(Minghui.org) I am over 70 years old. Because I look so healthy, many people think I am only 50. But, actually, for a long time I suffered from many ailments. My health was transformed when I started practicing Falun Gong in 1997. I would like to share my story.
For much of my life I often felt it was a struggle just to stay alive and that I had to fight to stave off death. When I was a teenager, I had severe headaches. Every time I got one, I was reduced to writhing on the floor and clawing the wall. Afterward, there would be chips of plaster all over the floor.
I married young, and my husband and I had two children.
When I was 20, I developed heart disease, at 30, epilepsy. My thinking was often confused, and sometimes I could not find my way home. I tried Western medicine, Chinese medicine, and folk remedies. I also worshiped Buddha and begged the Taoists. But nothing worked.
At the age of 26, I was making noodles for my family when burned myself terribly. I plunged my hands into cold water and passed out. I saw my soul leave my body and come to a bridge.
Many people were on the bridge walking to a temple-like building. Following the crowd, I headed toward the bridge, but a spirit stopped me. He told me that the temple-like building was the palace in the netherworld and that those people were going to see the king of hell.
He said that my life was not over yet and asked me to go back. My soul returned to my body. When I came to, I saw my family members and neighbors gathered around me, crying. They all thought I had died.
After that I had to carry emergency heart pills with me everywhere I went. Sometimes I was so depressed that I wanted to end my life, and sometimes I wished that a real Buddha would save me. But where was the real Buddha?
In 1997, a friend of mine told me about Falun Gong. He said that Falun Gong had amazing healing power and that many people had witnessed it. I asked him whether the local exercise site would take me, since I was so ill. He said, “Don't worry about that. As long as you are diligent in practicing, you will recover.”
That same night, I went to the local exercise site, my heart medicine with me. I listened to practitioners reading Zhuan Falun--the main book of Falun Gong--and watched them do the exercises. I listened for a long time.
All I remembered was:
“As a practitioner, the first thing you should be able to do is to not fight back when you are beaten or sworn at—you must be tolerant.”(Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)
I also recalled that sickness is caused by doing wrong in the past, which results in karma, and that suffering is repaying a karmic debt.
The next day, one of my younger son's friends came over. He was drunk and accidentally struck me in the chest very hard. The pain almost made me pass out. My two sons got angry and wanted to beat him up. I stopped them, because I recalled what I had learned from Zhuan Falun the previous day.
I thought, “Maybe I did something bad to this young man in my previous life. Now I am repaying the karmic debt.” I said to my sons, “It's OK. I'll be fine in a bit. Let him go.” Amazingly, my heart disease was gone. After this incident, I never had any symptoms—Master Li Hongzhi helped me to remove the karmic debt and healed me.
Other health problems that had bothered me for decades were all gone within a month after I started practicing Falun Gong. I felt that I had finally found the real Buddha and the real Buddha Fa.
I did not need any more drugs. I put all my medications into a big box, carried it on a cart to the river, and dumped it in. My friends couldn't understand. “Those were expensive medicines. Why did you dump them all?” I said, “I am practicing Falun Gong, and all my diseases are gone. I don't need them anymore.”
Many other amazing things have happened to me. Here is another example. One night I was reading Zhuan Falun at home. Another practitioner came in and ask “Why don't you put the light on?”
“I am reading Zhuan Falun.”
“How can you read in the dark?”
“Every word shines and radiates light," I answered, "Isn't your book like that?”
I realized that not everyone's book was like that. The practitioner said that it was Master Li Hongzhi encouraging me.
Sometimes in the evening sky I can see Master Li Hongzhi's image, Falun, celestial maidens spreading flowers, and other spirits.
Witnessing these miracles, people in my village were amazed. “You're a different person now. So healthy and full of energy,” they said. I told them that it was Falun Gong that saved me. Many of them had a hard time believing me. I encouraged them to give it a try, too, and some seniors who were sick but had no money to go to the hospital started to practice Falun Gong with me. Later, some young people joined us, too.
As the number of practitioners grew, we set up three exercise sites in my village. When the persecution began, we couldn't gather at the sites to exercise for a period of time, but we re-started them later. We have studied the books and done the exercises regularly for the last 15 years.
My son is the head of the village. I told him at the beginning of the persecution: “Son, I would have died years ago if it were not for Falun Gong. Master Li Hongzhi who saved me. No matter how severe the pressure is, you should not get involved in the persecution. Instead, you should try your best in your position to protect Falun Gong practitioners.”
I also told him that he would be punished by Heaven if he participated in persecuting practitioners. “No matter what happens, I will practice Falun Gong,” I said to him.
My son understands what Falun Gong truly is--unlike what the communist propaganda makes it out to be--and he saw how I recovered totally from epilepsy and heart trouble. He often hides me when police come to the village to search for Falun Gong practitioners.
He also often helps me inform other practitioners so that they can escape before the police arrive. But sometimes the police come without notifying the village officials, so I have been arrested, detained, and jailed in brainwashing centers more than 30 times since 1999.
Because of my son's position, government officials from the county level often visit our house. They are always amazed when they find out my real age.
“Is your mother 50?” one asked my son. “No, she is 70 some now.” They couldn't believe it. I said, “Even my son is over 50. Of course I am 70.”
They were surprised. One official said that his mother is only in her 40s but often has to go to the hospital. Another said that his dad is not 60 yet but had a stroke, and they had to hire a nurse to take care of him.
“You are so lucky. Your son is also very lucky,” they said. My son told them, “That is because my mother practices Falun Gong.”
I used that opening to tell them the facts about the persecution, how wonderful Falun Gong is, and not to get involved in the persecution. They said they would not get involved. As they left, some took Falun Gong flyers, and many said they wanted to learn more about it.
* * *
My life was saved by Master Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong, so I feel obligated and honored to tell the public what Falun Gong is and what kind of person Master is; I have to set the record straight to counteract the Chinese Communist Party's smear campaign.
Despite the risk, other practitioners and I often go out to pass out Falun Gong materials. In the last 15 years, we have visited many villages and towns nearby and delivered materials to thousands of households. Many people have learned the truth about the persecution and changed their attitude toward Falun Gong.
We will continue our efforts and let more people know how wonderful Falun Gong is. We will not stop until the persecution ends.