(Minghui.org) After cultivating Falun Dafa for more than 20 years, I have improved tremendously both physically and mentally. As a person reborn, I would like to share some of my experiences and express my gratitude to Master!
Bitter Years
When I was small, because my father was a “stinking intellectual” (a discriminatory term imposed on intellectuals during the Cultural Revolution) and my mother a “rich landlord,” our whole family was deported to a remote rural village. I spent a bitter, oppressive childhood in this poor, isolated mountain valley. We lost two loved ones in this harsh living environment. My maternal grandmother died after the hospital declined to treat her, and my younger sister died from a medication overdose at the village hospital. My mother was pushed off a ravine by a neighbor during a dispute over a plot of land. She survived but was left riddled with illnesses. My brother and I grew up malnourished from a young age. My father, a scholar who had little experience living in the countryside, sometimes caught wildcats and rats to supplement our family diet. Our family suffered so badly that even after we moved to the city much later, I became known as a frail, delicate “Lin Daiyu” (a character from Chinese literature known for her delicate health).
Weak and pitifully thin, I earned the nickname “skinny twig” from the village children. My father worried about my poor health, frequently saying his eldest daughter could be blown away by a strong wind. Walking even short distances exhausted me and triggered stomachaches. I could not even hold the handlebars of my bicycle properly and often fell off. Slightly oily foods gave me diarrhea, and I suffered many other minor ailments, including migraines, sinusitis, arthritis, and neurasthenia. When I started working, I began seeking treatment from both Western and traditional Chinese medical doctors. Bottles of Western medicine and numerous bowls of traditional Chinese remedies did nothing for my health. I felt constantly drowsy, and life seemed meaningless. Shortly after I started to work, a superior came to inspect the site, saw me, and asked our department head, “Is this child seriously ill? Why is she so thin? Take her to see a doctor.”
After I married, I suffered two miscarriages. During my third pregnancy, I spent almost every day in bed trying to save my baby, but that did not help and I lost it. With this misfortune, I began to acknowledge the cold reality of my fate. I started living in constant fear, afraid to feel happiness, which would sooner or later be stolen away by misfortune.
Aloof, arrogant, and stubborn, I was not afraid to criticize others with my sharp tongue. Yet I was also prone to fits of melancholy, capriciousness, and tears. Eventually, nobody dared approach or offend me.
As a civil servant, my work frequently brought me into contact with businessmen. I used to treat my wealthy clients rudely and aggressively, as I believed they were morally bankrupt. I viewed my poor clients with disdain, believing them capable of abandoning their dignity and human decency for petty gains. Defiant toward my superiors and treating my colleagues with disdain, I would get into long arguments whenever we had disagreements. I distanced myself from my husband’s relatives, viewing them as unrefined and willing to take advantage of others. I even found my own relatives annoying and avoided any interaction with them. Branded “unconventional” (a local term with derogatory connotations) by those around me, I was an unhappy person who failed to bring happiness to others.
Rebirth After Obtaining Dafa
In 1997, my parents sought out many qigong masters in an attempt to obtain medical help for my younger sister, who was suffering from a terminal illness. My mother eventually encountered Falun Dafa and has been a practitioner since then. Although I read Falun Dafa books with her, the teachings did not resonate with me until a specific encounter a year later.
In 1998, my parents consulted a famous local qigong master. Many people from other parts of China came to him for treatment, including some provincial and ministerial-level officials. Because of his fame, he charged extremely high fees. We visited him with my younger sister to consult him about her poor health. Yet after laying eyes on me, the qigong master insisted on treating me, saying I would face many dangers in the future. He took me to a storage room in his house, looked at me with ill intent, and declared that my health would be worse than my sister’s. He advised me to learn from him and drink more alcohol, the more the better. I knew he had ulterior motives, and at that moment, suddenly thought of Master Li Hongzhi. I said in my heart, “Master, I’m sorry. I’m not your disciple yet, but I will definitely become your disciple in the future. I don’t want anything from this person. Please help me!” After this thought ran through my head, the qigong master instantly deflated like a punctured balloon, slumping into a chair while covered in cold sweat. He hurriedly called out to his family, “I’m exhausted. Quickly cook me a bowl of noodles and get this person out of here!” He then yelled at my father, “You’re not sincere! Why bring this person here? Get out right now!”
After returning home, I held the Dafa book in my hands, faced Master’s photo, and said, “Master, I want to formally begin learning Dafa.” I felt certain about my destiny of becoming a Dafa disciple, and I resolutely embarked on my cultivation path.
Not long after, my health began to improve. This “Lin Daiyu” transformed into a completely new person–healthy, optimistic, cheerful, peaceful, kind, and willing to help others.
I now cook for three households: my mother-in-law, parents, and my own home. I do so joyfully with no complaints. I willingly tie my sister-in-law’s shoelaces and clean up dirty tissue paper handed to me by my sister-in-law’s sick husband. I have cleaned the feces for an ill practitioner and eaten leftover noodles from an elderly practitioner’s bowl. Before cultivating Dafa, I was a germaphobe. But after practicing, it has become second nature for me to do such things for others. My transformation has astonished those around me.
In the past, I had avoided eating greasy food out of fear that I could not reach a restroom in time, but my body is now able to digest any kind of food. I used to fear the cold but found myself able to clarify the truth for hours upon hours outdoors in the freezing winter. I used to fear the sun because of my fair skin, but now I can stand in the sunlight with complete ease.
I had just boarded a bus once when an elderly man fainted and fell backward. Although the bus was crowded, people instinctively shied away from him. In contrast, I reached out to catch him. Another kindhearted person grabbed his clothes from the front, preventing him from falling further. The tall old man weighed more than 100 pounds, yet I found myself able to support him from behind, which would have been an absolutely impossible feat for my past self. Sometimes, when clarifying the truth on the street, I have encountered women and grandmothers struggling to lift their heavy carts on or off the bus. I have been able to help them lift their loads with ease.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, when scores of people were infected with the virus, my family remained healthy and safe. My child said, “Thank you, mom, for practicing Falun Gong. The virus can’t penetrate this positive barrier of protection.”
Relinquishing Financial Control
In most Chinese families, the wife holds the purse strings and unilaterally manages the household earnings. My kind and honest husband never argued with me over money and let me manage our combined earnings without objection. For years, I called the shots. When my husband occasionally spent money on his mother or relatives, I would feel a sense of reluctance and annoyance, which made things awkward for him in front of his relatives.
Falun Dafa made me realize my domineering attitude went against traditional culture and stemmed from the deviated culture encouraged by the CCP. I told my husband, “I’m not good at managing money; you manage it.” Although taken aback, he tentatively agreed. I explained our family’s financial situation to him and transferred a large portion of our combined savings to his account, so he could spend more freely and support the elders in his family. I started reminding him before regular or special occasions that he would need to spend money on his family. I now directly manage things with his consent, spending generously on his grandmother, mother, uncles, aunts, cousins, and other relatives. The suspicious and greedy person I was before would never have relinquished control of our family’s finances. Now our household finances are transparent to each other, neither of us sees the need to hoard our own “personal secret stash” of savings.
Once, my husband’s workplace organized a party. To encourage family members to attend, the workplace offered gifts of money. My husband naturally declined without even consulting me. He mentioned this to me over casual conversation and said, “I told them my wife would absolutely reject the invitation. Not even 100,000 yuan would change her mind.” I was shocked at how highly he thought of my character and attitude toward money!
When rumors spread about Falun Dafa practitioners being funded by individuals or countries, my husband firmly debunked them because he knew practitioners would never accept money from others. Whenever I needed to spend money on Falun Dafa projects, he never objected and sometimes even helped me buy my supplies. At one point, I maintained multiple mobile phones so I could send voice messages to save people. He never objected, even though my monthly phone bill came up to one or two thousand yuan. I would sometimes help fellow practitioners with financial difficulties buy phone cards, spending additional money. I considered whatever I earned to be a resource for Dafa, best used for projects to save people. I don’t consider it a personal sacrifice, since this was originally a gift from Master.
Actually, my family does not earn much, and I do not keep track of our savings. But for a cultivator, we have enough.
Courage Bestowed by Master
My mother, labeled a “rich landlord,” and my father, labeled a “stinking intellectual,” suffered greatly under the CCP regime. I learned how to protect myself from a young age. I learned how to be discreet, constantly look out for danger, and had a weak and timid side.
After the CCP began persecuting Falun Dafa, acquaintances and strangers would react negatively at the mere mention of Falun Dafa: “They still dare to practice it. They’ve abandoned their families and have no regard for their lives!” Practicing Falun Dafa under active persecution requires a lot of courage.
The first time I stepped out of my house to distribute truth-clarification materials, I had the impression everyone was staring at me. My heart pounded with nerves when I first ventured out into the streets to clarify the truth. My hands trembled the first time I sent truth-clarification messages on my phone. I feared being overheard by others around me the first time I made a truth-clarification phone call. I spilled ink all over my face and clothes during my first attempt to print truth-clarification materials. Unable to accept the reality of the violence against practitioners, a fellow practitioner and I cried as we put up posters exposing the CCP’s crime of harvesting organs from live Falun Dafa practitioners. No matter how scared we were, we had to move forward and overcome it.
A fellow practitioner was hospitalized once because of illness karma. I took her cell phones and triggered the auto call sequence and recordings which would clarify the truth to sentient beings. While waiting for the bus, I took out the phones to check their status and to select a new queue of phone numbers. When I looked up, I saw a police car right in front of me. The policeman stared at me and at the phone in my hand. I calmly glanced at him, before lowering my head to continue fiddling with my phone. The police car drove away when the traffic light changed, and I then had a sudden moment of anxiety. I calmed myself on the side of the street before continuing to walk. Master must have given me the courage to keep my heart unmoved during that moment!
In 2015, fellow practitioners and I filed a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin, former head of the CCP, using our real names. We thought it was our duty as Dafa disciples to uphold human morality. We later came to realize it was part of Master’s Fa-rectification process to eliminate countless evil factors in various dimensions. The move to initiate the lawsuit triggered a dramatic change in our truth-clarification efficacy. Some stores had previously rejected my attempts to clarify the truth. Yet after filing this lawsuit, the same store owners accepted my proposal to withdraw from the CCP, the Communist Youth League, and the Young Pioneers without hesitation. I encountered less resistance in my truth-clarification efforts, and most people became willing to accept the truth and withdraw from the CCP.
Not long after we had filed our complaint, a fellow practitioner called to say they had been forced to leave home and advised me to go into hiding myself. The threatening atmosphere created by the CCP made me feel the possibility of arrest was so real, so I deliberately wore long pants to work instead of skirts so I could move quickly. My husband advised me to tell the authorities that I had lost my ID card and did not know who had submitted the lawsuit under my name. I rejected his suggestion. In any case, I had stamped the lawsuit with my fingerprint, making it impossible to deny my actions. I reassured him that I was under Master’s care and he should not worry.
Because of my limited cultivation level at that time, I arranged to move a printer and other truth-clarification resources away from my home, retaining only my e-books and the cell phone I used to clarify the truth. Despite the perceived threat, I continued to make automated truth-clarification phone calls each day under Master’s protection.
Spreading Information About Dafa
When I first started clarifying the truth to people, I was image-conscious and unable to tolerate negative attitudes from the people I approached. Some cursed me, called me crazy, and demanded I stay away. Some even tried to drag me to the police station. Others treated me with contempt, ignoring me entirely. I would think to myself, “How ungrateful! If I weren’t obliged to save you, I wouldn’t even bother talking to you, even if you stood before me. I owe you nothing! What harm has Falun Dafa done to you? Would a politically motivated organization approach you like this?” These unkind thoughts actually hindered my efforts to save people.
I later realized my mistake and began to look within for my shortcomings. When I encountered such situations, I would apologize to the person in my heart. “You are unable to accept the truth because I haven’t cultivated well enough. I hope you will meet another practitioner in the future who can clarify things better for you.” Sometimes I vented to a family member who replied in turn, “Sounds tough. Seems like you are too humble and submissive when talking to strangers.” This remark made me examine myself. Did I present myself wrongly when clarifying the truth? Did I give people an undignified impression of Falun Dafa practitioners?
As I matured in my ability to clarify the truth, I encountered fewer arguments and rejection from the people I approached. Those who had yet to withdraw from the CCP left on their own initiative after I clarified the truth, expressing their gratitude at the same time.
I was preparing to leave after clarifying the truth to an older woman, when she said, “Wait a minute. Let me hug you.” We hugged, gently patting each other’s backs for a long time. What a precious connection! Thank you, Master!
Another person told me, “You are so kind! I feel much better after hearing your words. I had been in a bad mood, so I had taken a bus to the city center for a walk. I feel so much better now; I’m going home!”
I have encountered grateful people who are reluctant to leave after understanding the truth. These people are usually the last to board the bus. Even after boarding, they have stood near the door, waving to me. When people nearby have asked, “Are you seeing off a relative?” I’ve replied, “Yes,” before also seizing the opportunity to clarify the truth to them.
I met an older man once who earnestly asked, “Do you have a son or daughter? I wish our families were linked by marriage. You are such a good person, how happy it would be to live with you!”
I now approach migrant workers and elderly scrap collectors to clarify the truth without hesitation, sometimes sitting on the ground or walking with them as they go about their work, disregarding the lack of cleanliness of my surroundings.
Some people have commented, “Are Falun Dafa practitioners the only good people in this world? I’m not religious, but I consider myself a good person too.” I would reply, “You are a good person. A person who chooses to side with goodness in this chaotic world is truly remarkable!” To others who have commented, “I don’t want your belief, don’t impose your ideas on me.” I’ve replied, “I don’t mean it that way. I respect your decision and just want to share how I obtained health and happiness with you. Falun Dafa is a Buddhist practice, and persecuting practitioners will result in divine punishment. I am telling you this in the hope that you will avoid an unlucky fate.” After hearing this, people will usually smile and withdraw from the CCP.
Words cannot express my gratitude to Master. Regardless of my initial motivation for entering Dafa, at present, my most fundamental attachment is that of being a human. If we hold onto our human nature and concepts, the principles of Dafa will never be able to truly nourish our hearts. Master has taught us the Fa so we may return to our original, true selves and attain enlightenment. It would be a tragedy if we missed this opportunity.
Because I act and live according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion- Forbearance, I feel at peace. Because I now know that everything in life is due to cause and effect, I no longer strive for material fame, gain, or affection. The path of cultivation has allowed me to feel at peace each day. Thank you, Master, for your compassionate salvation!
