(Minghui.org) Greetings compassionate Master, greetings practitioners from around the world.
I began to practice Falun Dafa, (also known as Falun Gong) in 2002. It has been 13 years since the first online China Fahui was held. I have always envied the practitioners who could share their thoughts and experiences. My fingers are deformed and writing is a task too hard for me. When a practitioner offered to write down what I had to say, I was so happy. I now get to tell Master and everyone my story.
I had a high fever when I was three and got a shot in the hospital. After I went home, I couldn’t move. My parents were too humble and simple-minded and they didn’t know how to ask the hospital to take responsibility. I have been paralyzed ever since. After a long time, I could lift my head and sit up with my back supported. My hip bones were not level and I couldn’t sit upright. My left arm could function properly but not my right arm. Six of my fingers were deformed. I remained unable to stand or walk. I could only sit on a stool and move forward with my left hand pulling on the stool.
As long as I could remember, my mother often stared at my legs with a sad face. She worried that no one could take care of me after she got old. She eventually found a husband for me. He was an orphan and intellectually challenged. I became the bread winner of the house.
We sold baked sweet potatoes for a living. This didn’t last long. A few years later my health deteriorated. I had two tumors on my chest, my working left arm weakened, my organs began to fail and I was drowsy all day. At the time I felt that living was harder than dying.
A Falun Gong practitioner gave me a copy of Zhuan Falun at the Mid-autumn Festival in 2002. I read it and was fascinated by it. It explained away all my confusion and suffering in life. The best thing was that anyone who wanted to learn it could, including someone like me. I was so happy that I had a master!
I never went to school and had difficulty reading. With the help of other practitioners, I slowly learned how to read, word by word. At first it took me six hours to finish reading one chapter. It didn’t deter me.
I once had an idea: if I memorized the book, I would never make a mistake when I read. Nothing could stop me. Line by line, paragraph by paragraph, I finally memorized the entire book. I was able to keep up and not make mistakes when studying with other practitioners.
It was unbelievably hard for me to do the exercises. I couldn’t sit up without support and keep my bottom level. I eventually managed to cross my legs. The pain was excruciating. I trembled and sweat profusely. I lasted ten minutes. I wanted to be like other practitioners and removed all the physical supports I used. I lasted one minute this time. I didn’t give up. Two weeks later I could sit with my legs crossed for an hour.
I had to do the other exercises on the bed for I couldn’t stand. I improvised and tried to do as many exercises as I could. I didn’t think much of anything. I just wanted to do the exercises like other practitioners. When I raised my arms for the second exercise, they dropped down in less than a minute. I kept trying and enduring all the pain no matter how tired I was. After the exercises, I studied the teachings despite the fact that I was exhausted and sleepy. I insisted on doing the exercises every day and one day I just stopped feeling tired and sleepy after doing the exercises.
One night two months into the practice my body began to ache so badly, like I had never experienced. I felt two small balls exiting my body. I knew that Master Li (the founder of Falun Dafa) was helping me get well and I was so happy in the midst of extreme pain. Without me knowing it, the tumors on my chest disappeared. My arms started to work, and I stopped feeling pain. My illnesses were gone and I haven’t taken a pill since. I could now work and make a living again.
My family was against my practicing Falun Dafa because of the severe persecution. As they witnessed how my health was completely transformed, they became supportive.
I had to be very good at managing my time. I woke up much earlier than others because I couldn’t move around well. It takes me four to five hours longer than others just to get dressed and washed up in the morning. I try not to drink and eat as much so I could save time going to the bathroom. For the past 14 years I sleep very little so I can have time every day to study the Falun Dafa teachings and do the exercises. I am very happy to do all of this because I am a practitioner.
I worried about people who didn’t know that the persecution was wrong. I told my customers how great Falun Dafa was. Most of them were returning customers and knew how I used to be. Looking at me being healthy and energetic, they believed what I told them about the benefits of the practice and the wrongful persecution.
I wanted to tell more people about Falun Dafa and I couldn’t do that with only a few new customers. I noticed a car on the street that was compact and looked easy to drive. I thought that if I could drive that kind of car, I could meet and talk to more people about Falun Dafa. I learned that this car could be modified and driven without having to use your legs.
My family was against this idea because of my physical disadvantages. I knew that this was my chance of awakening more people and I insisted on it. It was as if someone was helping me. Somehow I was able to get people to help me purchase the car and remodel it.
The first thing I needed to do was to figure out how to get inside the car by myself. I had to get on a stool so that I could get on the wheelchair and move myself to the car. I put a wooden board between the wheelchair and the car door and tried to slowly push myself toward the car on the board. The wheelchair slipped away and I fell hard on the ground and couldn’t get up. My husband, who was against me buying the car, saw it. Instead of helping me up, he said something hurtful and did nothing. I knew that this was part of my cultivation and that I couldn’t give up.
I found my stool and used it to get to my wheelchair again. I fell again and my husband screamed at me. This process repeated over and over until I finally got myself into the car.
My neighbor taught me how to drive. He shouted from outside the car telling me to push the gear with my left hand and the gas with my right. I did what he said but unfortunately my right hand was too slow and not agile enough to work with my left hand. It took me forever just to get the car moving. The car was jumpy as it moved along. My neighbor was losing his patience. Suddenly the car stopped in the middle of the street. My hands were numb and hurting and I couldn’t get the car started again. The driver behind me was cursing at me, and so was my husband.
As I finally drove the car away, I was exhausted. I thought of quitting for a while. I still decided not to give up because I had no other way to awaken more people. I had an idea that I could practice driving at night for there wasn’t much traffic.
I left home around midnight. My husband came with me, not to help but to scold me. The ride was still bumpy and the car stopped. It caused me extreme discomfort and I had to rest. My husband continued to curse at me. I got up and continued. This cycle repeated numerous times and my will to learn how to drive got stronger.
Master says,
“But on the other hand, it also has the effect of strengthening your will. Don’t you need to cultivate your will? You need to strengthen your will, and restraining it is strengthening your will—it’s also cultivation.”“Fa Teaching Given at a Meeting in New York” in Lectures in the United States
I wanted to do what Master says and was determined to perfect my driving skills.
To my amazement, my right hand started working within two weeks. It became flexible and quick enough to work with my left hand to bring in the gas. This was a miracle: a paralyzed 54-year-old person learned how to drive in two weeks. I was able to go out on my own from then on. I again experienced the extraordinary power of Falun Dafa.
(to be continued)