(Clearwisdom.net) My 83-year-old mother is a Falun Dafa practitioner living in Hubei Province. She began practicing Falun Dafa in 1996 at the same time I did. Throughout the year, she went to the practice site to do the Falun Dafa exercises. Since she was illiterate, she could only listen to the audiotape of Teacher's lectures or watch the videotape. Despite her illiteracy, she could understand Teacher's lectures very well, and the more she listened, the more she wanted to listen.
As she progressed in studying the Fa and doing the exercises, she managed, within a few months, to get rid of the smoking habit that she had been accustomed to for over forty years. Giving up smoking was not straightforward for her, though. Once, she went to the bathroom and she could not help thinking about smoking. As soon as she lit the match, her cigarette dropped from her fingers. No matter how hard she tried, she could not find it. Failing to understand the reason behind it, she kept searching for the cigarette while talking to herself, "Where did it go in such a tiny room?" Finally, she found it soaked inside the water pipe. She picked it up, dried it over the fire, and continued to smoke it. When we told her to stop smoking, she said, "I'll stop once I finish up the rest of the cigarettes my children bought for me." One day, she had bad diarrhea, and had to go to the bathroom a dozen times. Knowing that her body was being cleansed by Teacher, she was not worried and looked fine. After this incident, whenever she tried to smoke, it did not taste the same anymore. Finally, she gave up smoking.
One day, she picked up the book "Zhuan Falun," and flipped through it while talking to herself, "Teacher gave so many lectures. If only I could read all of them." Overhearing this, I thought it would be wonderful if she could read Zhuan Falun, but it was obviously impossible. Since my mother was determined to learn how to read, we felt more confident and were also persistent in teaching her. First, we taught her the words, Zhuan Falun. Then, we taught her to read Lunyu. Word by word, we taught her how to read as we read along. Sometimes, she could not memorize the words, so she wrote down some symbols or drew some pictures in her palms that only she could understand. While eating, washing clothes, and laying in bed, she repeatedly learned, read aloud, and tried to memorize the words until she really understood and memorized them. When there was someone at home, she wanted to be taught. When she was alone, she read the Fa, half reading and half guessing. As soon as someone came back home, she could not wait to ask how to pronounce a word. Whenever we told her her pronunciation was correct, she would make the gesture of Heshi and say, "It is Teacher who is teaching me how to read. Thank you, Teacher!" While she read the book diligently, some words were particularly confusing to her as they looked alike. Despite correcting her many times, she still could not remember. Never discouraged, she kept reading. She read the words she recognized, and guessed the ones she could not read. Once, as we read the whole book of Zhuan Falun, she managed to read every word correctly. We were all happy for her. What a demonstration of Falun Dafa's power!
In 1999, when the persecution of Falun Dafa began, I went to Beijing to appeal with my daughter. We were blocked by a group of plainclothes police officers in front of the State Bureau for Letters and Calls in Beijing. The police dragged us into a police car and took us to the Police Department of Wuhan City, and finally to the local police station. Worried that my mother might be arrested, my family members urged her to stop practicing. Despite the high pressure, she said firmly, "I don't believe the deceptive propaganda on TV. It must be untrue. Teacher taught us how to become good people by following the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. What's wrong with that? Besides, I personally witnessed how my children became healthy after their practice. One of them used to have cancer, and the other stayed in bed for many years while the doctors failed to diagnose her illness. Now both of them are healthy. With such a wonderful practice, I am determined to continue. Don't try to persuade me. Nobody can stop me from practicing." Now wherever she goes, she carries Zhuan Falun with her. Dafa is truly her best companion!
Once, my mother and I went to visit our relatives in the countryside and clarify the truth. We carried Zhuan Falun with us. Deeply poisoned by the deceptive propaganda on TV, our relatives talked about their misunderstandings when we discussed Falun Gong. We explained to them the truth about the staged "Self-Immolation," and the fact that Falun Dafa has been spread to over eighty countries. We showed them a truth-clarification VCD and fliers. Then my mother started to read "Lunyu" to them. All of our relatives smiled when she did that. "Amazing!" They said. One of our relatives' children took the book right away. "Read it thoroughly. This is a precious book," we told her. Nodding her head, she said that she would keep this in mind. Once again, Dafa saved people with a predestined relationship. Knowing the truth, our relatives and many of their children have quit the CCP.
Upon finishing this article, I read it to my mother, who said, "Add one more sentence. Greetings to Master! Thank you, Master!"
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