(Clearwisdom.net) My name is Mai Xiu, and I am 43 years old. I am from Rongcheng City, Shandong Province. I was born in an ordinary family. Including all my siblings, there are five of us. When I was three years old, I had polio and was paralyzed on the right side of my body. It is not hard to imagine what my life was like the past few decades. Since I started practicing Falun Dafa, however, my life has completely changed. I am sharing my personal experience so that people will not believe the slanderous propaganda perpetuated by Jiang Zemin's regime. Falun Dafa is truly extraordinary, and my Teacher is here to save people.
In my early childhood, I could only crawl around. After three or four years, my mother could not bear to see me like that. She sold everything that was worth any money in our home so that I could get medical treatment. After the treatment, I was just barely able to stand up and walk, but I had difficulty keeping my balance and often tripped. My posture when I walked was very awkward, too. When I was in school, I couldn't participate in any physical education classes or do physical labor like my classmates did. I cried silently, watching them walk away every time. Whenever I tripped in front of others, I was often so embarrassed that I wished there was a hole in the ground that I could hide myself in. Pitied and ridiculed by others, I finished junior high school with great difficulty. After I graduated, the only work I could manage to do was embroidery at home. Since I could not lift my right arm, it took a lot of effort even to do embroidery.
When I reached the age to marry, my mother was afraid that I would be mistreated if I married someone outside of our village, so I married someone from the same village. After I got married, I had to take care of a household as well as do embroidery. Since I had difficulty moving about, I found that I did not have enough time to do everything, so I stayed up late at night to do the embroidery. As time passed, I was not able to cope with these physical demands, and I started to have headaches. At first, I had a headache once every few days and vomited each time. With headaches came dizziness, and I was not able to do anything, so I took painkillers. Later, I started getting a headache every other day. Eventually I developed severe neurasthenia. Taking painkillers no longer relieved my headaches, and even with three sleeping pills I didn't get much sleep. I had no appetite, and I became very thin. Life was difficult. The medicine for treating neurasthenia is very expensive and must be taken regularly. I was not willing to take on that financial burden, so I only took Oryzanol pills, a plant-derived supplement. However, the side effect of this medicine made me feel like I had lost my mind after taking it. Then in a magazine I saw a folk remedy for curing migraines without spending any money. It said to drink a cup of one's own urine every morning. Without no other recourse, I forced myself to try it. There are no words that can express how I felt. I felt like throwing up every time I saw urine. After two weeks, my headaches remained the same.
Whenever I walked, all the weight on my right foot pressed against the bone of the big toe. During my school years, every pair of shoes had a hole at the same spot. As I grew older, the bone started to hurt more and more. Every step was like walking on a knife. When my sister and I went to work on the hill, she wanted to push me in a cart. I did not want others to make fun of me, so I limped along in pain. Every time we finished working, I had to massage my foot before I could walk home. I tried soaking my foot in warm water and using a medicinal plaster, but nothing helped. It hurt the same. Moreover, I could only wear shoes with soft soles. My left arm was over-used after I gave birth to my child. I could not even lift a knife without feeling pain afterwards.
Whenever I had pain in my arm or foot, I could try to use my arm less or walk less, but the headaches were intolerable. One headache was so bad that I took painkillers for three days with no relief. I was very worried and did not know what to do. Then my sister-in-law said, "I heard Falun Gong is pretty good; why don't you try it?" "My arm and leg are no good, so how could I practice?" I said. But she replied, "You cannot lift your arm, but how abut trying to sit across legged?" On the first try, I was able to sit cross-legged in the double lotus position. My sister-in-law said that was okay. At that time, I did not know that Falun Gong is the cultivation that emphasizes one's xinxing.
I will never forget the day I learned about Falun Gong. It was February 2, 1997. After a few days of practicing, my headache was gone. I stopped taking medicine, and I could eat and sleep normally. Step by step, the bone on my foot stopped hurting, too. I can wear leather shoes and walk all over the place now. And I don't get tired, no matter how far I walk. I am able to do all kinds of physical work. My parents are almost 80 years old. My mother had a stroke in 1999, and she cannot take care of herself. In the past five years, I have taken on the responsibility of looking after her. I cook for her and do her laundry every day, rain or shine. That is because Teacher has taught us,
"From now on, whatever you do, you should consider others first, so as to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism." (From "Non-Omission in Buddha-Nature" in Essentials for Further Advancement)
My four siblings are very grateful to me for what I have done. I told them, "I would not do so if I had not learned Falun Gong. I was physically the weakest among all my sisters, even without the disability. But now I am healthy and able to take care of others. It is all because of Falun Dafa. It has given me a second life."
My grandmother (my father's stepmother) is 90 years old now. I cook for her, too, including making steamed buns, dumplings for holidays, and other food. In the wintertime, I often get up before dawn to clean up the snow in our yard, and then I clean the snow in her yard, too. In July 2002, I found a job. I don't know how to ride a bicycle, so I walked to work every day. For a time, I worked 17 hours a day for seven or eight days straight. I usually worked until 11 or 12 o'clock at night. I would go home, sleep, and then get up to go to work again. But I was full of vitality. My neighbors commented that I was made of steel. After a few months, I had made over 1,800 yuan. Our family contracts about five hectares of farmland. In the fall, we harvest peanuts. I also help my sisters to harvest theirs. I worked over 10 hours a day. Every morning, I would get up before dawn to feed the two-dozen otters that we raise. My sister has an orchard. We put bags over the apples in the spring and take the bags off in the fall right before harvesting. I would get up at four o'clock in the morning and work until dark, but I didn't feel tired at all, as if I hadn't even worked. Compared to when I was sick, I am a completely new person. In the past seven years, I have not taken a single pill of medicine. I feel so fortunate. Even with the most magnificent words in the whole world, I still cannot express my gratitude toward Teacher. Not only did Teacher purify my body, he also purified my heart. I am able to keep good relationships with my mother-in-law and all my neighbors. Teacher taught us to think about others at all times and look inside when there is conflict. One time I picked up 10 yuan on the street, and I gave it to an elderly person who did not have money to see a doctor. I cultivate myself according to Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance constantly. There have been enormous changes in my body, and my moral standard has also improved greatly. I am happy with my life, and I feel so fortunate to able to practice Falun Dafa.
Then Jiang Zemin initiated the brutal persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. The state media started fabricating stories to defame Falun Gong, and the lies ignited hatred in people's minds. The secret order to "ruin Falun Gong practitioners' reputations, bankrupt them financially, and destroy them physically" was issued. The cruel persecution spread all over China. I want so much to tell the people about my personal experience, especially those precious Chinese people who have been deceived by the lies. But how much freedom does a person like me have under the propaganda of a state-run machine? With one sentence, "Falun Dafa is good," one may be sent to prison or a forced labor camp. What can a government like this do for its people? Isn't this kind of government terrifying? Jiang Zemin instigated this persecution without any regard to the kind-hearted Falun Gong practitioners. The result is terrifying. It attacks the basic human moral standards. It encourages falsehoods, violence and hatred, and it pushes the human race to the brink of danger. In a society where evil is rampant and everybody fears for their safety, how can one talk about happiness? On the other hand, Falun Gong practitioners have remained peaceful, faithful and unyielding under the brutal persecution. They are the hope of China and the rest of the world.
Falun Dafa is the highest principle of the universe. It has spread to over 60 countries in just a few years. As of February 2004, Falun Dafa's principle book Zhuan Falun has been translated into over 20 languages and published all over the world; Falun Gong has been translated into 30 languages, and translations to many more languages are underway. As of February 2004, 1223 proclamations and certificates have been issued to Falun Dafa and its founder by many governments, legislators, and organizations, including 1051 from the U.S., 135 from Canada, 12 from Australia, nine from Taiwan, six from China before 1999, six from Europe, and one each from New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia and Peru. Since 2000, our Teacher has received nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize for four consecutive years.
To all our precious Chinese friends, you should have some understanding of Falun Gong by now. Please cherish every flyer and handout we gave to you. This is the beginning of recognizing the lies and walking toward a bright future. Let us stop this evil persecution together.
March 17, 2005
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Category: Health Benefits
