My fellow practitioners:
How are you?
I am very pleased that you came to visit me yesterday. When I met you, I was so happy that I almost forgot what I wanted to tell you. Our meeting time was so transient, yet I couldn't calm down for a long time. When I recalled our meeting after I returned to the ward, I felt that it was a pity. Why hadn't I completed my words, and why was I so excited? That's right, the reason may be that we haven't seen each other for over half a year, and I have a lot of things to tell you.
Since I was detained in the Guanghan detention center half a year ago, I attained a deep understanding of Dafa, and have had rich experiences as well. After undergoing unimaginable tribulations and sufferings, I realized many of principles of Dafa and became more determined in cultivation. I feel very honored and proud to be imprisoned for Dafa. It is nothing for me to be imprisoned, I am willing to give up everything I have, including my life, for Dafa, and will never have regrets.
Since July 22 of last year, I have been firmly cultivating Dafa with my heart unmoved. No matter how tremendous the pressure from the government was and how severe the attacks were, from the beginning to the end, I have been regarding the Dafa books, related materials and videotapes as my life. Although the local police searched my home, harassed and interrogated me several times, I put forth all my efforts to steadfastly protect and safeguard Dafa. Between last October and the Spring Festival, I had been arrested twice by the police. I was bullied, cajoled and brutally beaten up. For instance, in the cold winter before the Spring Festival, the police arrested me for the second time. I was stripped of almost all my clothes, with only a piece of thin clothing covering my body. Moreover, I was handcuffed and forced to be barefoot. They beat me, cursed at me and shocked my whole body with an electric baton. The police beat my face, and it became swollen; the electric baton burned my body. I still felt very calm, and was without fear. Despite the severe persecution and torture, my heart of steadfastly cultivating Dafa was not shaken, and on the contrary, I became stronger and firmer.
After the Spring Festival, I went to Beijing to appeal by myself, validating Dafa with my own experiences. With my benevolent heart, I clarified to the people and the government that Dafa practitioners are innocent. After I arrived in Beijing, I went to Tiananmen Square, which I had yearned to go to. I looked everywhere for my fellow practitioners. I exchanged ideas, shared experiences, studied the Fa, and practiced the exercises with them. We also presented a letter cosigned by the Dafa practitioners to the National Appealing Bureau, explaining that Dafa is innocent and Dafa practitioners are not guilty. We came from all corners of the country and didn't know each other, yet our hearts were all together. Whenever practitioners met each other, we felt quite familiar and had an intimate feeling, which could not be described clear by words. Although the time of gathering was short, it was very touching. I will never forget this for my life. There was a practitioner from Guangdong who was 7 months pregnant, yet she still went to Beijing to safeguard Dafa. She told us about her experiences of safeguarding Dafa in Beijing. Since she could not find fellow practitioners and dared not to check into hotels, she lived out in fields. She froze in the cold winter for seven days and seven nights; finally she found fellow practitioners. Some practitioners lived outside under eaves, or stayed under bridges. In the daytime, they successively went to Tiananmen to unfurl banners, and practice the exercises in order to validate Dafa. Police arrested most practitioners and many never returned; very few escaped by sheer luck. Everyday, practitioners waited silently at home for those who went out, expecting their early return. Even if only one practitioner could come back, it would be considered lucky. Everyone was very excited, they gathered around them and asked all sorts of questions to understand what they had encountered and what had been going on outside. During those ten days in Beijing, we had still persevered in studying the Fa and practicing the exercises. We had been strict with ourselves by contrasting and checking our behavior according to our Teacher's words at all times. After ten days passed I asked myself, "What should I do? Should I go to Tiananmen or go back home?" If I went to Tiananmen, the police would soon arrest me. If I went back home and cultivate diligently together with my fellow practitioners, then I would not achieve the goal of coming to Beijing. Between the contradictions, I chose the latter. I decided to return to Guanghan, share experiences and exchange ideas with my fellow practitioners and cultivate diligently with them. I returned to Guanghan along with a practitioner from Changchun. Through the experience sharing and exchanging, everyone shared a common will: cultivate diligently together.
In early March, I went to Beijing for the second time and went to Tiananmen Square with other practitioners. When we arrived at Tiananmen, we were immediatly followed by many policemen. Before we had time to unfurl the banners or practice the exercises, we were all arrested. We were taken to the police office to register. Several practitioners from various places around the country were arrested; I thought it was a tribulation. The Teacher's words echoed in my ears, "Each tribulation must be broken through, and there are demons everywhere." The police took us to the office of Public Security of Sichuan Province in Beijing. After locking up over ten practitioners from Guanghan in a room, they immediately called the local public security bureau and told them to come to Beijing. On that night, the public security officers of Guanghan escorted all of us back to Guanghan.
The Lianshan police arrested me again on the day after I got back. They were fiercer and more violent with me this time. During the interrogation, they adopted brutal torture with scoundrel means, and asked a bunch of hooligans to threaten me. They forced me to take off all my clothes, and one drunken ruffian held both my hands, which were shackled. He then clasped my hands, and threatened to throw me into bed with him. They cursed me with many dirty words, cruelly beat me, told me to admit that I was wrong, and forbid me from practicing Falun Gong. I refused to give in to any of their requests, so I was tortured for two days and two nights. On March 17, I was transferred to the Guanghan detention center. When I got there, I saw several eye-catching words on the wall, "Administer in a scientific and polite way." I was thinking that the detention center must be a good environment for cultivation when a female secretary asked me to register and she searched my entire body. Then I was sent to the third ward and was searched again. I was very excited when I saw several fellow practitioners in the ward. When the secretary left the ward, I immediately began sharing experiences with fellow practitioners. I told them everything about my trip to Beijing to safeguard Dafa. Even though they were locked up in jail, I gave them the opportunity to know the situation in the outside world. They realized how touching and shocking it was that practitioners from all over the country stepped forward to protect Dafa.
During my jail life in the past 6 months, I deeply realized "You must break through every tribulation and there are demons everywhere." Our practice and study were still deterred by the evil. We were rebuked and threatened by the center's head and secretary. They frequently searched us; the ward hunted for Dafa books, and separated practitioners. They forbade practitioners to meet with each other, or speak to one another, not to mention passing letters. But we did not feel any hatred or regret, and we still conscientiously accepted the strict administration of the center. We followed the instruction of the ward everyday because we kept Teacher's words firmly in mind, "Cultivators do not care about everyday people's happiness or bitterness and Arhats do not care about worldly gains or losses." We did every labor assignment, such as sweeping, wiping out dust, cleaning spittoons and restrooms, as well as making sacks and picking bones day and night. We had no complaints about these dirty jobs.
In order to verify that practitioners are innocent and ask for justice and freedom from Jiang Zemin's government, we began a fast July 9. On the fifth day of our fast, doctors and armed police came to the detention center to force-feed us. We were shackled, and tied to the "bed of punishment." Our hands and feet were tightly bound. Plastic catheters were inserted through our noses into our stomachs. At this moment I felt there was great pain in my stomach and I thought I was going to die. I struggled hard against the evil; the harder I struggled though, the tighter the shackles became. The pain was unimaginable me; I clenched my teeth and endured. I was force fed four meals because I could not move. I was very sad at that time, since I never thought I could be so weak.
Dear fellow practitioners, we have endured enormous physical and mental torture in our days in the detention center. I knew very well that being a Dafa practitioner, I should be able to endure all kinds of hardships and tests in any complex and harsh environment. We should believe in Dafa and ourselves. History will prove that practitioners are innocent, Dafa is innocent and our Teacher is here to offer salvation to everyone.
I was very calm at the trial on August 31. Although I cited much evidence to demonstrate my innocence and Dafa's innocence, the court still sentenced me to four years imprisonment. At that time I didn't feel depressed at all, on the contrary, I felt very relaxed for I exerted all my efforts to protect Dafa.
Fellow practitioners, let's strive forward together! Dafa is great and magnificent! We are positioning ourselves. We must keep a calm mind, eliminate all kinds of interference, and assist the Teacher in finishing the last cultivation period successfully.
Practitioner Li Chenghang (alias)
September 15, 2000
