(Minghui.org) If I had known how valuable it was back then, I would not have waited 16 years to reconnect with Falun Dafa. However, I was fortunate enough to be given a second chance.
First Chance Slipped Away with Busy Schedule and Ignorance
I was 16-years-old and a sophomore in high school in 1996. One day, my mother told me that there was a popular qigong practice and asked me to go to the park with her to learn the exercises.
“Let's go to the park together. Exercising can improve our health,” said my mother. “A lot of people are doing this exercise. It is very effective.”
So I went with her and learned Falun Dafa. Unfortunately, I didn't read the book Zhuan Falun and thought it was just another qigong practice that could help with one's health.
My mother bought a set of Falun Dafa books but she didn't read any of them. She just put them aside and hoped that owning the books could provide some blessings.
My family is an average working class one in China and we don't have much money left over after paying for meals and housing. I knew that in order to find a job, I must have a college degree at the very least.
When I started my senior year of high school and got busy preparing for the college entrance exam, I stopped going to the park to do the Falun Dafa exercises. My mother's job kept her busy, too, and she took on more housework to give me more time to prepare for the exam, so she also stopped practicing Falun Dafa.
We didn't know that the first opportunity to become Falun Dafa practitioners slipped away between our busy schedules and ignorance.
My Mother's Relationship with Falun Dafa Is Rekindled
Time flew by and it was the spring of 2004 when I had already graduated from college and started working at a local company. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started the persecution of Falun Dafa in 1999 and I was totally brainwashed after being exposed to years of propaganda defaming Falun Dafa.
Life was hard for my mother, as well. She developed sores on her feet which made it painful for her to walk.
She met an old acquaintance on the street one day and they began to talk. The friend, a lady who had been practicing Falun Dafa since 1996, told my mother the truth about the persecution of Falun Dafa and cleared up many of her misunderstandings of Dafa. In the end, she said to my mother, “Sister, please come back!”
The call touched my mother's heart and she was brought to tears. For a long time, the painful foot troubled her. She tried many forms of medicine, but none of them worked. Our family was poor and we didn't have the money to pursue a more advanced treatment.
If Falun Dafa could cure the sores like our friend said at no cost, why not give it a try? My mother borrowed some Dafa books and an exercise instruction video tape and began to read the books and do the exercises daily.
Only a few days after starting to practice Falun Dafa, my mother's foot magically healed. Seeing the mighty power of Falun Dafa and after starting to understand the Fa by reading the book, my mother made up her mind to be Falun Dafa practitioner.
However, I couldn't support her practicing Falun Dafa because of the years of propaganda and brainwashing I had experienced. I refused to listen to my mother's reasoning, such as Falun Dafa was an advanced cultivation practice in the Buddha School and it was wrongly persecuted, and that practitioners were not against the government.
My First Experience with Falun Dafa
I couldn't persuade my mother to give up practicing Falun Dafa, so our relationship turned into a standoff for months until I became very ill during the summer.
I believe the root cause was because of a mistake I made at work. I was reprimanded by my manager and I was angry and upset with myself. Then I caught the flu and came down with a fever.
For a whole day, I laid in bed falling in and out of consciousness without eating or drinking. My mother feared I was going to die, so she said in my ear, “Falun Dafa is good,” “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” and repeated the formulas for sending forth righteous thoughts.
In and out of consciousness, I felt like there was a heavy stone on my chest that made it difficult for me to breathe, and my mind was descending deeper and deeper into unconsciousness.
I fought with the heaviness and finally opened my eyes and squeezed out a few words. “Mom, quick, write the character 'mie' (eliminate) on the wall. The bigger, the better.” (Falun Dafa practitioners think of the character 'mie' when they are trying to overcome interference in their practice.
My mother wrote the character on a large piece of paper and hung it on the wall. I felt the heaviness decreasing.
After a while, I could breathe a little easier and gained some power. So I repeated the verse with my mother “Falun Dafa is good” “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good”.
We repeated the verses together a few times, then my mother told me that she saw a black shadowy figure with a long tail fly out the door. At the same time, I suddenly felt that the weight on my chest was gone and I regained consciousness. I also got hungry and wanted to eat something.
This was my first encounter with Falun Dafa and I experienced its power first hand. From then on, I supported my mother's practice.
Reconnecting with Falun Dafa After 16 Years
Eight more years passed and I turned 32-years-old. My mother urged me to read through Zhuan Falun with her. Then she taught me the exercises.
I doubted if I could even meditate because my heart was restless when I sat down. My mother encouraged me to give it a try.
Master Li, the founder of Falun Dafa, strengthened me the first time I tried the sitting mediation. As soon as I sat down with my legs crossed, I entered into tranquility for 40 minutes and I felt like I was sitting inside an egg shell.
The experience greatly encouraged me, so I continued to learn the other four exercises.
On the second day after learning all the exercises, I was surprised to notice my astigmatism was improving. My double vision subsided and I could see much clearer in the distance.
My heart filled with joy. I promised Master that I would continue cultivation. So I returned to Falun Dafa 16 years after I first encountered it.
Boarding the 'Fa Boat'
Master took care of me immediately after I started practicing Falun Dafa and began to cleanse my body.
A couple days after I started to practice, it suddenly became painful to raise my arms. I could hardly put clothes on or take them off. Through studying the Fa, I understood it was Master Li helping me cleanse my body. Most of the karma had been removed by Master; and he left just a little for me to endure.
I told myself to behave like a genuine Falun Dafa practitioner. Nothing can stop me from doing the exercises. Since I couldn't raise my arms to do the standing exercise movements, I just did the meditation.
After doing the sitting meditation, my arms felt better and I could put on and take off my clothes. The pain returned a few times in the following days, but I told myself to be steadfast, trust Master, and continue to practice Falun Dafa. The symptoms completely disappeared after ten days.
From then on, I've done the exercises and studied the Fa daily like any other practitioner.
I had a dream about three weeks into practicing. I was on a railway platform waiting for a train with my mother and many other people. My mother said there were too many people there and she would walk further down the platform. I told her to stay with me, but she didn't listen.
Suddenly, a high speed train arrived at the platform. When I hesitated, thinking whether I should get on without my mother, the doors closed. I immediately reached my hands to the doors and thought that if they open, I would board the train no matter what.
The doors opened after I began to pull them, so I jumped onto the train. The doors closed behind me immediately and the train left the station.
I walked toward the rear of the train looking for my mother and wished she had boarded the same train as me. After walking half a car, I saw her walking towards me and we met again.
We held each others' hands excitedly like seeing an old friend after being apart for a long time. “Mom, I am so happy you are on the train. This train is really fast. We will reach our destination in no time,” I said to her.
Looking around, I saw people sitting down. Everyone appeared very happy. Some elderly people were playing with young children, some appeared like friends chatting, and some appeared excited like my mother and I.
After hearing about my dream, my mother said Master enlightened me to the fact that I had boarded the “Fa boat”. It also served as a reminder to my mother that she should not hesitate to do the three things.
A New Practitioner on the Path of a Righteous Cultivation Practice
I have been a Falun Dafa practitioner for two years now. I have experienced some xinxing tests and learned to look inside to find and let go of my human attachments. A practitioner should always face tribulations with righteous thoughts, and let go of fear and numerous other human notions while saving people.
Looking back at the three decades of my life, the most fortunate thing is obtaining the Fa. Being a practitioner has helped me see the value of my life.
My only regret is that I obtained the Fa so late. But I will be diligent and keep up with the Fa rectification process like Master said in Zhuan Falun, “When a wise person hears the Tao, this person will practice it diligently.”
As for people like me who learned Dafa when we were young, but stopped cultivating for whatever reason: I wish they would come back to Dafa as soon as possible, because Master Li had already said:
“At the Kalpa's end, the Divine shall come,Saving us and undoing our entanglements.Each and every lifetime was for this wish,We've suffered for thousands of years.The chance can't be treated lightly,Seized or missed --- in the twinkling of an eye.”Hong Yin (III) A Chance in the twinkling of an eye.
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