(Minghui.org) I started to practice Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to persecute the spiritual practice. I would like to tell Master Li and my fellow practitioners about my cultivation experiences.
On July 19, 1999, an acquaintance introduced me to Falun Gong. At noon the following day, when I had just received a copy of Master’s teachings (Zhuan Falun)and video lectures, the CCP announced the ban on Falun Gong on every radio and television station and in every newspaper across the country. It was the beginning of the persecution of millions of innocent people!
I wondered: “What should I do? What is Falun Gong? Why is the CCP persecuting these people? How should I choose? Do I continue to practice it or not?”
Being a teacher, I turn to books to find answers when I encounter a problem. So I read Zhuan Falun from cover to cover. The book talks about prehistoric culture and asks practitioners to cultivate their minds and to be good by searching for reasons within themselves when they encounter problems.
This led me to firmly believe that Falun Gong is a righteous practice. So, the next day, I started to learn the five exercises from the videos. On the third day, July 22, I suddenly realized that I had forgotten to take my medications. Prior to this, I had been disease-ridden for a long time and had to take medicine every day just to survive.
Within only three days, I was very surprised that my stomachaches, cholecystitis, migraines, and hyperosteogeny that had afflicted me for more than 20 years had all disappeared. Even the hard lump in my stomach was gone. I felt relieved and energized. At that moment, I literally jumped for joy. Holding the book in my hands, I burst into a flood of tears and cried, “Oh, Master, you saved me! You gave me a second life!”
After that, I grew strong, I was able to do things a younger person could, and I was always energized.
I was the matriarch of a big family, essentially the “general manager.” During the holidays, there were 19 of us living together. I took care of all the arrangements and the housework. Sometimes I felt burned out, especially when I was overwhelmed by the burden of the family's finances. I couldn't sleep at night and was in tears. Why did I have to suffer so much? Whenever such miserable feelings inundated me, I always thought of what Master said:
“Due to karma resulting from past wrongdoing, one has illnesses or tribulations; suffering is repaying a karmic debt...” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
I came to understand that my suffering in this life was caused by the karma that I had accumulated in my previous lives, so I learned to find joy in hardship, studied the Fa regularly, and managed to have time to transcribe and recite Zhuan Falun. I often exchanged cultivation experiences with fellow practitioners. No matter how tired I was or how much I suffered, I had to do the three things that Master asks of us.
My husband had a bad temper and often got drunk. Everyone called him “the wine bottle.” When he didn't get his way, he became enraged and yelled at me. We often fought over trivial things. In April 2008, he suffered a stroke, which just added to my responsibilities. I had to give him massages, cook herbal medicine, and bathe and feed him every day. He often soiled his pants. Plus, he had bedsores, which often bled and oozed pus. The stench was disgusting. This went on for nine years.
During those nine years, I harbored resentment from time to time and thought that my husband had dragged me down. When I cleaned him up, he often lost his temper and yelled, “You're killing me!” Whenever I was close to losing control, Master’s words rang in my ears:
“Accordingly, in your future cultivation practice you will run into all kinds of tribulations. How can you practice cultivation without these hardships?” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
I, therefore, carried on and followed Master's teachings to rectify myself and readjust my attitude.
Once, when I returned home from a truth clarification activity, he told me that he had soiled his pants again. At that time, I was exhausted and got upset. When I was just about to burst out, I suddenly remembered that Master said, “...a practitioner must be tolerant.” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)
I endured the situation but was still upset inside. While I was cleaning him, I remembered what Master said:
“...also you should not resent that person in your heart. Really, you should not hate that person. If you hate that person, aren’t you upset? You have not followed forbearance. We practice Zhen-Shan-Ren, and you would have even less compassion so to speak of.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
I then completely understood the Dafa principle of “...suffering is repaying a karmic debt...” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun). I finally enlightened that my husband was providing me with opportunities to improve my xinxing. Didn't he provide me with the environment to repay the debts that I owed from my previous lives? Since then, I have eliminated the resentment toward my husband and no longer complain, regardless of how dirty or burdensome things are.
Over the years, I have been telling my husband the facts about Dafa, and he has benefited. In 2013, I first read Zhuan Falun to him. Later, he started to read it himself. He knows that this book teaches people to be good, and he also conducts himself according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
His temper gradually improved. He has been saying to himself, “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” morning and night and has recovered from his illnesses. This has allowed me to put more time into telling people the facts about the persecution.
After my eldest son read Zhuan Falun, he avoided injury after a rear-end collision. He crashed into the back of a big vehicle and his car was so badly damaged that the repair cost over 10,000 yuan. But he was unhurt. Bystanders remarked that it was miraculous and wondered if he had burned incense to a lofty bodhisattva.
On the 2007 Chinese New Year, my fourth son was on his motorcycle with his child on the back, when he turned into a curve and encountered a bus blocking the road. He did not have enough time to brake, and the motorcycle swerved. His child was thrown to the ground, and my son and the motorcycle slid under the bus. His chest and internal organs were injured, and he was taken to an emergency room. Later that night, the doctor told my family that he was in critical condition. We were frightened and in tears.
That evening, I asked my family to sincerely repeat, “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” We all knelt down in front of Master's picture and asked him to save my son. The next morning, the doctor noticed that my son had started to recover and was shocked. He suspected that he might have misdiagnosed him, so he gathered several doctors for a consultation, but still, everything was returning to normal. They thought it was miraculous.
Two weeks later, my son had completely recovered. At the time of his discharge, the attending physician said, “I have been a surgeon for more than 20 years, and I have never seen anyone recover as fast as this young man.”
This is actually what Master said: “...with one person practicing, the whole family benefits...” (“Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference in Australia”)
My whole family has benefited from Master’s Buddha-light illuminating everywhere!
After a discussion with a fellow practitioner, I decided to write letters to police and law enforcement officers as well as 610 Office personnel to tell them the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution. Once they understand, they can decide for themselves to refrain from participating in the persecution.
We have mailed more than 7,000 letters. We've also distributed informational materials in different marketplaces, which has helped to offer salvation to many people.
Later, we went into the mountains, where honest and kind people listened to the truth about Dafa. They were eager to quit the Party and its organizations. Some of them also asked for calendars, while others accepted paper currency with messages about Dafa printed on them. After we told one woman the facts, she told us that we were like long-lost relatives and insisted on inviting us to stay in her home for a few days. Another time, when an elderly woman listened to us explain the facts, she agreed to quit the Party and exclaimed, “I have finally found what's true.”