(Clearwisdom.net)
III. Validating Falun Dafa in the Labor Camp (continued)
2. Promoting Falun Dafa in Prison
Even being illegally incarcerated in prison did not distract us from the important mission of offering salvation to sentient beings. We continued to offer salvation to every sentient being we encountered in the forced labor camp.
While in the forced labor camp, we met Dafa practitioners from all over China. All of us promoted Falun Dafa and clarified the truth about Falun Dafa to each and every member of the disciplinary staff in the forced labor camp. Some of the disciplinary staff knew in their hearts that Falun Dafa was a genuinely beneficial cultivation practice, although they didn't dare openly admit it. They also admired Dafa practitioners as people of high morality because they saw with their own eyes that Dafa practitioners' speech and conduct were elevated compared to the real criminals in the jails. Still, these perceptive disciplinary staff did not dare to openly declare their true opinions. In contrast, there was other disciplinary staff that insisted on frenziedly persecuting Dafa practitioners using every conceivable means. They were literally the epitome of devils from hell. I felt truly sorry for their criminal behavior, which was driven by ignorance and unbridled emotion. Eventually, they will meet with horrid retribution.
While in the forced labor camp, we all tried whatever means we could to send letters to our families to prevent them from believing Jiang Zemin's lies about Falun Dafa. The disciplinary staff opened and read every single letter that came into or out of the camp before forwarding them to the appropriate recipients. Any letter containing messages they did not approve of would end up in the trash bin. The disciplinary staff paid special attention when screening the letters by or to determined Dafa practitioners.
When messages slandering Falun Dafa were discovered in a letter from a Dafa practitioner's family, staff would circulate the letter to other Dafa practitioners first, hoping to help with their forced brainwashing work, before finally delivering it to the recipient. My father wrote a few words in his first letter to me, trying to persuade me to renounce Falun Dafa. Although the disciplinary staff did not exploit this letter, it was an alarming hint to me that the evil elements in other dimensions might be exploiting a loophole in my mind. After I studied one of Teacher's new articles, "Using at Will," I suddenly realized a way to "break those rules and constraints" in my father's thinking. I wrote a very loving and caring letter in which I embedded words of wisdom to bring out the righteous thoughts in my parents and help them face the current situation courageously. My parents had also cultivated in Falun Dafa. However, they were afraid to continue after Jiang started to persecute Falun Gong. They had many bitter memories from various past political movements (persecutions) in China. [They decided that the only way to survive a political persecution was to bite their tongues and submissively and unquestioningly comply with the dictates of Chinese leaders.] Besides, they had a limited understanding of the Fa (Laws and Principles). In my letter to them, I expressed my concern for their health and advised that they should continue to cultivate their characters (Xinxing). It was a hint to them to take the Fa as Teacher.
I wrote some hints and hidden messages in my letter to my older brother as well. He also practiced Falun Dafa, and I was very concerned about his cultivation state. Before I was incarcerated in the forced labor camp, he had been taken to a detention center. He wasn't released until he renounced Falun Dafa in writing. My brother is a schoolteacher and an amateur photographer. In the letter, I advised him that, as a photographer, he should keep creating new ideas and making rapid progress, and, therefore, he should continue to "go out" to "open his eyes" while "improving his skills" and "making himself accomplished." It was my hint to him that he should keep up with the progress of Fa-rectification. Prior to July 22, 1999, my older brother was a volunteer assistant at a Falun Dafa practice site. Therefore, I also implied in the letter that, as a veteran Dafa practitioner, he should help our parents and other fellow practitioners to understand the importance of safeguarding the Fa and encouraging them to help with Fa-rectification. In my New Year greeting letter to my uncle and aunt who are farmers, I wished them " a truly bright and beautiful future." I had faith that these letters would help them persevere in cultivation.
The letter passed through the censors and reached my father. I soon received a reply. My father did not complain or attempt to persuade me at all. In fact, he wrote nothing but good news about the family. I learned that my sisters were well and happy and that my depraved husband had made great improvements in his conduct. He even brought our son to visit my folks during each holiday, which he had never done when I was at home. My father even wrote affirmatively in the letter, "I will take care of your son. Don't you worry about anything at home."
Tears flowed down on my cheeks as I read the letter, and my fellow practitioners cried too. How many messages were contained in this letter! This was a manifestation of righteous thoughts and righteous support. Since then, several fellow practitioners, whose families wrote letters containing messages that the depraved disciplinary staff used to brainwash Dafa practitioners, started to use their wisdom when they wrote letters to their family members. Practitioners whose family members were also practitioners used their wisdom to embed hints and encouragement in their letters. Practitioners whose family members were not practitioners used their wisdom to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa by hiding the truth within everyday people's reasoning. It was also a way to suppress the evil elements that had been manipulating their thoughts. Soon everyone's family members began to better understand Dafa.
After I was released from the forced labor camp, I asked my family about the letters I had sent them. My uncle and others told me, "We understood the hidden messages in your letters." It was when I returned home that my older brother made a solemn declaration on Minghui that his words and deeds under forced brainwashing were null and void. He started to make up for his mistakes by catching up with the pace of Fa-rectification, and began producing many materials clarifying the truth about Falun Dafa. After a day's demanding work on the farm, my uncle and aunt often went out in the evening to distribute truth-clarifying materials. They also used every opportunity to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa and the persecution against Falun Dafa to sentient beings. My uncle even gave a truth-clarification VCD to the man who supervised his work. My father, who is the headmaster of an elementary school, hid the slanderous materials the Chinese government sent him and expected him to distribute to the students. Thus, he sabotaged their plan to poison the minds of children. I think Teacher gave us these opportunities to improve as a whole in the Fa.
3. Improving As a Whole
While I was illegally incarcerated in the forced labor camp, determined fellow practitioners and I formed a group cultivation environment. Although we sometimes argued amongst ourselves, we always treated the Fa as Teacher and looked inside afterwards. Because we always guided our own cultivation with the Fa and corrected any behaviors not in compliance with the Fa, we ended up enhancing ourselves during each xinxing (moral character) test.
In August 2001 several fellow practitioners who had almost finished serving their terms arrived at a new understanding. They decided that they should overcome the staff's plans and ask to be released when their terms were up. At the time, the forced labor camp staff totally disregarded the laws. They openly declared that they would keep Dafa practitioners in the forced labor camp forever unless they renounced Falun Dafa. Several fellow practitioners had indeed been kept beyond their terms by many months. We decided collectively that we must not passively and tacitly accept the persecution and, instead, should actively break through the staff's arrangements.
To achieve this, the practitioners drafted a statement requesting immediate release as soon as their terms were up, and to be able to practice Falun Gong exercises during their unlawful detentions. It was not a surprise to us that the staff refused our requests. Six Dafa practitioners then went on a hunger strike. One of them included a fellow practitioner who still had a lot of her term left. Feeling intimidated, the disciplinary staff locked the six Dafa practitioners in separate cells. One afternoon we saw that a mid-level leader from the Forced Labor Bureau had come and talked to them. Then we heard that the forced labor camp had agreed to release them when they finished their terms. Meanwhile, we heard that during June and July our fellow practitioners in other forced labor camps had also made similar breakthroughs with their righteous thoughts and actions, and thus were released when their terms were up. Originally, the disciplinary staff in this forced labor camp had decided that releasing Dafa practitioners when their terms expired would undo the forced brainwashing efforts, so they refused to release any Dafa practitioners who remained firm in their belief in Dafa.
After the group hunger strike, the staff no longer had the nerve to keep practitioners past their allotted terms. Because of the group action, we made another breakthrough in Fa-rectification. Several fellow practitioners who had been illegally detained beyond their terms had also been secretly sent back to their respective cities of residence.
In mid-September 2001, we decided that we must be able to practice Falun Gong exercises in the forced labor camp. Although we knew that fellow practitioners in other cells who tried to practice Falun Gong exercises had been brutally beaten by the prison guards, more than ten Dafa practitioners in two different cells started a group hunger strike to protest the ban of Falun Gong exercises and to demand the right to practice the exercises.
On the first day of the group hunger strike, we sat on the floor at night and prepared to send forth righteous thoughts and practice the Falun Gong exercises. When the prison guards saw what we were about to do, they flew into our cells and punched and kicked us. A fellow practitioner whose Celestial Eye was open saw that these prison guards were possessed by evil spirits. She also saw that the more ferocious prison guards were possessed with even more evil spirits than the other prison guards. As soon as we started sending forth righteous thoughts, we eliminated a layer of evil spirits from the prison guards. However, another layer of evil spirits would come and cling to the prison guards. Although some prison guards were possessed with fewer evil spirits, all of them were possessed and under the manipulation of evil spirits.
Although I went on hunger strike for only five days, I made a significant breakthrough in this experience. This was the very first time that I went on hunger strike. During the hunger strike, I saw my fellow practitioners do things that I wasn't able to do. For example, a fellow practitioner in my cell had powerful righteous thoughts that truly intimidated the evil spirits possessing the prison guards. She had never cooperated with any evil arrangement. As soon as she heard a case of persecution, she would clarify the truth to the persecutor right away without any hesitation. Compared to her righteous thoughts and actions, I felt myself falling significantly behind on the road of Fa-rectification. Later I heard that after she was released, the police abducted her and tried to send her to the forced labor camp again; but the camp refused to take her. They said to the police, "Do you know how many people it takes just to watch this one woman?" In my heart, I knew very well that it was because of her mighty virtue that the forced labor camp dared not detain her.
One night, right after the head of our cell returned from a meeting she gave everyone a booklet that slandered Dafa. She tried to "sell" the booklet for 15 Yuan each. As soon as we learned the content of the booklet, every Dafa practitioner in our cell threw the book on the floor. Next, a fellow practitioner stood up and started to tear the booklet apart. Then we all started to tear the books into pieces. The fellow practitioner with an open Celestial Eye saw a black vapor coming out of these books. After we shredded the booklets, we immediately threw them into the trash bin. The captain of the platoon saw what we had done on the monitoring camera and came to ask who had led others to tear up the books. Every one of us replied in unison, "It was me." The captain was furious and claimed that she would fine each of us 50 Yuan.
After that, the prison guards used a new approach. When they saw us sitting in the same place all day long, they knew that we were reciting Falun Dafa books. So the disciplinary staff made us watch TV instead. Most of us refused to watch TV and rested our arms and upper bodies on the desk and sent forth righteous thoughts. Later I decided that instead of avoiding the TV programs, I should be impervious to them. After all, Teacher did teach us, "See as if see not------Neither confused nor tempted." ("In the Dao" from Hong Yin)
One time a love story was shown on TV. The female lead suffered from a similar misery as me. Her husband and her lover insulted her. I used to hate my husband for his abuse and violence. But this time I was not moved by the emotional content of the movie. I cultivate myself according to the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance, so the emotional content no longer stirred me up. I had become a different person because of Falun Dafa. On another occasion a war movie was shown on TV. When I saw a warrior shout, "Defend!" while charging towards his enemy, I was reminded of a passage of the Fa.
"... when someone comes to persecute the Fa, what should you, a disciple, a particle of Dafa, do? Shouldn't you let the truth be known and make people aware of the facts?" ("Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference" in Guiding the Voyage)
Right now the possessed evil people in China are persecuting Dafa, so we should step out and safeguard Dafa and defend Dafa's dignity. By doing so, we are being responsible for the sentient beings, and fulfilling our grand pledges. While we safeguard Dafa, we must comply with what our magnificent Teacher taught us. When I thought of my Fa-rectification responsibilities, a warm current ran through my body and helped reinforce my righteous thoughts. Although Mr. Lei Feng (a Chinese moral exemplar in the 1960's) was a role model for everyday people, his altruism portrayed in the film prompted me to look inward. If a non-practitioner such as Mr. Lei could attain such a high level of altruism, we Dafa practitioners must discipline ourselves with an even higher standard. After all, Teacher taught us,
"From now on, whatever you do, you should consider others first, so as to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism." ("Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature," Essentials for Further Advancement)
While the prison guards read out loud malicious articles in the newspaper, I learned to attain a realm described in one of Teacher's poems.
"Hear as if hear not------Mind not disturbed." ("In the Dao," Hong Yin)
Fellow practitioners were also trying to break through the staff's brainwashing efforts. The staff soon realized that their efforts were completely in vain, so they abandoned their ridiculous approach.
Because all of us persisted in reciting the Fa, we kept arriving at increasingly clear understandings of the nature of the persecution. Meanwhile, we also tried to help those fellow practitioners who had strayed from the road of cultivation to return to a righteous path. We clarified the truth to them while eliminating the evil spirits in other dimensions that had been manipulating their thoughts. With our help, those who had developed demonic interpretations of Dafa returned to the road of cultivation.
While the disciplinary guards could not comprehend how we managed to undo their brainwashing work, they became frustrated and enraged and locked up the determined Dafa practitioners in separate cells or "Small Cells." [A small cell is a room of less than three square meters. It has no window, bed, water, or toilet. A victim is locked in this cell for months, having to eat, sleep, and excrete in the same confined area. Since the height of the room is less than 1.5 meters, one cannot stand up. To exacerbate the agony, the guards often handcuff the victim to the cell door so the victim cannot sleep for many days.] At any given minute, the guards would arbitrarily take a determined Dafa practitioner to an isolated room for brutal torture.
One time an unknown Dafa practitioner who was a college student suddenly stood up after dinner and called out, "Falun Dafa is good!" The rest of us enthusiastically applauded her righteous action and echoed her calling, "Falun Dafa is good!" The prison guards hurried her out of the cafeteria with pushes and punches. Later we heard that she had been locked in a "Small Cell" and was subjected to horrid tortures. A prison guard used her case to openly slander Dafa in front of everyone. A fellow practitioner told the guard gravely that she had no right to insult Falun Dafa. Then I heard a disciplinary staff said, "You don't know what pain is!" This practitioner suddenly disappeared. Later I heard that the disciplinary staff locked the practitioner in a "Small Cell" for "contradicting the prison guard."
Several fellow practitioners and I exchanged our understandings of these cases in the Fa, and we decided that we should demand the release of our practitioner and should not tacitly accept the persecution of any of our fellow practitioners. Right at that moment, a lead disciplinary staff member came to monitor our cell. I asked her, "Where did you lock up our fellow practitioner?" She lied to us with a guilty look, "We didn't lock her up." Next, we immediately asked to speak to the captain of the platoon, and demanded that she release our fellow practitioner immediately. We told her clearly, "Her business is our business. Locking her up is like locking us up because we are one body. You have no reason to persecute Dafa practitioners." Intimidated by the mighty power of Dafa, the staff released her that evening. She told us she had been handcuffed to a heating pipe and forced to stand for an extended time. The disciplinary staff often subjected Dafa practitioners to this torture continuously for several days and nights. They would also subject practitioners to a form of humiliation called, "Demon shaving" where they purposely cut female Dafa practitioners' hair until it looked hideous. Sometimes they would shock practitioners with electric batons by placing an iron bucket over a practitioner's head. She was then stripped of her pants and forced to sit in a large basin of cold water, and shocked with electric batons.
There are countless other appalling methods used to torture Dafa practitioners in the forced labor camp. Anyone who has not personally experienced or witnessed the tortures would never be able to imagine the level of cruelty in these atrocious acts. Whenever their superiors or an inspection team came to the forced labor camp, the determined Dafa practitioners would be hidden away and kept under tight surveillance to prevent them from revealing the obscene criminal offenses they suffered. I can testify in court any time that everything about the forced labor camp portrayed on TV is nothing but lies.
It would take forever for me to describe each and every case of persecution that I witnessed and experienced in the forced labor camp. Fortunately I know in my heart that everything has a permanent record corresponding in other dimensions, so these atrocious instances of persecution must be recorded there too. These permanent records will serve as true evidence against the depraved disciplinary staff and prison guards who will surely go straight to hell when the Fa-rectification reaches the human realm.
Later, I was released from the forced labor camp unconditionally. As soon as I was outside the forced labor camp, I immediately started to clarify the truth to the sentient beings and offer them salvation.
For Part 1, please see
http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/1/12/44010.html
