(Minghui.org) After I started practicing Falun Dafa (also called Falun Gong), I realized that my past suffering had a purpose and actually led to a positive outcome.
Past Suffering
When I was young, I worked as a private teacher in my hometown for eight years. After getting married, I moved to Heilongjiang Province. My husband’s family was very poor, living in a two-room thatched house. Just over a year into our marriage, my husband revealed his true nature—he was short-tempered and a compulsive gambler. He gambled away everything we owned, leaving us without even a bed mat. I was furious. When I tried to talk with him about it, he would beat and kick me.
Before I was married, I never used swear words. However, my husband often cursed at me, using the nastiest language. I learned to curse from him. Whatever nasty words he said to me, I would respond in kind.
My home was far from my parents’ and my children were still young. Several times I wanted to poison myself, but then I thought of my innocent children and didn’t go through with it. I endured tremendous hardship.
I did everything I could to keep the family afloat. I worked hard raising two pigs to earn a little extra money. One day, while I was out picking wild vegetables for the pigs, two livestock buyers came to our house. An elderly neighbor told the buyers, “The wife is very hardworking, but the husband is a gambler. They feed the pigs wild vegetables every day. How can the pork be any good?” The buyers then left.
During the corn-harvesting season one year, my husband was digging a pit in the yard to build a corn-drying rack. When he saw the corn grits I was cooking, he got mad and flipped the bowl over, spilling them all over the stove and floor. He dragged me out to the yard without a word and slapped my face hard. When I finally came to my senses and argued with him, he beat me again. Not content with just using his fists and feet, he beat me with a shovel, leaving me covered in bruises. My right ear was so badly injured that I lost my hearing. Terrified, I ran to a neighbor’s house and hid there for two days.
Everyone in the village feared my husband. I couldn’t bear it anymore and returned to my hometown. Two years later, he developed high blood pressure, suffered a stroke, and died five days later. I didn’t miss him at all. For many years after that, I raised my three children on my own. However, my health deteriorated.
Fortunate to Learn Dafa
After practicing Dafa, I came to understand that the unbearable past suffering I endured in the past stemmed from the karmic debts I had accumulated over countless lifetimes. Perhaps I had treated my husband in the same unforgivable way in a previous life. I had to repay the karma I created.
After I began practicing Falun Dafa, many people in our area also started practicing, and soon we established a group practice site with over 100 people. Everyone agreed that I would teach the exercises to the new practitioners. At that time, I was incredibly patient. I didn’t know where all that enthusiasm came from. Later, I realized that it was all given by Master Li. It was the power of Dafa and the mighty virtue of Dafa.
I helped illiterate elderly women study the Fa so they could understand it. Later, I suggested that they each learn to read the Fa themselves. Most of them eventually learned to read Zhuan Falun on their own. Every day was joyful during that time.
After the persecution started on July 20, 1999, our practice site was forced to disband. I was the first to be taken to the police station. The station chief was away, but he had assigned his subordinates to watch me. I wasn’t afraid at all. I gathered all the young police officers together and told them about Falun Gong and its benefits. I shared how I had personally benefited from following the principles of Zhen, Shan, and Ren. They listened and then said, “We’ll learn it too.”
When the chief returned, everyone resumed their regular duties. He asked me to sit down and asked, “When did you start practicing Falun Gong?”
I answered, “I started on July 14, 1997. My husband had died three days earlier, and my sister brought me the precious book Zhuan Falun.”
He was surprised. “Weren’t you sad that your husband died?”
I briefly explained my family situation. He was very sympathetic. He then asked about my accent and learned that we were from the same town.
He said, “Since we come from the same hometown, we should look out for each other.” I said, “I'm benefiting from your kindness. I have to tell you that Falun Gong is not just ordinary qigong. It has remarkable effects on strengthening the body. You should learn more about it.”
He kept nodding and saying yes.
Then he brought over a piece of paper and asked me to sign it. I gave an excuse and did not sign. He then released me. He has not bothered me since, and I have not experienced further persecution. Thank you, Master, for your arrangements.
This is my personal understanding. Please point out anything inappropriate.
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