(Minghui.org) I am 74 years old. I was once the secretary of a municipal committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). After many years in that position, my mental health deteriorated, and I suffered repeated episodes of emotional instability.
As a result, I was suicidal, had tendencies of self-mutilation, and would shout with my hands shaking. It was very frightening for me and my wife.
I went to a psychiatrist in July 2015 for an evaluation and was diagnosed with severe depression. This really upset my wife. She knew that if I continued to get worse, I might not be able to recognize my own family members or even take care of myself.
With such a grim outlook, we both felt a heavy mental burden. We passed each day in distress and blamed the Gods for not treating us fairly.
In this desperate situation, we recalled the words of a friend who practices Falun Gong. He had encouraged us before to practice Falun Gong, too. I thought, “Why not give it a try and begin reading the book Zhuan Falun?”
I read through the book in four days. Even before I finished reading it, I felt my mind relax and I became more at ease with myself. I thought that the principles in the book made perfect sense, and I realized that my feeling of discontentment was a result of not being able to recognize and let go of my desires and attachments.
I read Zhuan Falun three more times, and I achieved a deeper understanding of the principles presented in the book each time. I came to understand that suffering is repaying debts and that a person’s life is pre-arranged before his birth. I learned that the only way to change one’s life fundamentally is to cultivate.
Once I understood these principles, my mind became clear, calm, and peaceful.
My wife and I started learning the Falun Gong exercises in August 2015. I was astonished when the very next day the lotus flower in my yard blossomed. Normally, lotus flowers bloom in October.
That same night I also had a dream that five or six enlightened beings wearing robes came to me. I said, “Are you Master Li Hongzhi? I want to be your disciple and cultivate Falun Gong!” Master, who was there, too, smiled, then disappeared.
When I woke up, I was reminded of a line from Zhuan Falun: “When a person's Buddha-nature emerges, the enlightened beings are able to help him.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
With the lotus flower and having dreamed of Master Li smiling at me, my heart was moved, and I made up my mind to truly commit to my path of cultivation. With my son’s help, I downloaded the video files of Master teaching the five Falun Gong exercises from the Minghui website.
When my wife and I went to the practice site for the first time, we encountered many practitioners doing the exercises; a few were handing out flyers about Falun Gong and the ongoing persecution in China. Several helped correct our exercise movements.
One practitioner proposed we set up a Fa-study group at our home. We agreed and had our first group Fa study and sharing at our house on December 26, 2015. The very next morning the lotus flower that had bloomed in August bloomed again. I felt that Master was encouraging me to be diligent.
When I was learning the fifth exercise, I couldn’t pull my legs into full lotus and I was not confident that I would ever be able to. I thought that I was too old and my joints too stiff. Yet, I was encouraged by a fellow practitioner, who said, “Take your time. As long as you are determined to practice, Master will help you.”
I told myself, “I am not afraid of the pain; a cultivator should be able to endure hardship.”
It was very painful to even try to sit in full lotus. For the first 15-20 days, every time I pulled my legs into the position, my mind got more and more uneasy and restless, and the suffering got more and more difficult to bear. Understanding that the pain was a result of karma being eliminated and not without reason, I remained determined. My persistence paid off, and in about two months I was able to sit in full lotus for a full hour.
While doing the Falun Standing Stance, my arms got sore and heavy. Knowing that I must bear the pain to eliminate the karma, I kept holding my arms up.
Soon after I started cultivating Dafa, miracles started happening to me.
For example, my right leg was injured a decade ago. I sought different treatments but was never cured. My leg often hurt and got much worse on windy and rainy days. Then, three months after I started cultivating Falun Gong, my leg pain disappeared
For decades I had also suffered severe headaches and vomiting due to a herniated disc that compressed the nerves in my neck. When it was really bad, I could not even turn over in my bed. But soon after I started cultivation, my herniated disk healed and my neck pain was gone. I can turn my neck easily now and have no more vomiting or headaches.
I also had painful swelling in the joints of two of my fingers, to the point that I couldn’t make a fist. The doctors gave me different prescriptions but they didn’t help. Three months after I started cultivating Falun Gong, the swelling and pain disappeared.
The severe depression that had threatened my life for years disappeared, too. Recently some of my friends said to me, “You look much better now. You used to look blue in the face, but now you don't. What supplements are you taking?”
Some commented, “You always looked distressed. Now you look relieved.” Indeed, I now feel better than ever and my friends can see the difference.
After experiencing all these miracles, I was deeply moved. Falun Gong not only cured my illnesses but also saved my soul.
To let more people learn about Falun Gong and the persecution, we joined our local practitioners to deliver informational materials door-to-door.
There are two more experiences I would like to share.
I had just started cultivation and was doing the exercises one afternoon. With my eyes closed I saw five or six enlightened beings wearing robes floating in front of me. I said in my mind, “I am a Falun Gong practitioner, a disciple of Master Li Hongzhi.” The beings quickly disappeared and Master’s law body looked at me with a smile. Since then, whenever I do the exercises, I always feel that Master is with me.
More recently while I was doing the exercises, two demons appeared in front of me. I was shocked. I called for Master’s help and they disappeared immediately. Master’s law body protects me all the time.
Master takes care of all his disciples at every moment.