Thoughts and Righteous Actions

I am 65 years old. Having received encouragement and support from fellow practitioners, I have decided to share my experiences at a labour camp under the persecution over the past year. My level and understanding is limited, so please point out anything inappropriate.

Having had access to the "Minghui Weekly" newsletter during the early stages of the persecution, I read many articles written by practitioners from northeast China. The practitioners' unwavering righteous belief in Master and Dafa, and their compassion and tolerance explaining the facts to their abusers always moved me to tears. When I learned that many practitioners died from horrific torture, I despised the murderers and thought, "If I am ever in their position, I will follow in the footsteps of the practitioners who died, and I will never 'reform.' I will act like a true Dafa disciple."

As time went on, I studied the Fa more and realized that these thoughts were human notions and not based on the Fa. Nevertheless, I didn't truly get rid of that sense of hatred. I did not pay close attention while studying the Fa, and didn't compare myself with the Fa's standard, I held on to hatred, a show-off mentality and competitiveness. The old forces took advantage of my gaps, and that was why I was persecuted.

Gross Abuse and Mistreatment in a Brainwashing Centre

I was talking to the door guard at the Huaqingyuan Residential Area in Shilipu and offered him a copy of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, but he reported me to the police. Officers from Shilipu Police Station arrested and took me to the police station. Officers from Baqiao Police Department later took me to a different location to interrogate me. I thought, "Although these people are acting in a vicious manner, they should also be given a chance to be saved." So, I began telling them about the wonders of Falun Dafa, but they refused to listen and said in a menacing voice, "We know everything. We know more than you do." They then asked me, "What's your name? Where do you live?" I didn't tell them, and they punched and kicked me, but I still ignored them. Four days later, they sent me to the notorious Xian City Brainwashing Center in the Changan District.
When they asked for my name, I said in a loud and firm voice, "Falun Gong!" This frightened them so much that they left me alone for four days. Officers from Baqiao Police Department watched me during those four days. I later learned that the Baqiao police could not report to their superiors because the brainwashing centre refused to accept me. The Baqiao police left after four days, and a CCP monitor named An came to watch me. I advised her that she shouldn't make money by persecuting innocent, good people because she will receive karmic retribution in the future. In the end she said that she would find another job.
Two days later, monitor An left, and monitor Cui came. She demanded that I call her "teacher Cui," but I refused. Master's Fa principles encouraged me during those days, and I began doing the sitting meditation and sending righteous thoughts. One day, right after I had double-crossed my legs, someone grabbed my shoulders and shoved me to the ground. They proceeded to slap my face and head. I shouted, "Falun Dafa is good!" After a while, Cui pretended to pull the assailants away, and I saw for the first time that the aggressor was a man with dark skin and average height, around 40 years old. Five monitors were sent to watch me, and beatings became commonplace. They violently attacked me whenever they saw me doing the sitting meditation.

One night I was sitting in bed when Li Liang came with a dark-skinned man named Fu, a tall man named Gong and deputy group head Chu. The dark-skinned man grabbed me and threw me to the ground and screamed at me to stand up straight. He then dealt me a heavy blow. I fell backward onto the bed. He yanked me up, and four of them began beating me. I recited in my heart,

"A Great Enlightened Being does not fear hardship
Having forged an adamantine will
And with no attachment to living or dying
He walks the path of Fa-rectification openly and nobly"
("Righteous Thoughts and Righteous Actions")

When they got tired of beating me, they demanded to know, "Will you still practice?"

"Yes!" I said in a resounding voice, "Falun Dafa is good!" They pinned me to the bed and barbarically assaulted me. Strangely, I heard the crackling of their blows against my body but did not feel much pain. My face was never swollen. I knew Master was right there next to me, and he bore everything for me.

Li Liang came up with the most wicked ideas on how to torture me. I said to him, "Your violent methods don't even work on a non-cultivator, much less on me." He was furious and screamed, "I've never seen a stubborn old rag like you."

Li Liang had someone bring a metal chair. They forced me to sit in the chair, fixed my ankles onto two metal rings and my arms to a metal board. My feet were planted on a metal board, and my back was up against another metal board. They tied my shoulders to the back of the chair with ropes. By this time I could no longer straighten my back on my own. They tied a rope around my waist and tightened it around the back of the chair. It was November, and the weather was quite cold. Li Liang saw that I was wearing shoes. He ordered people to remove them and made me put my feet on the icy metal board. Then, four men beat my head, face and neck. I shouted, "Falun Dafa is good." I shouted until I was exhausted and they were tired. Li Liang refused to loosen me so I could use the restroom, as he wanted me to relieve myself in my pants. I sat there for two days without eating or drinking anything.

Remaining Unmoved to Eliminate Torment and Abuse

Once while doing forced labour at Division 3, I heard someone curse loudly. I looked up and saw a man of average height hitting and kicking someone. The person under attack didn't dare to move or strike back.

I was eventually taken to a women's labour camp. The detainees were forced to work feverishly. We were forbidden to speak without permission or to smile. If the head inmate, a drug addict, saw us smile at each other, she would lash out physically and abuse us verbally. When someone reported the head inmate's abuse to the division head, the latter would say, "You had it coming!" Or, the division head would beat the person who reported it. Division heads Zhang Yan, Guo Ni, Wang Gangyi and others often beat people. The detainees bribe the officials to avoid beatings. New arrivals are terrified. Officials in all the divisions work people to the bone. They often arbitrarily extend working hours. Though regular working hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., most of the time the workday ends at midnight, or even as late as 3:00 a.m. the next morning. I heard that the officials in the past made people work all night.

The labour camp packages drugs with unknown substances. For example, the same weight loss drug pills are put in eight different types of boxes and are given eight different prices, and are claimed to be first, second and third-generation drugs. Drugs treating erectile dysfunction are also given four different brands. The labour camp is a counterfeit drug factory, yet everything produced here was exempt from government inspection and taxes.

The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners is more severe. They barbarically assaulted practitioners Ms. Zhao Qiuya, Ms. Li Nige, Ms. Zhang Shaohua, Ms. Liang Yuli and others. They forced the practitioners to kneel on one knee, and deprived them of sleep for five days, handcuffed practitioners and hung them up, put practitioners in straight jackets and chained them. Many other cruel methods were used. Liang Yuli was locked in solitary confinement for a year, during which time she was prevented from speaking with anyone and was forbidden from using the restroom. The guards bombarded us with vicious propaganda and tortured us if we refused to write a guarantee statement.
Master said, "Just by having your heart unaffected you will be able to handle all situations." ("Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)", Essentials for Further Advancement II) Master also said that cultivators should not return a blow or a curse. I thought, "Go ahead and hit me, go ahead and spew venomous lies. I will not listen to you." I looked out the window. Guard Zhang Yan saw that I wasn't listening to her, and she snapped. She pounded her fists on the table and screamed, "Look at me! The division head is talking to you!" I only smiled and said, "Are you finished? I will never write guarantee statements, because I absolutely will continue to practice [Falun Gong]. I firmly believe in Master and Falun Dafa. The Communist Party is the single greatest evil cult in the world. How can I switch from such a righteous Falun Dafa to an evil cult like the Communist Party?"

Officials Guo Ni and Zhang Xueni came, but I ignored them. In the end they sent in collaborator Jing Xuehong. She said to me, "You are an old woman. Why are you asking for torture?" I interrupted her and said, "You will not live to my age." She asked, "Why?" I said, "Look at what you are doing! Blaspheming the Buddha Law will shorten your life." She walked around the room twice, left the room and never came back.

We were often compelled to stand outside the metal gate, for six hours at a time, and could barely walk afterwards. I kept sending righteous thoughts to negate the old forces' persecution and overcame the obstacles with Master's protection and help. I improved my xinxing (heart and mind nature/character) greatly, strengthened my belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and when I look back, the evildoers are nothing.

Explaining the Facts about Falun Gong and Saving Sentient Beings

The labour camp officials made us watch videos that slandered Dafa and coerced us to write essays attacking Dafa. I refused to watch or listen to them. One day a division head arrived and asked whether I understood the videos. I replied, "It's fabricated, and no one wants to listen to them! I pity the people who produced those videos, because they don't know what terrible crimes they are committing for a little bit of money! They will pay for everything in the future!" The division head turned around and left.

We were given a three-day break during the Chinese New Year. However, the head inmate removed the wooden boards from underneath our bedding on Chinese New Year's Day, leaving us without a bed or place to sit. The division head's office was right next door to us. Another courageous person [non-practitioner] and I sang the song, "Falun Dafa is good," among others. I taught her the lyrics, and then we recited Master's Hong Yin. We recited for an entire morning. The people locked in the cell across from ours loved our singing and gave us a thumbs-up and said, "Great songs!" The division head on duty never showed up. This was our New Year's celebration!

The labour camp once had a flag-raising ceremony, and fellow practitioners Chen Xiangmei and Zhao Qiuya refused to wear the prison uniforms or attend the ceremony. The officials savagely beat them. I was in solitary confinement and shouted, "Don't beat them!" The guards took them to Group 6. I heard later that they were handcuffed for five days. I felt awful and thought, "What can I do?" Suddenly, Master's words flashed across my mind, "Clarifying the truth is the master key." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference")

So I wrote an article that listed the Communist Party's crimes, including my personal experience with various purges, campaigns and persecutions by the Communist Party, and strongly protested the persecution of Dafa practitioners.

Guard Zhang Xueni asked me to have a conversation with her, but she kept screaming and wouldn't let me say anything. I refused to listen. She was very angry, demanding to know why I didn't listen to her. I said, "Why should I listen to you? Why do you not let me say anything?" She squeezed out two words, "OK, talk!" I explained the wonders of Falun Dafa, how the Communist Party spreads countless lies and persecutes good people, and how the heavens are destroying the Communist Party. Surprisingly, Zhang Xueni said, "I really hope the elimination in this world starts now, so I could save those useless words." She then let me go.

I wrote another article entitled, "The Labour Camp Has No Right to Handcuff Falun Gong Practitioners." The officials told me handcuffs and batons are sanctioned under special circumstances. I borrowed a copy of the labour re-education policies from an inmate and read it for a whole day. I then wrote an article to share my opinion. I didn't see anything in the policy book stating that batons and handcuffs could be used under any circumstances. To the contrary, the book said labour camp officials are forbidden to verbally or physically assault the detainees.

I dispelled the lies three times, verbally and in written form, and they could not refute me. In the end I told them, "I will not wear a prisoner's uniform or attend a flag-raising ceremony. You can do whatever you want with me." I had righteous thoughts, and because of Master's protection, I never wore a prisoner's uniform or attended a flag-raising ceremony.

I was taken to a cell in Group 3 in early April 2008. They made me work there. The inmates there are mostly drug addicts and people who committed minor offences. Everyone wanted to get out, because the officials tried their best to create terror. The guards encouraged them to monitor Falun Gong practitioners by promising sentence reductions. They forbade us from talking or doing exercises, but they couldn't control us.
Since I was there, I knew I must save predestined people there. I distributed the articles I had written among the inmates, and when they finish reading I talked to them and asked them to quit the Party. Most people did, which was about thirty of them. Once an inmate lost one of the articles. I immediately comforted her saying, "Don't worry, I wrote them for people to read. The person who picks it up also needs to be saved. I have an extra copy here." It turned out that a fellow practitioner had found it.

Gradually, the Dafa practitioners at the labour camp formed a whole body. Two practitioners had studied the Fa well and remembered many articles, so they wrote them down and passed them around. Later, when I worked in the reading room, I found a copy of Zhuan Falun. So, one practitioner took care of it and continuously copied it, so we could all study the book. All 14 practitioners were very happy. We improved as a whole body and used various methods to explain the facts and sent righteous thoughts at four set times each day. We encouraged each other and strengthened our righteous thoughts in Master and Dafa. We completely negated the old forces' arrangements and fulfilled our prehistoric vows.

The earthquake on May 12, 2008 affected our labour camp as well. The guards were the first ones to run downstairs to protect themselves, but after the earthquake they fabricated stories about guards sacrificing themselves to save others, and made us study those stories. They also said Falun Gong practitioners in Flushing, New York held a banner that read, "The Heavens Eliminate China." I was startled at first, but then I immediately realized it must have said, "The Heavens Eliminate the Chinese Communist Party." I said, "Director Chai, you are lying in public again! The banner must have said, 'The Heavens Eliminate the Chinese Communist Party.' China has 5,000 years of history. Many dynasties have risen and fallen." Chai immediately cut me off, saying, "We'll talk about that later. We won't discuss it here." He never talked to me again.

No matter what we do, Master is always right by us and he is always protecting us. He has done everything for us. What reason do we have not to do well with the three things (the Fa [the teachings of Falun Dafa], send forth righteous thoughts and clarify the truth about Falun Dafa and about the persecution to the world's people)? I will do better on the final leg of cultivation, and meet Master's expectations.