On July 20, 2000, I went to Beijing to validate Dafa. The local police sent me back to my county's Law Enforcement Education Center and I then was transferred to a jail. I was jailed three times and detained five times in the center. Many people I have met, including policemen, the head of the police bureau, the director as well as prisoners, learnt the truth about Dafa from me.
While I was in jail, I suffered brutal tortures and inhuman treatments. The head of the jail, whose last name is Li and his nick-name is "Dog Li," was extremely cruel to Dafa practitioners. He openly instigated the death row inmates by saying, "Every cell listen up! As far as Falun Gong practitioners are concerned, you can relentlessly beat them to guarantee that each of them writes a pledge to no longer practice Falun Gong." He especially called the death row inmates and "cell leaders" to the office. Then, he personally planned the details how to punish, beat and threaten Dafa practitioners with deadly means, to force us to write "repentance letters." The cell leader ordered a death row inmate to spread coal cinders on the floor and lay down a stick; they made me kneel down on the stick. They hung a toilet barrel on my neck and poured in hot water to "steam me." In order to reach their goal, the police violated the rules and provided alcohol to the death row inmates, to "strengthen their guts." In the evening, a drunken death row inmate forced me to write a "pledge" letter. I refused, so he viciously beat me up. My face became deformed from the beating. The front of my chest was so painful that I could not turn over in my sleep. Because of the beating, I lost my hearing. My wife was also detained in the same jail. When she saw me and tried to speak to me, I could only reply to her with hand gestures.
This vicious person threatened me with death again. He strangled my throat with his hands and asked me if I still wanted to practice Falun Gong. I said yes. At that moment, my heart was firm. After seeing that I was not afraid of death, he finally said, "I was ordered to give you a lesson, but my situation was worse than yours. I am going to be executed by a firing squad. When I think of death, I feel scared. I admire your firmness."
When I was jailed for the third time, I told all the people in the jail about Falun Dafa - from the death row inmates to those sentenced to 15 years, from the cell leaders to 60 year-old elders. All of them heard Dafa of the universe in the darkest corner of the world. We went to Beijing twice and were put into the jail. While we showed our firmness to Dafa, we also showed the benevolence of a practitioner. Our benevolence touched the hearts of many prisoners.
The person who beat me the hardest was a rapist and killer. During my second time in jail, before I left, I gave him my new slippers, two packs of instant noodles and 10 Yuan RMB. All of our kindness melted many inmates' hearts. After an inmate, convicted of robbery, who was sentenced to 15 years, heard the principles of Falun Dafa, he was moved. He said, "What a wonderful teacher; I also want to learn this kind of exercises." In room #3, the leader and other inmates read the Teacher's "Lunyu" [the foreword in Zhuan Falun] and Hongyin every day. Six out of eleven inmates could do the five sets of exercises. When doing the sitting meditation, we formed two circles on a big bed and all could double-cross our legs. In the morning, when doing the movements, there were two rows behind me. I was jailed for 40 days here. When I was leaving, I told them that I hoped they could continue. The room leader and all other inmates were crying. These were not the ordinary tears. The tears showed benevolence still existed in their filthy minds.
After I was transferred back to the center, I opened my luggage and was surprised: I saw my wash cloth, tooth paste, tooth brush and toilet paper all being replaced by new ones by those inmates. Everyday people could not understand what the inmates did. This was the power of kindness and benevolence. With the universal principles of "Truth, Compassion, Tolerance," Dafa practitioners awaken the hearts of the people who still have some benevolence in their minds, and help anyone who could be helped.
The Teacher said, "I think you should, as a student, a cultivator, do these things from the perspective of benevolence as well. Inform people of the truth, tell them about it--this is also offering people salvation." [Teacher's Speech at the Western US Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference of Falun Dafa] When we were assimilating to this level of the Fa, the manifestation of the Fa appeared at the level of our understanding and we could really feel Dafa's power and the Teacher's benevolence inside our hearts.
In the illegal "Law Enforcement Education Center," the bureau head, the directors and policemen all were once deceived by the lies and had misunderstandings about Dafa. At one time, a director took Zhuan Falun away from a practitioner and threw it in a fire. Without any hesitation, I stepped up and blocked the flame with my body and took back the book from the fire without being concerned about the consequences. This action shocked the police and stopped the "evil." In this moment of righteously protecting Dafa, the director was scared, with his whole body trembling and his face becoming yellow. From then on, the director had a good feeling toward our detained Dafa practitioners and began to engage in positive conversations with Dafa practitioners. During these conversations, we learned that he used to believe in Buddhism and found that he was a rational and educated person. We gave Dafa materials to him and let him know the truth about Falun Dafa. One day the director looked for me and said, "I told others outside the jail that you are different from that described in the TV propaganda, you are good people, and I also passed the information in the Dafa materials to others. Can your master know what I did?" I said, "Yes. As long as a person has truth, compassion and tolerance residing in his heart, Buddhas, Daos and Gods will take care of him." This director himself sent me five confiscated Dafa books. During a conversation, the director and a police officer sincerely said to our Dafa practitioners, "Jiang Zemin ordered us to transform you. By contrast, you have transformed the party members and government officers like us. It is really unbelievable." Upon hearing this, I told them, "It was not I who transformed you, it was the benevolence of our Teacher. Our Teacher is saving you." The bureau head of the judicial system said, "Frankly, you all are good people."
Another day, a director called a fellow practitioner to have a talk. After entering the room, he saw a tape player on the desk with a tape inside. He was curious what it could be? Upon pressing the play button, he found that it was the Falun Gong exercise music. This practitioner understood the hint and suddenly became enlightened. From then on, we got up at 4 o'clock in the morning, stood in the middle of center's courtyard and formed three rows, openly doing the exercises together. We studied the Fa in the morning and afternoon; shared ideas and studied the Teacher's new articles in the evening. We, the practitioners in the midst of tribulations, have created a cultivation environment in the darkest place of the human world.
Submitted by a practitioner who just escaped from a jail and is in danger of returning home due to the crackdown.
March 20, 2001
