(Minghui.org) I am a 60-year-old woman who started practicing Falun Dafa in July 1997.
Before cultivating Dafa, my life was filled with misery. Falun Dafa illuminated my life and gave me new hope.
A Life of Misery
I married an eccentric, short-tempered husband, who would beat me for no reason. With a traditional notion of favoring boys over girls, my mother-in-law looked down on me having a daughter. We lived with my in-laws, and the poor treatment I received caused me to feel depressed and develop hatred for this family. I was tempted to commit suicide many times, but thoughts of my young daughter and elderly parents stayed my hand.
Over time, I developed breast cancer. After undergoing surgery, my breasts became swollen, oozing yellow pus every day, and my surgical incisions could not heal. This went on for a year. One day my mother-in-law directly confronted me, “You are bound to die, sooner or later!” She resolutely demanded that the three of us move out and rent our own home, saying she did not want to see me anymore. Perhaps she was convinced I had no hope of recovery, because her nephew’s wife had passed away from the same disease, despite having milder symptoms than mine.
My daughter was only six years old at the time, and my anguish was indescribable. Before, my mother-in-law’s family had always approached us for money. We paid for my father-in-law’s stroke treatment and medication. We also took care of him when he was hospitalized, without help from my husband’s three siblings. Now that I was severely ill, not only did they refuse to help us, but they even wanted to drive us out of their home. I approached the director of our housing community and he tried to reason with my mother-in-law. However, she refused to back down. Later, the director spent his own money to hire a lawyer, in hopes of mediating a solution. When this failed, we were left with no choice but to move out.
All Suffering Has its Reward
Perhaps it was fate, but while visiting the hospital for medical treatment, a doctor introduced Falun Dafa to me. She told me Falun Dafa possessed miraculous powers in curing diseases and keeping one healthy. She encouraged me to try it and lent me a copy of Zhuan Falun. Having received little formal education and with an inability to recognize many words, my reading speed was very slow. I could only manage 100 pages a month, yet I found the book irresistible.
One morning at about ten o'clock, I was reading Zhuan Falun when something the size of a marble fell out of my armpit with a cool gush. The following day, another object the size of a corn kernel was expelled. This time, I took a closer look at the exudate, which appeared yellowish, sticky and cool to the touch, triggering a sense of disgust.
I was brought up by my grandmother, who lived by upright moral values. Influenced by her way of life, I found myself naturally relating to many cultivation principles described in Zhuan Falun, such as the relationship between loss and gain, and the accumulation and loss of virtue. I realized Falun Dafa could guide people in cultivation practice while teaching them to be good. Master Li, the founder of Falun Dafa, taught practitioners to follow the standards of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, not retaliate when being hit or scolded, and to look inward for our own shortcomings when encountering conflicts in order to cultivate ourselves. Understanding the principles of the Fa and the true meaning of human life lifted my outlook on life.
One month after I began practicing Falun Dafa, my surgical incision sealed and completely healed without further treatment. I knew that Zhuan Falun was no ordinary book. Despite treasuring it, I knew I would have to return it to its owner. At that time, my family was struggling financially. Our moving and housing rental costs were covered using money borrowed from my younger brother. My husband had suffered an injury at work and was recuperating at home. I had no money to buy the book. Just as I was fretting, a thought came to mind. Why not earn the money to pay for the book myself? My family had an old pedal rickshaw. I decided to drive passengers with it to earn money.
As I had not practiced cycling this rickshaw, I pushed it out to a deserted road in order to familiarize myself with it first. Yet soon after I set off, an old lady flagged me down and insisted on riding in my rickshaw. I advised her, “I just learned to ride, so I don’t dare take any passengers.” To my surprise she replied, “It’s okay.” Unable to refuse, I quickly got on the bike and pedaled her to her destination. Perhaps she was sympathetic toward me, a thin, weak-looking woman, pedaling a rickshaw, which was usually handled by men. I thus earned enough money to purchase the book that day. My happiness was indescribable. Although I had yet to finish reading Zhuan Falun, my health had been restored and I was given the confidence to carry passengers and earn money. All this strengthened my confidence in cultivation practice.
As my health improved, my heart became lighter. One day, I took the initiative and told my husband, “Falun Dafa’s Master instructs us to be filial. Let’s visit your father and your mother.” Hurt by his parent’s prior treatment, my husband had tears in his eyes and declined my suggestion. I advised him, “They raised you after all. Don’t be like them, and instead treat them well while they are alive. Otherwise, you will regret it later.”
With money earned from driving passengers in my rickshaw, I bought some food and visited my in-laws. My mother-in-law was shocked to see me. “I thought I’d never see you again!” she said. I replied, “I now practice Falun Dafa!” Only Dafa had the ability to dissolve my deep-rooted resentment, replacing it with kindness toward my in-laws. From then on, I frequently visited to help the elderly couple.
Overwhelming Dark Clouds
Two years later, on July 20, 1999, jealous of Falun Gong’s popularity in China, Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), launched the persecution of Falun Dafa. Like thousands of like-minded Dafa practitioners, I went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa. Having personally benefited from Dafa, we hoped the government would restore our peaceful cultivation environment. However, our appeals were ignored. The government insisted on suppressing Falun Dafa, despite understanding how it benefits society.
One day, a fellow practitioner invited me out to distribute truth-clarification materials. Unexpectedly, we were seized by the police and sent to a forced labor camp. At that time, my daughter was in her third year of high school, and my illegal detention made it hard to pay her tuition and fees. Authorities in the labor camp forcibly prevented me from studying the Fa and practicing the exercises. Faced with this ill treatment, abnormal symptoms began to surface in my body. Large lumps appeared on both sides of my breasts. My armpits and lymph nodes became inflamed, my blood pressure skyrocketed, and my chest swelled so much, I was unable to put down my arms. Afraid of the consequences, the labor camp personnel sent me in for multiple medical examinations. The diagnostic results confirmed I had malignant tumors. Out of fear that they would be held accountable for my death, the labor camp released me.
On the day my younger sister took me home, my head was so swollen that I felt unbalanced, and I suffered severe nausea while riding the train. Yet one thought repeated in my mind: “I can’t die. As long as I study the Fa and do the exercises, Master will take care of me.”
After I got home, I studied the Fa and practiced the exercises over the next 11 days. On the 12th day, I visited my father and helped him wash clothes. On the 13th day, I started work in a nearby textile factory, and resumed my regular duty of cooking for my family after getting off work. Again, Master had saved my life and demonstrated Dafa’s supernatural powers. Since I started practicing Dafa, I have not taken any medication. I am healthy, with a clear and radiant complexion.
Clarifying the Truth and Validating the Fa
No matter what job I take, I work diligently and adhere to the principles of Dafa. My colleagues all know that I practice Falun Dafa and most of them trust me, convinced of the goodness of Falun Dafa.
Of course, there are those who refuse to understand. For such people, I tell them, “Falun Dafa is a practice that helps people improve health and morality. Dafa has saved many people like me from desperate situations and reunited families. Dafa practitioners from all walks of life work at their jobs conscientiously. Doctors and teachers who practice Falun Dafa refuse to accept bribes [Note: accepting bribes for preferential service is a common practice in China]. Tax collectors do not appropriate a share for their own profit, and so on. Why did Jiang Zemin and the Communist Party persecute Falun Gong? Solely because he thought too many people were practicing Dafa! Dafa practitioners are ordinary humans, with our own families, careers and studies. The only difference is our adherence to the Fa teachings and the principles taught to guide ourselves in becoming better people.”
I then tell them, “We practice the exercises to have a healthy body. If hundreds of millions of people can maintain their health in this way, how much money would our country save in terms of medical expenses?” Some people say, “Just practice at home, why do you persist in clarifying the truth to others?” I reply, “Falun Dafa can save mankind’s failing moral standards. Those who defame Dafa will meet with retribution. Dafa practitioners have a responsibility to clarify the truth and offer salvation to these innocent people.” With this explanation, my colleagues would essentially understand me.
Truth clarification work has not been smooth sailing. I have faced abuse, contempt, threats and blackmail. Yet I constantly encourage myself and remind myself to forgive these people, because they have been deceived. In this apocalyptic world, Falun Dafa is mankind’s hope for salvation. Falun Dafa practitioners are messengers from Master, with a duty to offer salvation to people.
I hope that people throughout the world will recognize the lies of the CCP, come to learn about Dafa and receive its protection. In this chaotic world, I recommend that everyone read the book Zhuan Falun. It can resolve every confusion in life and remove obstacles. Finally, I hope that everyone will sincerely recite, “Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” and quit the CCP to ensure their safety!
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
