(Minghui.org) Greetings esteemed Master and fellow practitioners:
I'm an 84-year-old practitioner of Falun Dafa (also called Falun Gong). I obtained the Fa in 1998, at age 62, when I was suffering from breast cancer. Looking back over the past 21 years, I would say that I was reborn after starting to practice Dafa. I'd like to use my second life to validate and spread Dafa to others.
I had breast cancer at age 62, and was taking various kinds of medicine. By diligently studying the Fa, memorizing the Fa, and doubling the time of the exercises, after eight months I could even meditate for two hours with my legs double-crossed.
Before practicing Falun Dafa, my knees were sore and painful when going down stairs. After practicing, the pain disappeared, as I had fully recovered. The bone spur on my right foot disappeared shortly after I started practicing the fifth exercise – sitting with double-crossed legs.
Nearly ten years ago when I was about 70, I had breakfast with some practitioners, and another person there offered to take our blood pressure. After the test, the person was amazed that my blood pressure was similar to that of a 38-year-old. They asked me how I keep fit. I said, “I practice Falun Gong.” I validate the Fa all the time, regardless of whether I’m at the market, department store, shopping mall, bumping into neighbors, or attending social gatherings. Many people have started the practice because I told them about it.
When my two sons and their families celebrated the Chinese New Year at my home, they decided to take everyone's blood pressure. My first son was 60, and the younger one was 58. After my husband measured our blood pressure, it turned out that both my sons, and my husband, showed hypertension. My husband knew that I had not seen a doctor in 18 years, and he wanted to know if my blood pressure was normal. I said that I was doing quite well, and I didn’t need to measure my blood pressure. He said, “I believe you after you take the test.” It turned out that my blood pressure was better than that of anyone else in my family.
My husband often tells others, “My wife used to go over my head when speaking. Now, no matter what I say, or even if I blame her, she just doesn’t mind. She's changed a lot. Falun Dafa is good.” Because of him, his friend’s wife also took up the practice.
I was hit by a scooter two years ago, when I was 81, while cycling in a hurry on my way to a nine-day seminar. I couldn't stand up, but I wasn’t scared or feeling any pain. I refused to get in the ambulance, and rejected all western medical treatments. Instead, I called a practitioner to take me home. After getting home, I checked the wound, which was only a tiny hole in my leg, with no bleeding. After cleansing the wound, I slept soundly until the next morning. The next day, my legs were so swollen and weak that I couldn't walk. Lying on the bed, my mind was occupied with the nine-day seminar and the Shen Yun ticket promotion. I thus arranged for other practitioners to work on them.
I realized that I needed to get back on my feet. Even though I could only lay on the bed, I practiced the first exercise, stretching my limbs as much as I could, and then I continued to the second and third sets. I sat on the side of the bed to do the fourth and fifth exercises. My son was worried and took me for an x-ray. It turned out that my bones were broken in two places. The doctor wanted to apply a plaster cast. I said, “I'd like to use Chinese medical treatment as I practice qigong.” The doctor was annoyed and said, “Don't mention Chinese medicine! If you don't have this done now, the next step will be surgery. Your injury is very serious.” My heart wasn’t moved after hearing his words. I then asked my son to take me home.
After doing the fifth exercise on the bed for ten days, I started to do the second one by standing on one leg. Every day, I put all of my weight on one leg to do the exercises for one hour. For the meditation, I sat on the bed with one crossed leg. I felt that my leg was getting better day by day. The doctor said that it would take six weeks to improve, and I would need long-term rehabilitation. However, by just doing the exercises, my leg no longer hurt after five weeks.
Since my legs didn’t hurt to stand, I resumed standing on both legs while doing the exercises. My son said, “Some people recover too quickly, so their bones don't heal properly and they need surgery.” He therefore took me for another x-ray. The doctor said that my bones were fine. I was so happy and returned home to do the sitting exercise by double-crossing my legs. Regardless of the pain, I persisted in crossing my legs.
Five weeks later I could walk and cycle to the market as usual. In less than a year, I could meditate with my legs double-crossed for two hours. I feel how miraculous Dafa is, and how precious it is to have a healthy body. I wouldn’t be here if I didn't cultivate in Dafa.
I ride my bike to the market, department store, and shopping mall. My friends, relatives, and neighbors often speak highly of my delicate skin and gracefulness. I always say to them, “I'm 84 and I've haven’t needed to see a doctor in 20 years because I practice Falun Gong.”
I take every opportunity to validate the Fa, for instance, giving speeches on my cultivation at the gathering attended by over 1,000 people from a Hakka Association [Chinese Han people]. Many people have asked me how I keep fit. I just tell them that I practice Falun Gong.
To help more people obtain the Fa, I started to promote Dafa three months after I began cultivating. One year later, I established a new practice site. I searched the entire area for suitable locations. When the new site reached ten people, I handed it over to local practitioners. To set up more practice sites in a distant location, I drove in the early morning to find new places and returned the car by the time my husband had to leave for work. One day, the car window was broken by a thief as I was parked on the roadside. My husband eventually found out what I had done. He was concerned about my safety, and forbid me from driving his car. By that time I had set up eight practice sites.
Guiding people to obtain the Fa is important, but it's more important to help newcomers continue their cultivation, and understand the Fa. I always value new practitioners and take care of them. In order to encourage them to continue improving themselves, I invited those who just finished the nine-day seminar to my place to study the Fa and share experiences.
Before the persecution by the CCP, I had been through a wonderful time of personal cultivation for about a year. At the time, practice sites and Fa study sites usually had up to 40 people. After July 1999, given the CCP’s persecution and slander of Falun Gong, the attendance of the nine-day seminar shrank to two or three people. Many practitioners also quit cultivating. To counter the CCP's slanderous propaganda and persecution, I attended many truth-clarification activities and collected signatures on petitions at home and abroad. I’ve traveled to almost ten countries.
My trip to Russia was the most unforgettable. Upon arriving, it felt like walking into a freezer, as the temperature was about minus 20 degrees Celsius (-4 F). We stayed in an old, cheap hotel, walked on the snowy ground all day to distribute fliers, and clarified the truth of Dafa. The benches in the park were covered with snow so we couldn’t sit. The bottled water in our backpacks was frozen, and the bread became as hard as a rock. We could finally eat instant noodles after returning to the hotel. We stayed for eight days. One day we were happy to see a Chinese selling something in a shopping mall. We approached him to give him fliers and clarified the truth to him. Unexpectedly, we were taken to a police station, and our passports were seized. We were worried that we might not be able to return to Taiwan. Fortunately, after someone called the Taiwan Representative Office in Russia for help, we were finally released and returned to Taiwan safely.
Ten years ago, my mother was sick and I hired a Vietnamese maid to take care of her. I taught the maid the five sets of Dafa exercises. Prior to her departure for Vietnam, I gave her a Vietnamese version of Zhuan Falun and an exercise instruction video. She was so happy, and promised to bring Dafa to the Vietnamese people, and introduce the practice to her family, friends, and neighbors. She kept her promise and introduced Dafa to some people. The following year, my cousin and some other practitioners flew to Vietnam to promote Dafa. I donated 100 Vietnamese versions of Zhuan Falun for the mission. I was told that over 1,000 Vietnamese were practicing Falun Gong within a few years after that.
When Shen Yun visited Taiwan the fifth time, I joined one of the Hakka Associations in Taipei to promote Shen Yun. I associated with some key persons in the group to build up connections with them. In New Taipei City alone, there are 53 branches with memberships ranging from 500 to 2,000 members. However, my first offer to introduce Shen Yun there was rejected. One senior director did not even want to shake hands or exchange business cards with me. I felt embarrassed. He said, “Five years ago, someone talked to me about the Shen Yun promotion. They were Falun Gong practitioners.”
I wasn't discouraged after being rejected. I was determined to promote Shen Yun to this group. I thus talked to a chairperson I was familiar with and donated money to support them in exchange for giving a 5-minute Shen Yun promotion speech on the stage each time. Some of them later accepted my idea. I prepared my speech and made good use of the time on the stage to introduce Shen Yun and Chinese divine culture. I also gave copies of the Epoch Times newspaper to those key persons. After reading the newspaper, they gradually understood that Falun Gong is good, unlike what was publicized by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
At first, many members and key persons in this group regarded the Shen Yun show as an ordinary performance, so they were reluctant to buy an expensive ticket. I therefore invited a chairperson and his wife to watch Shen Yun. They were very happy and gave the show a thumbs up. They also helped promote Shen Yun during their meetings and encouraged other members to see the show.
Shen Yun has been spread to over 53 branches by word of mouth. In recent years, I have arranged over 20 Shen Yun promotional activities, including exhibitions and banquets. I gave speeches many times. I'm grateful to Master for giving me the wisdom so that my speeches could be highly praised by the audiences. Now, more and more Hakka friends have come to know the magnificence of Shen Yun and Falun Gong. They also admire our volunteers’ devotion.
To continue building stronger connections with the Hakka Associations, I also make good use of every opportunity to introduce the benefits of practicing Falun Gong and give Dafa books and videotapes to key persons in these associations. One day, I saw a chairman and his wife looking younger than before, and I guessed that they were practicing Falun Gong. It turned out that I was right. Once, the president of the association, who was a former director of the Cultural Department, said, “We've seen you giving the promotion speech for six years. We really appreciate your perseverance. The Hakka people are proud of you!”
Thank you, Master, for giving me the chances to validate the Fa. I always remind myself to remember Master's teachings,
“For a cultivator, all the frustrations he comes across among everyday people are trials, and all the compliments he receives are tests.” (“A Cultivator is Naturally Part of It,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
Looking back over the past 21 years, I seemed to be reborn due to my cultivating in Dafa and I am determined to use my second life to validate the Fa and spread the Fa.
Master said,
“So the closer it is to the end, the more serious and crucial the tests will be.” (Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles)
I often recite this part of Master's Fa to remind myself.
Last but not least, I would like to share with all of you Master's teaching, so that we can improve together, and help Master validate the Fa and save sentient beings.
Master said,
“You fell here from a holy, pure, and incomparably splendid world because you had developed attachments at that level. After falling into a world that is, by comparison, most filthy, instead of cultivating yourself to go back in a hurry, you don’t let go of those filthy things that you cling to in this filthy world, and you even agonize over the most trivial losses. Did you know that in order to save you the Buddha once begged for food among everyday people? Today, I once again make the door wide open, and teach this Dafa to save you. I have never felt bitter for the numerous hardships I have suffered. Then what do you have that still can’t be abandoned? Can you bring to heaven the things deep down inside that you cannot let go of?” (“True Cultivation,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
(Presented at the 2019 Taiwan Fa Conference)