(Minghui.org) I have been cultivating Falun Dafa since March 1998, and I turned 80 this year. I still go out with young people to talk to people about Falun Dafa and distribute Dafa informational materials.
Before cultivating Falun Dafa, I suffered from severe hypertension, heart disease, and had a lump on my tailbone. It hurt so much that I was hardly mobile.
Two Falun Dafa practitioners visited me in March 1998. They brought Zhuan Falun, the main book of Falun Dafa, and a Dafa lecture video. I told them that I was old and illiterate, so I was not very interested. They said that neither issue was a problem, so I watched the video for three hours. I was pain-free for the entire time.
I went to the courthouse to watch a trial the next day, and I had to stand for three hours because all the seats were occupied. Yet I felt no pain. When I shared this experience with my friends, they all agreed that this was because I watched the Falun Dafa video. So I continued to listen to the Dafa lectures, and I learned the exercises. I really felt great.
My friends left Zhuan Falun with me. I held the book and worried, because I could not read a single word. I asked my husband to read it and I watched the characters as he read.
After I read the first lecture and became more familiar with it, I read the second lecture. For the words I didn’t know, I searched for them in the first lecture, and when needed, I asked my husband or children.
Within a few months, I was able to read the entire book. My husband said, “It is amazing—a 60-year-old woman, once illiterate, can now read an entire book. And she’s become healthy, energized, and younger looking.” My husband also decided to practice Dafa, but because of a lack of perseverance, he tended to go three steps forward and two steps back.
His confidence was greatly boosted, however, when we both saw the characters that make up Zhuan Falun turn golden and start glittering. Although he felt healthier, he continued to participate in work-related events and forgot all about Dafa.
Once I suffered from diarrhea for two days. My son and daughter-in-law wanted to take me to the hospital, but I told them, “This is eliminating karma, it's not a big deal. There’s no need to go to the hospital.” They worried and stayed with me for two days. This was a great opportunity to teach them about Dafa. After another two days, I had fully recovered.
I said to my son, "You saw what I looked like when you arrived. I didn't go to the hospital but I recovered and am as healthy as before. Isn't it amazing? I have a book you should take with you and read."
As he was leaving, I handed him Zhuan Falun.
He later called me. “Mom,” he said, “don’t you remember? Not long after Father passed away, I told you I had a dream. I dreamed of a man over six feet tall, smiling and standing at my bedside. He looked a little like my father. When I opened Zhuan Falun today and saw the photo in the book, the person I dreamed of was Master Li (the founder)!”
He genuinely admired Falun Dafa. Whenever his colleagues did not feel well, he advised them on how to get better. “You should learn Falun Dafa from my mother,” he said. “It's very good. All her illnesses disappeared after she started the practice, and she is in good spirits every day.”
My husband was taken to one of the best hospitals in our city in 2002, but he did not improve. He barely ate or drank for 20 days, and the doctor predicted that he was at the end of his life.
A fellow practitioner visited him in the hospital and said, “You should go home. This is not where you should be. Only Falun Dafa can save you.”
He fell asleep and talked about a dream when he woke up. His nephew, who had passed away a few months before, told him that they were going to go to Mount Emei. Then he heard Master Li say, “You don't go anywhere. Go back, you won't die. You go back and practice Dafa.”
The next day, my husband was discharged from the hospital. His health improved after he returned home. He listened to the Falun Dafa lectures, or sometimes I read them to him. He was able to do the exercises after a few days. When he was diligent, he soon recovered.
There were a lot of welfare activities organized by his work unit for the senior officials, and he was asked to participate. At the beginning, when he returned home, he would continue to study Falun Dafa and practice. But, slowly, after numerous such occasions, he stopped. Then, only when he did not feel well again would he think of practicing. Since he only practiced on and off, he passed away in 2007.
“There is a criterion, however, that the life prolonged beyond your predestined time to live is completely reserved for your practice. If your mind goes wrong a little bit, your life will be in danger because your lifetime should have long been over.” (Zhuan Falun)
Master's compassion extended his life for five more years, but he did not cherish the opportunity.
During the first four years that I cultivated, I did whatever other practitioners did. I then came to understand more fully some of the Dafa principles. I enlightened that a practitioner has to endure hardships and that it is up to me to cultivate. I asked Master to open my wisdom so I could understand how to walk well on my cultivation path and do things according to what a practitioner should do. He heeded my call.
For example, when going out to hang Dafa banners one time, I decided to take along an umbrella—to the slight amusement of fellow practitioners. It did not rain, but we still used the umbrella to pull down branches of a tree to hang a banner that read “Falun Dafa Is Good” on one and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance Is Good” on the other. The banner remained there for several months.
Inspired by this experience, I thought of using a three-meter-long retractable fishing rod with a fork tied to the tip to hang long banners. I used this to hang a three-meter-long banner on a tree at the intersection of some busy roads. The banner looked neat and remained there for several months.
I have been practicing for 20 years. Understanding the need to cultivate well, I’ve never slacked off, except for the three days during the New Year when my family visited. I regularly talk to people about the practice and advise them to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its youth organizations. I just focus on doing well in my cultivation and do not consider that I am 80 years old.