(Minghui.org) I think it is sad for one to go through life without knowing the true meaning of life. Prior to practicing Falun Dafa, I was such a person. A friend told me, “I’m so glad you practice Falun Dafa because, otherwise, no one knows what would have become of you. You never stayed out of trouble.”
I was spoiled as a child and thereafter. Everything had to be done my way, or I would make a big fuss and turn the whole world upside down. I was that way at home and at school, and I felt bored if I didn’t cause trouble. Some of my friends called me “The Queen” because I often fought for them at the slightest provocation. I took pride in that nickname and thought I was remarkable.
My temper worsened as I grew up, and my health became very poor. I had inflammation of the trachea, which caused me to have a fever with every cold I caught. Moreover, I couldn’t stop coughing, as if I was trying to cough my lungs out. Just a little bit of wind would trigger my non-stop cough.
When I turned 25, I began to have severe liver pain and was in so much pain that it hurt to breathe. In 1992 I almost died while giving birth, and I acquired “postpartum wind” accompanied by rheumatoid arthritis. Every joint in my body was deformed. The swollen limbs and pain hindered my movement.
One disaster after another, my life became so miserable that I even thought of ending my own life.
Then one unforgettable day in September 1997, a neighbor told me that she practiced Falun Dafa – a Buddha school qigong - and felt great. She invited me to join her because she knew I believed in Buddhism, and she believed my health would improve after practicing it.
I thought, “What’s the big deal about just a qigong practice? There are so many qigong practices out there, and all they want is money.” So I ignored her. A few days later, she dropped in again and told me, “Falun Dafa does not ask for money. People will teach you for free.” She dragged me to the practice site.
At the site, I copied everyone’s exercise movements and followed along until it was over. As I was leaving, a few older people stopped me and corrected my exercise movements. They told me that practicing without reading Zhuan Falun would not be sufficient and that one must read this book. I wasn’t convinced. An older woman affirmed that it was necessary and took me to her home to give me a copy.
I started to read Zhuan Falun when I got home. I realized that it was not an ordinary qigong book, that it was a treasure, a book for cultivation! My excitement was beyond words: “Falun Dafa is wonderful! I will practice Falun Dafa.”
At the beginning of my cultivation, maintaining my xinxing was the hardest thing for me. One day I was navigating through the market on a bicycle. A sedan pushed me into a fruit vendor and crashed his stand. The fruit flew all over the ground, and the car drove away.
The vendor was biting my head off, and the onlookers encircled us. I was very embarrassed and said, “Stop. Just please tell me how much I owe you.” He said, “I don’t want your money. I just want to curse you.” I was irritated and was about to say, “Curse me? No one has ever dared to curse me like this. I’ll let you know who you’re dealing with...”
Fortunately, I suddenly remembered that I was a practitioner.
Master said,
“If you compete and fight like an ordinary person, you are an ordinary person. If you outdo him, you are even worse than that ordinary person.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
I realized that a practitioner must follow Master Li's requirements and be in line with Dafa. I could not behave like an everyday person and fight like an everyday person. If I did, I would have failed at cultivating. I told myself, “Tolerate it.” I fought hard and managed not to blow up.
As I continued to study the Fa, my xinxing improved, and now I can handle unfair treatment calmly and without resentment. When my father was bedridden, he was in a very bad mood and had a terrible temper. He said a lot of hurtful things no matter how well I cared for him. I was able to maintain my xinxing and never argued with him. I spoke to him kindly and looked after him until he passed away.
I ran into all kinds of people while clarifying the truth, trying to awaken them. Some swore at me or even hit me. One day when I was clarifying the facts to a man, he lashed out into cursing and began to drag me to the police station. I looked at him calmly and thought, “Why isn't he listening? Why can’t I awaken him? How can I word it so he can understand?”
Perhaps because I was not thinking about my own safety and was only considering him, my compassion changed him in an instant. He suddenly let go of my hand, stopped cursing, and asked me, “Why aren’t you scared or mad at me?” He then walked away with a chuckle.
I obtained that sense of peacefulness and calm gradually through cultivation. “Rome was not built in a day.” Without Falun Dafa, I would have become a rogue, and one with poor health.
One day I went with two practitioners to clarify the truth in the square. A person shouted, “There are three Falun Dafa practitioners. Quick! Call the police to come to get them!” Without thinking, I shouted in a louder voice, “Falun Dafa is good! Falun Dafa is the Buddha Law cultivation practice. Do not listen to him. Tribulations visit those who persecute Falun Dafa.”
Many people gave a thumbs up and nodded at us, and that person left quietly, defeated. At the moment I was shouting, my thoughts were, “I cannot let this person commit crimes against Dafa.” I had no fear or resentment; all I wanted was to tell the people in the square the truth so they would no longer be deceived by the lies told by the Chinese Communist Party.
One day I was waiting for a friend and saw an antique coin vendor nearby. I approached him and started clarifying the facts to him. As soon as I mentioned Falun Dafa, he started cursing and pointed a finger at my head, yelling I should be shot dead by the police. His face turned purple, and a crowd gathered.
I calmly looked at him and sent forth righteous thoughts to disintegrate the bad elements in other dimensions that were controlling him. I did so with a smile on my face the entire time. The onlookers looked at him, confused, wondering who he was cursing at, and wandered away.
His cursing died down. I asked him, “Are you done?”
He said, “I’m done.”
I said, “Then be quiet and listen to me. Why did you blow up? I am a Falun Dafa practitioner, and all I wanted to tell you is that Falun Dafa is good. I did not want to impose Falun Dafa on you. It was for your own good, but you were cursing me.”
He listened to me tell him the truth about Falun Dafa. When I finished, he saluted with his palms together in front of him and said emotionally, “Thank you for telling me all this!”
I said, “Aren't you going to curse me?” He smiled embarrassingly, “No, no. I’m not.” I said, “Don’t thank me. Thank Dafa's Master, who is offering people merciful salvation to people!”
As my xinxing has improved by cultivating, I have changed into a different person and am now calm and peaceful. A self-centered person has changed into a person who is considerate of others at every moment in every circumstance. Beyond this, Dafa has changed me fundamentally, and I have become a totally different person. All my diseases are gone, and I walk as if I have wings on my feet. I walk an entire day without fatigue, and I have energy all day. I’m 51 years old, but my skin is fine and bright, and many people say I look like I am 40.
All of these benefits are due to Falun Dafa. My gratitude to Master and Falun Dafa is hard to describe. Falun Dafa is truly wonderful!