(Minghui.org) I was born into a poor family in northeastern China, on a freezing winter day in 1951.
As a child I was very skinny and sickly, so I had to take lots of Chinese medicines. Mother told me that my older siblings had to quit school due to poverty. She asked me to hang in there and study hard.
I was a good student, however the Cultural Revolution put a stop to my studies when I was to enter middle school.
My marriage life was a nightmare, as my husband was an alcoholic who beat the children and me.
Seeing other happy families with responsible husbands, I felt bad and thought about death. But thinking that my two children would have to suffer I could not commit suicide. My husband died at the age of 47 when I was 45.
A New Beginning
A friend told me about Falun Dafa in 1996, and suggested that I could benefit from it. I watched the nine-day lecture series on videotape and read the book Zhuan Falun.
After reading the Dafa books, I realized that this was what I had been waiting for my entire life. I came to understand why I had so many difficulties and had experienced a lot of suffering. Falun Dafa opened my eyes and showed me a new path.
I stopped complaining about life and thought about how to become a better person by following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I benefited from Dafa, as I recovered from all my illnesses. Besides, Dafa brought harmony into my life.
Letting Go of Selfishness
Falun Dafa teaches its practitioners to be a better person instead of being selfish. There were many occasions when I could prove that I had become a good person.
Many of my neighbors and I bypassed the electrical meter to cut down on utility bills. After reading the Falun Dafa books, I knew that this was dishonest and stopped doing that.
I used to own a barber shop. Because my husband had a mental illness and I had no other income, the tax administration waived my taxes. After beginning to practice Falun Dafa, I knew I had a stable income every year and since my husband had died, I started to pay taxes. The tax administration officers were impressed when I explained my reasoning to them. Interestingly, although I had to pay a large sum of tax money, my total income by the year-end was about the same as the previous year. I knew I had done the right thing.
When I withdrew money at a bank, the cashier gave me an additional 50 yuan by mistake. I told her that there was a mistake, but she was annoyed and said it was impossible. I explained to her that she had given me too much and I handed the money to her. She accepted it without saying a word.
When I told this story to a friend, she said I am a good person and the cashier should have thanked me. “It's not a big deal,” I smiled, “I am a Falun Dafa practitioner, and I had to do what I am supposed to do.”
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
Category: Improving Oneself
