(Minghui.org) My mother and I have practiced Falun Dafa together since I was a young child. I am now a music teacher in my twenties. I would like to share an account of some of my cultivation memories thus far.
A Childhood Filled with Illness
I was born prematurely and therefore, weak from a very young age. I would get a cough or fever which easily progressed to pneumonia or convulsions. The medicine that I used became expensive, and the side effects increasingly more severe.
In the autumn before I obtained the Fa, I had pneumonia, and my high fever caused cramps and a coma. The doctors didn't know what to do. Because my parents were still young at the time, they thought I couldn't be saved and were frightened. My father knelt on the floor beside my bed and cried, “Oh Lord, what have I done? Why am I being punished this way?” The rescue lasted for forty minutes. Then I finally stopped having cramps. The doctor gave me an injection and told my parents that when I woke up, my speech could be unintelligible which was a side effect of the medicine. My mother recalled that situation and said I spoke nonsense and my speech lacked logic. My parents often cried sadly.
I went to the hospital once a month. The dark herbal Chinese medicine was something so horrible that I remember it even now. Doctor Wang would usually say, “Hi, it's you again!” Because I was always ill, my mother was often worried. She was so worried that she couldn't eat or sleep, and eventually developed stomach problems. When I was sick, her stomach problems occurred, and when I didn't have any sickness, mother felt fine.
Learning to Sit with Crossed Legs in Meditation
When I was but five years old, I officially began Falun Dafa cultivation practice. At the time, the main reason that my mother and I began cultivation was so that I would be healthy.
In fact, I didn't quite understand what cultivation was about at first. My mother read the Fa out loud for me and I would just listen attentively, and when she asked me to do the exercises, I just followed her. She was pleased with my obedience and willingness to endure hardships. When sick, I often took hormonal medicine to prevent cramps, and this caused me to be relatively chubby. Therefore, cross-legged sitting during meditation was hard for me; I would cry from beginning to end for the entire half-hour meditation exercise. Yet somehow I endured the discomfort and didn't bring my legs down.
I persisted in my efforts for more than a year, but I was still having a lot of pain and cried when doing the cross-legged exercise. Nothing had changed. One day, mother said to me, “Honey, it hurts anyway. You can sit for an hour today. Please ask Master Li (the founder) for help.” She is now amazed at how courageous she was to say such words at that time because it was totally contrary to human conventional wisdom.
Luckily I was still young and didn't have any human notions. I nodded without thinking too much, and got a stack of tissues as usual, waiting to wipe my tears the minute the left leg was brought up. So first, I brought my right leg up and rested for a while, then slowly brought my left leg up. I was waiting for the tears to come, but a miracle happened unexpectedly; it didn't hurt at all! Mother and I were stunned, as this never happened before! Anyway, we carried on with the exercise and didn't speak a word. On that day, I sat with my legs in the double-crossed position for an entire hour and it didn't hurt from beginning to end. Since then, I have been happily practicing the sitting meditation with my legs double-crossed, just like the adults.
As I grew up, I did more Fa-study. Only then did I understand that compassionate Master was taking care of me. Seeing my persistence Master took away my karma. Thank you Master!
Respecting Master and the Fa
That whole winter after I began practicing cultivation, I didn't go to the hospital at all. My mother's mind wasn't that steady though. The antipyretics, anti-inflammatory drugs and thermometers at home were still not ready to be thrown away. In the first two months after the practice, I occasionally sneezed and my mother gave me one or two pills to prevent fever. But after that, I never used them again. Physically I was stronger, and my face was rosy. I have never used any injections or medicines since then. My parents were not sad anymore. In the end, all the medicines were thrown away.
In the early stage of my cultivation, I didn't study the Fa much because I was young. My understanding of the Fa was not as deep as that of the adults. But whenever the word Master was mentioned, I would be tearful. I paid attention to how my behavior showed my respect for Master and the Fa. For example, I washed my hands before reading the Fa, and my fingers did not press against any words in the books. When I sat to read the Fa my hands would never touch my feet. I would sit in a firm double-crossed position, and my back was always upright with both hands holding the books. When the word Master was mentioned, I would automatically press my hands together to make a greeting gesture.
Actually no adults told me to do all these things. It was just from the bottom of my heart because Master is so compassionate and grand. He has given us many things without asking for anything in return.
Some Extraordinary Experiences in Cultivation
One cultivation experience happened when I went to junior high school. The school work was busy so I only had time to study the Fa and do the exercises on the weekend. One Friday after school my ears suddenly felt a sharp pain and it felt like they were infected. It was so painful that I cried. My parents told me to endure the pain because they had to go to work. They thought the pain would eventually go away so they didn't pay much attention.
The pain was so severe that I couldn't study the Fa nor do the exercises. I just laid on the bed, and I couldn't do any homework either. Two days went by. My uncle thought of a folk remedy which was to push two shallots into the ears. But there was no effect. When mother returned home from work, she told me to recite the poem “Tempering the Will” from Hong Yin, as that was how she recovered from a toothache; she only recited it three to four times and the pain stopped. So I gave it a try while mother was sitting next to me. I recited it four to five times, and the pain stopped. I fell asleep peacefully. The pain never came back again.
Another experience occurred during the past two years. That was after mother had been abducted and detained by authorities for practicing Falun Dafa, and I had no choice but to leave our hometown. It felt like the sky was falling. At the time, our family's financial situation was not in good shape, so I went to work to make some money. Without a cultivation environment and my parents' supervision, I slowly became fascinated by ordinary people's lives. When I was sick, I just had injections and took medicine.
For a time my gums were swollen and painful. I went to the hospital and found that my left posterior teeth (“wisdom teeth”) had erupted. Moreover, the teeth grew in sideways. The dentist said they must be pulled out; otherwise, the front teeth would slowly break down. I was so scared that I quickly had them pulled, and spent nearly a thousand dollars to extract each tooth. The dentist gave me a shot of aesthetic but I still felt the pain. Then he gave another shot and pulled again. When it was finished, he sewed it up and told me to return to the office to remove the stitches after a few days. It was too painful to even think about it.
When mother was released and I was able to return to our home, suddenly the teeth on the right grew in sideways also. The thought of another tooth extraction caused me to shudder in terror. Mother said, “Don't be scared. Don't have them pulled. You're a cultivator, and everything is being looked after by Master. Your teeth will be fine.” Sure enough, after two months, my teeth got better and I didn't have any pain during the growing process.
The third story was about my weight. Because I worked out-of-town and didn't have a cultivation environment, my body shape changed. When I was a child, I was ill and with all the hormonal drugs, I became chubbier and chubbier. After I joined the workforce, I got even more plump. I was planning to lose weight by walking. But after walking for more than a year, I was more plump instead of becoming thinner. Later, I heard that eating meal replacements to lose weight was effective. I ate them for a few months and it was a little bit effective, but the process was very slow and the cost was high.
After returning home, I read Zhuan Falun seriously and had some deep thoughts about cultivation. I decided to continue cultivation practice. I started to correct my thoughts, words and deeds strictly according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to purify myself. As my character improved, I was able to focus more when I did the exercises. Gradually, I lost weight. My complexion was better than before and my mental state also changed positively. My personality changed to as optimistic and relaxed as when I was a child. In about four months I lost fifteen pounds, which was something I never imagined.
I understand from the Fa that when our mind is truly purified we will reach a good state. Then our physical body will also be in a good state. This is why many practitioners become younger and more beautiful after they join cultivation practice. Of course, this is also the reason why some practitioners can't reach a good state.
Continuing to Walk My Path Well
Dafa is extraordinary, but there are supernatural principals that we are required to follow. Thanks to our compassionate Master, both my body and mind have been purified. When I worked out-of-town, I did my job seriously and responsibly because I still remembered that I should be a good person and be kind to others. That was the foundation of many years of studying the Fa. But as I slowly got out of cultivation, I also developed some bad habits and had all kinds of ordinary people's mentalities such as scheming, competitiveness, and vanity. When I made some money, I sometimes wanted to reduce stress and just relax. Sometimes a sudden thought came upon me, and I thought of mother who was still suffering and felt sad.
Mother tells me that I am now back to the way I was before. I have become a wise person who shows filial piety to elders, is considerate and knows how to use self-restraint.
I would like to thank Master for helping me return to cultivation practice. It is Master who lets me witness the magic of Dafa again and again and helps me to understand the true meaning of life.
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