(Minghui.org) My name is Dayong and I'm 54 years old. Everyone in my family practices Falun Dafa, but I didn't begin practicing until 2017. Even though I drifted along and wasted more than 20 years, Master always protected me and repeatedly saved my life.
I used to be a gang leader in Shandong Province. I also had good relationships with the corrupt local government officials, including the mayor and the police chief. We often gambled all night and I gambled away thousands of yuan. I did all kinds of bad things and I was addicted to drugs.
In my heart I always knew that Falun Dafa was good. I always carried a little Falun Dafa keepsake with me with the words: “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” Whenever I mentioned Falun Dafa to my government official buddies, they laughed and said that I was silly. I knew that Master was protecting me, but I was addicted to indulging myself and couldn't set aside my addictions and start the practice.
I work as a driver, and I had to drive from Jining City to Yantai City. Before the trip, I'd been playing cards all night every night for a month, so I was really sleep-deprived. I took drugs every day to keep myself awake. I was very sleepy that day and I kept dozing off. I even heard myself snoring as I drove. I kept looking for a rest area so I could take a break, but there weren't any. I began repeating, “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” Amazingly, my sleepiness disappeared. I got to Yantai safely and I slept for three days.
I had another, more dangerous experience. I drove three gang members from Yantai to Qingdao (a city in Shandong Province). There was a sharp turn on the highway. I was half asleep from gambling for several nights in a row, so I didn't see the turn. If I'd hit the brake, the car would have turned over. But just then I suddenly became alert. I began gently hitting and releasing the brake while I turned the steering wheel. Instinctively, I began quietly saying, “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” The car veered off the highway and landed in a deep ditch.
The car was fine and no one was injured. The gang members were all on drugs so they were numb and didn't realize how close we were to death. As the car drove into the ditch, they kept laughing. I made a phone call to the other gang members. Thirty came, but they couldn't get the car out. We had to phone the highway rescue team who got the car out with a crane. The local villagers later told us that, because of that sharp turn, there were many accidents there every year.
Another time I drove on an icy, winding highway in the winter. I lost control and the car slid off the road. I was fine, but the car was stuck in a ditch. I called the highway rescue team to get the car out.
My addiction to drugs and gambling exhausted all my savings. I made a living as a taxi driver. I knew that Master saved me again and again, and I was deeply grateful. I wanted to practice Falun Dafa and cultivate, but I just couldn't seem to quit all my bad habits. I tried to read the book Zhuan Falun, but as soon as I picked it up I always felt extremely sleepy. One day I loudly said, “Falun Dafa is good.” I felt something spinning between my eyebrows. When I put my hands over my eyebrows I felt something spinning very fast in my palms. I later realized that it was a Falun.
I couldn't understand it—I seemed to have a strong predestined relationship with Dafa—what was preventing me from practicing? Why couldn't I let go of my addictions?
I had a painful toothache and my tooth was loose. I said to Master, “Master, please fix the tooth and stop the pain. If my tooth recovers, I'll begin practicing.” The pain stopped and the tooth was firmly fixed in the gum, but I still couldn't quit all my bad habits.
I Finally Begin to Practice
In May 2017, I had a stroke and ended up confined to a wheelchair. I couldn't move my arms and one of my legs. My eyes and mouth were crooked, and I drooled constantly. What made it worse was that I was diagnosed with diabetes, heart disease, and more than 10 other complications. The doctors said that I was the worst of all their stroke cases.
After I was hospitalized for two weeks, I was admitted to a stroke patient recovery center. Two months at the center cost twenty thousand yuan (roughly 3000 U.S. dollars). I used to be so rich, but now I couldn't pay the bill. My son brought me home and hired a 24-hour nurse to take care of me. (In China, a 24-hour nurse usually costs 300-400 U.S. dollars a day.)
My sister came to help and stayed with me for two weeks. She suggested I try practicing Falun Dafa.
The doctors prescribed more than 40 kinds of medicines which cost more than 150 U.S. dollars. They told me that I would have to take the diabetes medicine for the rest of my life. The pain would be endless. So, I followed my sister's suggestion and I began to practice. For these last 20 years I always knew that Master was with me. I placed my trust in Master and I stopped taking the medicines. I did the exercises with my sister. She found some local practitioners to study the Fa with me. We set up a Fa-study group at my home and read the teachings every morning. My xinxing quickly improved. I could only move one of my arms when doing the second exercise, but I was determined to cultivate and follow Master to my true home.
I quit all my bad habits, including drugs. The hypertension and diabetes gradually disappeared. The next physical exam showed that the blood clot, which was almost one inch in diameter, had disappeared. I was able to take care of myself! I could take a shower, cook and clean, go shopping, and do the laundry.
I began going out every day and clarifying the truth to the people I met. One day I met a 50-year old man who'd also had a stroke. I told him that Falun Dafa had resolved my diabetes and hypertension. When he asked, “Then why can't you move your arm?” I told him it was caused by the karma I hadn't yet eliminated. He said, “I don't believe you,” and walked away.
I felt sad for him—he was not in good health, yet he wouldn't listen. At that moment, I felt that my whole body was light—a feeling I never had before. I always felt tired after walking even a short distance. But I was not tired that day after walking for two hours. I realized that Master was encouraging me to clarify the truth more often.
Cultivation Test
I live in an apartment on the fifth floor. After my neighbor on the fourth floor remodeled his bathroom, he had problems with his pipes. Every time I turned on my bathroom faucet, the water leaked in his bathroom. I couldn't even take a shower. He tried to have it fixed, but it still leaked. Later, water started to leak from his bathroom to the bathroom below on the third floor. I told them that I'd pay to have a plumber find the problem. The problem was caused by a blockage in the pipe. The neighbors didn't want the plumber to do the work in their apartments, because it would make a mess. so I said the job could be done in my bathroom. As a Dafa disciple, I know that I should always consider others first.
Last summer the fourth-floor neighbor remodeled his bathroom again, and the same problem occurred. They are an elderly couple in their 70s. Instead of fixing the problem in their own pipes, they asked me not to use the water in my bathroom. I said, “If you hire someone to fix it, I'll pay for it. I won't use the water until you have it fixed.”
They agreed. But two weeks later they told me that they didn't want to get it fixed, because fixing the problem would make a hole on their newly remodeled wall. Meanwhile, they asked me not to use my bathroom. Other neighbors in the building felt they were unfair and told me not to humor them. Some even said, “Just keep running your water, let their bathroom flood. What can they do about it?” I told the neighbors, “They're old, and the husband has cancer. I practice Falun Dafa so I should have consideration for others.”
Although I understood the principles, it was hard to do it. It was hot in the summer, yet I couldn't take a shower or even wash my face. When I finally had to wash my face, the old couple knocked on my door. It was really hard to pass this test. I kept looking inward and found that I still had attachments to competitiveness and complaining. I studied the Fa more intensively and sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the interference—my apartment is a Fa-study site, so not being able to use the bathroom was an interference. I asked Master for help.
Finally, the old couple's younger brother heard about the situation. He got the pipe fixed and kept apologizing to me for his sister and brother-in-law's irrational behavior.
Through this incident, Master helped me to improve my level and resolve the tribulation. Only by following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance was I able to avoid conflicts with my neighbors. I thanked Master.
I have cultivated for almost three years. Every day I feel fulfilled. Even though I now have little money, I feel wealthy, happy, and peaceful. Master saved me and purified my soul. My appreciation cannot be expressed in words. The only thing I can do to pay Master back is to cultivate diligently.
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