Only With Trust in Teacher Li and the Falun Gong Teachings Can We Overcome Tribulations

I began practising Falun Dafa in 1996. Over the past nine years of cultivating during the Fa-rectification, I have walked my path by placing my trust in Master and the Fa (Law or Principles, the teachings in Falun Gong). Although I have endured countless tribulations, I have firmly adhered to the Fa and therefore feel most fortunate.

"Falun Dafa is Good" Appears along the Street

On May 17th, 2001, I was detained by the local 610 Office (an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems) and the Public Security Bureau for 190 days, because I wrote to two Public Security Bureau chiefs concerning the truth of Falun Gong.

I was the only Falun Gong practitioner at the detention centre. I did not have Zhuan Falun or any other Falun Dafa books with me and thus I could only practise the exercises. I recited the introductory text to Zhuan Falun, Lunyu, and also "Hongyin," as I remembered them, for two months, which helped me overcome my loneliness. On July 12th, seven more practitioners were brought in. In the morning of the 13th, the eight of us and another practitioner from a neighbouring detention centre were taken to a truck. Although it was raining, we were forced onto the back of three trucks. Our hands were shackled to the side of the truck. Our waists were tied with ropes to the truck rails as well. There were a dozen police officers in each vehicle. The motorcade drove around the area for over three hours. All the Falun Gong practitioners, including myself were drenched. The police officers wore raincoats.

The motorcade drove to four coal mines and stopped at each one for twenty minutes. They used loudspeakers, pointed at and named the practitioners in turn and defamed us. Two practitioners shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!" Therefore, they were beaten and made to squat the rest of the way. The police even used tape to seal their mouths. Other practitioners continued to clarify the truth to the police. The following day, posters with the words, "Falun Dafa is good," were posted on the walls along a street of one of the coal mines. Everybody declared that Falun Gong was remarkable.

Studying and Validating the Falun Gong Teachings in Detention

After having endured the public humiliation, the practitioners were locked up together in one of the cells. One practitioner had with her a pocket-sized Zhuan Falun and all of Master's articles. We were moved to tears. We studied the Fa every day. Each morning and afternoon we read one lecture. We sent forth righteous thoughts every hour and did the standing exercises at five in the morning.

We also used the rest of the time to tell the other inmates about the truth of Falun Gong. Five days later, five practitioners were sent to a forced labour camp. They left behind Master's articles and the book. Then we resumed our group study. Those who could recite Hongyin wrote down all of the poems for us to read. When we had the Fa in our hearts, the police could not take it away from us. Whenever we had an opportunity, we would talk to the guards about the truth of Falun Gong. Through experience sharing and study, our state of mind gradually improved and our environment also improved. The two practitioners who had previously written "guarantee letters" let go of their fear and issued statements negating the guarantee letters.

In addition to sending forth righteous thoughts and studying the Fa, we also began to recite teacher's articles. During the morning rest hours, we did the standing exercises. The guards who understood the truth just looked the other way. Some inmates even did the exercises with us. As we had been detained for a few months, longer than was legally allowed, we talked to the head of the camp and demanded our release, but were refused.

While our fellow practitioners were outside validating the Fa, we were imprisoned. What should we do? Some practitioner suggested that we write words on the walls. We all agreed, so we used pieces of cement blocks to write on the wall, "Falun Dafa is good," and "It's not a crime to believe in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." On the fifth day, we had written about 500 statements on the wall. Some inmates notified the prison director, who was furious. At 5 p.m. in the afternoon, they called us to a room and asked who did it. He said, "People get arrested if they do this outside, how dare you do it here? You have to erase them by 7 p.m. or I will have the male inmates make you lick them clean."

We locked our arms together and said to him, "The limit for detention is 45 days. You have gone over the limit. You are breaking the law. Why don't you release us? We will not erase them." He said that he had no control over this and that we should appeal to the higher authorities. He then slapped my face and kicked another practitioner before he walked away, fuming.

The following morning, the inmates erased the words on the wall. The practitioners were separated and detained in three cells. Each room had a guard. We could only copy Master's article onto paper to read and study. We could not disclose where the originals were. I was reciting the article "Clearheadedness" and read, "Any work in Dafa is intended for people to obtain the Fa and for disciples to improve themselves. Anything other than these two points is meaningless." ("Clearheadedness" from Essentials For Further Advancement)

I thought to myself, we had some Falun Dafa books, but we could not read them and other practitioners also longed to study the Fa. What could I do? In my cell, there were three practitioners and the guard was sympathetic. She read Hong Yin sometimes and she wanted me to copy Lunyu for her as well. So I decided to copy the articles. The other practitioners all agreed. But we did not have any paper. A practitioner took out some high quality tissue paper and I started to copy at night. It was October and cold. But as soon as I started copying, I forgot about anything until midnight. On the second day, with the help of other practitioners, I continued to copy while on my stomach in bed. Other than the rest time and eating time, I spent every minute copying. It took me three nights to finish copying the first lecture and I gave it to the other practitioners in another cell. They were really grateful.

Half-way through the second lecture, interference came. Some guards came to search our cell. We hid the books and articles on our bodies and continued to send forth righteous thoughts. With righteous thoughts, the female guard only required us to open our pockets. All three cells were searched from top to bottom. But they only found a ballpoint pen. We enlightened to the fact that the search targeted our copying the books and that it was interference from other dimensions. However, as we continued to recite the Fa and maintained righteous thoughts, the evil failed. After that, I continued to copy for another three days. Then I was out of ink. One day later, I asked for a pen from the guards. When I finished Lecture 3, I ran out of ink and paper. Then some family members brought in several items including some pens and a notepad. One female inmate and two male inmates who were sympathetic to the practitioners found us some more paper. It took me seventeen days to finish copying the nine lectures of Zhuan Falun.

It was a process of improving my heart and an opportunity for me to study the Fa, as well as a process of cooperating as one body. Some practitioners were responsible for binding the pages; some brought food, washed my bowls and my clothes. My back ached and my hands were numb from the copying. At night, after I only had a bowl of rice porridge and some pickles to eat, my stomach grumbled. However, I remembered Master Li's words and I felt much better. Then, other practitioners proofread what I had copied. I had done a good job, as I was copying with a calm mind. There were not that many mistakes. So then all three cells had three lectures and each practitioner could have one lecture.

The Evil Failed to Persecute Us When We Had Strong Righteous Thoughts

On November 26th, 2001, five days after I had finished copying and proofreading Zhuan Falun, several police officers and an associate said that they would take me home. I was not deceived. I hid my copy of Zhuan Falun on me. It turned out that they were trying to deceive me. As soon as I sat in the police vehicle, I sent forth righteous thoughts and clarified the truth to them. I told them that I wanted to go home.

First I was taken to the city's forced labour camp. They did not admit me because they don't take females. Then they took me to the female forced labour camp, where I was not taken as well, because I had high blood pressure. After that, they took me to another detention centre, which also did not take me. In the end, they took me to the police station and called my family to pick me up. After I returned home, I went to Tiananmen Square to lawfully and peacefully appeal for a sop to the persecution against Falun Dafa.

After Master's newest article was published ("Turning the Wheel Towards the Human World"), I realised that, although I had not paid any party membership fees for quite awhile, and I am no longer a member of the Chinese Communist Party, I still should issue a statement to renounce my party membership, so I did.

I am 61 years old. I only had one year of junior high school and began to work at the age of 16. I was not confident enough to write to minghui.ca (Minghui is the Chinese version of the Falun Gong website, Clearwisdom.net). But, I was inspired by the Minghui articles under the subject of "Righteous Thoughts & Righteous Actions," so I decided to write. Please, kindly point out anything inappropriate.