(Clearwisdom.net) I began practicing Falun Gong in 1998. The immense benefits and profound enlightenment I gained from the exercises, like those received by a hundred million practitioners around the world, are beyond my ability to describe. I would like to share some of my cultivation experiences from the past ten-plus years.

Over 30 years ago, I married a kindhearted teacher from a poor family, who was in poor health. We had a son soon after, and both our families loved the child very much. My son was very intelligent, handsome, and very lovely. However, one day when he was five years old, he began showing slight symptoms of convulsions, and his body deteriorated rapidly. When he was eight years old, he started falling to the ground, and foaming at the mouth. The provincial hospital diagnosed him with epilepsy. We were crushed.

We exhausted all our resources attempting to cure his illness. However, there was no cure after several years of treatment. When the epilepsy recurred, my son screamed and suffered from cramps. His face distorted, he foamed at the mouth, and his face became the color of death. He would remain comatose for several hours. Sometimes, the illness attacked once every several days in succession. By the time he reached age 15, our intelligent and lovely child had become mentally challenged.

Facing such a family burden, I became very depressed, having been a woman of resolve and always anxious to outdo others. Disregarding my family's opposition, I quit my job and started a business, because I wanted to earn more money to support my son. In China's business world, everyone tries to cheat or outwit each other, and many care for nothing except money. I played card games and gambled. I intoxicated myself at karaoke bars and drifted with the current. I lived like a walking ghost for three years. When I learned that I had contracted tuberculosis, pyelonephritis (kidney infection), breast tumors, and other diseases, and could not sustain any more activity, I crashed back down to earth and stopped dreaming of being rich.

I wondered what I should do. I felt hopeless, so I prayed for mercy on my family of three. For whatever reason, I got on a bus and went to visit a former classmate named Li, whom I hadn't seen for over two years.

I still remember that day in May 1998. When I entered her home, she was overjoyed and said with a big smile, "Oh, I've been looking forward to seeing you. I knew that Teacher would help me to fulfill my wish." I was puzzled, and didn't know what she was talking about. She took out a book and put it on the table near me. When the three characters of Zhuan Falun came into sight, I felt a sudden shock in my body.

She said, "Zhuan Falun is a gem of a book which helped me to understand the true meaning of life. Every character in the book tells me what cultivation practice is, how to become a better person, how we can eliminate our attachments and rectify our thoughts and actions, as well as how to always put other people first through cultivation. This book is really wonderful. The more I read, the better understanding I had, and I always felt that I could never read the book enough. I practiced the five sets of exercises every day. I was six months pregnant before I realized it, because of how good I felt physically. It is truly wonderful!"

At that moment I noticed that my 41 year-old former classmate was, in fact, pregnant. She was previously diagnosed as being incapable of producing offspring.

Upon hearing this, my respect for Zhuan Falun rose instantly. Though she didn't know what I was thinking, she directed her words towards my heart, "Cultivating the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance means cultivating virtue. Falun Dafa is a complete cultivation practice of mind and body, requiring both cultivation and practice. As long as you do everything in accordance with the Fa principles of the book and let go of your bad thoughts and behaviors, Teacher will help you to purify your body so that you will reach an illness-free state. Several cancer patients in our area have fully recovered, and there have been many miracles. Over one thousand practitioners join the group practice at various practice sites before going to work every morning. You should practice the exercises as well. Maybe your son's illness will be cured miraculously. Teacher says, 'Since you practice a righteous way, your practice will benefit others.' (Zhuan Falun)"

I was really shaken by her words and went home with the copy of Zhuan Falun. I began to read the book piously. As the reading proceeded, I felt very comfortable both physically and mentally. I suddenly saw the light after reading Zhuan Falun continuously throughout the day. I understood a lot of issues that I wished to understand but could not answer, no matter how hard I tried. With the elevation of my thought, I presented the book to my husband and said, "This is a great book! You should also read it. Opportunity knocks but once, so don't miss the opportunity!"

In this way, the two of us began studying the Falun Dafa teachings and doing the exercises together. After reading Zhuan Falun repeatedly, we firmly believed that the Buddha's infinite grace of our Teacher and Dafa would protect our family through the calamities of life and death, and move us forward into the bright future. We shared our experiences and encouraged each other. We didn't worry or feel hopeless about our son any longer. We read Zhuan Falun in unison to our son. The music of Pudu played in our home from morning till evening, and the whole atmosphere changed. Our life became more harmonious and peaceful. Our son's illness improved greatly and his appearance also changed for the better.

We cultivated our hearts and minds, and let go of our desires together. All we did was practice the exercises and bear hardships. We always remembered what Teacher said to his students,

"To tell you the truth, the entire cultivation process for a practitioner is one of constantly giving up human attachments. In ordinary human society, people compete with, deceive, and harm each other for a little personal gain. All of these mentalities must be given up. Especially for people who are studying the practice today, these mentalities should be given up even further." (Zhuan Falun)

From then on, I no longer played cards or went dancing. I overcame my bad habits, including speaking critically to hurt others, and let go of selfishness in scheming for fame and seeking wealth. I tried to treat people with compassion, balance the relationship between the family and society, and apologized to my colleagues and leaders who I'd quarreled with, and told them sincerely about the beauty of Falun Dafa. These actions moved them to tears.

Nine months after I began practicing Falun Gong, my tuberculosis, pyelonephritis, breast tumors and other diseases miraculously disappeared. The ulcer and heart condition that my husband suffered from were also gone. Then, my son's epilepsy, from which he had suffered for over 12 years, also disappeared. Under the meticulous care of Teacher, my son learned the five sets of exercises and was able to read Lunyu and Hong Yin. He grew to be a young lad of 1.74 meters (5.7 ft) tall. Thereafter, he could recite Lunyu and Hong Yin and also practice the exercises with us. He only had about 100 days of schooling, however, he could write beautiful Chinese characters in traditional forms with colored chalk and a Chinese writing brush. People said that Falun Dafa was wonderful after learning about the stories from our home, after we began our cultivation in Falun Dafa.

This is a brief story of how Falun Dafa protected my family, and how Buddha's infinite grace shines upon my home.