Coming Across Falun Gong Whilst Serving A Prison Sentence

Greetings, I am from Mainland China and I started to practise Falun Gong in 2004. Here I would like to tell of my amazing experience in coming into contact with Falun Gong to express my gratitude to Teacher for his benevolent grace.

Before becoming a practitioner, I was assisting my mother in her business since I was laid off from work. In the latter half of 2002, my mother took on a contract with a developer to build two houses. I assisted her in the management of the construction project. Later, there was a dispute with the developer which ended badly because I did not use the right approach to resolve the conflict. Instead, after the 2004 Lunar New Year, I contacted several hoodlums to teach the developer a lesson. The end result was that the developer was beaten up and seriously injured. Because of this I was arrested and jailed for almost a month. For the first ten days in prison I was very miserable. I was lost and surrounded by complete darkness. I felt it was better to be dead than to be alive. I cried everyday; the mental burden was unbearable.

On the 13th day of my sentence at around 11:00 p.m. someone else was confined to my cell. This was quite a coincidence, because the lady was my neighbour; she was also a Falun Gong practitioner. I knew very well why she was imprisoned in the cell with me. At that time, I hardly knew anything about Falun Dafa except the slander, lies and the Communist Party's propaganda on television. I was unimpressed and refused to accept her efforts to inform me about the persecution of Falun Gong and to expose the lies that my mind was saturated with. When she saw that I was unmoved, she started to recite the Falun Gong teachings (the Fa) and practise the exercises. I, on the other hand, was totally unimpressed. I spent my time chatting and playing cards with a young prostitute who also occupied our cell.

Two days later, the prostitute had served her term and was released and so the lady and I remained in the same cell. She continued to practise her exercises and recite the Fa while I was very stubborn and took up reading to pass the time. Two days went by. One night the light inside the cell suddenly stopped working. Since there was no one to fix it at night, I couldn't read my book. I lay there quietly, staring at the walls of the cell. This did not affect the lady, who passed her time meaningfully, either practising the exercises or reciting the Fa.

While reading can divert one's attention, under the circumstances, what could I do? I began to feel very uncomfortable. The more I thought, the more uncomfortable I became. I started to cry. The lady quickly came to comfort me, to talk to me, and keep me company. Since she was my neighbour, we knew each other; it was only because we had had very little opportunity to talk to each other. The lady began to comfort me using the principles from the Fa to soothe me. She chatted with me about our family, our working conditions, our everyday life, and the night passed well.

The next day, the maintenance person repaired the light. He checked the electrical circuit but couldn't find any fault with it, so he changed the light bulb, but every new bulb quickly shorted out. After three shorted, he didn't put in another. Without any light, reading was not possible for a second night. I spent the second night with the lady chatting again, and we gradually understood each other more and more. Slowly I came to realise the real truth of Falun Dafa. I came to know that "Falun Dafa is good!," "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance is good!" and that "Falun Dafa is the righteous Law!"

The reason I took up cultivation practice was because of an incident on the third night. Since the light was not fixed, the lady meditated while I idled with nothing to do. I became very curious as I watched her sit in the full lotus position meditating, and I asked her whether it was painful to sit like that. The lady replied that after several years of practise, it did not hurt anymore. Since she noticed that I was sitting on my bed with my legs crossed quite comfortably, she told me that I could skip the half lotus intermediate step and practise the full lotus position directly. She asked me to try and I asked her to help me pull my legs up. With a little assistance, I was sitting in a full lotus position. I didn't feel any pain. The lady also taught me how to conjoin my hands, close my eyes, and enter the state of tranquillity in meditation.

What a wonderful experience! In that split second, my mind completely blanked out. All the mental misery and suffering that had affected me for the previous ten days suddenly cleared up. I felt more relief that I had ever felt before. I found the lifelong life-saving prescription that I needed. I sent out a thought that I must practise cultivation to escape from the abyss of misery!

On the fourth morning, after I had understood everything, the maintenance man came to replace the light bulb, but without any repair, the light was burning perfectly! Although it felt very strange in the beginning, later I realised it was Master's thoughtful arrangement for the purpose of saving me, to enable me to understand the mighty power of the Fa, and to strengthen my determination to practise cultivation.

For the remaining ten days of my prison term, I spent the time reciting the Fa with the lady and learning the exercises. I also had the lady recite Zhuan Falun so I could hear it. After my release from prison, I started to study the Fa and practise the exercises by myself. I also joined the cultivation group in our region, clarified the truth to my friends and relatives, and sent forth righteous thoughts.

Because of my efforts and diligence, several of my relatives also started to practise Falun Gong. They are also clarifying the truth to save sentient beings. I am very happy and grateful. The time I spent in prison was completely worth it. This is the story of how I committed wrongdoings when I was lost but turned my life around by coiming to practise Falun Gong.