(Clearwisdom.net) The majority of prisoners in Jilin City Prison are long-term criminals. Because these people do not have the opportunity to contact the outside world, they know nothing about Falun Gong except for the lies spread by Jiang's faction. Thus, since 2002, when Falun Gong practitioners were sent to the prison to be persecuted one after another, the prisoners believed China Central Television's (CCTV) anti-Falun Gong propaganda. At the beginning, their view of Falun Gong practitioners was not rational. They discriminated, limited practitioners' freedom of movement, did not permit practitioners to contact other people, and verbally abused and mocked practitioners as outcasts. Some of them closely followed Jiang Zemin's group and acted as tools to persecute Falun Dafa practitioners. It was initially very difficult to break through this situation. But Dafa practitioners did not give up. We first paid attention to our image and actions: we paid attention to being consistent, we matched our words with deeds, were amiable and spoke to people in a friendly manner, and we did not compete for any personal gain. This manifestation of the goodness of Dafa moved the other prisoners and gradually, it generated favorable impressions in their minds. Then we told them that the practice of Falun Dafa requests us to act this way, gently guiding them to question their earlier misunderstanding of Dafa, and to develop a favorable impression of Dafa. The prisoners then realized that all Dafa practitioners are good people.
Then we talked about our lives and experiences, and let the prisoners know that Falun Dafa practitioners have wisdom and are not ignorant [as has been portrayed by CCTV]. For example, we told them that among Dafa practitioners there are many people who are very well educated. Many of them hold bachelors degrees; some even hold masters degrees and doctorate degrees; some of them are scientists, professors, writers, and officials at all levels. There are more than 120 military generals in our country practicing Falun Dafa. There are 100 million people in our country practicing Falun Dafa. There are practitioners in more than 60 countries worldwide practicing Falun Dafa. Therefore, Falun Dafa does not merely belong to China, but to the world. It is wrong that China bans Falun Gong. We told the prisoners it is Jiang Zemin who is really the one who is anti-humanity and anti-society.
We then told the prisoners the benefits of practicing Falun Gong: Falun Gong is one of the cultivation ways in the Buddha School; it cultivates the mind and body, rectifies the human heart and helps people value self-cultivation and the nurturing of virtues. Dafa practitioners have no interest in fame, fortune, or political power. This explanation eventually eliminated the misleading propaganda from Jiang Zemin's wicked group. We further told the prisoners the consequences of supporting or opposing Falun Dafa, and that whoever helps persecute Falun Dafa will meet his or her retribution.
In the process of breaking through the persecution environment and letting the prisoners know the truth, every step we took was related to Falun Dafa. Based on the prisoners' questions, we clarified the truth and exposed the Jiang regime's true colors: the deceit, the cover-ups, and how they mislead people. One example of this deceit is the Party's account of the April 25 incident (1), which was reported as "Falun Gong practitioners besiege Zhongnanhai." The prisoners came to understand that this was Jiang regime's plot, and its purpose was to build a foundation from which to ban Falun Gong. Concerning the "self-immolation in Tiananmen Square," we explained how this was a staged lie to defame Falun Gong. More terrible was the story from Masanjia Forced Labor Camp in Shenyang City, in which 18 female Dafa practitioners were stripped naked and thrown into cells with male prisoners. We explained how Dafa practitioners' family members were also brutally persecuted. In the face of such atrocities, how could Dafa practitioners remain indifferent! We must tell all people the truth about how we are being treated unjustly. The broadcasts by the television about Falun Gong are not true; they are pure fabrication, defamation, and deception. In order to ask for justice we appealed to the government but we were instead arrested and charged with going to Beijing to cause trouble.
We told them how a large number of police were utilized to abduct Falun Dafa practitioners and extort money from them. Falun Dafa practitioners' families have been broken up, yet this was fact was twisted around and used to slander practitioners, saying that the family breakups were a result of practicing Falun Dafa. Because we practitioners have no access to the mainstream media to tell our side of the story, we can only use our own truth-clarification materials to let people know the real story. However, for this we are arrested and sent to jail, and not allowed to hire an attorney.
When the prisoners came to understand that Falun Gong practitioners are good people and are being unjustly persecuted, they in turn told their relatives and friends. As a result, our environment in prison was changed, we were given more space in which to move around, and the limitations imposed on us were reduced. In defiance of the prison authorities, many awakened prisoners secretly carried and passed along Teacher's articles to us. Some also disclosed information of how the authorities were planning to persecute Falun Dafa practitioners in the prison. Now, some prisoners even dare to stand up and speak up for Falun Dafa practitioners. We seize every opportunity to spread Dafa, to awaken all people and to guide them to study Teacher's articles. Especially after Jiang Zemin stepped down, more and more people asked to study Dafa. Their bodies and minds underwent big changes as a result of their study. Formerly bad tempers have become mild, and the physical condition of many prisoners has improved; some of them were able to discard canes and experienced healing. There are also many people in prison who know that Falun Dafa is good, but who dare not study Falun Dafa out of fear of punishment by the prison authorities; but they indicated that they will study after being released (2).
Still, there were some prisoners who deeply believed Jiang Zemin and his gang's anti-Falun Gong propaganda. In order to gain small benefits in the prison system, they stubbornly insisted that the television's lies and propaganda were real. Therefore, when we were clarifying the truth, they would actively interrupt, scold us and say that we were evil. They did not believe the karmic relationship that good deeds and evil deeds meet their just return. One prisoner in particular did not believe that persecuting Falun Dafa would be bad for him, and acted willfully against practitioners. He tried to disrupt the people who had started to practice Falun Dafa, and viciously taunted them. This man was a tuberculosis patient, and he suddenly died within three hours after experiencing chest pains. This event warned all the prisoners. Those who originally did not believe that persecuting Falun Dafa would eliminate them were all shocked, afraid, and reconsidered if their own acts could also result in bad returns. Therefore, they worried that they themselves might end up with chest pains, and requested to go to the hospital to have a check-up or to take medication. More importantly, they indicated to practitioners that they would no longer oppose Falun Dafa. Some people changed their bad behavior, stopped beating and cursing others, and every day they asked Dafa practitioners to give them an evaluation of their behavior.
Notes:
(1) April 25, 1999: On this date ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners peacefully gathered outside the Zhongnanhai compound (China's central government building) and successfully appealed for the release of forty-five practitioners who had been illegally arrested in Tianjin City.
(2) The division of the prison that I was in has more than 500 people. Among them more than 20 people began practicing Falun Dafa. The subdivision of the prison that I was in has more than 130 people; 14 people started practicing Dafa, accounting for about 10% of the population in that area; 10 people indicated that they will study Dafa after being released.
