(Clearwisdom.net) I am a senior professional singer. I have practiced Falun Dafa for 14 years. Falun Dafa has given me a healthy mind and body and it has changed me completely.
Before I started cultivation, I was just over 20 years old. I was very good at what I was doing and had earned many awards in professional competitions in my city and province. I earned honors for my workplace, and the leaders of my workplace had a lot of hope for me. My album was released nationwide and I got very good feedback. I was also relatively famous among the professionals in my field. However, just as everything was going so well, I was diagnosed with “nodes on both sides of the vocal cords” and had to have surgery. Even worse, after the surgery I could no longer sing the high notes and the tones in the middle and the low notes were not as good as before. I become hoarse not long after I started singing. It basically put a stop to my artistic life. I was desperate and went to a nightclub to sing. It was a vicious cycle: I would not go to sleep at night and would not wake up in the morning, and when I got hoarse I would just ignore it and continue to scream. My friend joked with me that I had become a hoarse-school singer.
I was lost in that situation. I became perverse, numb, tired, and cold. I was still young, but I had pharyngitis, bronchitis, urethritis, and nervous headaches. But the worst thing was that there were bean-size black spots all over my upper body. They were not lumps and they did not hurt or itch, but they were just so ugly that I could never wear any clothes that showed my neck. I went to hospitals all over the province. One doctor took a sample from my back to test it, but could not identify what it was. I did not know what to do and was just trying everything, such as folk prescriptions, witches, Chinese medicine, Western medicine, and so on, but nothing worked.
When my co-workers heard about this, they told me about Falun Gong and told me that it had miraculous effects in treating illnesses. One said that it cured her many years of living with a dislocated back. I therefore began cultivation in search of treating my illnesses. To my surprise, after six months of practicing, all my illnesses disappeared. It was a miracle, and if it weren't something that happened to me personally, I would not have believed it no matter who told me. Besides the miraculous changes to my health, my mind was also changed completely. Through Fa study, I understood that the purpose of life is to return to the original and true self; I understood how to be a good person and a selfless cultivator. My mind and body were purified by Dafa, and it felt like a complete rebirth. I felt so lucky that I obtained the Fa in today's chaotic world.
But the evil communist regime (CCP) would not allow the existence of this great cultivation method that teaches people to be good and improves people's health. It continued to lie and slander and persecute the practitioners who believe in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The CCP became the most evil thing of mankind. I stopped cultivation under the pressure, and this is something that I will regret for the rest of my life. I got married and had a son. My entire family was very happy. Our economic situation was good and we were living happily. But after three years, my father-in-law passed away and my husband got addicted to gambling. He soon lost all our savings and even sold all of my jewelry. We ended up with a lot of debt. Then he left home, and for a long period of time I could not get in touch with him.
Our family was in a dreadful situation. My mother-in-law cried everyday; my son was born with tonsillar hypertrophy and was always taking drugs and shots for his frequent fever; my old illnesses came back; and my head hurt badly. I lost hope and I could not believe that life could change so dramatically. I was on the edge of collapse.
In 2003, with fellow practitioners' help I was able to get back on the path of cultivation. When I listened to Teacher's Fa again, I could not help but cry. I was like a lost child who had returned home. It felt like my mind and body were again recreated. I no longer resented my husband and followed Dafa's requirements to be good to him. No matter what conflicts we had, I always looked at things from his point of view and then looked inward to see where I didn't do well. Our family thus became much more harmonious. In order to repay our debts, I took out my savings that I had accumulated before I got married. My friend said that I was foolish to do that. I said, “I'm a Dafa practitioner and must be a good person. If I don't even help my husband when he's in trouble, then how could I be a good person?” In order to pay of our debts, I did not buy any new clothes for four or five years. My co-workers laughed at me that yesterday's “famous singer” had become today's “old-looking woman.” My husband saw all this, and he admired Dafa from the bottom of his heart because he saw a Dafa practitioner's tolerance, selflessness, and kindness. He said, “Thank you. You are the hero in our family.” I said, “You should thank Dafa and Teacher. There would not be me without Dafa and there would not be our family. To put it more precisely, Dafa has saved our entire family.” My son also became a young disciple and he got very strong and never had to take any drugs again. All our friends and families who knew our previous situation were able to learn the facts of the persecution and saw that Falun Dafa truly is a great cultivation school and teaches people to be good. They have all chosen a good future for themselves.
Cultivation is difficult. Just at the time that my husband was disappointing me, another man came to me and took the initiative to take care of me. He gave me hints. I knew that none of this was accidental. Through studying the Fa, I searched within and I found that, even after so many years of cultivation, my attachment to lust and desire was still so intense, and I still had strong attachments for a happy life. I also found my show off mentality, attachment to comfort, vanity, fear of offending others, and attachment to family.
I enlightened that the lust and desires were not me. It was not that I wanted or asked for something. It was those lives wanting and asking for things. It is their essential character and their way of existence. If I wanted them, then they would come to me. Thus I had to clearly identify them and disintegrate them. I told them, “I'm a disciple of Teacher Li Hongzhi. I only walk on the path that Teacher arranges for me and I do not want or acknowledge anything else. I would not allow any lives to put other things on me for any reason. I will completely eliminate those mutated lives and factors and my sending of righteous thoughts will not stop until I eliminate them.”
Once my mind was righteous, the evil lives were eliminated, my husband rectified himself, and all my troubles were gone. In my work, I follow Dafa's requirements for everything. I always speak the truth and never use anything from the workplace for my personal use, such as the phone, paper, or pens. Dafa requires disciples to be kind toward others. I used to fight for the good jobs when we were getting our assignments, but now I always let others have the jobs they want. I participated in a national singing competition and won a big award and got a lot of money. Others said that I got the reward because I was a good person, but I said that I received good fortune because I practice Falun Dafa. I used the money and paid off all the debts we had and also bought a computer and a printer. With my home-based material site, it is quite convenient to be able to print out materials whenever I need them. I distribute materials wherever I go to perform, and at normal times when I'm in my own city, I use my free time to walk around and distribute materials to every family.
Falun Dafa requires disciples to not become attached to fame and gain, but this doesn't mean that Dafa disciples cannot have fame or gain. Dafa requires disciples to not be attached to money, but this doesn't mean that all disciples have to be penniless. Dafa essentially requires disciples to give up the attachment to fame, gain, and sentimentality. My life is very good now. My husband turned around and became a good person, my son does well at school and is a very good child, and both my and my husband’s salaries are now several times higher than in the past. I'm also teaching private lessons now, and, as a teacher, I don't accept any gifts from students and their parents. In the cases where I have no choice, I later return something, such as buying students books or gifts, or giving them extra classes. The students' parents see that I treat my students like my own children and are all touched. They've said there weren't many teachers like me in today's world. The recognition for me also became a good chance for me to clarify the facts about the persecution and people are able to accept these facts. However, in reality, I'm still far away from Teacher's requirements, and if what Dafa has given me is like an ocean, then in this paper I was only able to describe a tiny drop of water.
Falun Dafa is good! It is good that it requires me to be a good person under any circumstances. Falun Dafa is good! It is good that it asks me to understand others even when I'm in a difficult situation. Falun Dafa is good! It is good that even as it is being persecuted, it asks the disciples to save sentient beings. The reason that Dafa disciples are able to do well is due to Teacher's infinite compassion and Buddha grace. I can only cultivate diligently and truly assist Teacher in Fa-rectification!
Heshi. Thank you, Teacher.