(Minghui.org) I am the youngest of three sisters and one brother and was a spoiled child. When I was young, my entire family fussed over me because I was weak and sick.
My school grades were always among the best, and the teachers always praised me. I believed I was very capable. I lived a life of luxury and privilege, thus I developed a strong sense of jealousy and had a bad temper. My parents were government officials. I thought highly of my family's social status and looked down on others.
I gradually eliminated many bad habits after I started practicing Falun Dafa. I learned the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to be a good person, and became understanding and considerate of others. After seeing the positive changes in me, my mother and sisters also began to practice Dafa.
My husband grew up in a poor family, and his parents didn't get along well with each other. Because my family was against my marrying him, my husband felt inferior.
After the onset of the persecution of Falun Dafa in July 1999, I went to Beijing to peacefully protest for the right to practice.
On my return, my employer demanded that I turn in my Dafa books and sign a guarantee statement that I would no longer practice Dafa. They fined me, reduced my salary, and harassed me at home.
My husband was under tremendous mental pressure as well. He yelled at me, broke things, and destroyed our furniture when he couldn't cope. He also demanded that I give up my belief. He once loved me so much, but the mental pressure made him an alcoholic. When he was drunk, he would beat me. He turned into a complete stranger, and I began to resent him and we often quarreled.
Master said:
“So, regardless of the setting or circumstances in which you run into problems, you must maintain a compassionate and merciful heart in handling everything. If you cannot love your enemy, then you cannot reach Consummation. (Applause) Then why is it that when an ordinary person angers you, you cannot forgive him?! And instead you argue and fight with him like an everyday person?” (“Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference in Australia”)
Through Fa study, I understood that a Dafa practitioner should be compassionate. I came to see more clearly that my husband was afraid that if I was arrested, our baby would lose his mother. My husband feared that he would lose his family.
He became mentally unstable due to fear and psychological pressure from the authorities. He was actually the victim of the persecution.
I am a practitioner and can overcome tribulations despite great pressure, but my husband, as an ordinary person, does not see the hope and only holds on to fear and worry. He must have felt great pain in his heart. After I thought through all of what my husband was suffering, I understood his helplessness and fear.
Master said:
“If we encounter these problems, we should not compete and fight like others. If you do what that person did, aren’t you an ordinary person? Not only should you not compete and fight like him, but also you should not resent that person in your heart. Really, you should not hate that person. If you hate that person, aren’t you upset? You have not followed forbearance. We practice Zhen-Shan-Ren, and you would have even less compassion so to speak of.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
Dafa helped me let go of my resentment toward my husband, and I no longer felt the stress associated with it.
My husband ran a small taxi business and hired a driver to help out. The driver later ran over an old man, who was hospitalized for a month, so we had to compensate him.
After the incident, my husband wanted to replace the driver, but I wanted to give the young man a second chance. It wasn't easy for the driver to make a living to support his family, so I persuaded my husband to keep him.
A few days later, my husband got a phone call late at night, saying that the driver and two passengers had fallen into a ditch. I hurried to the hospital and found out that no one was seriously hurt.
This was a difficult time, because I had to look after our child, go to work, and comfort my husband.
I did not chastise the driver, but instead told him not to worry. I talked to him about Dafa and asked him to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliates. The two passengers did not ask for anything unreasonable and even made friends with my husband.
I've experienced many tribulations during my marriage of over 10 years. It would have been much more difficult if I did not practice Falun Dafa. I might have divorced my husband.
If I were not a determined Dafa practitioner, I could not be so forgiving or calmly face the tribulations.