(Minghui.org) I have been cultivating Falun Dafa for 21 years and have benefited both physically and mentally. The transformation and fundamental changes in my life are the results of Master Li's compassionate care.
I would like to share some of my experiences over the course of my cultivation with my fellow practitioners. I am grateful to Master for his compassionate salvation, and I hope more people will be saved.
It was 1996 and I was 28 years old. After the autumn harvest, I got very ill. I had an abnormal heartbeat, wheezing, and a cough, and I felt very weak. In the city hospital, I was diagnosed with an inflamed heart muscle, tuberculosis, and an inflamed gallbladder.
After spending over 20,000 yuan, I was still not cured. Instead, I was plagued with pain. I became nothing more than a bag of bones, almost bedridden.
My family and friends were extremely worried. It was not until I was able to recover by practicing Falun Dafa that they dared to tell me they'd thought I would not live much longer.
At that time, I thought maybe I would only live to 28. I felt helpless, but just in time, a colleague of my sister-in-law twice recommended that I read the book Zhuan Falun.
I read it only not to seem ungrateful for her kindness. But the moment I opened the book and saw Master Li Hongzhi's picture, it was like seeing a long-lost relative.
My body and mind had never felt so comforted! I couldn't wait to read the book.
After getting through a dozen pages, I wondered why I had not gotten this book earlier. If I had, I would have understood the meaning of life and would not have had to suffer so much.
I finished the book in three days. This was a miracle for me because sitting for even just a few minutes would make my back hurt so much that I would have to lie down flat.
I was also nearsighted and had other eye problems, which meant my eyes would tear and hurt if I read for very long. But when I read Zhuan Falun, my eyes did not bother me.
The more I read, the better I felt. The book was a treasure!
After reading the book, I decided to practice Falun Dafa. I was like a lost child who had found her mother; I was filled with a sense of contentment and happiness.
Within about seven days, all my health problems disappeared. My body and mind had never experienced such ease.
I personally witnessed the magic of Dafa and Master’s compassion and greatness.
Before I became a practitioner, I was quite introverted, timid, and weak and was afraid of losing face. When I was young, I was unhappy.
I would cry and lose my temper over any minor dissatisfaction. Before I got married, my parents and siblings all had to accommodate me.
After I got married, I was afraid my husband’s family would bully me, so I pretended to be tough. I fought with my husband almost every day and always wanted him to do things my way.
If he didn’t listen to me, I would quarrel with him. I had non-stop conflicts with my elder sister-in-law who lived in the same village.
Although I never hit or cursed anyone, I was not forgiving and always argued a point to death. When I lost my temper, I would throw and smash things and say anything to hurt people's feelings. I did this instead of hitting them. But after each episode, I was inexplicably sad and empty, as if I'd done something really wrong. I was bitter and tired.
After reading through Zhuan Falun once, however, I understood some of the principles, and my thinking changed.
I did not want to be the person I was before. I wanted to be a person who behaved according to the characteristics of the universe: Zhen-Shan-Ren, or Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
Master said:
“With every bit of improvement in your state of mind, some bad things will be eliminated from your body. ” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
I felt physically and mentally relaxed. I was happy every day and never got tired when I was working. I was able to understand and tolerate others by putting myself in their shoes.
I no longer quarreled with my husband. When my elder sister-in-law came to my house to visit, I never again looked down on her.
I treated her just like my own sister. This laid the foundation for me to tell my family the facts about Falun Dafa later on.
When the persecution of Dafa began, my husband, son, and daughter-in-law supported me in practicing and going out to tell people the facts about Dafa.
When the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin fabricated lies to smear Dafa, my sister-in-law did not believe the lies.
She told me that when the teachers where she worked spoke poorly about Dafa, she said to them, “Whoever says that Falun Dafa is not good, I don't believe it. I watched my sister-in-law recover physically and mentally after practicing it.
“When she was sick and dying, she started to practice Falun Dafa. Seven days later, it was as if she'd been reborn. Before if I provoked her, she would scowl. Now that she is practicing Falun Dafa, she is very nice to me.”
They never said anything hostile about Falun Dafa again.
My husband comes from a big family and has three elder brothers and three elder sisters. My father-in-law, who was in his 80s, had had a bad stroke, which meant that he couldn't take care of himself.
I took care of him, cleaning him up without any complaints. I always reminded myself that I was a Dafa disciple and should behave according to the standards of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
All my husband's relatives witnessed this, and, as a result, they all have a positive understanding of Dafa.
I was introverted and not good at speaking. I rarely spoke when I was with other people; I usually just listened. That made going out to tell strangers the truth about Dafa very challenging.
Master said:
“Dafa disciples are the sole hope of salvation for the world’s people, whatever corner of the earth they may inhabit.” (Fa Teaching Given at the Epoch Times Meeting, Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. X )
Finally, one day I walked out of my house and looked at all the unfamiliar households. I was afraid of losing face and afraid to face the difficulties.
So I walked past one village after another, not daring to knock on a door, let alone enter a house to clarify the truth to someone. The whole afternoon I only spoke to two elementary school students, although I did get them to quit the Young Pioneers.
Even though I was tired after that, I felt relaxed because I was on the road that Master had arranged for me, clarifying the truth and saving people.
Master had helped me get rid of some bad substances, and I made up my mind to continue with this effort.
I asked Master to strengthen my righteous thoughts. When I went out to clarify the truth on the third day, I was able to go up to people's houses and talk about Dafa.
I was okay if there were only a couple of people but got intimidated if there were many in the room. I thought about avoiding such situations but immediately realized that this thinking was not right.
So I made myself walk into crowded rooms. Since rural people like to visit with each other or play Mahjong together, it is quite common to come upon a crowd of people.
Doing that provided me with good opportunities to expose my attachments and cultivate my xinxing. When I realized what attachment I had, I would immediately send righteous thoughts to disintegrate it. Sometimes I did not recognize it at that moment but was able to realize it afterward.
Once, I went to a grocery store where there were over a dozen people either playing or watching Mahjong. I entered the store but just stood there, unable to say anything. A man in his 60s turned red with anger, yelled at me, and threatened to hit me. A woman in his family quickly pushed me away, saying that the old man was mentally ill.
I left the grocery store in tears. The attachments of being afraid of losing face and resentment all came out.
I adjusted my mind and searched inward. I said to Master that I must remove these attachments.
Those people behaved that way because they were poisoned by lies. It was I who did not have enough compassion and righteous thoughts to save them; I had to improve my cultivation.
When clarifying the truth face to face, some of the people I encountered were sarcastic, some refused to listen, and some even said they would report me to the police. Falling down and getting up, again and again, there were many near misses but no real danger.
It was all under Master's protection. Under the guidance of Dafa, many of my attachments were eliminated.
Now, I am not shy when I go to unfamiliar villages and face strangers. I am able to stay calm and talk about Dafa to people naturally, whether they are men, women, or children. Whatever their attitude and however many of them there are, nothing can disturb me.
Once, there were over a dozen people in one house. The head of the household asked what I wanted.
I said with a smile on my face, “Sir, I am here to tell you the truth about Falun Dafa. Knowing the truth will bring you blessings and keep tragedies away.”
I looked kindly at everyone in the house. They stopped talking and seemed to be waiting for me to speak.
The head of the household brought me a stool, asked me to sit down, and said to the others, "None of you talk. She is a teacher. Listen to her."
I smiled and said, “I am not a teacher. I am a Falun Dafa disciple, one of the millions of practitioners who have benefited from Falun Dafa. A hundred million people have gained physical and mental health by practicing Falun Dafa.
“However, Jiang Zemin became jealous when he saw more and more people practicing Falun Dafa. He used his power to falsely accuse and smear Falun Dafa.
“They fabricated and staged the so-called Tiananmen Square 'self-immolation' to deceive people and make them become hostile to Falun Dafa and hostile to the good people who practice it. The CCP suppresses and persecutes people who practice Falun Dafa.”
They believed me and agreed to withdraw from the CCP and its youth organizations that they had joined in the past. They thanked me, but I said that we should instead thank Master Li, the founder of Falun Dafa.
I used to be severely ill and was timid, incompetent, and unpleasant. Now, I am a well-behaved, bright, and open-minded Dafa disciple.
It is Master who opened up my wisdom. Words cannot express my gratitude to Master.
It is Master and his great Fa that have given me a new life. I am forever grateful for being able to become Master's disciple in this lifetime.