(Minghui.org) I began to practice Falun Dafa (also called Falun Gong) in May 1999, and have stumbled from time to time. Yet, I have persevered, and I would like to share some of my experiences along my journey.
My mother used to have chronic bronchitis. She was often short of breath, and was on medications all year around. Thus, she couldn’t do any strenuous work. In addition, she had rheumatoid arthritis, gynecological diseases, and rhinitis, as well as severe frostbite on her hands and feet, which recurred every winter. Since she began Falun Dafa cultivation in 1997, her health improved. She stopped taking any medication. Because of her great changes, my father was also very supportive of her practice.
I visited my mother in May 1999. She introduced Dafa to me, and told me that she had recovered from her illnesses. I also witnessed her changes. She walked fast and lightly, and sounded happy when she talked to me.
I have worshiped Buddha and divine beings since childhood, and believed in their existence. They don’t suffer any illness, nor hardship! At that time, my health was fairly poor. I too suffered from several illnesses, including allergic rhinitis, rheumatoid arthritis, bilateral breast enlargement, breast lumps that hurt when touched, chronic appendicitis, inability to eat cold food, gynecological inflammation, chronic pharyngitis, and many other ailmients. My relationships with my colleagues, manager, and my husband were very tense. As a result, I suffered both at home and work. Life was truly painful! When my mother suggested that I do the Falun Dafa exercises, I decided to give it a try. However, my understanding of Dafa was still perceptual. I only knew that Dafa was good, and that Master Li, the founder of Falun Dafa, was compassionate. But, I was not diligent in my cultivation.
Then, when I returned home, I had to work and take care of my child. Besides, my husband didn’t like doing housework, so I also had to take care of the entire household, and as a result, I was very busy. Thus, I seldom had time to study the Fa, but I still continued to do the exercises.
I had gone through a great physical transformation. My breast lumps were gone, and I no longer felt any pain. I recovered from my rheumatoid arthritis. I could eat any raw and cold foods. My gynecological inflammation disappeared. and my chronic appendicitis never came back. The allergic rhinitis that had troubled me for many years was greatly reduced, and it wasn’t long before it too disappeared. When my husband saw my physical changes, he was supportive of my cultivation. Back then, I was immersed in happiness all day long and I was in a good mood every day. As I felt that my life had hope, and whatever hardships I had to endure in the past didn’t bother me any more.
On July 20, 1999, the former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader, Jiang Zemin, and his followers launched the persecution of Falun Gong. Overwhelming lies flooded the media across the country. I could feel that another political persecution had started. I knew that the propaganda shown on TV, and in the newspapers were lies.
When my family watched TV and came across propaganda maligning Falun Gong, I’d either switch the channel, or turn off the TV. I did not want them to see such propaganda defaming and slandering Falun Gong. But, my husband was scared of the CCP and didn’t let me clarify the facts to people. He allowed me to practice at home, for the sake of maintaining good health. Eventually I gradually became more and more lax and seldom studied the Fa or did the exercises. As I had no practitioners near me with whom I could share, gradually I went back to the state of a non-practitioner and my health started to fail.
My once disease-free body started to show various symptoms again: hard lumps appeared in both breasts again, and I almost didn’t dare to touch them, as they really hurt. The allergic rhinitis started again. As a result, my nose was stuffy and hurt because of the inflammation in my nasal cavity. In Jinan, I had to undergo laser surgery for my nose in October 2002. After the surgery, I had a runny nose all the time. In addition, after a month of both Chinese and Western medicines, I still had not recovered.
I wonderedwhat was going on. Was I not a practitioner? Why couldn’t I resume Fa-study and do the exercises? So, I made up my mind to quit taking the medications. I also did the exercises at home every day. Within 10 days, my running nose stopped, and I no longer suffered from the rhinitis. The breast lumps also disappeared! I went back to the state of feeling light. From that experience, I knew that I wouldn’t leave Dafa for the rest of my life, as Dafa had given me a new life!
Once, in the fall of 2003, I argued with my husband at lunch as I was annoyed with his uncivilized behavior. I felt he was too uncultivated. I wondered why I married him. I felt so wronged and sad. After lunch, I started feeling itchy all over my body. When I scratched myself, red bumps appeared. My eyes were also itchy, so I rubbed my eyes. Soon both eyes swelled up, and I felt as if I would suffocate. When I felt agitated, I sat up with in bed with my legs crossed in the lotus position. I thought that this might be a state before death. But I wasn’t afraid of death, as even if I were to die, I have obtained the Fa.
Master said, “‘Having heard the Dao in the morning, one can die in the evening.’ (“Melt Into the Fa,” Essentials for Further Advancement)” Probably because I let go of the fear of death, I was able to calm down. Meanwhile, I let go of my resentment towards my husband. Half an hour later I felt better. But, my eyes were still swollen. My husband was shocked to see me like this and demanded that I go to the hospital. I said, “I don’t need to, I’m fine now.”
I ran into a doctor the next day. He noticed that my eyes were still swollen, so I told him what happened the day before. He said to me, “That’s an acute allergic state and it’s extremely dangerous; you could have died! You are too cavalier!” I reaffirmed that I was fine, while thinking to myself, I have Master who looks after me, so of course I was fine!
Then, one day in 2004, I took a bus and was the last one to get off. Right as I stepped onto the sidewalk, an electric bike fell down next to me. The items in the bike’s storage rack scattered on the ground, and the wheels rubbed against my right foot. It was so dangerous! Passersby all said that I was so lucky. I didn’t feel scared, and it was just as Master said, “...he wasn’t the least bit scared...” (The Third Talk, Zhuan Falun) I kept thanking Master deep down, as I believed that I’d paid back a life debt.
Another time, I was riding an electric bicycle on the left side of an intersection in a rural area. A few other riders, who were riding fairly slowly, were on my right. When I was passing through the intersection I turned my head and I saw a truck on the right side of the road driving across to the left. I was shocked and hoped to ride forward quickly to avoid the truck, but there was another cyclist on the right. In this emergency, I ended up hitting a garbage can in the intersection. That truck came to a halt less than two meters from me. As the driver got out out of the truck, I complained about him deep down: How could he drive the truck like that? Why did he show up so suddenly? He didn’t say anything to me, and I just told him to be careful next time. Seeing that I was okay, he took off.
My chest hurt a lot from the force of falling against the handlebars. I thought that I had paid back another debt, and I felt extremely grateful to Master. It’s only that my xinxing wasn’t high enough, so I was still upset at the driver. Thus, the chest pain lasted for a few months. With more Fa study, I came to understand the principle of “Accounts do have to be settled...” (The Third Talk, Zhuan Falun). That’s how I let go of resentment towards the driver. After that, my chest pain gradually disappeared.
I worked at a gas station in the petroleum department. The work itself was very dirty and tiring. Since I began with Dafa cultivation, I’ve come to understand that as a practitioner, one has to be a good person and considerate of others wherever we are. The workplace is also a great place for cultivating myself.
We do shift work. When I took the daytime shift, I helped take care of some work that was supposed to be done by the nighttime shift, to relieve their burden. My coworkers from other shifts were also very reluctant to clean up the office. When I was at work, I cleaned it up every time, so that people could have a nice and comfortable working environment. No matter whether my managers were around or not, I worked diligently just the same. In my day-to-day work, whenever I saw heavy-duty tasks, I did them. I also didn’t argue with my coworkers over petty things. When other colleagues ran into some personal issues and couldn’t make it to work, I always filled in for them. So, I got along very well with my colleagues.
My attitude towards work and my dedication have been acknowledged and supported by my managers. Some colleagues said, “As long as you are around, my work gets done.” Because I took a leading role at work, it motivated other colleagues.
It was just as Master said,
“While the main goal of Falun Dafa is spiritual progress, and not, in fact, to bring about changes like those, it can nevertheless do a great deal to foster civility and moral living in society. If each and every person were to self-reflect and give thought to how they should act, I would say the world would become a more stable place and people would become moral again.” (The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
Later, my managers learned that I practiced Dafa, and they realized that this was the reason why I performed so well at work. This had been witnessed by all the employees. One manager said, “If you didn’t practice Falun Dafa, I’d have rated you as an excellent employee.” Hearing his praise, I was very calm. I smiled and then said to him, “Thank you! As long as you know my performance, that’s good enough. I don’t care at all how you rate me.”
My workplace issued a policy for early retirement. I submitted my application since I was qualified. My manager tried to keep me and said, “Please don’t leave. We really need people like you. Please don’t leave, please!”
Before I left the company, I wanted to clarify the facts to my manager. I thought that no matter the consequence, I should provide him with the opportunity to be saved. Thus, I talked to him about Falun Dafa, the persecution, and quitting the CCP. He indeed quit the CCP.
One time, I returned to my company and I also helped several other former colleagues renounce their membership in the CCP and its youth organizations, so that they could have a bright future.
My father-in-law passed away in 2000. My mother-in-law was a kind-hearted elderly person. She was in her 90s. She lived with us from 2001 to 2010. When she came to stay with us, I truly appreciated her for having painstakingly brought up several children, I felt that it was time to pay her back. First of all, I went shopping to buy a few sets of clothes for her.
Every morning and night, I boiled hot water to wash my mother-in-law’s face and feet, and I also sponge-bathed her. My mother-in-law had a hunched back and was a bit overweight, around 165 lbs. Every time I helped her with a shower I was exhausted. Though she had strong body odor, I never minded. Her feet especially had a strong smell, I applied soap two times and scrubbed her toes one by one, and then wiped them one by one with a dry towel.
Because of her old age, I was afraid that she’d fall down. So I put a bedpan in her room, and every morning I had to take the bedpan out of her bedroom, dump it into the toilet, rinse it, and then put it back into her bedroom.
One time, my mother-in-law accidentally twisted her ankle. Right away, her whole foot and ankle were swollen, and she couldn’t move. It was extremely painful. Immediately, I had someone take her to the hospital for an x-ray. Then the doctor said that she had a minor fracture and sent her home. After she came home, I asked her to sincerely recite the phrase “Falun Dafa is wonderful! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is wonderful!”
I had Master’s portraits at home. I told her, “This is the greatest Buddha, please ask Him to save you. Please ask for His help as soon as possible!” After she heard this, she put her hands together in front of her chest (a gesture of respect), sincerely asked Master to help her, and recited the phrase. Then after three days, without taking any injections or medications, her ankle was no longer swollen and she began to slowly move around. Soon enough, her foot completely healed.
Seeing how I treated her so nicely, my mother-in-law was very touched and kept praising me for taking such great care of her so that she could be happy. I wanted to tell her that she was blessed by Master and Dafa rather than by me.
It is a custom on the first day of the Chinese New Year for the management team at work to come to the subordinate units for their New Year celebration and bring gifts to the employees’ families. After they came over, in front of my supervisors, my mother-in-law praised me and said that I was a great daughter-in-law. She couldn’t hide her happiness when she talked.
My cousin developed nasopharyngeal carcinoma in 2007. He went through radiotherapy and chemotherapy and became emaciated and his skin turned very dark. His weight dropped to less than 110 lbs and he could only eat liquid food. My father had found a fortune-teller for him, who said that he wouldn’t live past the year. That year in the summer, I went to visit my parents. My father asked me to go to Chengdu City to talk to my cousin about Falun Dafa. I did so, and my cousin believed what I told him. So I bought him a MP3 player and downloaded Master’s lecture recordings for him to listen. Later I went with my three siblings to Chengdu to visit him. We also accompanied him on a sightseeing trip to Ermei Mountain. On our way, he was still listening to the recordings, and he recovered from his cancer. Dafa gave him a new life!
In 2009, my cousin’s oldest daughter-in-law developed aplastic anemia, which is commonly known as leukemia and is difficult to cure. She went back to Chengdu and stayed over at my cousin’s place, as it was very close to Huaxi Hospital where she was to get treated. At that time, her body was swollen and she was extremely depressed. She saw no hope for being cured and didn’t want to talk to anyone.
That summer, when I visited my parents I went to my cousin’s home. Seeing her so ill, I clarified the facts to her. I also tried to comfort her by saying that as long as she believed in Dafa, Dafa could save her. Then, I talked about my cousin, who was a perfect example. Through my efforts, she finally agreed to renounce her membership in the Communist Youth League and Young Pioneers. I told her that if she sincerely recited “Falun Dafa is wonderful! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is wonderful!” Master would protect her. I also downloaded Master’s lecture recordings for her. She indeed followed what I said and recovered.
When my father had a birthday party, my cousin came over thank me for giving her daughter-in-law a life-saving cure. I said it was my Master who saved her, for whoever truly believes in Dafa would be saved!
My son lives with me. No matter how the CCP escalated its persecution and slandered Dafa, he supported me at all times. Even though I was arrested by the police, he never had any complaints about me. When trying to awaken people’s conscience, I was arrested in 2019. He was on his study leave and stayed at home. When fellow practitioners asked him to go to the police station to demand my release, he did so right away. When he arrived at the police station, I’d already been released, but still, he did not complain.
Last year, after the outbreak of the CCP virus (coronavirus), he stayed at home and took care of cooking for the family. He always waited to have lunch with me after I finished sending forth righteous thoughts. Sometimes, when my computer acted up, it was always him who helped me solve the issues.
After my son got his graduate degree, he was offered three good jobs. At first, he worked at a state-run enterprise, later he was transferred to a government agency with decent pay. I believe that he was rewarded for acknowledging Dafa, and supporting me in my cultivation.
The things I put down regarding how my family and relatives have benefited from Dafa are only the tip of the iceberg. I am truly grateful for Master’s protection of me, my immediate family and other relatives.
The time is running out for our Fa-rectification cultivation. I will listen to Master’s teachings, cultivate myself well, save more sentient beings, and shoulder my historic mission. I’ll forever treasure my predestined relationship with the Fa, cultivate diligently and solidly, walk the path of returning to my original and true self, and be a qualified Fa-rectification period disciple.