(Clearwisdom.net) I am 67 years old and I started practicing Falun Gong on December 25, 1995, the third day after my being discharged from a hospital following surgery. On December 28, I went to my younger sister's home. All of a sudden I felt cold and started shivering. Ten minutes later I started feeling very hot and was sweating for more than ten minutes. I did not know then that Master was purifying my body. Since then, all my illnesses have disappeared. I had stomach illness before and could not eat anything cold or spicy. Since obtaining the Fa I am able to eat anything, and can even drink cold water. When I was a teenager, I fell and hit my head and got a concussion, and as a result, I often felt dizzy. Periodically, I had many pustules on my head, which receded after seven to eight days. But then, seven to eight days later, the pattern would repeat itself. The blemishes itched. But this symptom disappeared after I

The same night that I practiced the second exercise in my sister's house I saw five to six Falun going round and round, with different colors. After they disappeared, more than ten smaller Falun appeared, with changing colors. Then there were more little Falun falling down on the top of my head, like snow flakes. It was so miraculous and magnificent. It strengthened my confidence in cultivation practice.

At 6:00 p.m. on March 11, 1996, someone showed the videotapes of Master's Guangzhou lecture in the county's Political and Legal Committee conference room. The tapes were played for nine evenings in a row. Around ten people watched the videotapes each day. The presentations ended on March 19, 1996. This was the first Fa lecture video class in our county. On May 5, 1996, we established the first practice site in the county park. We hung flags and Dafa banners in the park to introduce Dafa. Seven people participated that day. Several days later more than ten people came. By the end of the month participation had increased to over 20 people. During the second half of 1996, I played videotapes of Master's lectures in my house every month. More and more people were listening to Master's Fa lectures. By July 20, 1999, there were ten practice sites, 14 Fa study groups, and more than one thousand Falun Gong practitioners in our area. Between the ""April 25" Incident" and the date the persecution started on July 20, 1999, the number of practitioners increased several times more. Because I had obtained the Fa early and was willing to help, it was natural for me to become a coordinator.

If cultivators follow Master's teaching of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" and study the Fa and practice the exercises, their bodies and minds will improve greatly. In our area, some practitioners' illnesses disappeared miraculously, including some diseases that even well-known hospitals were unable to cure. Once practitioners started practicing Falun Gong, their illnesses disappeared. Some practitioners had taken medicines for over 20 years, yet after practicing Falun Gong, they are now healthy and energetic. Some people who used to smoke and drink were able to abandon those bad habits after obtaining Dafa. These practitioners strictly follow the principles of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." They think of others first and try to be good persons at the workplace and in society as well as in the family. They eliminated the attachments to fame, money, and emotions as well as the mentality of competing with others.

Here is one representative example: Prior to beginning Fa study, a woman who lived with her mother-in-law had significant conflicts with her. Their differences had reached a point where neither side was willing to compromise. The mother-in-law had only the one son and was hoping to have a grandson, but the first baby was a girl. The mother-in-law was furious! She took away all the nutritious food such as rice and eggs and made the practitioner leave the home. The mother-in-law often came to disturb the young mother and baby girl for the first month of the child's life. Because the practitioner was not able to rest well, in addition to her mother-in-law's interferences, the practitioner contracted an illness and resented her mother-in-law even more. The young couple's second child was a boy. This time the mother-in-law wanted to see the baby, but she was not allowed to. The boy was forbidden to go to grandparents' house, even after he became a teenager. What this practitioner wanted was revenge. She later on obtained the Fa and attended the experience sharing conference in Dalian City on January 4, 1997. She cried during the conference as she listened to fellow practitioners' experience sharing. After returning home, she prepared food that her mother-in-law liked and took the boy with her to visit her mother-in-law. This was the first time she had visited her mother-in-law in over ten years. The mother-in-law was so moved that she just held the daughter-in-law's hands and cried. Thanks to Falun Dafa, their long-term resentments were finally dissolved.

A fellow practitioner said to me after being away on a business trip for several days, "I missed home so much." She said the home she missed was not her own home, but this practice site. Our cultivation as one-body was so harmonious, peaceful, and righteous. Our cultivation as one-body is like a pure land, just as Master said.

Sixteen of us from our area participated in the "April 25" event. The day after I returned home from Beijing, the chief and policemen from our local police station came to my home. I told them the reason for the peaceful appeal for Falun Gong. I also described to them the splendid scene and the peaceful atmosphere of the large-scale appeal. I said, "This displayed the practitioners' quality [of character] such as has never been seen before." I also introduced them to the wonders of Dafa. They felt that they had learned a lot listening to me and left with a good first impression. During several later contacts I continued to talk about the Fa with them. They thus had a good understanding of Dafa. These people protected me during the arrests that took place in our local area after July 20, 1999. Actually, it was Master's protection, but it was reflected in the human world as protection from these people. They protected me from several potential persecution incidents.

Prior to the persecution beginning in earnest on July 20 1999, people from the police precinct, the police department, and the local government offices had several conversations with me. On July 20, police cars were all over the streets. There were police cars right in front my house to keep me under surveillance for 24 hours. During the day they made me go to the local government conference room, to attend a brainwashing session. At night, four policemen monitored me. This lasted until after October 1, 1999. Falun Gong practitioners were forbidden to study the Fa or practice the exercises. We were prevented from contacting one another. Three or more practitioners gathering together was considered "an activity" and was banned. Practitioners know to follow the requirements of Dafa, which is beneficial to the whole of society. The more practitioners there are, the higher are society's moral values and the more stable will society be. If everyone would follow the standards of the Fa, there would not be a need for police. We are a group of cultivators. We do not pursue any political power or personal advantage. This group consists of senior citizens, women and many people who formerly had illnesses. Cultivation practice has made us healthy and energetic. How could a government that is persecuting this group of people be viewed as "conforming to the will of the people?" How could a government like this be considered lawful and reasonable?

Falun Gong practitioners want to let the regime know that persecuting Falun Gong is wrong and is unfair. It is a more severe mistake than the Cultural Revolution or the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre. That is why practitioners go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong and explain the truth to the regime, in the hopes that the government officials will correct their mistakes and come to the right decision to end the persecution. Many practitioners in our area went to Beijing. Numerous practitioners were illegally detained or sent to forced labor camps. At that time, the "601 Office" and the Political and Legal Committee kept a list of practitioners. After they had arrested practitioners who were in charge of coordination, new coordinators surfaced. After they arrested determined practitioners, more and more practitioners then went to Beijing to appeal and explain the truth. They arrested group after group of practitioners and set up brainwashing centers. They threatened practitioners' families and prevented practitioners from going to Beijing at intersections. But there seemed to be too many practitioners, and the authorities simply could not defeat them. They even said they did not know who the practitioners in charge were, and they did not know how many practitioners there truly were. After a couple of days, new names they had never heard of would surface on their list, which made them think that practitioners were everywhere.

In 2000 the evil was rampant. In order to suppress and expose it, practitioners in our area commenced to explain the truth to the local people and distributed truth-clarification materials. In June of 2001, Master taught us the magic weapon to eliminating the evil--sending forth righteous thoughts. I remember once, when I was distributing truth-clarification materials, my legs were so heavy after having walked over five miles that I could not walk anymore. I knew it was the dark minions interfering with me. But I just did not know how to eliminate it. After I learned how to send forth righteous thoughts, this issue was resolved. Every time I went out to distribute truth-clarification materials I sent forth righteous thoughts to ensure my safety. Once, as I was sending forth righteous thoughts at home, a column of light appeared in front of my forehead. It was enormous and extremely bright. In front of the light were four to five dark figures, tiny like ants. They flipped over several times and then disappeared. This tells me that it is very important to send forth righteous thoughts. Strong righteous thoughts keep evil things away.

The number of practitioners during the past two years who have been able to step forward has increased. We coordinate with one another prior to each distribution of truth-clarification materials. Some of us ride bikes or motorcycles. Others take a bus. We do this every two weeks. One time we will cover an area from south to north. The next time we go from north to south. The following round it goes from east to west. Then it will go from west to east. We try not to miss any village. Since the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party came out, we have distributed over ten thousand copies, and close to ten thousand CDs. We have done well in urging people to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). After a woman practitioner in our area had successfully asked all her friends and relatives to withdraw from the CCP, she started telling her classmates and co-workers about withdrawing. Then, some of her relatives told other relatives. Although some of them are not practitioners, they could all understand the issue of withdrawing from the CCP.

After the CCP's crimes of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners was exposed, we printed many materials about this and distributed them to villages, towns and cities. We wrote to the 610 Office, the police department, and to government leaders. We wrote to city and provincial governments and sent them truth-clarification materials. We often personally delivered the materials to the chief and heads in a 610 Office and the Political and Legal Committee. They are no longer as vicious as they were a couple of years ago. Now when they see practitioners they are more polite.

The general public's attitude toward Falun Gong is better. It has become easier and safer to distribute truth-clarification materials. One night while I was distributing materials I ran into a young man in his thirties. He asked me who I was. I wanted to get away from him so I did not respond. He came up to me and pulled on me. In my mind, I was begging Master to help me dispel the difficult situation. I sent forth righteous thoughts to suppress the evil. He asked me what I was doing. I said I was distributing materials. He asked what kind of materials, and why didn't I distribute them during the day? He wanted to drag me to the police station. I said, "How about we sit down and talk about this? If you do not think what I say is reasonable I will go where you want. If you think what I say is reasonable, please, kindly let me go." I told him about Jiang regime's persecution of Falun Gong. I told him about the truth of the staged "Tiananmen Self-immolation." I told him about the facts of the CCP's crimes and of harvesting organs from living practitioners. I told him about the heavenly principle that good and evil will be returned accordingly. I also told him that if he sent me to the police station, I would be in trouble, but it would not do him any good, either. I gave him a copy of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. I kept begging Master for protection and sent forth righteous thoughts. He then said, "You can go!"

During the second half of 2002 I went out to distribute materials about three to four times every month. After a while people noticed what I was doing. During the first half of 2003, amid the SARS crisis, it was difficult to receive and distribute materials. After I discussed it with my husband, we decided to establish a Falun Dafa material production site in our home. With fellow practitioners' help we built it up. There was then only one material production site in our area. For safety purposes, only my husband and I operated our in-home materials site. We were so busy--accessing the Internet, downloading the articles, printing, editing, and binding. We produced over ten thousand pages every week. We slept very little. There was not much time for us to study the Fa and practice the exercises. Sometimes, when the printer did not cooperate, we worked days and nights. We focused only on the work instead of cultivating. We knew this was incorrect. Later on we simplified the process and started using two printers, which saved time. We were then able to have time to study the Fa, practice the exercises, clarify the truth, and send forth righteous thoughts. Now there are more materials production sites. Our workload is reduced. Everything has returned to normal.

Recently some elderly practitioners have exhibited sickness karma. This is my understanding: If one has sickness karma, it means one has some loopholes, and it is the evil' interference and persecution. It might be because one has not stepped forward or has not done well the three things Master asked us to do. When one is determined to cultivate in Dafa and firmly believes in Master and firmly believes in Dafa, "sickness" simply does not exist! Cultivators do not have any illnesses. No matter how uncomfortable you feel, do not treat it as an illness. Hospitals are for curing everyday people's ailments. They cannot help with interferences in cultivation. The Buddha's Fa has boundless powers. Why would we need to go to a hospital when our spirit is on the Fa? How could hospitals have more power than Buddha's Fa? Some fellow practitioners said they have a toothache, and it would feel better if they have their bad tooth removed. This is an issue of believing in Master and believing in the Fa. If we can firmly believe in Master and the Fa, our teeth might become stronger than ever before.

Let's look at an example. On May 11, 2001, when I was resting on the bed, all of a sudden I felt pain around my back. I sat up and realized I had a stomachache. I went to the bathroom over ten times in the afternoon and was urinating blood. At night I had to use the toilet every five to ten minutes. I continued urinating blood. I did not consider it as an illness. My son wanted to send me to a hospital. I insisted on not going. I thought it might be due to some physical changes, or it might be interference. But it was definitely not an illness. I continued with my Fa study and the practicing the exercises. After seven days I had recovered completely.

In June 2003, while we were fixing the house, I fell to the ground. I tried to get up. My husband helped me up. My daughter urged me to go to a hospital. I said I was fine. I just felt pain around my back. My husband found I had a herniated disc. I sat on the bed for a while and started practicing the exercises. I was sweating so much with the pain, but I kept on practicing. The pain was unbearable when I did the fourth exercise. But I still continued and finished the exercises. I kept on studying the Fa, practicing the exercises and sending forth righteous thoughts. After a week I had recovered completely. Cultivators do not have illnesses. If you feel uncomfortable, it must be because of some attachments that you cannot let go of. As long as you truly cultivate, keep on practicing, firmly believe in Master, and believe in Dafa, there is no test you cannot pass. There is no difficulty you cannot overcome.

Falun Gong practitioners are to rely on Master's Fa, rely on not striking back when beaten and no swearing when sworn at. We are to rely on exposing the lies and exposing the evil, rely on explaining the truth and rescuing sentient beings, and rely on urging people to withdraw from the CCP. We practitioners do not have an army. The Jiang and CCP regime have an army of millions of soldiers and police. They control the police, the Procuratorate, and the judicial system and have tried all of the methods they can think of to eradicate Falun Gong. But practitioners cannot be defeated, and there are more and more new practitioners. Jiang's regime will collapse soon. The evil will never prevail over the righteous. Dismantling the CCP is becoming a reality. Falun Dafa will illuminate the entire universe.

There is so much to write. Please point out anything inappropriate in my understanding.