(Minghui.org) I am 80 years old. There were wars in China when I was young. I later experienced the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) political movements one after another. I was weak and had many illnesses when I reached middle age. My wife was bed-ridden with severe illnesses. Our lives were miserable and desperate.
Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) was made public in 1992. My family started practicing it and our illnesses were all gone shortly. We had a happy life after that. However, the CCP initiated the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999. We were persecuted to the verge of death on several occasions.
We survived the tribulations under Master Li's protection, and my whole family is grateful for Master's help and guidance.
I had a big surgery in 1982 due to bleeding in stomach. Two-thirds of my stomach was removed. I became extremely weak. Later I had cervical spondylosis, frozen shoulder, and left arm atrophy. I could not do even a little hard work. I had to wear a warm coat indoors even in summer. It was painful when the weather changed between seasons. I took medication year round. The furniture was moved out of my room and replaced with a big quilt on ground to allow me to roll around when the pain in my shoulder and neck was too much to bear.
My wife worked in the Number 2 Wheat Flour Plant in Changchun. Her leg was injured when a grain stack collapsed in 1989. Before long she had lumbar disc herniation. She was unable to move her back and legs, even after three years of therapy including acupuncture and massage. It was 1992 and she could no longer take care of herself.
I was tormented by illnesses too. So my daughter had to take leave from work to take care of her mother. My wife could only lean over on bed while supported with her elbows. Sores formed on her elbows. Her legs were often cramped in pain. She was tormented so much that she thought of suicide.
Later she was hospitalized in the Jilin Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Doctors suggested she had a surgery and said she would probably become paralyzed after the surgery. My daughter was asked to sign an agreement. She did not sign it as we all did not want the surgery.
One day I came home to cook lunch and prepare a meal to take to my wife. My upstairs neighbor, Ms. Yuan, told me that the teacher of Falun Gong had cured many incurable illnesses in Beijing and that he would give a lecture at the nearby Changkong Club the following day. She suggested that I take my wife there and ask Falun Gong teacher to take a look.
I discussed this with my son at the hospital and we decided to take a chance. He borrowed a stretcher from the hospital to carry my wife. A fellow patient, her husband Mr. Tang, and another patient, Ms. Fei, also wished to attend the lecture. With Mr. Tang's help, my son carried my wife on the stretcher to a tricycle. We arrived at the club a little after 6 am to avoid traffic. We carried my wife into the conference hall after the doors opened.
People sat down and waited for the teacher, whom the people there referred to as Master, to appear. Soon a middle-aged man wearing a white shirt walked into the hall. He saw my wife leaned over the stretcher and asked what happened. My wife answered, “Lumbar disc herniation.” He said, “Carry her to the stage.” My son and Mr. Tang carried her to the stage. I stood near the stage, too.
The man walked toward the stretcher and squatted down. He asked my wife, “Can you cooperate?” My wife answered, “Yes.” By then I understood that this was Master Li, the Falun Gong teacher who was going to give the lecture.
Master said loudly to my wife while waving his hands, “Sit.” My wife sat easily. Master stood up and waved his hands, “Stand up!” My wife followed his order and stood up instantly. Seeing this sudden change in my wife, I was stunned. She stood on the stage and could not believe it was true. The audience gave warm applause, with many of them visibly shocked, and others reduced to tears.
Master said gently to my wife, “Walk, walk faster.” My wife walked on the stage from slow to fast. After she walked around the stage twice, Master told her, “You are fine now. Step down from the stage.”
My wife was startled and had tears running down her cheeks. She saluted Master and stepped down the stairs. It had only been five or six minutes since she was first carried on stage. My son and I, together with everyone else in the hall that day, witnessed this miracle.
We sat down in the first row and listened to Master's lecture for two hours. My wife went to the stage to thank Master after the lecture.
After returning to the hospital, she walked into her room. Other patients and their family members were startled at the miraculous changes in her. They asked questions and expressed their admiration.
We left the hospital on Monday, the following day. We have never seen a doctor or visited the hospital since.
My wife and I attended the third lecture session of Master in Changchun. My whole family attended the fourth session in Changchun later, and the fifth, sixth, and seventh session there in 1994. My daughter and I attended the session in Harbin on August 5. My whole family started practicing Falun Gong since then. Seeing the marvelous changes in us, the whole family is in admiration of Falun Gong.
The ticket price for Master's lecture sessions were the lowest of all the Qigong lectures being given in China in those days. Some others charged a few hundred yuan or more, while the Falun Gong 9-day lecture session was only 30 yuan, later increased to 50 yuan. The price was reduced by half for veteran students or those with difficulty paying. My family was charged only half price to enter the lecture sessions.
To save money for those attending, Master brought books and other materials with him when he returned to Changchun from other places. Once he brought video cassettes of his 9-day lecture session and offered one set to each major practice site for free.
Master's wife gave me a portrait of Master, while telling me that he had brought only two. I knew it was precious and specially treasured it. I had it laminated, posted it on a poster board and took the board to the practice site every day.
Master had lectures in other places year round and would stay for a few days in Changchun between trips. He would always find time to meet with coordinators of the practice sites to learn about practitioners' cultivation and solve their issues. He would visit each practice site by bike.
Many people attended Master's lecture to practice site coordinators given at the Shangri-La Hotel in Changchun. Master knew they wished to see him and said, “You can see me if I sit high.” He put one chair on top of another and sat on top. It was difficult to sit as the top chair was not stable, yet he lectured for five hours sitting that way.
Master set up a practice site for us in the spring of 1993. We waited for him in front of a park in the morning. He arrived there on a bicycle dressed in white. He asked, “Where do you practice? Let me take a look at the site.” He said the practice site was too small. He led us to find another location in the park.
There was a large open space about 150 meters from the front entrance of the park. The terrain was relatively high, but very flat with few trees. There were roads to entrances on both sides. The space was bright. Master said, “Let's take this place.”
Master led us around the open space and then stood in the middle to clean it. I stood behind him and wondered, “We have only 7 people including 5 from my family. The two older women from my neighborhood do not show up generally. They had joined us this day as they knew that Master had cured my wife's illnesses and was coming to the site. They wanted to ask Master to treat their illnesses. I wondered why five of us needed such a big space.”
Master knew what I was thinking and said to us, “There will be so many practitioners that this space is not enough.” He adjusted the bodies of the two elder women before leaving.
We went to practice the exercises there every day. We were happy. More and more people joined us. Some fellow practitioners with their celestial eyes open said there were many Falun in the practice site and marvelous scenes in other dimensions.
We used a small audio player initially to play the exercise music as there were only a few of us. As the number of people joining us grew, I changed the player to a big one. The volume was still not loud enough later as more and more people joined.
One practitioner bought two loudspeakers and asked the Electric Power Bureau to install an outlet there. So the two loudspeakers were placed on either side of the practice site. Over 300 people came to practice the exercises there. The splendid scene drew many people to see what was going on, and many of them joined us as a result.
As the number of people practicing Falun Gong continued to rapidly grow, the practice site was too small for us by 1994. Another practice site was set up near the west entrance of the park. With more people joining, more practice sites were set up in other places.
My family immigrated to the United States last year. One day, my son, grandson, granddaughter and I sat beside the wall in a hall and waited for a person-in-charge for business.
My son said suddenly, “Master comes!” I turned my head and saw him! I hurriedly walked toward him with tears in eyes. As I began to kneel down to him, he helped me up. I said, sobbing, “Master, we miss you!” Master grasped my hand with his right hand and sat down with me in the chairs outside the hall. He held my hand, silently comforting me.
Master and I had met again after 17 years apart (Master left China in 1998)! We experienced harsh persecution in China in the past 17 years.
I lowered my head, tears running down my face. I thought that I did not cultivate so diligently that my body did not evolve well. I felt that I had let Master down. I had many regrets. I seemed to sit in a vacuum and not be aware of my surroundings.
I calmed down after a while and raised my head. I noticed that tears were in Master's eyes. I lowered my head again immediately. I don't remember how long it passed before Master gave a sigh. Master then gave us a lecture.
Master's compassion is beyond words. I am fortunate to attend seven of Master's lecture sessions and four large conferences where Master lectured and answered questions. The number of attendees ranged from several hundred to over 8000. All left deep impressions on me, and seem like they happened just yesterday.