(Minghui.org) My mother, a Buddhist, passed away while meditating some time ago. She visited me in my dreams one night and told me that she was living pleasantly on a mountain covered with peach blossoms. She also told me that if I cultivated diligently, I would join her in heaven when the time came. I thought of how should I start? I wondered what my mother had meant by cultivation.
When my mother was alive, she would frequently visit temples to pray. That must be what she meant, I thought. I went to visit various temples to pray. Eventually, though, I realized that all along I was continuing to struggle in finding a way to cultivate and return to heaven.
A Falun Dafa practitioner came to my village in 1997 and introduced the practice to a group of us. When I saw Master Li’s photo (the founder), I teared up, immediately knowing that he was here to save me.
I began to regularly study Falun Dafa and diligently practice the exercises. At the time, there was only one copy of Zhuan Falun (the main teachings of the practice) and one videotape with the exercise instructions in our village, so we all would study the Fa and do the exercises together.
I had frequently felt unpleasant, with cold sensations within my body. However, as soon as I began to practice Falun Dafa, these symptoms disappeared. After about three months, my various other health issues, such as stomach ulcers, dizziness, and lumbar fractures, all disappeared. In general, I felt very relaxed and energetic as if somebody was pushing me as I rode a bicycle. The phenomena I was experiencing were described as natural in Zhuan Falun and I was now reaping the benefits. I was really grateful, and my confidence in Falun Dafa was strengthened even further.
I finally got my own personal copy of Zhuan Falun and audiotapes of Master's lectures in August 1998. However, since I was illiterate, I was unable to immediately read Zhuan Falun, so I knelt in front of Master's photo and asked him to help me read. During the day, I would ask other practitioners to read to me. In the evening, I would listen to my audiotapes. Eventually, the characters in Zhuan Falun began to shine when I looked at them. Within a few months, I was able to read the entire book and also memorized Hong Yin. My family, my fellow practitioners, and I were all able to witness the power of Falun Dafa.
Master said,
“Study the Fa and gain the Fa,Focus on how you study and cultivate,Let each and every thingbe measured against the Fa.Only then, with that,is it actually cultivation.” (“Solid Cultivation” in Hong Yin)
I was aligning myself closer to the principles of Falun Dafa. In the past, I would hate anyone who would bully me. After I became a Dafa practitioner, I realized that it was all due to karmic relationships that I was occasionally mistreated by certain people. My feelings of resentment disappeared, and in turn, my relationships with others became much more pleasant. I was also able to stay calmer whenever my husband would become impatient with me.
Seeing the benefits of Falun Dafa prompted people around to me to begin practicing as well. My son soon became dedicated and read the lectures and did the exercises along with me. After he began practicing, he introduced Falun Dafa to even more people, eventually organizing a small group with three other young people to regularly meet and study the Fa.
When the communist regime started persecuting Falun Dafa in July of 1999, my son and I started talking to people about the facts of Falun Dafa.
My son was arrested in June 2001. He was detained and tortured for more than 50 days. He came home severely bruised. Once he was home, the police would come to our house to harass him. My son was left with no choice but to move away from home.
My son was posting Falun Dafa stickers in January 2002 when he was arrested again. This time they took him away to a labor camp, where he ultimately stayed for two years. At the camp, my son was forced to squat in an iron cage while tied to a bed, scorched in the sun for long periods of time during the hot summer, had ice water poured on his head during the cold winter, and regularly performed difficult manual labor. When he was released, his time at the camp had clearly taken its toll, as he was in a poor physical condition.
He was arrested for the third time in March 2007 He was tortured for twenty days before he was taken to another labor camp for two more years, where he decided to go on a hunger strike to protest all the injustice.
Despite being arrested so many times, my son is safe and sound with Master's blessing. Like my son, I was also harassed and persecuted for practicing Falun Dafa publicly. However, I understand that Falun Dafa practitioners must be diligent no matter how severe the persecution we face is.
When my son had moved away from me, the police would regularly come to look for him. They installed a surveillance camera outside of my house and arranged for people to monitor the residence. Whenever I had visitors, such as my daughter, the police would thoroughly ransack my belongings. My relatives and neighbors did not understand what was going on, and to make matters worse, my husband would often yell at me. As I patiently endured these hardships, I remembered what Master had said:
“Reaching Consummation, obtaining Buddha’s Fruit,Eating bitterness treated as joy.Toiling the body does not count as bitterness,Cultivating the heart is most agonizing.Each and every barrier must be broken through,Here and there, demons are everywhere.A hundred hardships falling all at once,See how one lives.Able to endure suffering in the world,Transcending the world, is a Buddha.” (“Tempering One’s Heart and Will” in Hong Yin)
I realized that the harder the situation is, the more we should study the Fa and stay diligent in doing the things required. I delivered Falun Dafa materials to practitioners in other villages and regularly talked to people about Dafa.
I was abducted in November 2008 and taken to the Xianyang Brainwashing Center. I was constantly forced to watch videos that slandered Master and Falun Dafa. I told my captors that it was a crime to do these things. I remained diligent and was released after spending twenty-six days at the detention facility.
My son and I sued Jiang Zemin in 2015 to combat the persecution we had faced.
Over my twenty years as a Falun Dafa practitioner, I realized that as long as we believe in Falun Dafa and remain diligent, our wisdom and abilities will improve, so that we can return to our true home.