(Minghui.org) I was arrested and detained in a labor camp in 2004. Falun Gong practitioners who refused to give up their faith in the camp were detained in a strict management team, where they were tortured in a variety of ways, including being shocked with electric batons, given poisonous injections, being force-fed, hung by handcuffed wrists, and so on. We often heard practitioners screaming in pain from the torture. Words cannot describe how horrific that place was.
One day, a fellow practitioner in her thirties said, “Auntie I want to write 'Falun Dafa is good' on the wall.” In my heart I did not want her to write those words, but I soon realized this was due to my fear of being punished. What's wrong with writing “Falun Dafa is good” on the wall? I did not say anything.
She started to write on the wall when no one was watching. She chose to write on the wall behind my bed because it was closest to the cell entrance, and she probably thought it would be more eye-catching in that location. I was scared however, and put off by her actions. I thought, “Why didn't you write it behind your own bed?” But I stopped my negative thoughts. I knew she was doing this to defend Dafa, and that my thoughts stemmed from selfishness. I wanted to protect myself, and was afraid of being persecuted. Although I did not say a word, my heart was constantly filled with fear and resentment. I told myself to eliminate these thoughts.
The inmates assigned to watch over us returned after a while, and saw the words written on the wall. They immediately informed the guards. A group of guards and inmates ran to the cell and surrounded me. They shouted at me asking who wrote the slogan? It seemed as if they were going to torture me.
I was terrified and began to resent the practitioner who wrote the slogan. I thought, “You did this and yet you stood by watching the guards interrogate me without saying a word!” I tried to think rationally, “If she confessed that she wrote the slogan, the guards would punish her instead of me. How can I be so selfish? What am I afraid of? I haven't done anything wrong.” I eliminated these bad thoughts with strong righteous thoughts.
Just as I calmed down a little, another practitioner said to me as we were going to the toilet, “How can this practitioner be so irresponsible. She wrote the slogan yet did not say a word while you were being interrogated.” My resentment immediately surfaced. However I quickly realized her words were contrary to Dafa’s teachings. I decided to ignore what she said and not let it affect me.
I was questioned and yelled at by the guards for several hours, but they did not beat me. My mind was at peace. I said to them, “You've been interrogating me all day. Have you found any evidence that I wrote the slogan? Does it matter who wrote it? Is writing it against the law?”
In the end they decided to let the matter go and warned me not to do this again. Master said:
“If you are a true practitioner, our Falun will safeguard you. I am rooted in the universe. If anyone can harm you, he or she would be able to harm me. Put simply, that person would be able to harm this universe.” (Zhuan Falun)
The guards did not dare to touch me because I followed Master's teachings and acted like a true cultivator. If I had given into anger and turned in the other practitioner, it is quite possible that both of us would have been tortured to death.
Category: Improving Oneself
