(Minghui.org) I am 72 years old and have cultivated in Falun Dafa for 18 years. It was benevolent Master Li (Dafa’s founder) who saved me. Having come this far, through Fa-study and cultivating, I have elevated myself. I feel proud for being a practitioner and fortunate for having a compassionate and wonderful Master.
Thrown from an Electric Bike
It was very cold during the winter of 2020. Between November and December, we had three snowstorms. Before the first one had melted, the second and third snowstorms arrived. The roads were covered with ice, with some parts of the roads being very icy and slippery.
It was only four days before the Chinese New Year and I wanted to make sure I could go out with fellow practitioners to awaken people’s conscience in the afternoon. At noon, I went to a supermarket to buy some groceries to prepare for the New Year celebration.
It was uphill in front of my apartment building. After I got on my electric bike I started it and got on the icy road. Then, the bike slipped and turned to one side. I was thrown out from the bike and fell to the ground behind the bike.
My neighbor saw the accident and came to help me. She helped me lift the bike and then pushed it to the entrance of the building. Then, she came to help me, but I said I could stand up by myself.
Master said, “We believe that one thought can determine the outcome of things, for better or for worse.” (The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
Although I was in pain, I remembered Master’s words deep down, “Don’t acknowledge it! Since none of them are worthy of participating...” (Teachings Given on Lantern Festival Day, 2003)
I slowly got up by enduring the pain, and then slowly moved to the entrance of my building. I tried to go back to my apartment. To take a step, I held onto the handrail. My left foot went up first, then my right foot followed. I felt pain below my waist, and couldn’t quite figure out where it came from. Big drops of sweat dropped down.
Since I lived on the sixth floor, I began to wonder when I would reach my apartment. Then, I thought, “As a practitioner, I should have righteous thoughts. Wasn’t this like climbing up a heavenly ladder? If it went smoothly, like eating honey, how could that be possible? I kept encouraging myself by holding such thoughts, and climbing up tenaciously. I finally reached the top floor and arrived at the apartment. Only then did I realize I was totally soaked with sweat.
I really wanted to lie in bed, hoping to relieve the pain, but couldn’t. What happened today was clearly interference and persecution of me. Time is pressing for saving sentient beings, but the old forces used this to stop me from saving people, I will never let their conspiracy succeed.
I endured the pain, sat in the lotus position, and held my palm erect to send forth righteous thoughts: Eliminate all dark minions and rotten demons for persecuting practitioners; never acknowledge the old forces’ arrangements, but only walk on the path arranged by Master. When I was doing that, there were a few click sounds coming from the right side of my body. It was loud and made me feel that my bones were reset. I understood that it was Master adjusting the body of his disciple.
Righteous Thoughts
After fellow practitioners learned that I had an accident they visited me. They didn’t come solely for taking care of me, but also to study the Fa, to do the exercises, strengthening the sending of righteous thoughts, and elevating as one body.
During the first few days, I couldn’t stand or lie down, I was in pain all night long and couldn’t sleep. I also shivered and could only hold onto a chair and move very slowly in the living room. Later, I put a duvet under me, half-lying down and half-sitting to get a little sleep. When I couldn’t get up by myself, fellow practitioners gave me a hand. For using the bathroom I only took a few steps at a time.
Because I had pain in the ischium, lumbar spine, and hips on both sides, I couldn’t sleep at night. Sometimes when I was about to fall asleep, I woke up from pain again. As a result, I often fell asleep during the daytime Fa-study and had a hard time holding my palm erect for sending righteous thoughts. Fellow practitioners woke me up and made sure I did not fall asleep again. Later, I kept my eyes open when sending righteous thoughts, and finally got this situation rectified.
When I did the second set of exercises I couldn’t hold up my arms. As soon as I started doing that, my body began to shake from the pain. I also had trouble standing. With tears covering my face, I wanted to lie down on the floor. So, I asked fellow practitioners if I could only do half an hour? They said to me, “No, that wouldn’t do. You must do that for an hour, as this is set by Master. As practitioners, we have to follow what Master said.” I thought that made sense, otherwise wouldn’t I be afraid of hardship? I often said not to acknowledge the old forces’ arrangement, how come I considered this thought? Thus, I made up my mind to not acknowledge this illusion. Due to my steadfast thoughts, I stopped trembling. Besides I was in less pain. I finally could hold the wheel for an hour.
When I did the fourth exercise, I didn’t dare to bend my waist to squat, but only went straight down. I thought, I couldn’t always be like this, when I didn’t do the movements correctly. It couldn’t achieve the effect of transforming my body to high-energy matter. I had thought: I would not acknowledge it. So I endured the pain and bent my waist as much as I could. I did it bit by bit, I knew that that day would come when I’d have no trouble bending down at all. I thought that to be a breakthrough of my perseverance. It’s also a test to show my faith in Master and Dafa.
However, my walking was a big test. Both my legs were as if tied up with a rope, as I had to use the back of a chair to support me to move forward. This state lasted for two weeks. On that day, a fellow practitioner said, “My sister, you have to leave the chair alone. See, you can’t always use a chair to walk, can you? You’ll eventually have to go out to awaken people’s conscience.” True. How could I not be like a practitioner? Over 10 days had passed, but I only made a little progress, I had to make a breakthrough! So, I let go of the chair and began to walk on my own. In the beginning, I couldn’t maintain balance and began to shake. Then I felt more pain in the places already hurting me. But I didn’t worry about that, and only kept moving forward. Later, the more I walked, the more steadily I could walk – until I no longer hurt.
A few days later, a fellow practitioner reminded me, “My sister, you got to go downstairs. No matter how many levels you go down, you just do it. After that, you could try to climb back up.” So going up and down stairs became a daily exercise for me. Empowered by Master and encouraged by fellow practitioners, my state got better and better.
A Sudden Test
That day, just after lunch, my entrance door opened, and I saw my son. He came back to deal with some matter while checking on me too.
As soon as I saw him, my heart went down. I had thought: Why did he come back at this time? Usually, when he returned, I’d greet him first, then take the luggage from him, while asking him this and that to show that I cared. However, this time, I didn’t get up from the couch, as I couldn’t use my back to stand up. If I were to stand up from the couch, it’d have taken a while, so I decided to just sit there.
He seemed to figure out what the matter was. Seeing me emaciated, he shouted at me, “Mom, you told me a few times that you were fine, but you lied to me. You took a fall, are you still saying you’re fine?” He seemed a bit upset. On day three, he couldn’t bear it anymore and insisted on taking me to a hospital for a CT scan. He wanted to see where exactly I got injured and how bad it was. I said to him, “I would not go, I won’t go anywhere.”
My son is in his 40s, he seldom shed tears, but he cried that day. He also called his sister who worked in another city to put pressure on me. My son took a video of me. When my daughter saw that, she cried aloud, saying, “Mom, please listen to my younger brother. If anything bad happens to you, how could I survive?” My son also promised me, “Except for taking a CT scan, I will never ask you to stay in the hospital to receive treatment. When you come back, you can do your Fa-study and exercises with your fellow practitioners just the same.”
That said, I also thought twice. Fellow practitioners also told me that we should not have our children being against our practice, as long as we used our righteous thoughts to handle the situation, that should do. No matter what result from the CT scan led to, I had to know this was all an illusion, and only Dafa is real. I agreed with what they said. I thought: I should pass the trial by myself this time. It’s a matter of how my heart was moved.
Master said,
““I’m Li Hongzhi’s disciple, I don’t want other arrangements or acknowledge them”—then they won’t dare to do that. So it can all be resolved. When you can really do that, not just saying it but putting it into action, Master will definitely stand up for you.” (Teachings Given on Lantern Festival Day, 2003)
Thus, I went to the hospital with my son for a CT scan. After that, he took it overnight to see the specialist in the province capital of more than 250 miles away. The next day early morning, he came back and told me what the specialist told him: The bases of the bones on both sides blew out, there were pelvic fractures on the left and right, along with pubic bone fracture. Given this, I must not stand, or walk for three months, but only lie down and rest. Otherwise, if the bones were deformed, the consequences would be disastrous.
After hearing that, I wasn’t moved. I said to him, “Your mom practices Falun Dafa. I’ll only listen to Master and walk on the path Master has arranged for me. As to what the specialist said, it’s irrelevant to me. Moreover, I won’t follow him. My son, please rest assured, I’ll get well soon. You have to believe Dafa is omnipotent.” He didn’t say anything. Actually, he was also observing the situation. He didn’t believe that any miracle would happen. If I were to continue to be like this, what he would do was to take me to a hospital.
Right at that time, my main conscience was very clear. The old forces tried to use my son’s filial piety to drag me down. Amid the tribulation, if my main consciousness weren’t clear and I were to subject myself to the old forces’ arrangement, the old forces would have destroyed me. But they were wrong, I had seen through their conspiracy a long time ago. At this critical moment, one’s mind must be very clear.
I clearly remembered that Ms. He who was a practitioner in Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, was diagnosed with bilateral femoral head necrosis. When a doctor looked at her CT scan, he didn’t believe she could stand up anymore but only wait for her death. However, she was very mobile. Thus, nobody believed she had that disease. The doctor in charge thought that was ridiculous and couldn’t make sense out of it, yet she was right in front of them. How to explain? Thus, they did another CT scan, which turned out the same. The doctors were dumbfounded and speechless. Ms. He said, “What’s science? Only Falun Dafa is the true science.” The doctor truly admired her and kept saying, “Falun Dafa is amazing, wonderful!” Her story caused quite a stir in the medical field in Harbin City and shocked me at the same time. This had strengthened my confidence in getting over this tribulation.
I thought both Ms. He and I were Master’s disciples, and if she could do it, why couldn’t I? I could pass this trial as well. That night simply because my righteous thoughts came forth, the incorrect state got rectified right away.
The next afternoon, I went downstairs without taking a break, then climbed to the top of our building. When my son saw that, he was so excited. He went from not believing in me, to encouraging me.
Master said,
“A person can eliminate karma and shed human attachments when he goes through ordeals, and through ordeals, he can improve.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2008 New York Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. VIII)
From the time when I was seriously injured to the time when I went out to awaken people’s conscience again, it took 1 month and 20 days. Without Master’s protection, without fellow practitioners’ dedicated help, I couldn’t be where I am today. I couldn’t express my gratitude for the lack of words. It was benevolent Master saving me again, and Falun Dafa gave me a new life!
Looking Inward
After I fell down, I came to enlighten that I had some problems. But then I thought I had studied the Fa diligently every day, for example, my home was used by a Fa-study group. Besides, I squeezed time in the morning to recite the Fa, and I did the three things required. I considered myself diligent, but how come I incurred such a big fall? Nothing happened accidentally, there has got to be a reason for that.
Master said,
“If [you] act in a truly righteous manner, nothing will dare to lift a finger against you.” (Teachings at the 2005 Conference in San Francisco)
Master also said,
“Some Dafa disciples participate in every Dafa event, and on the surface they seem to be doing well. From what others see, their cultivation seems fine, and they seem rather diligent. But nobody knows what attachments lie inside, or what might be preying on their minds; nobody knows what they might be stubbornly holding onto inside, or how difficult it is for them to overcome it, as these things are not displayed outwardly. However, for a variety of reasons, Dafa disciples are a group that’s meant for serious cultivation, and the old forces will utilize any possible opportunity to make trouble for Dafa disciples, and will use various opportunities to cause some Dafa disciples to lose their lives.” (“Fa Teaching on World Falun Dafa Day”)
Revisiting 18 Years of My Cultivation Journey
Master’s words targeted me. After I revisited 18 years of my cultivation journey, through looking inward, I found my loopholes. I’d like to expose them here.
I was born in the 1950s. From school to work, I had been immersed in the Party’s culture. In my 20s, I joined the Party. When I reached middle age, I was transferred to the Administration Office. After I returned, I was dedicated to the Party’s affairs of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
I have been an "advanced worker" of my company every year, attended the "excellent advanced worker of party affairs" venue in our system. I also graduated from the Party’s school. On my graduation certificate, the big seal of the Party's sickle and ax were stamped on my head on my picture. After fellow practitioners helped me locate it, I burned it. It took me many years to find these harmful things, as I was deeply poisoned by the Party.
There were also the thinking patterns and conceptual behaviors of the Party formed over the years, and the Party’s culture was clearly exposed in work, life, and cultivation, and even habitual to the point where they couldn’t be detected, such as, “self-interest, show-off mentality, competitive mentality, vanity, jealousy, doing things to extremes, not considering the feelings of others, preferring to listen to good words, strong self-pride, selfishness, and so on. This had seriously hindered my moving forward on my cultivation path. Sometimes I always got stuck at a level and was unable to improve.
Apparently, these rotten elements were at play. When thinking about that, I was shocked. After 18 years of cultivation, those unrighteous elements still existed in my field. Although I had eliminated many unrighteous fields, there were still some left. For that, I felt I let down Master’s saving grace.
Now, I especially pay attention to listening to the podcast of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, Ultimate Goal of Communism, Disintegrating Communist Party Culture, and other CCP related materials. I used the time when doing household chores, preparing and eating my meals, and before going to bed listening to them, and I began to look inward. From those podcasts, I learned what the concept of behavior was, what preconceptions were, what’s called clinging to oneself, and so on; I also learned to listen to others as opposed to interrupting them. I realized that fellow practitioners have shining points. We learn from each other and improve together; I performed true cultivation – there are no small things in one’s practice, If we don’t pay attention to the bad substances, they accumulate into a mountain, resulting in a big tribulation. Our cultivation is so serious!
Postscript: Fellow Practitioners’ Help
Since the day I had the accident, as soon as fellow practitioners heard about it, they came to study the Fa, and send forth righteous thoughts with me. Every time when I lacked righteous thoughts and my agitation flared up, it was them sharing with me on the Fa and reminding me of what was important from time to time. During my most difficult time, it was them accompanying me. They brought me cooked food either prepared at home or take-out, in order to save time for me so that I could do more Fa-study, exercises and sending forth righteous thoughts. Everyone urged and encouraged each other. As soon as there was an issue identified, we’d rectify it right away.
Right at this critical moment, fellow practitioners followed Master’s teaching,
“The next person's things are your things...” (“Teaching the Fa at the Washington, D.C. Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. II)
It showed our practitioners using righteous thoughts to deter interference. Every time when I recalled practitioners’ help, I was so touched. I will turn their selfless help into the motivation for my being more diligent. I sincerely appreciated practitioners’ help, and treasure every moment of practitioners not leaving me behind!
Master said,
“Think about it: isn’t it you yourselves who are changing? The trials and hardships that Dafa disciples have journeyed through are, from the human perspective, a heroic tale; and from the divine perspective, the journey is a process of true gold being tempered and forged in a furnace. Great waves sift the sands in cultivation. All of this will be passed down in history, and it might be passed down forever and ever.” (“Fa Teaching Given at the 2014 San Francisco Fa Conference”)
Thank you Master, and fellow practitioners!
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