(Minghui.org) I began to practice Falun Dafa in 1996. Because I didn’t have much education, I have not been able to write down my cultivation story in the past. Encouraged by other practitioners, I decided to share my story.
Difficult Years
After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seized power in 1949, it carried out numerous political campaigns, leaving many people in misery. My family was no exception.
My parents had nine children and they could not keep everyone fed since only my father worked. I was born after my two older brothers starved to death, and my grandfather named me Fu Xing (Lucky Star). Because we were so poor, my older sister and I dropped out of school in the third grade to work on the farm to help the family.
My aunt lived in Tangshan, Hebei Province. She was a nice person who was always willing to help others. In 1976, hundreds of thousands of people died in the Tangshan earthquake. Although everyone in my aunt’s family was fine, their house was destroyed, so my parents invited her to come and live with us.
My younger brother and I went to her place on our bikes. I headed back first, carrying a large bag for my aunt. A group of soldiers stopped me and asked what was in the bag. “It’s my aunt’s—I don’t know what’s in it,” I replied. Suspecting that I was a thief, the soldiers wanted to tie me up. I struggled and broke free and they couldn’t catch me. The soldier in charge was annoyed and wanted to shoot me. Fortunately, my aunt showed up and told them what was in the bag. Thinking back, I knew I was lucky: Had my aunt arrived just a few minutes later, I could have already been dead.
After we married, my wife and I worked on the farm growing vegetables to make a living. One day, I went to move some soil to the land with an ox cart. It was a freezing winter day, and the soil was frozen. I was digging on the side of a hill, when a large mass of soil broke loose and slid down, knocking me against the cart and burying me up to my waist. It was almost dusk and no one was around. Fortunately, I was able to dig myself out despite the pain I was in. I broke one rib, but I knew it could have been much worse.
Another time I was riding my bike home after selling vegetables in the city. It was dusk, and I was passing a brick factory. A shadow cast by the factory’s water tower obscured a big ditch on the road and I fell in it, passing out. When I regained consciousness, I discovered I was just fine, so I continued on home.
The journey of life is long and arduous. But I was blessed—as if I was being looked after by a lucky star.
Getting to Know Dafa
To make a living, I opened a small store in the village in 1995. I purchased goods from a wholesale market and my wife sold them. One day, a villager said that all her ailments disappeared after she started to practice Falun Dafa. Curious about what was going on, my wife also purchased a copy of Zhuan Falun, the main teachings of Falun Dafa, and read it when there were no customers.
Knowing my wife had never read anything so attentively in the past, I was interested in finding out more about the book. Once when she was cooking, I picked up the book and saw the picture of Master Li, the founder of Falun Dafa. He seemed very familiar as if I had seen him before. Because of bone diseases and a middle ear infection, I was interested in reading the book to improve my health. I enjoyed reading it and did not stop even when my wife called me for lunch. That was how I also became a Dafa practitioner.
Once I was taking two children to school when a truck hit me and almost knocked me into a roadside ditch. I was angry and about to curse the driver out. But then I suddenly realized I was a Dafa practitioner now and I should do better. Master said, “The driver indeed drove the car too fast, but how could he possibly hit someone on purpose? Didn’t he do it unintentionally?” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun) So I did not complain. Then I was able to see the rotating Falun (law wheel) and I knew Master Li was encouraging me.
Forced to Stay Away from Home
After former CCP leader Jiang Zemin began to suppress Falun Dafa in 1999, other practitioners and I went to the city government to appeal for Dafa. Officials held us in a police station and tried to force us to renounce our belief. One officer beat and slapped me, knocking out a tooth. I was fined 5,000 yuan.
In 2001, officials in a nearby village were playing a video that defamed Dafa for everyone in town. Other practitioners suggested that we send forth righteous thoughts to stop the officials from deceiving people. I did and saw a fireball through my celestial eye. Practitioners told me later the video player caught fire and the event was canceled.
After SARS broke out in 2003, I often rode around to give Master’s new articles and Dafa materials to practitioners in other villages or towns. After a practitioner was detained, he turned me in and the county 610 Office planned to arrest me, too.
I was purchasing goods for my shop at the time and a practitioner notified me about it. When I returned home with my goods and Dafa materials late that afternoon, I saw police vans at the entrance of the village. I tried to back away but the police saw me. I went into a cornfield and sat down to send forth righteous thoughts. The police went back and forth on the road, but they never did find me.
I was able to return home in the evening, but a neighbor said that the police were still around and suggested that I stay away for a while, so I left home. Because officials continued to harass my family and relatives, I had no place to go and sometimes stayed in the cornfield overnight. Those were difficult times, but I knew I did the right thing. I also sent righteous thoughts so that the suppression would end soon.
Another practitioner found me a job at a paper factory. When there was work, I would do my job; otherwise, I would read Dafa books and do the exercises. In the summer, there were mosquitoes in the smelly wastewater from the paper factory. I slept in a small hut next to it without mosquito coils and was just fine. The factory owner was surprised: Everyone else had red bumps all over from mosquito bites... Why didn’t I have any?
My coworkers also witnessed another miracle. One day, the paper-cutting knife chopped off a piece of flesh from my hand. The owner was frightened and offered to take me to the hospital. I said not to worry about it since I would be fine in a week. My hand did recover well in seven days. I explained to them that Master Li was protecting me because I am a Dafa practitioner. They believed it and all agreed to quit the CCP organizations. The factory owner’s daughter also called aloud, “Falun Dafa is great!”
When I woke up that night, I saw the word of fu xing (Lucky Star) in the sky. I knew Master was with me and helping me all the time.
Learning from Lessons
One year during the harvest, my older son was in college in another city, leaving my wife and younger son to work the land. Thinking it was too much for them, I went back home to help out.
Someone reported me to the police and I was held in a detention center for a month. Then I was in a city labor camp for a month before being transferred to a provincial forced labor camp. It was horrible there, and I was forced to sign a statement to stop practicing.
Back home, I talked with other practitioners and realized I had been deceived in the brainwashing center. Fortunately, Master did not give up on me and once again I was able to see things through my celestial eye as I continued practicing.
As I was preparing to write this experience-sharing article, my left eye hurt and I had to cover it with my hand. When I examined it again in a mirror a few seconds later, I saw that the cataract in my left eye was gone. I am so thankful to Master Li for helping me along the way.
Above are my experiences and understandings. Please point it out if anything is inconsistent with the Dafa teachings.
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