(Minghui.org) I am a 67-year-old practitioner who was born in a remote farming village of Sichuan Province. My family was poor, and my education didn't go beyond elementary school.
I entered into an arranged marriage with a railway worker at the age of 19. My husband had a very bad temper and he abused me physically and verbally. He was fired from his job three years after our marriage due to a poor attitude at work, and the abuse got worse. I became the sole breadwinner for our family, farming the fields while caring for our child and my husband’s elderly parents.
Years passed, and the overwhelming physical and emotional abuse took its toll on my health, leaving me seriously ill.
In 1998, Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) cultivation practice began to spread throughout my village. Although many relatives encouraged me to take up the practice, my husband refused to let me participate.
My worsening health finally forced me to visit a hospital, where I was diagnosed with erosive gastritis. Doctors informed me that my condition had deteriorated to the point that medication would not help. My best option for a cure was a surgical procedure that cost 300,000 yuan. Even this, the doctors warned, could not guarantee a cure.
Stunned, I fell into despair. Unable and unwilling to undergo the operation, I relied on large quantities of medication to relieve my symptoms. This went on for about a month until I passed out one night.
I awoke to find my husband massaging some of my acupressure points and crying. He told me, “Go and practice Falun Gong tomorrow. I have heard that Falun Gong’s Master cured many sick people.”
The next morning, I set off for the local practice site, which was about five miles from our home. The journey took me three hours. As soon as I set foot on the practice site, all thoughts left my mind as I listened intently to the broadcast of one of Master’s recorded lectures in Guangzhou.
The group paused at noon for lunch. I felt spiritually and physically invigorated. I was about to take my medication when several practitioners invited me to have lunch with them. I told them I was looking for some water to take my medicine, but they said, “Do not think of your illness. If you truly wish to cultivate, let go of this human notion of being ill. Master will help you.”
The practitioners took me to a noodle shop and ordered a bowl for me. My appetite had not been good for two months, and I choked on anything I ate or drank. However, the enticing aroma awoke my appetite, and I consumed the entire bowl of noodles. This left me in awe of Master’s and Dafa’s powers.
I continued to listen to Master’s lecture after lunch. That evening, I made it home in half an hour, light and full of energy. I exclaimed to my husband, “I've recovered!” I then proceeded to devour a huge bowl of porridge. My family observed my hearty appetite in stunned silence before cheering in delight, “Falun Dafa is truly miraculous!”
As I continued to study the Fa teachings, I realized that the abuse had I suffered at the hands of my husband may well have been due to a debt I owed to him from our past lives.
Although my husband was happy that I had recovered and no longer hit me, he still occasionally lashed out at me verbally. During such episodes, I silently beseeched Master to help me bear my husband’s scolding so that I could pay off my karmic debt as soon as possible. Unable to provoke any meaningful reaction from me, my husband gradually mellowed, and our family has lived in harmony ever since.
Jiang Zemin, the former Chinese Communist Party leader, and his cronies began their brutal persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. In spite of the government’s propaganda against Falun Gong, I remained steadfast that Master and Dafa had not done anything wrong. Even my fearful husband’s pleas for me to stop practicing did not sway my determination to continue cultivating.
One day, five practitioners and I traveled to another practitioner’s home in the next village for a group Fa study session. On our return, local police summoned the six of us to the police station to explain our actions.
I told the police that we were just studying the Fa and sharing our cultivation experiences, which was not a crime. After some deliberation, the officers said that each person had to pay a fine of 500 yuan and sign a guarantee statement promising to give up cultivation practice.
Practitioners who chose to pay the fine and sign the guarantee were allowed to return home the same day. The police chief asked me why I refused to pay the fine and sign. I replied, “I have no money. Besides, I did nothing wrong, so I have nothing to declare.” The police detained me at the station overnight.
My fine was increased to 1,000 yuan the following day, and I was repeatedly asked to reconsider my decision to continue cultivation practice. I replied, “Master taught me how to be a good person and cured my illness. You have all seen this miracle for yourselves.”
While detained, I took the initiative to clean the police station. I swept their front and back patios, washed their dishes, cleaned the kitchen, and washed their curtains. Perhaps what I did moved them. On the fourth day, the director sent me home with a request to restrict my cultivation activities to the confines of my home.
Once home, I continued to study the Fa and do the exercises regularly. At noon and in the evening, I ventured out to clarify the truth about Dafa, posting truth clarification stickers everywhere I went.
As I was harvesting sweet potatoes in my field one morning in September 2004, two village officials told me to go home. I returned to find four police officers standing in front of my house, two from the local police station and two from the city police department.
One of them asked me, “How long have you been practicing Falun Gong?” I replied, “I suffered a chronic illness for over ten years until Falun Gong came along and cured me. If not for Falun Gong, my family would have become bankrupt from medical expenses, and I would not be standing here talking to you. My Master taught me to be a better person and to be considerate of others. Moreover, he does not seek power or wealth, but constantly labors to save people. Tell me, what is so terrible about practicing Falun Dafa?”
Unable to answer my question, the police officers demanded to search my house. While unlocking the door, I sent forth righteous thoughts asking Master for assistance in hiding my Dafa books and truth-clarification materials so that the police wouldn't see them. Despite their thorough search, the police eventually left empty handed. This happened three more times, with each search as unsuccessful as the first. From this I learned that our righteous thoughts and actions can eliminate evil influences and guarantee our safety.
In 2012, I accepted a housekeeping job from Mrs. Sun, who was nearly eighty years old. She previously had a stroke and suffered from high blood pressure, a slipped disk and a chronic sore throat.
“We are a very spiritual household,” said Mrs Sun. “There is one room dedicated to Buddha where I burn incense and pray every day. As an employee, you will also have to worship and pray daily.”
I replied, “I cannot perform such rites. I practice Falun Dafa, the universal great law. Since I have accepted your offer of employment, I am willing to clean these areas as part of my job. However I cannot worship these things. If you are unwilling to accept my terms, I'll leave.” She agreed to my conditions.
A seed of determination within my heart began to take root, and I decided to try and save her. In order to demonstrate the goodness of Falun Dafa practitioners, I performed the household chores to the best of my ability, impressing her family greatly. At the same time, I repeatedly reminded her to recite “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” with sincerity to improve her health.
I repeatedly sent forth righteous thoughts, asking Master to cleanse her home. One day, Mrs. Sun and her son fell ill with the flu and I accompanied the family to the hospital. Although I too showed some symptoms of the flu, I politely declined their offer to pay for my medication and treatment. I quickly recovered after a night of Fa study and doing the exercises. My rapid recovery amazed Mrs. Sun.
This convinced her to try my suggestion. Over the course of three days, she repeatedly recited “Falun Dafa is good.” Three nights later, I played a truth clarification DVD for her and noticed a gradual change in her thinking. I then played a recording of Master’s lecture for her. The more she listened, the more comfortable she felt. She carefully read Zhuan Falun once through, before asking me to teach her the exercises. Her illnesses vanished within three weeks.
Mrs. Sun gratefully thanked me, saying, “If only I had met you earlier, my elderly husband would not have died from diabetes.”
I replied, “You should thank our compassionate Master instead, as he was the one who healed you.”