later, I learned they were malicious police officers transferred from the criminal police team specifically to torture Dafa disciples. Their methods of beating people were so cruel that they could cause internal injuries without leaving any visible marks.
The two policemen exchanged a glance and nodded, signaling that they could start. One came over and handcuffed my hands behind my back, ordering me, "Kneel on the iron rod!" I refused. They both came over, forcibly pressed me onto the iron rod, and placed the chair under my handcuffed hands behind my back, lifting them up. Then, one of them pulled my hair back, making my face turn upward. The other policeman stood in front of me and asked, "Will you still practice Falun Gong?" I firmly said, "Yes!"
He then swung his arm and slapped me on both sides of my face.
"Will you still practice?" "Yes!" "Will you still practice?" "Yes!"
The first policeman got tired of hitting me and switched with the other one, who beat even harder. They took turns, continuously beating me.
It was the first time in my life I encountered such brutality. The first time I realized that there could be such vicious people in the world. I had never seen or heard of such cruelty, treating Dafa disciples, people who only wanted to follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and be good, so ruthlessly.
Soon, my vision went black, and my nose felt sore. I saw stars in front of my eyes and couldn't see or hear anything. My ears were ringing painfully. I thought: Why are my ears ringing so much? Did they damage my ears? Then I thought: Whatever! I am here already; I shouldn’t care what they do! At that moment, I felt no fear, not even knowing what fear was. Until both of them got tired, sat down on the chairs, and said while eating walnuts, "Take a break, we'll deal with you again!"
At this moment, my mind was very calm disregarding life and death. I thought it would be worth dying for since I have obtained the Fa in my life. Master said in Teachings at the Conference in Europe, “If someone hears the Dao in the morning, he can happily die at dusk.” I didn't care about anything else and started reciting the Fa in Nonexistence from Hong Yin, “Live with no pursuit, Die not caring about staying; Clear out all wild thoughts, Cultivating to a Buddha is not hard.”
I recited it repeatedly. The more I recited, the clearer my heart became, and the stronger my righteous thoughts grew. In this way, the Fa kept reverberating in my mind.
The two malicious policemen were ready to continue their evil deeds after they ate and rested enough.
Holding walnuts in their hands, they rolled up their sleeves, stood in front of me, and continued asking, "Why do you practice Falun Gong? Will you continue practicing?" I replied, "Yes, I will. Such a good practice benefits both the country and the people without causing any harm. Why wouldn't I practice?!"
They two seemed to be mad again, pulling my hair, slapping my face, and smashing walnuts against my face. They cursed viciously, "You still practice! I'll make you practice! I'll beat you to death! Beating you to death will be counted as suicide!" Their ferocious mindset distorted their faces, making them look like demons on earth.
They used up all their power to beat and slap me. However, I didn't feel any pain but only heard the sound of "slap! slap!" continuously. The slaps on my face felt like hitting a rubber ball. Despite the heavy blows, I genuinely didn't feel any pain! I knew Master was by my side, watching over and protecting me, bearing my sins.
What I endured was merely a basic form in the human surface world, while Master bore substantial karma for me.
I felt incredibly touched. Comparing to the earlier beatings I endured, it validated what Master later taught in Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan, “With such an enormous Fa here, the Fa will be with you when your thoughts are righteous, and this is the greatest assurance.”
Previously, I felt pain when the malicious police beat me because I stood from a human perspective, using my human body to resist and perceiving it as a human persecution. But now, standing on the Fa, merging myself into the Fa, I could see the boundless power of the Fa manifested. This made me truly understand another layer of Master's teaching in Zhuan Falun, “My roots are planted in this universe, and so someone would have to be able to harm me in order to harm you, which means that they would have to have the power to harm this universe.”
My righteous thoughts and confidence surged: With Master and the Fa here, what do I have to fear? So, no matter how evil acted, I firmly believed Dafa. They continued their beating, while I continued reciting the Fa in my mind. I kept reciting and reciting until the two evil people were exhausted and couldn't continue. One said, "My hand hurts so much from hitting." The other said, "I'm so tired that I can't catch my breath. This person is really resilient."
They beat me, I was fine while they couldn't take it anymore. They didn't understand that it wasn't because I was resilient; it was the power of Dafa. Master protected me and bore it for me again.
Finally, they handcuffed me to the big tree again. With tears in my eyes, I silently spoke to Master, "Master, you are bearing the sins for your disciples, preventing the evil from severely injuring me. You are enduring the pain for your disciple again, and I am very depressed! I have no way to repay you. All I can do is to keep the righteous thoughts and actions, never bowing or compromising with evil, following you closely, and firmly cultivating Dafa to the end!"
The next day, I was illegally detained in the detention center. At that time, there were more than a dozen fellow practitioners from different places in the detention center, with three of us in the same cell.
The environment in the detention center was extremely harsh. Not only did we have to work as slave labor every day, but there was not enough food. In the morning, we had cornmeal porridge and black bread. For lunch, it was also salty cornmeal porridge and black bread, with no vegetables. Over time, many people became constipated.
When we first arrived at the detention center, we were not allowed to practice the exercises or study the Fa. Several of us practitioners discussed that we needed to report this situation to the warden: we shouldn't be treated like this because we were not criminals and had not broken the law. We refused to eat the prison food and demanded to be released. However, the warden and deputy warden did not show up at all. What could we do? We all realized that since we were here, we should use this opportunity to validate the Fa, practice the exercises, and create a cultivation environment.
From then on, we did not comply with any of the evil's demands or orders: we did not recite the prison rules, report our numbers, wear prison uniforms, follow the schedule, participate in military drills, sing red songs, and did not do forced labor. We practiced the exercises, recited the Fa, and clarified the truth to the prisoners every day.
As a result, the warden and deputy warden came out, instructed the cell leaders to monitor us and prevent us from practicing the exercises. They said, "If Falun Gong practitioners do not obey, you can use extreme measures to deal with them. Whoever can control Falun Gong practitioners will get a sentence reduction."
Following the evil's instructions and permissions, in order to get their sentences reduction, the prisoners, as if possessed by demons, began to crazily torture the Dafa disciples. The leader of the prison cell where I was held was a ruthless criminal named Long, who had been sentenced to twenty years.
One day, six of us practitioners were practicing the second exercise. This person, like a madwoman came over and started to push our arms down, preventing us from practicing. We remained in our posture, and our arms did not come down.
She pushed one, then another, going back and forth for a long time, but failed. She was so angry that she was panting. After a while, Long came up with a sinister idea: she called other prisoners to fetch buckets of cold water from the yard and pour it on us. These prisoners, enticed by the promise of sentence reductions, rushed forward, some fetching water, others helping, surrounding us.
Long shouted, "Are you still practicing here? Will you put your arms down or not? If you don’t, the warden said we would give you a 'water festival'!"
Since we were still practicing, she waved her hand and said, "Go!" The prisoners lifted the buckets and poured the water over our heads.
It was still winter, we got drenched by the icy water from head to toes and chilled to the bone instantly. But none of us put down our arms, even the water in the room covered our ankles.
Then criminal Long said viciously, "Freeze to death! Let’s see if you’ll still practice!" We stood there like rocks. Seeing this, Long jumped up and down, cursing and shouting until she was exhausted.
Since cursing and icy water didn't work, she thought of a more vicious idea: she took needles and pricked us one by one, gritting her teeth and saying, "I don’t believe I can’t subdue you! Stab! Stab! Stab! Stabbing you to death will count as suicide!"
After venting her evil energy and using up all her tricks, she saw that we still didn’t move. She was so furious that she sat on the bed (a heated brick bed), crying loudly.
During this process, we constantly felt that Master was with us, continuously strengthening us, encouraging us, and solidifying our faith. At that time, we truly felt that obtaining the Fa in this life and being Master's disciples were truly…
Finally, in the face of the unwavering faith of the Dafa disciples, the prisoners, like deflated balloons, lost their momentum and admitted defeat!
Although these prisoners were misled by evil and poisoned by lies, causing them to hate Dafa and cruelly persecute Dafa disciples. As cultivators, we did not hate them. Instead, we felt genuine pity for them.
After this incident, we started to clarify the truth to the prisoners, explaining that Falun Dafa is Buddha Fa. We told them that practitioners strove to be good people by following the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." Practicing Falun Dafa has brought benefits to countless families, improving their physical and mental health and elevating their moral standards. We also spoke about the crimes of Jiang Zemin and the Chinese Communist Party, who abused their power to trample on the law and cruelly persecute Dafa disciples; and about the principle that good is rewarded and evil is punished. We told them that persecuting Buddha Fa and good people would lead to no good end. The prison guards, under the guise of sentence reduction, used these prisoners as accomplices to harm Dafa disciples. In the end, not only would they not get their sentences reduced, but they would also be discarded and scapegoated. Helping the evil only destroyed themselves in the end.
After understanding the truth, these prisoners reformed and no longer aided the evil in persecuting Dafa disciples. Some even stood guard for us when we practiced the exercises and studied the Fa, greatly improving our cultivation environment.
3. Master Rewarded Me with a Celestial Peach
We then began to clarify the truth to the prison guards and write letters to the warden. Some guards listened and changed their attitude towards us. However, some remained very evil by ridiculing us. We could only feel pity for these lives, as they were unknowingly destroying themselves.
Later, we realized: We are Dafa disciples, beings created by the most righteous Fa in the universe. We are not criminals, yet we are being held in a place for criminals, which is an insult to Dafa and Master. We shouldn’t be detained and persecuted like this for a long time, causing sentient beings to commit crimes against Dafa and Master and thus be destroyed. We cannot acknowledge the old forces' arrangements or let their plot to destroy sentient beings’ future. So, we began a hunger strike to protest and resist the evil's persecution.
At the beginning, the warden said, "Ignore them. Practitioners of Falun Gong can go without food; they won't starve. On the seventh day, we’ll force-feed them." (There's a saying, "Starve seven days, not eight.")
Several of us practitioners studied the Fa, recited the Fa, and practiced the exercises every day. No one bothered or disturbed us. On the seventh day, the warden brought the guards to force-feed us. We firmly resisted and did not cooperate. They had no choice but to torture us by putting handcuffs on us. I was handcuffed for five days and six nights, unable to eat, sleep, or go to the toilet. During these days, it was the prisoners who had understood the truth, helped and took care of us. Their kind deeds had already chosen a bright future for themselves.
On the tenth day of the hunger strike, in the morning, I was sitting on the bed (a heated brick bed) with my eyes slightly closed, reciting Hong Yin. As I was reciting, suddenly, a large celestial peach floated over from another dimension, crystal clear and very beautiful (not a peach from this world). Instinctively, I opened my mouth, and it jumped into my mouth, melting immediately with an indescribable deliciousness. Instantly, my entire body was filled with energy from head to toe, and I felt immensely tall and strong. At that moment, I again experienced Master's immense compassion and Buddha's grace: Master is always by the disciple's side, watching over and protecting us.
Tears streamed down my face like pearls from a broken string, and I couldn't stop them. A fellow practitioner sat next to me. We opened our eyes simultaneously. When I looked at her, she was also crying. We both understood why we cried and we laughed together. We spoke in unison, "Master gave me a celestial peach to eat."
Later, under Master’s protection and support, we broke out of the evil's dark den with righteous thoughts and rejoined the Fa-rectification, fulfilling our sacred mission of assisting Master in Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings.
Chinese version: https://www.zhengjian.org/node/290515
