(Minghui.org) Greetings, revered Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!

I’m a Dafa practitioner in Heilongjiang Province, China, and I’m 75 this year. I obtained the Fa in 1998 at the age of 49. I would like to share some of my experiences in cultivation and saving sentient beings.

Being Kind to My Family Members

Letting Go of Resentment to My Husband

As the youngest in a family of eight girls, I didn’t need to do anything at home and didn’t know how to do any household chores. This turned out to be a big problem after I got married. We didn’t have much money, so I went out to do odd job the day after I got married, and bought a thermos with the money I earned. That was how I started to learn to manage a household.

My husband didn’t like to work. He drank and had a very bad temper. We often quarreled and got into physical fights. I was angry about everything at home, and by and by, my health was affected. I despised my husband for being useless and unable to do anything and for having no ambition. He would give up as soon as he thought something was hard. I thought to myself, “How could I be so unlucky to marry someone like you?!” I thought of getting a divorce, but I didn’t want my daughters to grow up without a father. So, I signed an agreement with my husband that we would go our separate ways as soon as the children were grown.

I went to learn tailoring after my two daughters were adults, and I opened a tailor shop with them when I finished the course. Business was pretty good, and we worked hard every day. Once, there were customers waiting to pick up their clothes, and my daughters and I were busy sewing and cooking at the same time. Just then, my husband walked in. He had spent the day helping do some work at his uncle’s place, but they didn’t ask him to stay for dinner.

I felt a bit uneasy in my heart and didn’t bother to talk to him. He got angry and told one of my daughters to get him two bottles of beer. He slammed the bottles on the table and started to berate me. I got angry and started to argue with him. He picked up one bottle and tried to smash it down on my head. I dodged and fell on the floor. I was so angry that I started trembling, both furious and scared.

After that, I developed the habit of trembling and shaking my head. Later, when my elder daughter got married and moved to a small town, we moved there also to be close to her. We opened a snack bar, and business was quite good. One day, my husband got angry again and pulled down all the curtains in the snack bar. “Enough is enough!” My daughters were fed up with him, and both went to do odd jobs out of town. The snack bar closed down.

I resented my husband, who had caused me so much physical and emotional pain over the years. I felt that life was too hard to bear. I had no purpose in life and just kept going blindly, day in and day out.

One day, I thought to myself, “People say that those who have faith are more broad-minded. What should I believe in?” I heard that there was some form of qigong in town, so I went to look for it, but without success. Later, I had another fight with my husband and was really angry. I went back to my hometown and stayed at my eldest sister’s place.

“What’s my niece doing these days?” I asked my sister. “Well,” my sister replied, “she is very involved in some practice, and many people do it at her place.” So I went to see my niece.

“Let’s teach my aunty Falun Dafa,” my niece said to her husband, who was a bit unsure about the suggestion because he thought I was too attached to material gain. But my niece kept encouraging me, “Aunty, please start practicing Falun Dafa. It’s very good. My child has even seen Falun floating around.” I became interested and picked up the book Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Dafa.

I read over ten pages and thought, “Isn’t this cultivation?! My mother used to tell me when I was a child that there were people cultivating deep in the mountains and they could become immortals. I wondered even then which mountain I could go to cultivate like that.” Because I’d always had a wish to cultivate, as I read Zhuan Falun, I knew that Falun Dafa was about cultivation.

I stayed with my niece for seven days and learned the five exercises. My elder daughter came and asked me to come home. She told me there was such a practice site in our town, so I went back with her. I didn’t go straight home—I went to the practice site first. The assistant was very friendly and told me that I could study the Fa at her place.

Once I obtained the Fa, I could not let go of it, and I remained diligent. When I first started doing the exercises, I had trouble sitting cross-legged in the lotus position and endured a lot of pain, but I never gave up.

Through Fa study, I understood that I should not resent my husband and that all the pain and suffering he inflicted on me were for me to repay the debts I must have owed him from a previous life. I also understood that I must conduct myself by the principles of the Fa and be a good person. I had to treat people kindly and be considerate of others in any situation and truly be able to “Not strike back when beaten and not swear back when sworn at.” I had to stop treating my husband the way I did in the past. When he blamed me again, I didn’t take it to heart, and when he cursed at me, I said nothing. I stopped resenting him, because I understood that all this was happening for a reason and I was only repaying the debts I owed him in the past.

Sometimes, however, I still failed to do well. Once, I asked my husband to hold a bag while I poured rice in it. I wasn’t in a good mood, he got angry, and we argued again. He threw my incense burner on the floor, and the ashes flew all over. He started to come after me, so I ran to my in-laws’ house. He chased me, but when he saw that his mother was home, he didn’t hit me. I spent the night at my niece’s place. Later I thought, “I must go home, and I should not fight with my husband anymore.”

When I got home, I apologized to him, saying I was wrong and that I would stop comparing him to others and expecting him to do more work. Seeing that I was sincere, he let it go. After that, I let him have his way in everything, and we stopped fighting. He knew that I was trying to be a good person by cultivating, and he was benefitting from it.

He was drinking a lot and developed alcohol-related liver disease. The doctor told him that if he didn’t stop drinking, he would end up with cirrhosis of the liver, but he still drank behind my back. Every time he got drunk, he turned into a different person and started picking on me. I didn’t react like I did in the past. Later, he developed cirrhosis of the liver and spent a long time in hospital, but his condition just went from bad to worse.

“You need to go to the provincial hospital,” the doctor told him.

He slumped back in his bed and knew that it was serious. When I asked him if he wanted to go to the provincial hospital, he said, “No.”

“In that case, you’d better come home and learn to do the Falun Gong exercises. Only Master Li can save you now,” I encouraged him.

His abdomen was badly bloated, and he couldn’t eat. The IV fluids made it even worse. After we brought him home, I taught him the exercises, which he learned pretty quickly. But it wasn’t as easy when it came to reading Zhuan Falun because he didn’t have much education and couldn’t recognize many of the characters. We read slowly as I helped him with the characters he didn’t know page by page.

The next day, his belly was less bloated, and three days later, he was able to eat. His health improved by the day. When our daughters came home, they all witnessed the miraculous power of Dafa, and they all believed that Dafa is good. Six months later, my husband regained his health completely. He knew that Dafa was good and told others how Dafa cured him. He knew that Master Li, the founder of Falun Dafa, had saved him.

But as soon as he was healthy again, he stopped doing the exercises or studying the Fa. He often went out to play cards or chat with friends. When I reminded him to do the exercises, he said, “Do them yourself, and leave me alone.”

One evening around eight months later, he was chatting outside with our neighbors when he came home to use the bathroom. Our elder daughter was also there. I was sitting in bed, studying the Fa. Suddenly, I heard a loud vomiting sound. I rushed to the bathroom and saw a lot of blood in the toilet. I called out for my daughter, and the neighbors also came. We took him to hospital straightaway. He was still vomiting blood profusely in the hospital. He passed away two days later.

I never had deep feelings for my husband, but after he passed away, I often dreamed about him. I was bothered and couldn’t understand why this was happening. Master gave me a hint.

Master said in Zhuan Falun:

“Since human beings have qing, being upset is qing, so are happiness, love, hatred, enjoying doing one thing, resenting doing another thing, preferring one person to another, hobbies, and dislikes. Everything belongs to qing, and everyday people just live for it.” (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)

I realized that my resentments for my husband had not been removed at the root. With true compassion, one would see that everyone is suffering and would always consider the benefits of others.

Being Kind to My Daughters’ In-laws and Their Relatives

I later moved to different city. My daughters’ in-laws all know that I practice Falun Dafa and that I’m a good person, so they also support Dafa. I also helped members of their families quit the CCP organizations. I felt a deep affinity with them.

One of my daughters used to quarrel with her husband a great deal, and I always tried to talk her out of it. I know that my daughters and their husbands are sentient beings to be saved, so I shouldn’t always side with my own daughter, because that’s all human sentiment. I said to her, “Even though your husband has a short temper, he is an honest man. He cares for the family and is quite capable.”

My daughter said I was biased toward my son-in-law. I said, “Everyone has shortcomings and strong points. We should always see their good points instead of picking on their shortcomings.” She felt a little better after that. My son-in-law is very respectful of me, and both his parents admire me for my demeanor.

Nowadays, all my three sons-in-law respect me because they can see that I conduct myself according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and I always consider others first. The economy in China is pretty bad at the moment, so they always give me money on festive occasions and holidays. When I refused to accept the money, my daughters said, “You brought us up, so we must repay you for caring for us, otherwise we will be in debt to you.”

They know that I am frugal, so they always bring me vegetables and fruit. They are all very respectful. I told them, “Life is hard for everyone at the moment. I always think of others first, so people around me all know that Falun Dafa is good.”

Clarifying the Truth to the Police

After the CCP started the persecution of Falun Dafa in 1999, I couldn’t stay home and act as if nothing had happened. Master gave me a hint in a dream in which I was riding a bicycle in circles instead of going forward. I decided to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.

I understood from reading Master’s new articles that those who participated in the persecution, especially the police, would have a miserable fate in the future. I wanted to clarify the truth and save them. When I got to Tiananmen Square, I sat down to meditate and sent forth righteous thoughts.

Soon, the police came. They twisted my arms behind my back and dragged me into a police car. I was taken to a temporary detention center and locked in a cage. At midnight, I was taken to a big prison, where they tried to take a photo of me, but I refused to let them. When they asked me where I was from, I didn’t tell them anything. Later, they gave me a number, 11953.

I didn’t eat anything on my way to Beijing, and I refused to eat in prison. In the morning, when I needed to use the bathroom, I felt very dizzy. The cell head called the police and told them I was very sick. The prison doctor came and said that I had a very serious heart condition. I was in bed and heard a TV broadcasting slanderous programs about Dafa. I told them that the self-immolation on Tiananmen Square was a hoax. When my condition got worse, they took me to a hospital in a police car escorted by four officers, one of them a female.

I still refused to eat, so they told the doctor to force-feed me.

“She is in such bad shape, we cannot force-feed her,” The doctor said and left.

The police got angry and started to slander Master and Dafa, as well as me. “Silence!” I commanded and started to shout, “Falun Dafa is good! Falun Dafa is a righteous way! Justice to Dafa! Restore my Master’s innocence!”

There were only the three male officers in the room, and they were all shocked. They pounced upon me and tried to pry open my mouth to force-feed me. When they failed, they used a metal tool to pry my mouth open. My mouth was torn and bleeding, and my teeth were loosened. They then poured milk into my mouth, making me choke until I could hardly breathe.

I thought about how I had come to Beijing to clarify the truth to them, so I must not let them persecute me like this. I said, “I’ll drink the milk myself.”

As I was drinking the milk, I clarified the truth to them loudly, telling them that the self-immolation on Tiananmen Square was a hoax. Seeing that there were so many people coming and going in the corridor, the officers said, “Don’t talk about this here. Let’s go out.”

Once we were outside, I clarified the facts about Falun Dafa extensively and all three of them listened attentively. I could see their attitude towards me change.

One of them said, “We’ll let you go home.”

I asked if he had the final say. “Of course he has. He is the head of the prison!” another officer confirmed.

Just then, the female officer joined us. They all looked at each other and said, “Let’s go.” They took me back to the prison and told the officers on duty to give me a pack of instant noodles to eat on the way.

The three officers who had learned the truth were very polite to me and saw me off at the prison gate. I left home on August 31 and got back on September 4. Master took care of me the entire time.

One day, I clarified the truth to a man who turned out to be a special plainclothes officer. As soon as I started talking, he said, “You are a Falun Gong practitioner. We are arresting people like you right now. How dare you talk to me about this!”

As he was talking, he dragged me to a police car with four young officers inside. One of them got out and walked to the car door. I pushed myself against the car and refused to get in. I said to Master in my heart, “I’m here to save people, so I won’t let them commit crimes against Dafa and Dafa practitioners. I won’t allow the old forced to destroy sentient beings. I won’t cooperate with them. Master, please help strengthen my righteous thoughts.”

An officer inside the car said, “Just let her go.”

The officer who’d been dragging me said, “Considering your age, we’ll let you go—this time.”

I leaned against a car and didn’t move.

“Why aren’t you leaving? A police car will come soon and take you away.”

I started to walk away slowly. I saw someone was following me, so I didn’t get on a bus right away. I headed to a street market and then got on a bus for home.

Looking Inward and Treating Fellow Practitioners with Kindness

When I moved to a new cultivation environment, I met three fellow practitioners and the four of us started our own Fa study group. I got to know Mei (alias) first and found her to be kind-hearted and straightforward, but she had a short temper and didn’t like to be criticized. She often had conflicts with Xue (alias), the other practitioner.

So I shared with them, saying, “We should all focus on cultivating ourselves instead of looking at others with a critical eye. Mei has a short temper, but she is kind-hearted and always likes to help. Let’s not talk about other people’s shortcomings behind their backs. We need to cultivate our speech. You know, Master is here with us all the time, and he knows everything we do and everything in our minds. We should be kind to each other and focus on each others’ strong points.”

After a period of solid cultivation, the four of us became a cohesive whole.

At first, because I lacked consideration when I talked to Mei, she felt hurt and angry and stopped coming to our group study. I knew that I shouldn’t fault her, that I should see her good side. She is kind and always keen to help others. When she sees someone’s shortcomings, she will point them out. As fellow practitioners, we should help each other instead of holding a grudge.

I went to visit her and said, “I wasn’t considerate enough when I talked to you. I was wrong, but I didn’t mean to hurt you. Please forgive me. We still need to study the Fa together.”

She returned to our Fa study group.

Another time, Mei and I went to clarify the truth in a park. Several people were sitting under a pavilion, and Mei started talking to an older man. Because their voices were so loud, others could hear them. Two older men sitting next to me heard what they were talking about, got agitated, and said some not very nice things. I felt very uneasy inside at the time, thinking that Mei was too loud and didn’t pay much attention to the safety issue.

After we left, I said, “You were talking too loud—you should pay more attention to safety.”

I also told her about the abusive comments the other two men had made. What I said really upset her. It was raining that day and she didn’t have an umbrella. I tried to shelter her with my umbrella, but she walked away in the rain. I felt very upset myself.

Afterwards, I shared with fellow practitioners and realized that I wasn’t being kind at that time and harbored resentment—that’s why Mei reacted the way she did. We let the evil take advantage of our loopholes, leading us to harm each other. We all looked within, and I apologized for my lack of kindness and wrongdoing. By looking inward, Mei also changed. All these incidents helped me realize the importance of cultivating our speech when interacting with fellow practitioners. Now, we all know how to cultivate ourselves in Dafa.

Because I’m the oldest, Mei and Xue are very respectful of me. Through more Fa study and sharing, we improved together and we all know that we should focus on cultivating ourselves and be more understanding of each other.

When Saving People, We Must Not Pick and Choose

I would like to share a few small incidents about this.

A Young Police Officer Quits the CCP

Once, I once ran into a young man who told me he had just passed the civil servant exam and had been assigned to work in a police station. He said he was 26.

“It’s fate that we met today,” I said. “Let me tell you something. There are so many natural and man-made disasters, but gods will bless those who are good and kind-hearted. Please remember: ‘Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.’ Falun Dafa is a practice in the Buddha School, and it is here to save sentient beings.

“All good and kind people will be saved. The CCP advocates atheism and forbids people from believing in gods and Buddhas. The CCP has been persecuting Falun Dafa and will be punished by the divine. We mustn’t go down with it as sacrificial victims.”

I asked him if he had ever joined any of the CCP organizations, and he told me he had joined the Party.

“In that case, you should quit it in your heart.” I said. He was very happy with the suggestion and agreed to do so. I also told him that more than 430 million people have quit the CCP organizations, including him, and that he was very lucky to be saved because gods always protect good and kind people.

A Christian Woman Quits the CCP

I bumped into a lady in her 50s on my way home one day. She was walking very slowly. She told me that she had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and almost died, but God saved her. I asked her if she believed in the Lord, and she told me she was a Christian.

I asked her if she had ever joined any CCP organization, and she told me she had joined the Young Pioneers when she was at school.

“The CCP advocates atheism and forbids people from believing that gods and Buddhas exist. Of course the divine will not allow that. If you truly believe in God, then you should quit the Young Pioneers.”

She was really happy and agreed to quit the Young Pioneers.

“I Will Hang the Amulet at Home!”

I met an elderly woman who told me that she believed in Buddhism and I said, “That’s good. Buddhism believes in accumulating virtue and doing good deeds.” I asked her if she had joined any of the CCP organizations. She told me that she was a Party member, but agreed to quit. When I gave her a Dafa amulet before we parted, she seemed really pleased and said, “I will hang this up at home!”

Woman Thanks Master Li

One day, I saw a woman who looked to be in her 50s sitting on a bench. She seemed depressed, so I asked her if everything was all right.

“I’m sick with several hard-to-cure ailments,” she replied.

I told her that many people have benefited from reciting the phrases “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” I also explained to her the importance of quitting the CCP organizations. She understood and agreed to quit the Youth League. When she kept thanking me, I said she should thank Master Li. She put her palms together in front of chest and kept saying, “Thank you, Master Li! Thank you, Master Li!”

I know that I still haven’t done well in many respects, but I’m determined to follow Master’s teachings and treat every sentient being with kindness and compassion.

Thank you, revered Master, for your compassionate salvation! Thank you, fellow practitioners, for your selfless help.