(Minghui.org) I am 74 years old and I have been practicing Falun Dafa for 25 years. I would like to share my story to validate Dafa and thank Master Li, the founder of Dafa, for his saving grace.
My mother passed away when I was just three years old. My four siblings and our father never really cared about me. My father only allowed his son to go to school, and as our family lived in poverty, he asked me to work in the field starting at age 6.
The first job he gave me was to lead a donkey to plow the land and sow seeds. At that time, I was not as tall as the donkey. When the donkey got tired of working, I had to pull it to walk a straight line. Since I was so small and weak as a six-year-old, the land I plowed was a little crooked and not straight.
At that time, my father was the captain of the production team in our village, and he was afraid that others would say that the land he plowed was not good, so he got very angry that he beat the donkey and me together. The beating happened frequently and I was afraid to see him.
When I was eight years old, I was dead set on not plowing the field with the donkey anymore, so my father arranged for me to do work only adults could handle. I was tenacious. No matter how hard the work was, I would grit my teeth and do it.
When I was 14, I would push a cart to deliver dung to the field like a young man. I was so exhausted every day that I even wished that I would die so I did not have to get up the next day.
My childhood was spent in this kind of suffering. Happiness and joy had nothing to do with me. At the age of nineteen, I got married, left the home that had broken my heart, and dreamed that my fate would turn for the better.
After I got married, I worked hard to earn work points (at the end of the year, I was paid according to the work points). I also had three children to take care of. I was exhausted but my parents-in-law, who lived with us, complained that I neglected to care for them. The conflict between us grew.
I developed all sorts of illnesses before long: poor digestive system, a liver problem, frozen shoulder, knee pain, sciatica, depression, vision loss, and hypotension.
After 18 years of treatment with various medications, I did not get better but worse. I was bedridden and felt hopeless and helpless.
When Falun Dafa spread to our village, a practitioner came to tell me about it. She told me many stories of people who had recovered from various illnesses after practicing Falun Dafa. I felt hopeful, but I was also worried, because I could not stand up, and I was illiterate. She encouraged me, and I was able to stand up! How amazing! I asked her to teach me the exercises right then.
When I was learning the first exercise, I saw with my eyes closed that an elderly deity with a long white beard and wearing a yellow kasaya was walking down a mountain. I was delighted and wanted to see him closely, but he disappeared.
Two more mountains appeared in front of my eyes. They were beautiful, with green grass, trees, and flowers. There was a deep rocky ravine in the middle of the two mountains, and two small almond-colored tigers were playing. Strangely enough, my body felt very comfortable. I felt the water flowing freely in my body. The fellow practitioner praised me that I had a very good foundation. I felt really good after the exercises. Actually, I had never felt so good even when I was young and healthy.
At that time, I decided to ask for a copy of the precious book Zhuan Falun, even though I could not read or write. When I opened the first page, I saw a picture of Master, and He smiled at me. I flipped through the pages and every word was as big as a kernel of corn, and they were all gold! I was so happy that I didn't know what to say. From then on, I worked hard to recognize characters. When Master saw that I was quite attentive, he asked others to teach me.
Thank you, Master, for teaching me how to read, and teaching me how to be a good person. In less than a month, all the diseases in my body were gone. I also gained weight (from about 100 to 160 pounds, which was a healthy weight for my height). I looked younger, and it was really like what people said: I was transformed! How could I ever pay back Master for his saving grace?
My family, friends, and neighbors were all happy for me, praising the wonder of Dafa. But my illness-free and happy life was suddenly shattered when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a nationwide campaign against Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999. It felt like a thunderbolt from the blue sky.
Suddenly, television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and village loudspeakers began to slander and defame Falun Dafa day and night, reversing good and evil and poisoning all beings.
I shared my understanding with fellow practitioners and said we should go to Beijing to validate the Fa. But they were watched closely by their family members, so they dared not go. In order to repay Master’s life-saving grace, I was determined to speak up for Dafa, so I told my family about my decision. I brought eight Dafa books with me and embarked on my journey to Beijing.
I was stopped numerous times en route to Beijing. I showed the police my Dafa books and asked them: “Look at what the Falun Dafa Master said in the books. Does it sound like what was propagated on TV?” “I was so sick that I was waiting to die, but I was cured by practicing Falun Dafa, without spending a penny; I can't be a person without a conscience, and I must tell the truth. It was Master Li who saved my life!”
They tried to take my books away. I cried hard and they ended up giving the books back to me. I continued my journey, but was arrested at one checkpoint and sent back to my hometown. I hid the books in a safe place and set out to Beijing again the next day.
At that time, I did not understand or know what mission I had, but I knew that Master and Dafa were wronged and defamed and that I had to go to Beijing to appeal.
I was arrested again on my way to Beijing. Since I would not give up my faith, the local police gave me three years of forced labor. After the labor camp rejected me, the police changed my term to two years, but the labor camp still refused to take me. The police then kept me at a detention center for a few days before moving me to a local police station, where I was held for over 120 days.
Over the years, I was arrested a total of 17 times, given forced labor three times, and once sentenced to four years in prison. I refused to be “transformed” in detention and was subjected to various forms of abuse.
My friends and neighbors knew I was persecuted, but after a while, they could not distinguish right from wrong, good from evil. As such, they treated me like a criminal. But I know I did nothing wrong and trust that justice will prevail one day.
I was released from prison in 2008. The very next day I went out with a fellow practitioner to distribute copies of the book Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and urge people to quit the CCP and its junior organizations. We worked together like this many more times. The two of us could carry 100 copies of the book each time. While passing out the materials at local fairs, I would let her sit down and watch over the books and send forth righteous thoughts. I would then bring 10 copies of the book at a time to distribute. Some would say thank you, and some would threaten me. No matter their attitudes, I persevered in telling them the truth, and I was able to persuade close to 80 people a day to quit the CCP.
Through Fa study, I knew our mission was saving as many people as possible. Master protected me numerous times while I was clarifying the truth. I have persuaded more than 21,000 people to quit the CCP since I was released from prison in 2008. While on the surface it was me who persuaded them to sever ties with the CCP, I knew it was all achieved through Master’s blessing. Without Master’s protection, how could I save people?
When my neighbors saw the tremendous changes in my body and mind after practicing Falun Dafa, and after listening to me clarify the truth, many of them quit the CCP and its junior organizations as a family.
The CCP suddenly lifted its draconian lockdown measures in December 2022. Soon almost everyone got infected with the COVID-19 virus (also known as the CCP virus). I went out daily to clarify the truth as usual. People asked me:
“You encounter all sorts of people daily. Have you ever tested positive for COVID?”
“Never.”
“Great!”
“It’s the wonder of Dafa.” I would add: “There have been many plagues in history. After the Roman Empire persecuted Christians, there were three major plagues. Those who persecuted Christians and did not believe in God died. Good will be rewarded, and evil will be punished – this principle has been the same since ancient times. Didn’t Chinese dynasties also have a great plague that eliminated bad people and kept good people?”
Most people would say thank you. I also came across someone still skeptical,
“Well you are still young, and you did not go through what we…”
“How old are you then, Brother?” I asked.
“Close to 70,” he answered.
“I am 74,” I said.
He looked at me in disbelief.
“It has been 25 years since I began practicing Falun Dafa. I have not needed any medicine or treatment. Almost all practitioners are like this. As long as you sincerely practice Falun Dafa, it will have amazing effects in curing diseases and keeping fit.”
Recently, Master published How Humankind Came To Be. I understand that only by accumulating merits in this world can we pave the way back to heaven. Enduring hardships and eliminating karma are the principles of the universe and a great thing.
I am grateful to Master for arranging the most difficult, the worst, the harshest, the most complicated, and the best cultivation environment for me. In the future, I will be more diligent, improve my character, and accomplish my mission.
I would like to offer sincere gratitude from the bottom of my heart to Master!
(Selected Submission Celebrating the 24th World Falun Dafa Day on the Minghui Website)