(Minghui.org) We have all experienced a period of darkness in our lives to a greater or lesser extent. The unrelenting pain might last for months, years, or even an entire lifetime. Jojo Huang was very fortunate to encounter Falun Dafa at a time when she was feeling lost in life. Dafa brought her hope. She no longer felt confused about life.
Jojo worked in the garment industry and was active in fashion circles. Her life was not short of flowers, expensive wine, and crowds around her. But she felt empty.
“I was in an inappropriate relationship,” Jojo said. “He was kind of well-known, and when we went out people took great care of me. Money was not something I worried about and I spent generously. I lived a good life in other people's eyes. However, I faintly knew in my heart that this was just going along for the ride and for an ill purpose. It was all empty.”
For quite a long time, Jojo indulged in a wanton life, consuming her youth and future for nothing. She forgot about the purpose of life and the meaning of her existence.
While she was lost and struggling, her elder sister, who had just begun practicing Falun Dafa, brought her to the 2005 Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference.
“I was in a very poor spiritual condition because I had been addicted to alcohol and cigarettes for a long time. I drank until I was drunk almost every day. I even needed to take sleeping pills to fall asleep,” Jojo said.
Feeling downhearted and dejected, Jojo walked into the conference hall. She didn't expect that this seemingly accidental opportunity would completely turn her life around.
Every speaker's cultivation story was so simple and sincere in the conference. They came from different backgrounds and social experiences, but they were all sharing about the same topic: how to purify themselves by following the standard of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and how to upgrade their character and let go of human attachments in their work and lives.
“One practitioner's experience happened to be similar to mine. It seemed as if she was speaking to me. I began to square up to the fact that my behavior was wrong,” Jojo recalled.
A stream of powerful compassion crossed over the surface of the speaker's words and touched her deep inside, awakening the true thoughts that had once passed through her heart. Tears came to her eyes. “In the past, I had sat on a sofa by myself thinking what the purpose of life might be. After I left the conference, I began to inquire about the nine-day Falun Dafa workshops that people had been talking about.”
Jojo felt more cheerful and decided to seek out the purpose of life. She saw hope that Falun Dafa would lead her out of her confusion.
“I'd been addicted to smoking for over 10 years. I could smoke up to two packs of cigarettes per day. I tried many methods to quit smoking without success. When I was listening to Master's lecture during a nine-day Falun Dafa workshop, I heard,
“...if you truly want to cultivate you should quit smoking from now on, and it is guaranteed that you can quit.” (Lecture Seven, Zhuan Falun)
Looking at the smoke curling up from her cigarette, Jojo steeled her heart and stubbed it out. “I won't forget how I put out that cigarette. I told myself to give it a try, and I won't tell anybody yet so it won't matter if I fail. But since then, I've never had a cigarette again. What was supernatural is that I didn't feel any discomfort. I simply didn't want to smoke again.”
After that, Jojo threw away the wine and pills she had piled up at home and some other bad things. She also broke off her relationship. She felt a peace in her heart that she had never felt before. She felt fresh and joyful, as if she had just climbed out of a dark trap and seen the blue sky and white clouds once again. She felt simple and pure.
Jojo Huang reading a Falun Dafa book
Hint from Master
Shortly after Jojo started practicing Falun Dafa, she had a sacred and unbelievably wonderful experience.
“It left a deep impression on me. I was lying in bed thinking about what Master had taught. I asked in my heart, 'Where exactly is Master?' Unexpectedly, I immediately heard a voice coming from a remote heaven. It was very sonorous and clear. It was Master's voice. He said, 'Where you are is where I am.'" Master's magnificent and compassionate voice passed through the cosmos and Jojo's entire body and soul. She felt it was so real and she was deeply encouraged and shocked. “Master even responded to me. I know that was Master. I have Master!” Jojo was full of happiness, as if every single cell of her being was jumping with joy. She became more firm in her determination to cultivate all the way to the end.
She began to adjust her days and nights and to reverse her living pattern. She went to the practice site at 5 a.m. She welcomed the rising sun while meditating with other practitioners. Soon enough, her health changed drastically. She used to be weak and prone to illness. She was skinny and her skin had a yellowish tint. “I often skipped meals to keep my figure. I was a night owl too. As a result, I developed an illness in my stomach. From time to time, my stomach would experience tremendous pain and my entire body would feel cold. My body always had some pain here or there. So I always carried some pills with me, from stomach pills to sleeping pills, etc. I was so used to having pills, and it felt just as normal as having some candy.”
Jojo recalled a time she experienced similar pain after practicing Falun Dafa. “Once when I participated in a group study and sharing, I developed symptoms similar to gastroenteritis. I vomited and had diarrhea. I happened to have stomach pills with me. But I thought of what Master said,
“When you feel very uncomfortable, it indicates that things will turn around after reaching an extreme. Your whole body will be purified; it must be completely purified. The root cause of your illness has been removed, and what remains is only this bit of black qi that will come out on its own to let you suffer a little and bear a little hardship. It wouldn’t do for you to not bear even a little bit.” (Lecture Two, Zhuan Falun)
“I knew that Master was purifying my body. That was the first time I did not take a pill when my stomach hurt. Pretty soon, I became as strong as a cow and I could eat any food without causing any problems for my stomach. I was completely different from the past. My face also became plump and smooth-skinned.”
As she studied more Fa, Jojo began to ascend from the level of selfishness.
“Before I started practicing Dafa, I only cared about what I felt. I only wanted to get what I desired. I only cared about my feelings, my emotions and everything about me. It didn't matter if I had to hurt others, because I only cared about whether I was happy. It was hard for me to think about what others had to endure. But after I started my cultivation in Dafa, Master told us to always consider others first. I began to understand what I did in the past had greatly hurt others. Because of Dafa, I learned to look within, to let go of sentimentality and selfishness, to think of others first and to care about others.”
Jojo continued, “I had a close friend. We often got together for fun in the past. Once she called me from a hospital. I had an impulse at the time to tell her, 'Do you know? I've begun cultivating!' I didn't expect that she would pass away before she left the hospital. I was shocked by her death. Because without Master, I would have lost my life very soon just like my friend,”
Forged by the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, Jojo cast off her old self and felt completely reforged. Both her body and mind experienced a lightness and happiness that she had never had before. One of her friends who had known her for almost 20 years told her, “You really have changed so much. Just looking at you, I know that Falun Dafa is great because you are a completely different person than before.”
Jojo said, “So sometimes I would think that having been such a person in the past, I still had the chance to become a good person and to become a cultivator that is even better. I couldn't express my endless appreciation toward Master!”
Letting Go of the Attachment to Self, Thinking of Others
To help more people from China breakthrough the Great Firewall to learn the truth and enjoy the beauty of Falun Dafa, Jojo participated in media work as a volunteer in her spare time.
“I was working for a clothing store and I had only one day off a week. I took a bus on Saturday evening to go to Pingtung and Kaohsiung. After shooting the whole Sunday, I then came back home on the bus. Although it was a long, dusty journey, I was not tired at all and in great spirits. I used to hate to travel a long distance on the bus. But now I felt very happy and honored while traveling for my media work. No matter how arduous or difficult it was, I never worried because I knew I was doing the most righteous thing.”
A few years later, Jojo moved to New York City and worked as a TV show host. However, she was later removed from that position. “To me, that was a big test and blow. I began to examine my heart. I found that I was still pursuing fame. I also had the vanity of wanting to be cared for and respected. So I told myself that I must let go of human attachments and do a good job no matter which post I was at, even if I was helping with other people's success. Later, when I worked as an assistant photographer and was holding a reflective plate, I heard a voice near my ear, 'Just to be somebody who can let go.' My heart felt very warm. I felt that Master was encouraging me and reminding me to remember that I am a cultivator.”
Jojo began to work as a TV host for a health program in 2014. She has hosted many activities in local communities and has come in contact with many Chinese people. She feels that Chinese people's icy attitudes have been melting.
“Now almost everybody says that they like our programs. They think we really do a great job. They ask to take a picture with us. They give us thumb-ups. I know that this was the result of every Dafa practitioners' efforts. In order to stop the persecution and help more people learn about the beauty of Dafa, many practitioners have left their homes and come to New York City. Despite the language barrier, or having to have food that they are not accustomed to, they work day and night to bring the truth to people via various platforms.”
Jojo Huang practicing Falun Dafa's fifth exercise Strengthening Divine Powers in New York City.
Falun Dafa practitioners have never ceased in their efforts because Falun Dafa is related to every person and the facts about Falun Dafa are related to the future of all of mankind.
“I want to tell people who still don't see the truth that everything we do is for your sake. I hope you can put down your biases and truly think about what Falun Dafa is. Make the right choice for your life, just like when I sat on the couch and pondered the purpose of coming to this world,” Jojo said.
Jojo wholeheartedly expressed her endless gratitude to Master, “Without Master's compassionate care, I could not have made it to today. Master gave me a new life and opportunities. I couldn't express the gratitude in my heart even if I exhausted all human words. Only by cultivating diligently and helping more people understand the wonderfulness of Falun Dafa can I live up to Master's grace and compassionate salvation.”
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