(Minghui.org) I began practicing Falun Gong in 1998 and am now 81 years old. I heard practitioners sharing their cultivation experiences on Minghui Radio and realized that writing articles can help improve one’s xinxing. I only went to school for four years and cannot write, so I narrated my sharing, and a fellow practitioner transcribed it for me.
Born Into a Life of Misery
My father died when I was young, and my husband died before I reached middle age. By the age of 36, I had already experienced two of life’s worst miseries.
I had seven sisters, and I was the second youngest. All of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) political movements were launched to provoke people to attack each other. In one such campaign, my family was categorized as “bad.” All our belongings were stolen, and we were left with nothing. My father passed away when I was four.
From the time I was very young, I was doing all kinds of chores, including washing clothes, cooking, chopping wood, and gathering hay for pigs. I became a laborer in my teens, carrying bricks and mixing concrete and sand. When I was 20, someone introduced me to a nice young man. At the time, it was hard for people with an undesirable background to find someone to marry. The man had a stable job, and his company did not approve of the match, but that didn't bother him, and we got married.
His family was so poor, they lived in a hut, and he supported his parents and sister on his salary. We were barely able to feed ourselves and had to pay our rent in installments. We later had a son and a daughter. Life was hard.
We borrowed money to buy a house, but my husband died unexpectedly two years later. My son was 15, and my daughter was 13. I worked part-time jobs, including making clothes and running a cafeteria, to send my children to school. I also took care of my parents-in-law.
Others saw my situation and suggested I remarry, but my parents-in-law cried when they heard this. I thought I had to support the family no matter what. My father-in-law was bedridden, and his daughter did not take care of him. People suggested I should sue her, but I knew she had her own difficulties and did not pursue the matter. I took care of my father-in-law until he died six years after my husband. I organized his funeral.
Years of hard work left me with a host of ailments, such as headaches, bleeding gums, mouth ulcers, an inflamed gall bladder, gynecological issues, and pain in my knees. Even thought I took several different medications a day, nothing helped. But no matter how unbearable it was, I had to grit my teeth and keep going for the sake of my children.
Fortunate to Begin Practicing Dafa
I went to visit my sister in the spring of 1998. My brother-in-law showed me a copy of Zhuan Falun and said, “This is a good book. Why don’t you read it? It will help with your health.” I decided to give it a try and began reading when I got home. Due to my lack of education, I could not recognize many of the Chinese characters and only managed to read a few pages a day.
I began to have diarrhea a few days later, but there was no pain. I did not know what was happening and just believed that it must be a good thing. A month later, before I had read through Zhuan Falun once, all my ailments were gone. Master Li helped cleanse my body and reduce my karma.
I heard that many people were doing the Falun Gong exercises at a nearby stadium that summer, so I went to join them. The people there were friendly and taught me the five exercises. Each day I returned, I felt as though ropes that had been coiled around my body were falling away, one-by-one. The wonder and comfort were indescribable.
I had planned to give up on life after my daughter left home and had not expected to find the Fa. I was blessed to get a new lease on life, one that was free of illness. I truly cherished Dafa and went to do the exercises every morning and joined group Fa study in the evenings.
I was able to read all of Zhuan Falun after a year and could now recognize all the characters. I felt joyful all the time. Master had saved me from my misery, and I was immensely grateful.
Strengthening Righteous Thoughts During the Persecution
When the CCP began to persecute Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999, things got tense. Family members came to tell me that if I continued to practice, they would lose their jobs. I cried after they left, wondering why it was considered wrong for us to follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to be good people.
When the CCP began to persecute Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999, things got tense. Family members came to tell me that if I continued to practice, they would lose their jobs. I cried after they left, wondering why it was considered wrong for us to follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to be good people.
My family members watched me closely and even prevented me from going out. I had to tell them what time I would be back when I went out to run errands. They would go looking for me if I did not return home on time and lived in fear that I might be arrested.
Because the police kept threatening us, my family members were frightened and got rid of my copy of Zhuan Falun. I then became extremely unwell and had health problems within a couple of weeks. I admitted to Master that this was wrong and said to him in my heart, “I will be steadfast in cultivating Dafa. I will never waver!”
I asked a fellow practitioner to get a copy of Zhuan Falun for me and told my daughter to buy a blank cassette. Another practitioner helped by recording the exercise music. My health recovered once I started studying the Fa and doing the exercises again. I felt light and relaxed.
In 2001, a fellow practitioner who was arrested named several people while being interrogated. I was among them, so the police ransacked my home and took my book and exercise tape. They interrogated me until after midnight. They eventually let my family take me home but extorted over 2,000 yuan from them. The neighborhood association and domestic security staff then began harassing me all the time. They told me to stay at home and report to them on a regular basis.
Diligently Studying the Fa and Doing the Exercises
I balanced my relationships with my family by looking after my grandson and taking him to and from school. I made time to study the Fa and do the exercises by getting up at 3:30 a.m. every day. I sometimes did the exercises twice, once in the morning and once in the evening. People said my face was rosy and glowing.
Master wants us to study the Fa together, so I do this faithfully. It is my guarantee for spiritual elevation. I went to group Fa study, come rain or shine. The host practitioner’s home was far away, so we brought our own lunch to eat afterwards.
We read two chapters of Zhuan Falun each time. At home, I studied Master’s other lectures in the evenings and listened to Minghui sharing articles if there was time. We once went to an elderly practitioner’s home to study the Fa. She lived on the fifth floor, and it was a hot summer day. She wanted to turn on the electric fan, but we stopped her. We felt that being a little hot did not matter.
Distributing Flyers and Telling People About the Persecution
Master published the article “Let Go of Human Attachments and Save the World’s People” in 2004. Practitioners then began an all-out effort to tell people the facts about Dafa and oppose the persecution. After my daughter went to work and I took my grandson to school, I distributed truth-clarification materials. There was a shortage of supplies at the time, so I used my own money to make copies when they ran out. Eventually, there were abundant supplies, and I took home a bag of copies of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and other materials every week. I distributed them to businesses and company housing complexes. I picked up some discarded wiring from a construction site and used it to hang bags of truth-clarification materials on people’s doorknobs.
I once received some large posters that read, “Heaven Will Destroy the CCP.” I took them to a relative’s house and went out at night with her to post them. She brushed on the glue, and I stuck up the posters. We posted them all over the village.
The next morning, my grand nephew came home early after finishing his shift. He said there were lots of police cars and officers outside, investigating and taking photos of the posters. I was not moved and sent forth righteous thoughts before taking a bus home. Those posters shocked and suppressed the evil elements of the CCP.
I was not confident about how to tell people the facts about Dafa and felt anxious when I saw others doing it so well. So I went with another practitioner and watched how she did it. After a week, I was able to do it by myself. In recent years, I have been going out and telling people the facts every day.
No matter how hot or cold the weather, I was not deterred. I arranged my day around the schedule at home and tried not to affect mealtimes or make anyone have to wait for me. I was out walking a few hours a day but did not feel tired. A relative once came to visit, and my son exclaimed, “My mother is out walking!”
I followed Master’s teachings and remembered that saving people is the mission of a Dafa practitioner. I am fulfilling my mission to help Master rectify the Fa. I sometimes went out twice a day with fellow practitioners and was able to get anywhere from 50 to 80 people to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
The police came to my home three times in recent years. I took it as an opportunity to get rid of my attachment of fear. Two officers showed up this past May. One said, “You’re over 80 years old. Don’t go out. The Party is a dictatorship. Don’t do it if they don’t want you to.” I told them I could do no harm at my age. As they left, they said, “We’re only doing our jobs. Let us know if you have any difficulties.”
Witnessing the Wonder of Dafa
While chatting with a relative, my son said, “All the elderly people around us have passed away. Only my mother is still alive and healthy.” My daughter-in-law added, “She runs about all over the place and does not get tired.” If it wasn’t for the wonder of Dafa, I would have died long ago.
My son once invited friends over for a meal. I suddenly felt pain in my heart but told my son not to worry about me. I went over to my daughter’s home and began to spit out mouthfuls of blood. I was not scared, thinking it was all an illusion since Master had purified my body long ago. I crossed my legs in the lotus position and began to send forth righteous thoughts to deny persecution by the old forces. I thought that a practitioner’s body is for helping Master rectify the Fa, so the old forces cannot harm it.
Every time I vomited, I sat down quickly to send forth righteous thoughts. This happened several times over the course of two hours, and then everything returned to normal. I then picked up some Dafa informational materials and distributed them on my way home.
There was a power outage in the neighborhood, and the circuits burned out in many units in our complex. The utility company sent contractors over to check each apartment, and they were surprised to see that my circuits were fine.
My oldest sister is 90. She’s very healthy and can take care of herself. She knows it is Master who extended her life. She recites “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” 300 times every morning, midday, and evening. I often told her the facts about Dafa, and she is very supportive of my cultivation.
Ten years ago, she was ill and had to be hospitalized. Her sons and daughters fought with each other to avoid taking care of her. I visited her and encouraged her to recite “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” She did so right away, and her health improved quickly.
Another sister was diagnosed with uterine cancer. The doctor said she might only live for another three months and encourged her family to prepare for her funeral. I told her about my physical and mental changes after I starting cultivating. She accepted what I said and believed in the goodness of Dafa. I brought her an audio player to listen to Master’s lectures. She could then take care of herself and was not in any more pain. Master extended her life, and she lived until she was 85.
To be worthy of Master’s grace, I need to do the three things well and cultivate diligently at this final stage of the Fa-rectification’.
