(Minghui.org) I am 78 years old, and I suffered a lot before I started practicing Falun Dafa. Master Li Hongzhi guided me, and despite the persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), I became more and more mature in my cultivation.
Falun Dafa Changed My Miserable Life for the Better
I was born into a poor family and did not attend school. I was the oldest of eight siblings. Starting at the age of five, I had to take care of my younger sisters. At the age of ten, I also had to do laundry, cook, and clean the house. My parents were very strict and often scolded and beat me.
When I was 17, my parents married me off, and my son was born when I was 18. My husband's family was also very poor. He was assigned to work in a factory in 1958, while I stayed at home to take care of his parents and our son. I also worked on a farm to make ends meet.
My life improved after 1982, but my husband died in 1990. I had to work so hard that I came down with many illnesses, including heart disease, cerebral infarction, and bone hyperplasia.
Returning to Cultivation
My life changed for the better in 1997 when a Falun Dafa practitioner introduced me to the Dafa cultivation practice. I tried my best to be a good person by following the principles of “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance.” Gradually my body changed, and I recovered from my illnesses.
Since I was illiterate, I listened to Master's lectures on a DVD. I had difficulties understanding much of what Master said. My understanding of cultivation was only superficial, and I did not know that the key was to improve oneself.
When the Communist Party initiated its persecution of Dafa in 1999, I did not really understand what was going on.
When I lived with my son in Shanghai for 10 years, I did not cultivate diligently. In 2006, my 22-year-old grandson died in a car accident. My daughter-in-law badmouthed Dafa, and I could not accept what had happened, either. Thus, I stopped doing the exercises for months. Soon, my health deteriorated, and I suffered a heart attack.
Practitioners helped me return to cultivation. I realized that I was wrong to stop cultivating because of human notions. I started to study the Fa and do the exercises again. My health began to improve.
I returned to my hometown and joined a Fa-study group. In the beginning, because I did not know how to cultivate and to look inside for attachments, I encountered many difficulties. Fellow practitioners did not want to listen to me reading the Fa, nor did they agree with what I did or said. I felt saddened and developed attachments to inferiority and resentment. I contemplated quitting the study group but realized that this was one of Master's requirements and continued to attend.
My condition worsened in 2015. I coughed and was constipated. Fellow practitioners did not want to associate with me, so I suffered physically and mentally. I still had not learned about looking within. I joined another Fa-study group in 2015.
Understanding True Cultivation
In the new group, practitioners cared about me, encouraged me to read the Fa, and guided me. They corrected my reading with great patience. Since some practitioners like me couldn't read Minghui Weekly, they spent another two and a half hours every week to read it with me and share their cultivation experiences.
This new environment helped me gradually understand that to practice cultivation was not simply reading the Dafa books; it was also to apply the Dafa principles in my daily life and eliminate attachments during conflicts.
I learned to look inward. When I recapped my past, including all the difficulties I had encountered, I realized that all the difficulties were rooted in myself. The reason I could not get along with practitioners in the previous study group was that I had so many attachments, such as resentment, jealousy, a show-off mentality, an inferiority complex, lust, and not wanting to listen to any criticism. When I found my attachments, I eliminated them and suddenly my body felt so light. I finally knew how to cultivate.
It was exactly as Master said, “For a cultivator, looking within is a magical tool.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Washington DC International Fa Conference” from Teaching the Fa at the Conference IX) .
Life Becomes Harmonious
I studied the Fa a lot, so I did well in my cultivation. Thus, my health improved, and my family became more harmonious. My current husband bought me a dictionary so that I could study the Fa better. He helped me wrap each Dafa book and repaired some torn books as well.
I treated his two daughters like my own, and they also treated me as if I were their biological mother. My sons and daughter-in-law in Shanghai also support my practice of Dafa. They helped me take care of Dafa books and deliver materials to tell others about Dafa and the persecution. Thus, we were all blessed by Dafa in our business endeavors.
I no longer resented the practitioners in my previous study group. I thanked them in my heart for helping me improve. I can now read the Fa without stopping, and I can also read Minghui Weekly on my own.
Two practitioners and I started a study group at my house. I had the patience to help another illiterate practitioner read. Gradually, she could read on her own.
Doing the Three Things
I tried my best to do the three things well. No matter how busy I am, I insist on studying the Fa every day because I know how important it is. Even when my husband was in the hospital, I didn't stop studying the Fa with the group. I insist on sending forth righteous thought four times a day, and I also join local efforts to sending forth righteous thoughts together.
I will always remember what Master said:
“… personal liberation is not the goal of cultivation: when you came, saving sentient beings was your great aspiration, and that is the responsibility and mission history has bestowed upon you in Fa-rectification.” (“Let Go of Human Attachments and Save the World's People” from The Essentials of Diligent Progress VOL. III)
I go out to tell people about Dafa almost every day. Each week, I deliver more materials and talk to more people face to face.
