(Clearwisdom.net) I was born into an average-income family in Northeastern China. I have two siblings. However, I did not have a happy childhood. My mother’s mind was deeply poisoned by the Communist Party culture. She was at odds with my father, and they fought frequently. My mother was biased against females. She thinks that daughters are useless. One time she ignored me for three days because I bought a pair of shoes. Under such circumstances, I grew to feel I was inferior and had a weak character. I wanted to get married to escape the oppressive environment that I had lived in for over 20 years.
I did get married, but it turned out to be different from what I had envisioned. When I went to my husband’s family, I discovered that my mother-in-law was a very unreasonable person who liked to pick on others. I was always in the wrong in my mother-in-law’s eyes. There was one occasion when she cooked some soup and noodles. I put some noodles into a bowl and was about to take some soup. My mother-in-law took my bowl and poured the noodles back into the pot because she thought I had taken too many noodles. My husband knew that my mother-in-law was in the wrong, but he said, “When my mother is in the house, she rules the place; nobody dares to go against her.”
Before I started cultivation, due to many years of oppression, I suffered from gastric problems and other illnesses. I was living in agony. At that time I frequently complained that I had a hard life. I once wrote in my diary, “I am a useless, unwanted person.”
After I started to cultivate Dafa in 1996, my perception of myself changed. I now felt that I was an extremely fortunate person. This was because I managed to obtain Dafa. I had Master. I found my self-confidence, and my heart was filled with light. Through Fa study I understood that many things had predestined reasons and relationships. I studied the Fa and cultivated my heart. I used the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to guide myself. Although there were moments when I could not get over it, in the end I could recognize my mistakes and change myself.
Before cultivation, I always put the emphasis on why others treated me poorly. I did not consider whether I was treating the other person well. Because I was unhappy with my mother’s biased attitude towards girls, I was not very close to her. After cultivation, Master taught me to be forgiving and tolerant.
Master said,
“Of course, in practicing cultivation in ordinary human society, we should respect parents and educate our children. Under all circumstances, we must be good and kind to others, not to mention to our family members.” (Zhuan Falun)
During every Chinese New Year festival, despite my being busy at work, I would take time to buy things and visit my parents. I was very concerned about my younger brother. As long as he needed help, I would try my best to help him. My parents and siblings were all very touched.
In my husband’s family, I would use a cultivator’s attitude to guide how I treated them. I did not bear grudges. When my mother-in-law was not feeling well, I would buy medicine for her. Before cultivation, I could not get along with my mother-in-law, and we lived in separate houses. In 2005 I saw that my in-laws were elderly and that I needed to take care of them, so I bought a big house and invited them to stay with me. I tried to do as much of the housework as I could. My mother-in-law picked on me less frequently. My daughter also told me, “Mom, Grandma treats you differently now.”
Before 1999, most of my family members did not oppose my practicing Falun Dafa. After July 1999, when the CCP persecution of Falun Gong started, the whole family opposed my cultivation. When I was persecuted and imprisoned for two years, they guarded me more severely after I was released. My husband beat me almost every day. My mother, mother-in-law, and younger brother took turns trying to prevent me from cultivating. Based on my past character of low confidence and weakness, I would not have been able to withstand the intense pressure from both families. I would have given up on my cultivation. However, under Master's protection, I overcame it all. I managed to get the members of both families to renounce their memberships in the CCP and its affiliated groups. My courage proved that Dafa could not be undermined.
Words cannot describe the gratitude I have towards Master. I have the greatest Master in the world, and I feel extremely fortunate.
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Category: Improving Oneself
