(Clearwisdom.net) Several other practitioners and I had loopholes, both as individuals and as a whole body, and the evil forces made use of these gaps. In July 2005, the authorities illegally arrested a number of practitioners, including me. They detained and persecuted us for no reason. Even though it only lasted about ten days, the righteous thoughts that we shared against the persecution shook heaven and earth. The battle between good and evil touched each one of us very deeply. We developed deeper understandings of righteous thoughts, righteous actions, not acknowledging the old forces, anti-persecution, and other issues. Master said,

This was demonstrated in this incident of standing firm against the persecution.

With the Power of Righteous Thoughts, Evil Collapses

One afternoon at the end of July 2005 we were sharing cultivation experiences at one practitioner's home. Without any evidence, officials arrested a number of us, using the excuse of a "Falun Gong activity." They put us in the local police station. The next afternoon they transferred us to the local detention center for an "administrative detention" of fifteen days on fabricated charges.

When we were entering the detention center gate, several guards told us to say, "Present." We said, "We are not criminals. We won't do it." At that moment, the sunny sky changed, and it started raining cats and dogs. The police guard shouted with anger, "If you don't say it, I will make you stand in the rain." All of us practitioners then started to send forth righteous thoughts together. None of us moved a bit. This situation continued for a while, and then they gave in. In an instant the guards had lost all their earlier bravado. They said, "We'll let you go in," and opened the gate. When we came to the first demarcation line, one guard again told us to say, "Present." I was in the front of the practitioners' group, and my heart started to waver. Another practitioner saw it and quickly pulled me back to the group. We still didn't say, "Present." The guard became annoyed and angry and closed the gate. We didn't move. A while later, the police station director who had delivered us there begged the guard, "If Falun Gong practitioners don't want to say 'Present,' it's all right. Just let them in." In this way, we passed all the demarcation lines without saying "Present." On the contrary, the guard's human side showed up, and the evil elements controlling him disappeared temporarily. In front of other inmates, he said with relative objectivity, "These Falun Gong practitioners haven't done anything or harmed anyone."

In the past, I had often heard some practitioners saying that such-and-such practitioner was unable to do it, or was not good enough. But in this battle of good and evil, I saw these practitioners' unyielding determination. At the same time, I saw my own loophole in this aspect.

An Incident of Saving Sentient Beings and Eliminating Evil

In the first two days of our detention, the evil manipulated the authorities and their collaborators to continuously attack Dafa and Dafa practitioners, using all the tricks they could muster. Sometimes, only one person attacked; other times, they all attacked. In the detention center in particular, Communist Party elements set up a so-called "simulated court." They used it to attack, torture, and act despicably against us. They had lost all rationality and normal thinking. They spoke vicious communist babble and spewed hatred towards Dafa from their very inner souls. It was my first time facing such a vicious scene. All the practitioners started to send forth righteous thoughts together. It seemed that sometimes the righteous thoughts worked, while other times they did not. At that moment, I had only one thought in mind: as long as the evil acts continued, we would keep up the righteous thoughts. After several hours, things started to turn around. I realized that it was not because our righteous thoughts didn't work. It was because the evil force in a certain scope had contracted to be here, and thus the evil continued to supplement its energy here. It made us feel that our righteous thoughts were not working. In fact, we can't just point righteous thoughts to a certain evil or use it to save ourselves. We should send forth the righteous thoughts from the standpoint of saving sentient beings, send it in a larger scope, and also to the root of the evil. After I shared this understanding with fellow practitioners, the evil's insane and rampant actions decreased dramatically.

Because the evil elements were eventually eliminated, the people who were controlled by them started to think rationally. They were able to understand and tell the difference between good and evil at its simplest, superficial level. Some of them later came to ask us to clarify the truth to them. Some people said that they wanted us to help them better understand Dafa when we were released. When they heard a female practitioner in the next room singing "Coming for You," they asked us to sing this song for them, too.

After this experience of using righteous thoughts to eliminate evil, I realized more deeply that sending forth righteous thoughts to eradicate evil is not only about clearing up a Dafa practitioner's own dimension, but also is one of the steps in saving sentient beings. Because when evil elements control a person, this person will not listen to any [Falun Gong] truth, and this may make a savable person walk towards self-destruction. It was the evil elements that caused them to commit crimes against Dafa.

Fellow Practitioners Clarified the Truth with Wisdom

When I was with fellow practitioners before the persecution began, they all looked like ordinary practitioners. It seemed that there was nothing special about them. This time when a group of us were detained, their wisdom in truth-clarification, compared to mine, was outstanding. It made no difference if the practitioner was from the countryside and lacked an education or had an advanced degree. They all had their own wisdom in truth-clarification, especially the two practitioners with degrees. These two used what they had learned or remembered from their education to initiate truth-clarification conversations with everyday people who were interested in those things. The results were good. Those who wanted to listen to the truth always asked them more questions. While the other practitioners clarified the truth, I sent forth righteous thoughts so that these people could listen to the truth with attention and focus. Before, I was not interested in knowing everyday things. Now I have realized that this information can be of use in truth-clarification to different people in different situations.

Standing Firm against the Persecution, Master Rescued Me

When I was supposed to be released from the detention center, the local 610 Office and local police station still refused to let me go. They intended to send me to the city brainwashing center. When my family kept asking them why, they said, "This is one of the regulations from the higher authority. When you get there, if you behave well, you can go home in a few days." I saw through those lying words right away, but I didn't know how to oppose the persecution. The car was on its way to the brainwashing center with me on board. It went on a really long route, and then the police found out that they had driven in the wrong direction. Therefore, it took a long time for us to reach the brainwashing center. During this trip, we stopped several times. I had two chances to escape, but I didn't choose the path of a homeless life. I was thinking about how to return home openly and nobly.

When we got to the brainwashing center, the idea of resisting the persecution formed in my mind, and I put it into action. While my family was arguing with the 610 officers, I asked permission to get a haircut and get something to eat. Using this chance, I decisively called my wife and officials in my former company. I briefly told them how the brainwashing center viciously persecutes practitioners. I firmly refused to go to that evil place, and I asked them to help me. After that, my wife quickly came to see me and demanded that the 610 Office release me. The 610 Office couldn't work it out and repeatedly asked their superiors for instructions, but got no results. The officers said I must go into the brainwashing class to have a "conversation" first, and, if I behaved well, they would release me immediately. I was taken to the so-called "help and education room," where I faced four or five individuals that were controlled by the evils specter of the Communist Party. They didn't allow anyone else to go into the room. At first, they pretended to be very nice. After I saw through this ploy, they immediately jumped up and attacked me verbally. Their insane behavior seemed as if they were about to shoot someone. However, this vicious atmosphere did not affect me, because my heart, which firmly believes in Dafa, didn't waver a bit. They shouted hysterically to compel me to say disrespectful things about Master and Dafa. They asked me to say "support the Chinese Communist Party" and other things.

This battle continued near half an hour. I only replied to several questions: "How did you get to know Falun Gong?" I talked about how my wife was sick in bed and how she was able to get up and take care of herself after practicing Falun Gong. "What do you think of Falun Gong?" I told them that Falun Gong exercises could help obtain good health. Falun Gong's principles taught a person to be an even better person among good people. I also told them that Falun Gong did not get involved in politics.

In addition, whoever jumped up and down the most, I would look directly into his eyes while sending forth righteous thoughts. They saw that my belief in Dafa was unshakable. One of them said, "You want to go home when you behave in such a fashion? You go upstairs (the bedroom of the brainwashing center)." At that time, I had only one thought in mind, "Master will decide my fate. Your decision doesn't count." I didn't think about going home at that time. My heart was calm and pure and had no fear. Suddenly, a "help and education" officer said, "Follow the office's instructions and release him immediately." Then, all the "help and education" officers' humanity appeared. They said, "We sympathize with Falun Gong. When you have time, we can drink tea together." Every one of them shook hands with me when I left.

On my way home, my heart understood what had happened. It was Master who rescued me from the evil. It was not the result of my family's help. It was only that in this incident, on the surface level, we complied with everyday people's way. Thinking of Master's infinite compassion, tears ran down my face. I couldn't hold them back. This feeling of gratitude towards Master was hard to describe. I can only cultivate diligently in Dafa in the future, and be a Dafa practitioner that Master doesn't need to worry about. That is what Master wants to see.