My Gratitude to Dafa

(Clearwisdom.net) I'm a 47-year-old woman from Northeast China, and I have practiced Falun Dafa for 12 years. Looking back over all the physical and mental changes I have experienced, I have so much gratitude to express.

I used to be very weak and was often sick. When I was just a child, my parents often took me to see doctors. I had headaches, lumbago, and felt discomfort over my entire body, but the doctors could not find what was wrong with me. There were many times when I had a fever at midnight, and my mother got out of bed and took me to the hospital. I remember the dogs barking along the pitch-dark road. For two consecutive winters, I was sick in bed and was unable to go to school.

When I was 13 years old, my father got sick and passed away within just a few months. My family was deeply affected by his death. My whole family of seven people were then dependent on my grandpa's meager wages. My grandpa often got sick and stayed in the hospital struggling for his life. My impoverished life and suffering from my illnesses made me feel inferior and become unsociable. I barely finished my college studies.

After I married and gave birth, my health became worse with the added pressures of life and work. I had stomach trouble, cholecystitis, and gynecological diseases, which made life unbearable for me. I tried both western medicine and Chinese medicine, but there was not much of an effect from them. When the stomach troubles bothered me most, I was only able to drink rice congee. When I swallowed food, I felt a rising pain along the path of the swallowed food. I felt I had reached the end of my life, and I decided to have an gastroscopic exam. In order to have a healthy body, I tried many exercises, including running, practicing taijiquan, practicing qigong, and so on. Having a healthy body was just a dream for me at that time.

My life took a turn in the spring of 1998, while Falun Gong was spreading quickly and widely in China. I went to an exercise site before the sun rose and wanted to give it a try. I was so surprised to learn that there were so many people practicing Falun Gong. At that time there were over 1000 people learning and practicing it in the small county capital where I lived, and there were many exercise sites. There was one practice site right near my home. I felt a deep impression several days after I went to the exercise site. It was harmonious and made me felt very comfortable. The assistants were very patient in their teaching the newcomers, and every day some new people came to learn the exercises. The assistants were the ones who volunteered to teach the newcomers.

Not long after I practiced Falun Gong, my body was cleansed. All the diseases disappeared, which made my family members really feel a sense of wonder about it. Gradually, after I practiced the exercises and read Zhuan Falun, I realized that in order to maintain good health we should try to be good people, be kind to people in any environment, think of others first when doing anything, and follow the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

I became more and more pleasant after I gained my health and was always in a good mood. I also became more optimistic at work. I looked inward instead of blaming others when students didn't listen to my lectures. I treated all students, regardless of whether they were excellent ones or tough ones, with understanding. The students in one class were widely regarded as hard to teach with a poor foundation. When I treated them with patience and kindness, several of them came to talk to me. They told me they also wanted to get good grades and be good students. They couldn't study well because of the poor foundation they had, for which they felt shame. They hoped I could help them. A survey was once conducted among all the students to see how much they were satisfied with their teachers. Among the six classes in the ninth grade that I taught, I was given very high marks, which surprised the other teachers who were teaching the same grade, "Wow, the students give you such high marks!"

I used to become stressed about loss and gain very much. It was difficult to deal with any loss of self-interests. Master said,

"If your life does not have something to begin with and you obtain what should belong to another person in society, you will owe that person a debt." (Lecture Two in Zhuan Falun)

Master also told me the principle of "You should pay your debt if you owe others." After learning about the relationship of loss and gain, I often reminded myself about it, and I was never interested in anything that did not belong to me. For example, I often kindly refused to accept "gifts" from students' parents. If I was unable to return them, I tried to compensate for them in other ways. I didn't do anything against my conscience even when no one else would know about it. The principal once asked me to manage the account with a restaurant. The restaurant owner wanted to give me the exchange as my commission but I refused without any hesitation.

Falun Dafa also resolved the resentment between my mother-in-law and me. I used to feel that my mother-in-law did not treat me fairly, and I had a rough relationship with her. This also led to an unpleasant relationship with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. I felt very depressed. Master said,

"Under all circumstances, we must be good and kind to others, not to mention to our family members. We should treat everyone in the same way. We must be good to our parents and children and be considerate of others in all respects. Such a heart is thus unselfish, and it is a heart of kindness and benevolence." (Lecture Six in Zhuan Falun)

I regretted my attitude towards my mother-in-law after learning Dafa. My mother-in-law had a hard life. She lost her husband a long time ago and raised her children by herself until they married and had their own children. As the younger generation, we should respect her and feel gratitude to her. How could we be so picky to blame her? I had a different feeling towards her when viewing things from her perspective. I began to treat my mother-in-law in a kindly manner, going often to see her and talking to her to make her happy. I did not become bothered and fight back when criticized by my sister-in-law. I became more open-minded.

When the Chinese Communist Party started to persecute Falun Gong, I read Zhuan Falun, and the principles of how to be a good person strengthened my belief. I will continue to practice Dafa and do better.