(Minghui.org) One day in July 1999, my husband told me excitedly that he had just heard on the news that a special group was being persecuted in China. This group was called Falun Gong. He wanted to find out what Falun Gong was, because if China cracked down on something that strongly, it must be good. I understood what he meant. He said that because he had studied Mao's theories for a while, he knew very well the background of the communist party. He asked me to help him search for Falun Gong on the Internet. Soon I found the Falun Dafa website, and printed out the book Zhuan Falun for him. We then went to Italy for a vacation. During our vacation, he sat next to the swimming pool all day and all night reading the book. My husband told me seriously that the book was very, very special.
Thus we started cultivation practice. We have since experienced many miraculous incidents. I would like to share how Falun Dafa deeply changed my personal life.
Before I started cultivation, I always knew that this world consisted of more than simply what we could see with our eyes. I believed in predestination. I also believed that nothing was coincidental, and that we don't just live one lifetime, but reincarnate. When I was young, I was in a severe car accident. Since then, I believed in causal relationships. However, why we came to this world was a question that I could never answer.
I used to be a human resources manager for a large, international bank. I experienced complicated and contentious business relationships where people struggled with each other, but that was not what I wanted. Also, in the past my whole life was suppressed by all kinds of fear. I was most afraid of not getting along with others. I was afraid of doing something wrong or saying something wrong. I was afraid that I could not control myself, or that I would be despised. For my work, I frequently attended large conferences with my supervisor and kept notes, and organized board meetings and VIP receptions for the company. During the company Christmas parties, I had to give opening speeches with my supervisor in front of more than one thousand colleagues. Many of my colleagues, especially other women, were jealous of me, but I can hardly describe how much I suffered from my job. Fear suffocated me, and made my whole body cramp up. I could barely breathe and I wanted to dig a hole for myself to hide in. But I had to maintain a friendly smile, as if everything was fine. If it was an outdoor activity that lasted for several days, I had nightmares in the hotel. I was once was awakened by myself calling out for help.
I struggled in the cage of my heart. I could not feel any liveliness or happiness. Only when I drank wine or smoked at night, could I get some relief. I thus became addicted to alcohol and cigarettes. Although I tried all kinds of approaches to quit, including psychiatric therapies, I still could not free myself from these things.
When I first read the book Zhuan Falun, there was a bottle of wine right in front of me. As I read the book, I felt excitement in my heart, as if something in my heart had woken up, and there was new energy of life rushing towards me. Although I did not understand many things, I felt as if I was surrounded by something, just like coming back home after a long journey in the cold winter. My heart filled with confidence and hope.
During the following days, I always longed to get done with work and continue reading the book. I had a strong feeling that this book would give me new courage and strength for life. I came to realize that Falun Dafa was what I had been pursuing all my life. I tried to understand the relationships of everything that happened in my life, and what caused them. I learned about the heavenly principle that good is rewarded and bad begets retribution, and that we live to pay for the karma of this and previous lifetimes.
Deep in my heart I longed for the path of Falun Dafa cultivation. I did the exercises to purify my body, and studied the Fa to improve my character, so that I would eventually return to my original, true self. Thus, I quit alcohol on the second day of my practice. I have since not had a single drop of alcohol. I also immediately quit smoking. All of this happened naturally, and I never deliberately did anything to get myself to stop. It is just like what Master Li said in the book,
“Therefore, once a person wants to practice cultivation, his or her Buddha-nature is considered to have come forth.”
“Perhaps everyone has heard this statement in Buddhism: 'When one’s Buddha-nature emerges, it will shake the world of ten directions.' Whoever sees it will come to give a hand and help this person out unconditionally.” (Zhuan Falun)
I really did not want to smoke or drink any longer, thus I just quit these addictions. I stepped onto a righteous path, and stayed on this path. My life is now peaceful and full, and I can often feel the sublimation of my heart. These positive changes make me grateful towards Mr. Li Hongzhi from the bottom of my heart.
Soon after I started cultivation, I followed my husband and joined the Fa-rectification in 2002. We started to contribute our efforts to stop the persecution. We joined the Falun Dafa Information Day, distributed flyers, and actively talked to people, asking them if they would sign petitions calling for a stop to the persecution in China. During this process, my fear of talking to people completely disappeared. On the contrary, I confidently told passersby about the persecution. Had I not started cultivating, I would be too shy to display banners or distribute flyers. But now, disclosing the truth about the persecution and helping practitioners in China became my desire from the bottom of my heart.
My husband and I are now full of confidence. We work tirelessly to stop the persecution and bring the beauty of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to people. We tell people that the persecution in China must stop, because these practitioners are on a righteous path. Everyone around the world should live in freedom and peace, including freedom in our hearts as well as in the outside world.
On the 20-year anniversary of Master's teaching of Falun Dafa, we would like to sincerely thank Master for His compassionate salvation and guidance on our path of cultivation.
From the Call for Submissions to Commemorate the Twentieth Anniversary of Falun Dafa’s Introduction
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