(Minghui.org) I began practicing Falun Dafa in 1994. I was very fortunate to have attended Teacher's class twice back in those days. I witnessed Dafa's miracles, which changed my attitude from not believing to half accepting, then finally to fully affirming that Dafa is remarkable. For the past 24 years, my experiences have attested to the majestic nature and grandeur of Dafa.
Over this long period of time, I have also undergone various forms of torture while I was illegally arrested and imprisoned due to the persecution of Falun Dafa. I was sent to forced labor camps and fired from my workplace only because I am a Dafa practitioner. The brutalities of the persecution led to a broken home. All of this suffering was caused by the Chinese regime's former head Jiang Zemin and his clique.
Despite the difficult moments, Teacher's smile was always on my mind, and this encouraged me to continue my cultivation journey. I would like to write down these unforgettable experiences as a way of commemorating those precious moments.
Before practicing Dafa, I was very weak. I had all kinds of illnesses, including rheumatoid arthritis, gout, nerve terminal inflammation, cervical spondylosis, supraspinal ligamentitis, osteoporosis, irregular heartbeat, a chronic lumbar sprain, hemorrhoids, to name some of them.
The rheumatoid factor in my blood test results was 1250 (the normal value is below 500). The doctor told me that I would become disabled within six months.
My joints were so painful that I couldn't fall sleep until three or four in the morning. Medicine didn't help. The supraspinal ligamentitis and the chronic lumbar sprain were particularly serious; I dared not bend over. If I needed to pick up a small board, my boss had to arrange someone to do it for me.
I was a weekly patient at the hospital. I once went to see a specialist at Tianjin Osteopathic Hospital for my suspected osteomyelitis. My colleague who went with me said, "Why is your bone like honeycomb?" The pain was persistent and unbearable.
In 1994, I went to see a friend who happened to have a visitor at his house. The visitor said, "China has an outstanding Qigong Master!” His description of Master caught my attention. That is exactly the kind of person I'd been looking for! Very excitedly, I said I wanted to learn too! The person said, "Okay, let me get you a ticket to his seminar."
We took the train overnight to attend the class. The next morning, I suddenly realized that my joints were not painful at all, although I had worked the whole day prior and then sat on a hard seat on the train for the whole night. In fact, it seemed that all the pain in my body was gone. My body felt light. It was a very comfortable feeling.
My friend said, "Teacher is taking care of you now!" I glanced at him. "It's inconceivable!" I thought. But this was a real occurrence, and unlike anything I had experienced before. I really didn't understand how it happened.
The classes took place in the auditorium at Jilin University. I attended the day class, which had about 2,000 people, and there was an evening class too. I still remember that many other qigong classes were also conducted there by other qigong schools. Falun Gong charged the least; new students paid 50 yuan for a 10-day class, and veteran students paid 25 yuan. I had taken a lot of money with me, but I spent so little.
The day that the lectures were to start, many people were waiting in a field. Opposite the field was an iron fence. I leaned against the fence watching some practitioners teach people how to do the sitting meditation. Their hand movements were so beautiful! I wanted to learn too.
At that moment, someone called out, "Teacher is coming!" My head was spinning and everything around me was spinning too. I felt like I was falling, so I leaned against the fence behind me for support. It was an unforgettable moment! I looked up and saw clouds swirling counter-clockwise. The sky seemed to be turning too. It was like I was waking up from a dream, not knowing what the experience was like. I felt like I was on the right side of the sky, but I forgot what had happened there. The only thing I remembered was that the location had something to do with me.
I thought to myself, something very big was about to happen. It must be an earthquake! I went up to my friend who had come with me. I said, "Bad news! Earthquake!" He laughed and said, "My abdomen has started spinning." He meant that Teacher had already arrived, and it was the Falun wheel that was turning. It seemed that I understood, but I didn't. It wasn't until years later that I understood that when Teacher arrives, the whole universe would be shocked. The scenario that I just described was very real. Looking back now, I still remember it vividly.
Teacher's car arrived. I saw Teacher step out of the car; he was such a lofty, tall and sturdy-looking man. He appeared to be so kind and easy going. Teacher smiled and shook hands with practitioners. I watched from a distance then extended my hand and wanted to shake his. Unexpectedly, Teacher leaned over and reached out to me. His hand was soft and warm. I was overwhelmed with joy.
I walked into the lecture hall. The minute I sat down I felt a breeze, which made me very comfortable. It was like a big hand waving in front of me. I looked around to try to see where it came from. I thought it must be from a fan. But there was no fan to be found. I was taking a course about interior design at the time, so how the fan was designed and where it was installed was really of interest to me. My friend asked me what I was looking for. I said, “Where does the breeze come from? Where did they put the fan?” He said, “That's Teacher's Fa power!” As a new practitioner, I looked at him with bewilderment.
Teacher started lecturing. The lecture was awesome! I was excited and felt like I was being renewed. When Teacher talked about prehistoric culture, it seemed like a skylight had been opened in the sky. “So, that was how it was!” I told myself.
During the lecture, I learned that humans had been through huge disasters one batch after another, and we weren't the first batch of humans that had lived here. I really enjoyed when Teacher spoke about Dafa's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I felt regret for hearing this so late in life. I had felt that I was a very good person before, but after the lecture I realized that I did not behave according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance at all. I was totally absorbed in the lecture.
The next day I had an interesting dream. Well, it didn't feel like a dream because it was like I saw everything with my naked eyes.
In the dream, there was a blue sky, but the blue wasn't like what we see in the human world. It was lubricated and transparent, just like wax drips on a burnt candle. Looking at it from a distance, it was yellowish green, very beautiful.
Beneath the sky, verdant hills were packed with trees. The trees were so tall that they seemed to touch the sky. There I was, standing atop one hill and drawing a line to connect all the hill tops. I thought, “Which hill is the highest?” But before I found the answer, the dream was over.
I told a practitioner about the dream. He said that I had entered another dimension. I thought to myself, “Were there really other dimensions? Was this real?” Yet things in the dream were so clear! This experience had a big impact on me.
It turned out that Teacher was lecturing about the celestial eye the same day. I immediately understood.
When Teacher taught us the standing exercises, I felt the Falun spinning between my arms!
On the third day, Teacher was purifying practitioners' bodies by telling us to stomp the left foot then the right according to his directions. He said, “When I say 'go,' you start.” At the time, my brain was reviewing what Teacher had said, so I thought he said to go. “Thump!” I went ahead. A few people copied me. With a lot of patience, Teacher said, “Good. Let's go again. When I say 'go,' then you start.” Oh, I realized that the process hadn't begun yet. Teacher's tone and kindness really left a deep impression on me.
Soon after the third day of listening to the lectures, my appetite started to improve. I had hardly been able to finish half of a bowl of congee before, and now I could eat two big steamed buns, a large bowl of congee, as well as three panfried dumplings. I had endless energy!
An elderly man was sitting in front of me. He looked as if he was half paralyzed. Someone had accompanied him each day to the lecture hall.
One day after class, he was sitting on a step at the front. Teacher came over and said softly to him, “You may get up,” motioning with his hand. The elderly man, wobbly, stood up using his hands to push himself up. Teacher said, "You may walk a few steps." The man started walking slowly. Then his speed got faster and faster. Finally he finished walking in a complete circle with steady steps. Everyone watched with amazement. "Bravo!" The audience got excited and clapped! I couldn't believe what I saw!
The extraordinary magic of Dafa exceeds human knowledge. Indeed, only after one learns Dafa would one understand that. I gradually learned that there are microscopic substances in the gong that can easily change the molecules at the surface level.
One day after class, I left the lecture hall late. Teacher walked over and there were three or four practitioners around him. A practitioner wanted to have an autograph from Teacher and handed to him the book entitled Falun Gong. Teacher wrote a poem in the book that was subsequently published in Hong Yin. I followed the practitioner and also asked for an autograph. Teacher signed and dated my book. I later realized that I should not have done that. Teacher was kind and understanding, so he signed it anyway.
Gradually, I grasped the essence of the lectures. I came to understand that human beings need to return to their true selves. Each time I listened to the lectures, tears filled my eyes, then rolled down my cheeks, like beads from a broken thread. Sometimes, the tears came because I felt touched and other times the tears seemed to fall by themselves.
On the last day of the lecture series, Teacher was preparing to answer practitioners' questions. I brought out a paper and a pen. I wanted to ask Teacher what enduring the toughest hardships meant. But I changed my mind. Hardships were just hardships. Don't ask. Figure it out by yourself, I told myself.
Suddenly, Teacher changed the topic and said, "What's enduring the toughest hardships?" He talked in detail and explained it very clearly, as if he was saying this to me. I thought, “Did Teacher answer my question?” I later understood that Teacher knew exactly what each of one us was thinking.
When the classes were finished, Teacher told practitioners over and over again, “You have to truly put cultivation into practice.” There were many other things that Teacher talked about. Finally, I reluctantly stepped out of the lecture hall.
Since then, my life philosophy changed. Yet, at the same time, I didn't feel that I had completely grasped the concepts. I suggested to a practitioner, “Let's follow Teacher! I still want to learn!” He replied, “Teacher will come to our hometown soon. Let's wait.” But I did not want to wait. I said, “I must find a way to listen to the lectures one more time!” I later understood that this was my true thought. Indeed, the wish was granted and I listened to the lectures in person one more time.
Two months later, I attended Teacher's lectures in Dalian. Sitting in front of me was a little girl, maybe 4 or 5 years old, who had come with her parents. She fell asleep when Teacher was lecturing. I then saw a tiny ball, like a sapphire jewel, drifting over from Teacher's direction. It was shiny, rotating by itself and about 4 inches in diameter. When it reached the girl's head, it stopped. Swish, it went into the girl's head. Then swish it came out. It went in and out three times, then drifted back to the stage where Teacher was. I saw everything with my eyes! This was how the Falun purified the girl's body.
Another magical thing was that for several days in a row, before the lecture started it looked as if it would rain. But it actually didn't rain. Yet when the class was over, we found that the ground was wet, which meant that it did rain. None of us got caught in the rain. It was compassionate Teacher who protected all of us!
One day, we heard a car horn outside. Teacher asked someone to go check was it was about. Then it honked again. It was very loud. This time, I noticed that Teacher made a subtle action by moving his hands down slightly. The loud noise stopped. It was so marvelous! No more honking! It was exactly how Teacher said in Zhuan Falun,
“As a person sits there, without moving his hands or feet, he is able to do what others cannot do even with their hands and feet ...”
During this round of lectures, I could vaguely feel that Teacher was lecturing to beings at different levels. It sometimes seemed that I could see them, but sometimes I couldn't. When Teacher talked about the placement of the mysterious pass, I understood that another body could be formed when we cultivate. I also understood a bit more deeply about the heavenly circuit and some other Fa principles. More and more, I realized the seriousness of cultivation. The more I came to understand, the more precious the Fa became.
From then on, I read Falun Gong every day. I carried the book everywhere I went. I read it countless times. I also wrote down Teacher's words and pasted them on the wall, as a way to remember them. I especially liked to do the sitting meditation. My mind and body underwent tremendous changes.
When I returned from the series of lectures, I had rosy cheeks and endless energy. It was like I had been renewed. A colleague's jaw dropped when he saw me.
Once, they distributed rice at my work unit. Each bag was more than 200 pounds. It was so heavy that even a young fellow struggled to carry it. I volunteered to help him. Astonished, my manager asked, "You can carry it?" He was shocked because I could not lift even small objects before. I said, "Sure. It would take him too long to carry all these bags." I went in and out three times helping him move the bags.
This news spread quickly through my work unit. Soon everyone knew about my newfound health. Then many colleagues, including managers from different divisions, came over and wanted to learn Falun Gong. At one time, more than half of the people at work joined me. Some saw Falun, some saw beautiful scenes in other dimensions, and some were able to enter tranquility when they did the sitting meditation. Some became illness free very quickly.
We had the general meeting (for Communist Party members) one day, and the secretary said jokingly, "Are we having a general meeting or a Falun Gong meeting?" Half of the staff at the general meeting were Falun Gong practitioners and each was wearing a Falun badge on their chest!
At that time, I looked younger than I did in photos from 10 years earlier. I no longer went to see doctors. One day, a practitioner colleague said that the doctor who used to see me asked if I had died, because I hadn't seen him for such a long time. My colleague had told the doctor, "Ah, ever since she started practicing Falun Gong, her health has improved drastically! She can even lift and carry a big bag of rice!" The doctor was shocked!
When I measured myself according to the Fa's requirements, I could see many of my shortcomings. For example, I used to take home self adhesive tape from work, and I didn't return books I had borrowed from others. I calculated the total cost of all the things I had taken over the years and bought replacements to return to my work unit. Nobody ever knew. I also returned many books and magazines that couldn't be found in the market. I liked these professionally-bound books very much, but since they didn't belong to me I returned them all. After practicing, I was entrusted to do the purchasing for my work unit all by myself. I told the vendors that they should give me a receipt for whatever the item would cost.
When my Fa study became a little deeper, I developed firmer trust toward Teacher and the Fa. My work unit was working on my health insurance once, so I asked the accountant, “Does it cost our company money to pay for our health insurance?” She said, “Yes, we collect and put some money aside; some to pay individuals and some to pay the government. If you don't spend the money, it would stay in your account and become a part of your income after you retire.” I asked if it was voluntary. She said yes. So I said, “I don't need health insurance then, so I can help our work unit and government save some money.” She was perplexed. “Can you guarantee that you won't get sick for the rest of your life?” I said, “Sure! I won't get sick for the rest of my life!”
In subsequent months, I experienced sickness karma several times, and once I even experienced something that felt like rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. When it happened, images of Teacher lecturing appeared in my mind. I believe in Teacher. So the tribulations went away quickly. Yet, the mentality of being afraid of cold water was still there. Whenever I touched cold water, my hand would automatically withdraw. I wanted to remove that attachment at the root. So I turned on the tap and just let the cold water splash on my hands until I had no more fear.
After July 20, 1999, because I persisted in cultivation practice, I was illegally arrested and put in a detention center. I discovered one day that my body smelled. I thought I had stepped on something stinky, but I hadn't. When I removed my shirt that night, I found that the smell came from a large open wound on my shoulder. It was thick with green pus, swollen and red.
When the guards saw it, they became scared and said I had septicemia. They didn't want me to die in the detention center, so they asked my sister to take me to the hospital. I declined. A policeman said, "If you don't go to the hospital, how will you recover?" I said I could recover by myself, and it'd take me less than a week. He said, "If you recover on your own without going to the hospital, I'll practice Falun Gong too." So we both agreed.
Five days later, a scab five to six millimeters thick had developed over the wound. At night time, the scab came off on its own. Indeed, in less than a week, I had totally recovered! I reminded the guard of his promise. He said that when he returned to his hometown in Beijing, he would definitely look me up.
There was another incident that I want to share. It happened in the forced labor camp. I once had diarrhea that lasted for a week. I went to the toilet more than 50 times a day. I became very thin and bedridden.
One night I vaguely saw myself sleeping in this and that dimension. Then two pills were placed on my pillow. A thought came to my mind, telling me to take the medicine so I could still live; otherwise, I would die. I was determined not to take the medicine, as I remembered that as a Dafa practitioner, I should only listen to my Teacher.
When I woke the next day, I had totally recovered. I could get up and eat, and my head was crystal clear. I then realized that our true thoughts can triumph over any evil!
Persecuted in prison for 15 years, I went through all sorts of physical abuse, such as being shocked with electric batons, being left to freeze, beatings, sleep deprivation, sitting on a torture bench, being locked up in solitary confinement, and so on. Thanks to the grand Dafa and all the teachings that I recalled, I was able to survive through all these difficulties.
From the very bottom of my heart, I would like to say to Teacher, "Teacher, thank you wholeheartedly!"
(Submission to “Celebrate World Falun Dafa Day” 2018 on the Minghui website)