(Clearwisdom.net) I am a 70 year old woman, and obtained the Fa in September, 1996. Today, at the 19th anniversary of Falun Dafa being spread to the public, we usher in Master's 60th birthday. Looking back on my cultivation, I want to express my infinite gratitude and highest respect to our Master.
Did not want to believe that Dafa could improve my health
When I was 30 years old, I had high blood pressure and tumors in my uterus. By the time I was 50, I had rheumatoid arthritis, hyperostosis (an excessive growth of bone) and suffered from vertigo. My legs were very weak and I found it difficult to walk. I could hardly eat anything and could not sleep well. I had been taking medicine for decades but it didn’t seem to help. My illnesses got worse, and by 1994, I was bedridden.
When someone introduced Falun Gong to me that year, I refused to listen because I did not believe in Qigong or cultivation, and thought the qigong masters were just trying to make money.
One of my good friends was left paralyzed from a stroke. In 1996, she went to a practitioner's home to watch the videos of Master Li Hongzhi's nine-day lectures. She was carried there and back each day by her family members. By the time they had finished watching the 7th lecture, she was able to walk home by herself.
This friend came to my home and told my family members to take me there to watch the lectures. So as to please my friend, my husband accompanied me to watch the video lectures. I began to fall asleep when the lectures started, and only woke up when Master had finished talking. It was like this for three consecutive days. By the 4th day I didn’t want to go any more. I said, “If this Master talks so well, how could I fall asleep?” My husband said, “You could not easily fall asleep before. Now you can do that. This is a good thing.” I then went with my husband to watch the rest of the nine-day lectures, and bought some of the Dafa books to read at home.
I could not accept what Master said, but I still kept watching Master's lectures every day, and continued to read the book Zhuan Falun. While reading, I kept sneezing and tears ran down my face. When I read lecture 7, my whole body felt very cold. My husband wanted to call a doctor, but I said I would be OK. By the time I had finished reading the book, all my illnesses had disappeared. I truly experienced the feeling of what Master said:
“... you will feel that your body is light, as though treading on air. In the past, you would be tired if you walked a few steps, but now it is very easy no matter how far you walk. You feel as if being pushed while riding a bike, and you are not tired when going upstairs—no matter how many floors there are.” (Zhuan Falun)
At that moment, I realized what I had obtained. I began to understand that every word Master said was true. I began to change my thoughts.
Holding a firm belief in Dafa
In “Teaching the Fa at the Western U.S. Fa Conference,” Master said:
“No matter what you give to others, it’s not as good as giving them the Fa. No matter how good what you give someone is, or no matter how much money you give him, he is happy for only one lifetime or one moment. But if you give him the Fa, his life will be happy forever. What could be better than the Fa? (Applause) So I think that introducing the Fa to others is itself spreading the Fa and a good deed.”
I decided to buy Master's Fa lectures on video and set up a practice site at my home. I went to various places to promote the Fa, and tell people my experiences of Dafa's health benefits. I hoped they could also obtain the Fa.
A young man in his 30s, whose last name is He, worked for the road maintenance team and had been paralyzed for ten months. I told him about Dafa and suggested that he try it. We read Zhuan Falun together, and when we read lecture 5, I told him to try and stand up. Fellow practitioners and I were there to help him. He tried twice to stand up, but couldn’t. The third time, he managed to stand up. His body was shivering and he was sweating profusely. He managed to walk around the room three times using crutches. He then let go of the crutches and walked around the room again three times.
When we hold a firm belief in Master and the Fa, the power of Dafa can be displayed and Master can purify our bodies. The next morning, this young man went to the practice site to do the exercises by himself. It wasn’t long before he had fully recovered. After the emergence of these miracles, more and more people joined the practice. We had over 20 practice sites and the number of people doing the exercises increased to four thousand.
I read Zhuan Falun and Master's articles over and over again, and have witnessed many miracles happening to the practitioners around me. I became even more determined in my belief and valued every opportunity to study the Fa.
Seven years in prison did not make me change my belief
On July 20, 1999, Jiang Zemin started the brutal persecution against Falun Gong. On that day, over a dozen officials from the 610 Office and the police station broke in to my home and ransacked it. They wanted to arrest me, so I told them how Dafa had helped improve my health. I kept talking to them about the beauty of Dafa for over an hour, and they eventually left me alone.
With a sincere wish in my heart, I went alone to Beijing on October 17, 1999 to appeal to the authorities. I met some other practitioners on Tiananmen Square, and we found a place to stay. We planned to go back to Tiananmen Square on October 25 to unfurl banners that read “Falun Dafa is good!” “Truth, Compassion and Forbearance is good!” However, the police found where we were staying and arrested us. I was escorted back to my hometown and was held in a detention center. They tried to get me to sign a guarantee statement to give up my belief, but I refused. I then went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. When my health was in critical condition, they released me, because they feared that they would be held responsible if I died there.
Officers from the local Domestic Security Division dragged me from my home in October 2000, and took me to a detention center. I was holding my Dafa books tightly as they took me away. At the detention center, I was searched and they tried to take my Dafa books. When I told the guards the facts about Falun Gong, two of the officers took several long bamboo canes and repeatedly whipped me with them. The female inmates that saw me being beaten started crying because they thought I would be beaten to death. The guards then ordered some of the inmates to put handcuffs on me. The handcuffs cut into the flesh and made them bleed.
The toilet in the detention center was blocked, and each cell leader had to order someone to use their hands to remove the feces each day. It was really disgusting. I asked the head of the detention center if I could be allowed to try and fix it. Seeing that I was an old lady, the head of the detention center did not agree, but I managed to convince them to give me a chance.
When I managed to unblock the toilet, many people were cheering. I heard some people saying to each other, “It was a Falun Gong old lady who fixed it. Falun Dafa is good!” Even a police officer said, “Jiang Zemin is really not a good person, since he would persecute senior citizens.” Many people in the detention changed their attitude towards Dafa. I was allowed to study the Fa and do the exercises, and was even promoted to be the cell leader. I would not allow the inmates to beat people, and used the Fa principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to educate them and to improve their behavior. I went to each cell window to tell people the facts about Falun Gong and told them to remember “Falun Dafa is good.”
A drug addict inmate who learned Falun Gong was later detained in a women's prison. When she distributed Master's articles there, she was beaten and put in solitary confinement. But she did not give up her belief. When I was taken from the detention center, voices of “Falun Dafa is Good!” came from over a dozen cell rooms. I was touched and tears filled my eyes. I knew Master allowed for those people to be saved.
I was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in March 2001, and suffered brutal persecution. But nothing could make me waver in my firm belief in Dafa and Master.
Cherish the remaining time to save sentient beings with compassion
I was released in October 2007. Having been persecuted for seven years, I had lost much valuable time in saving sentient beings.
People come to this world because of the Fa. No matter who a person is, as long as they know that Dafa is good and withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), they will have a good future. So we should have compassion for all beings and we should not let them miss the opportunity for salvation. I have now fully devoted myself to clarifying the facts, eliminating the old forces and saving sentient beings.
I first began telling my acquaintances, relatives and friends about Falun Gong, and used every opportunity to talk to them. I told them about the self-immolation incident on Tiananmen Square and other things to help them withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. I did not have the attachment of being afraid, and thought to myself: “A practitioner's only concern is to save sentient beings and give people the chance to be saved.”
I once met the director of a bureau and tried to help him know the facts about Falun Gong. However, he wanted to report me to the police. A few days later I met him again. When I tried to talk to him, he refused to listen. Then, when I went to a store one day to buy some material for making quilts, I met him again. He arrived after I had already put my order in and seemed frustrated that he might not be able to get served because I was wanting so many things. When I told him that he could go before me, he asked why I was so nice to him. I told him, “I am a Falun Gong practitioner, and our Master told us to consider others first. You have things to do, so you can have yours done first.” He seemed very happy. I told him, “I have met you so many times because we have a predestined relationship. Please do not be so stubborn anymore.” He then allowed me to talk to him about Falun Gong. When I asked him if he would like to quit the CCP, he said, “You have tried several times to talk to me. It's very rare to meet such a person like you.” Then he agreed to withdraw from the CCP.
The persecution is severe in our region, and we have a lot of truth-clarification work still to do. Master said, “If you cannot love your enemy, then you cannot reach Consummation” (Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference in Australia). I wanted to see the head of the local 610 Office to clarify the truth to him, as they are also people that we should try to save. I found the phone number and called it. The head answered the phone and agreed to an appointment for me to see him the next day.
I sent forth righteous thoughts and asked Master to strengthen me. I prepared some truth-clarification materials and went to his office with an upright attitude. My fellow practitioners were afraid for my safety, but I thought to myself: Practitioners should not be afraid since we have Master and the Fa to protect us. I asked the practitioners to help me by sending forth righteous thoughts to help clear away the old forces' interference. This person raised many questions and I answered them one by one. I told him that the reason why practitioners clarify the truth and help people withdraw from the CCP is to save them. I recited for him Master's two articles, “The Blessings From Dafa” and “Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciples.”
I gave him the materials that I brought and asked him to take a good look at them. He thanked me and told me to keep in touch with him. He even withdrew from the CCP. Not long after our meeting, fellow practitioners received their salaries, which had been withheld by the authorities.
I was very happy to know that sentient beings were saved. Master said:
“When you go to clarify the truth, only when your mind has stored up ample Fa will you be able to save people. That is when your words will have the power to move them” (Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference).
When we use a benevolent and pure heart to clarify the truth, the old factors will not be able to interfere. Master will be able to strengthen us and Dafa will give us wisdom, so we will have a good effect in saving people. The process of clarifying the truth is to remove bad concepts, let go of our overly high opinion of ourselves, rid ourselves of selfishness and become more compassionate. It is a process of improvement. Since I began cultivation, I have been very strict with myself in these aspects. Through my behavior, many people around me have seen the beauty of Dafa and changed their attitude towards the practice.
When practitioners treasure the time we have to save more sentient beings, it will be worthwhile. I am happy and lucky to be a practitioner. Although I did not do well sometimes, I do not feel bad. I only regret that I do not have a good comprehension of the Fa so that Master does not have to worry about me. I will treasure this opportunity to improve in my cultivation!