(Clearwisdom.net) The authorities once imprisoned me for practicing Falun Gong. When my practice situation became a little better and I was about to step forward to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa, I learned that my husband was suffering the cruel torture of being put in a solitary confinement "small cell"(1) in the prison where he had been illegally sentenced in 2002 for practicing Falun Gong.
Master taught us in "My Version of a 'Stick Wake-up'":
Some people have family members who have been imprisoned in the persecution and are being persecuted, and yet instead of hurrying up and working along with everyone else to resist the persecution, stop the persecution, and lessen the persecution of your family members, you're talking about things like "studying the Fa at home" and you're still full of complaints about everything that Dafa students are doing. Did you know that when the persecution of your family members who have been imprisoned is lessened or stopped, it's the result of Dafa disciples exposing and shocking the evil beings while braving evil and danger to take action against the persecution? When they get out, how will you bear to face them? What have you done for them?
Master's teaching woke me up. "I must take action against the persecution, and lessen the persecution of my fellow practitioners," I thought.
First, I called up the head of the prison district and asked about my husband's situation. "Nobody is allowed to see him while he is placed in solitary confinement," he replied.
A few days later, it was the visiting day at my husband's prison. In spite of the words of the prison head, I thought that as a Falun Dafa practitioner, I must not follow the old forces' arrangements, and I must go visit my husband. Then I took my elderly mother (a non-practitioner in her seventies) to the prison and we arrived on time. Because the prison officials were having a meeting, I waited patiently in front of the gate of the district prison and sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil factors in other dimension that persecuted practitioners.
After the meeting, the No. 2 head of the prison district came back first. As soon as he saw us, he asked, "Why are you here? Your husband is in solitary confinement so nobody can see him." I replied that I had come because I knew he was placed in confinement. "He recovered from his illnesses after practicing Falun Gong. Who will be accountable if he becomes sick again in solitary confinement?" Then the No. 1 head also arrived, and he led me to his office. I started to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa and told him about the ongoing persecution in the prison. At the same time, I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil behind him. "I can't make the decision. Let me talk to the prison director later," he said.
After returning home, I tried to find any human attachments in myself during this process. Then I called the associate prison director in charge of such matters. "My husband became a healthy person because of his practice of Falun Gong. But now he is placed in a special confinement cell that is dark, cold, and lacks sunshine all day long. If his health deteriorates in confinement, I will file a legal complaint against the responsible persons," I said. I also demanded that they release my husband immediately. Under my strong righteous thoughts, he promised to let me visit my husband.
Two days after this battle between good and evil, the prison authorities finally allowed me to visit my husband under the condition that I did not talk.
Seeing my husband lying on the cold concrete floor with his bare feet, being so cruelly persecuted, I cried in my heart. I asked him if he was all right. He was actually very weak, and his mouth had been injured by forced-feeding after he held a hunger strike to protest the persecution. Hearing our conversation, the guards came in to stop us and drove me out.
On the way back, I reiterated my demand to the prison authorities to release my husband immediately.
From then on, I went to the prison whenever I could. When I didn't have time, I called the prison and asked them about the result of my request.
One day, I was sharing experiences with other practitioners. One practitioner said, "If you look at the issue from outside, you wouldn't consider him so much as your husband, but rather, as your fellow practitioner. The main reason you go to the prison should be to clarify the truth. Does it matter where you do that?" Her sharing awoke me. Before, I didn't think of him as a fellow practitioner, but merely as my husband. Wasn't that human sentiment as well?
My xinxing improved as my thinking changed. On the way back home, I enlightened to the fact that the approach I took before was merely to lessen the persecution of my husband, without realizing that the persecutors themselves were pitiful because they did not know the truth. It is terribly sad that they will have to pay the price for the crimes they are committing today. I must take this as an opportunity to clarify the truth to those who don't know the truth yet, telling them that treating Dafa practitioners well will bring them happiness and good fortune, while those who persecute Dafa practitioners will face karmic retribution, and even harm their own families.
Once I genuinely thought of the persecutors from these angles, I saw how their inherent human quality would truly understand what I was saying and I saw them with compassion. The result of this approach was that the head of the prison district promised to ask the responsible people to release my husband.
Ten days after I learned about the confinement torture of my husband and took action against the persecution, my husband was finally released from the small cell despite the prison authorities' original plan to lock him up in solitary confinement for at least a month. During this period, I visited the prison four times and frequently called them.
Having successfully rescued my husband from the torture of solitary confinement was only the beginning of my battle against the persecution. It is our ultimate goal to set free all of our fellow practitioners who are illegally imprisoned.
I hope that more families of the imprisoned and persecuted Falun Dafa practitioners will join the efforts against the persecution. By doing so, we, as the families of the imprisoned practitioners, will be able to announce with pride, after our beloved ones come back home, that we have done what we are supposed to do.
My husband's release from the torture of solitary confinement was also due to the effort by overseas practitioners who have frequently made phone calls and clarified the truth to the prison authorities, and sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil forces in other dimensions. I am grateful to all my fellow practitioners for our effort as one body.
(1) "Small Cell" - The detainee is locked up in a very small cell alone. The guards handcuff practitioners with their hands behind their back in a fixed position, in which the practitioners can neither move nor lie down. The small cell is very damp and no sunshine comes in. Detainees have to urinate and defecate in the cell. Detainees locked in the "small cell" are only given half of a regular meal. During the night, rats are running around. The stench in the small cell is so bad that it is difficult to breathe.
