(Minghui.org) I am a 65-year-old Falun Dafa practitioner from the countryside. Before I began to practice Dafa in 1998, I suffered from many illnesses, including bronchitis, gout, rheumatoid arthritis, and Meniere's syndrome. Most of my stomach was removed when I was 38-years-old.
My family and I suffered a lot because of my illnesses. I saw a lot of doctors, but there was no cure. I was a big financial burden for my family. Because of our financial situation, my husband was often in a bad mood and we would argue.
Feeling Hopeful
A practitioner introduced Falun Dafa to me on November 30, 1998. I decided to follow her to the practice site to learn the exercises. At the site, there was an extra copy of Zhuan Falun, which I took home.
It took two days to read through the entire book and I was deeply shocked. After reading it two more times, I came to understand the true reasons for suffering tribulations and illnesses.
I then remembered a dream from when I was five-years-old: I was high up in the sky and was descending layer by layer, and it took me a while to land on the ground. This dream kept recurring, but I could not understand the meaning of it.
From reading Zhuan Falun, I understood the dream – for one to fall down from a high level was because one did something bad. I came to understand the true purpose for being a human and made up my mind to return to my original true self.
I finally then felt hope. After I experienced tremendous physical changes, I decided to live by Dafa's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.While reading Zhuan Falun I felt that it was not an ordinary book, but rather a high-level law.
When former communist party leader Jiang Zemin's regime began to persecute Falun Gong, my husband became very scared. He remembered the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) political movements. He also began to believe the lies about Dafa by the government's media. Therefore, he tried to stop me from practicing.
When he saw me studying the Fa and doing the exercises, he threatened to call the police, get me arrested, and divorce me. No matter how he treated me, my heart was unmoved. I said: “Master Li (the founder) asks us to be a good person, what's wrong with that? For such a wonderful practice, whatever you say doesn't count. I will continue to practice!”
He then asked my daughter-in-law to stop me from practicing. She said: “Mom, if they say don't practice, then do what they say. Our family is poor. If you are arrested, we can't bribe them.” I told her not to worry because Master would protect me, as I was a good person and did not do anything wrong.
When my husband wanted to pull Zhuan Falun out of my hands, I said: “Let go. You can take my life, but not this book!”
I continued: “This book is a sacred book. Master Li gave me a new life. Before that, I had so many illnesses and there was no cure. I didn't spend a penny, but my health was restored. I was useless before, and now I can do any work. Remember when I was ill, how much we had to spend on medical expenses? From practicing Dafa, I gained so many benefits. All of us should really thank Master and Dafa.”
Improving My Moral Character
Last year when I was harvesting crops, I asked six neighbors for help. When I delivered some hot water to the field, my husband began to swear at me. I remained very calm, realizing it was a test for me. After a while, my husband came to where I was, and he was smiling at me.
Another time, we were sitting on a bus. One person on the bus was upset and started swearing at me for no reason. When I got off the bus, some people said to me: “You are really something else! Someone else wouldn't have been so tolerant and would have wanted to curse back.”
I replied, “It is because I practice Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance that I am tolerant and do not care about how others treat me.” Afterward, when I looked inward, I located my attachment to saving face.
I try to hold myself to higher principles and to be compassionate. The universal principles are fair. One ends up improving one's moral character and it also helps with harmonizing one's environment. My family now has a good relationship with one another, and we also get along with our neighbors, which makes talking to people about Falun Dafa much easier.