(Minghui.org) I began practicing Falun Dafa in May 1997, and I’m now 78 years old. I live in a small town in Northeast China. I’d like to share my cultivation experiences, as I also have a lot to report to Master Li.
Starting the Practice
Before I practiced Falun Dafa, I had multiple illnesses and was easily angered. I sometimes thought, “If only there were a deity who could take away my bad temper.”
I once noticed a group of people passing by my house and casually asked where they were going. Someone replied, “We’re going to practice Falun Dafa!”
I asked what that meant and was told, “Dafa teaches us to pursue kindness and be good people. It also has the amazing effect of healing illnesses and keeping you fit.”
“May I join you?” I asked. They replied in unison, “Sure you can!”
So I went to the practice site with them. During the second exercise (Falun Standing Stance), you need to maintain four wheel-holding positions for 7 minutes each, and I managed to do so.
Someone remarked, “You’re great!” I then thought, “If I can hold the wheel, I can also do the other exercises. But I’ve never attended school and won’t be able to study the teachings.” This limitation concerned me.
I bought a copy of Master’s recorded lectures and listened to them wherever I went. I later realized I couldn’t remember everything from just listening, so I bought a copy of Zhuan Falun and asked if the practitioners would teach me how to read. When I told my husband of my desire, he replied, “How can I teach you if you can’t recognize a single Chinese character?” I then asked Master in my heart for help.
At first, I memorized a just few words at a time. Before going to bed, I would try to recite them to see if I still remembered. I then turned on the light to verify that I did. This strengthened my resolve. I would repeat the process again and again.
One night, I turned on the light 20 times and noticed that the words in the book were becoming large and had a golden glow. Eventually, I could read Zhuan Falun in its entirety. All my illnesses were healed as well. I felt heartfelt gratitude to Master.
Safeguarding the Fa
In early 1999, police officers came to my home to harass me. One asked, “Who taught you?” I told him I learned Falun Dafa at a practice site. He then wanted to know how I felt about doing the exercises. I replied, “I have greatly benefited, and all my illnesses are gone.”
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began persecuting Dafa practitioners on July 20, 1999. The Party spread a lot of slanderous propaganda against Falun Dafa. Wanting to speak up and restore Master’s reputation, I went to a provincial department appeals office. When I arrived, police officers wouldn’t let me enter. I then thought, “I want to go to Beijing. Isn’t there an Appeals Office there? Don’t we have a place for ordinary citizens to speak out? I want to speak the truth and tell people that Falun Dafa is wonderful, and that Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is wonderful!”
Three practitioners and I took a cab to Beijing. After we arrived, I saw that the Appeals Office nameplate had been removed. We stayed at an apartment local practitioners had rented for us and met practitioners from all over the country. It was early October. We then went with other practitioners to Tiananmen Square to validate the Fa.
During a mass arrest of practitioners in Beijing later that month, we were arrested and taken to a police station. A police officer kicked me several times, saying, “Weren’t you going to visit relatives? Why did you go to Beijing?” Before I went to Beijing, I told my husband, “If anyone checks on me, just say I went to visit relatives.” That day, they illegally held me at a detention center.
Nearly a month later, I was taken to a local forced labor camp, where I was illegally detained for one year.
At the labor camp, I was forced to stand in the hallway because I refused to be “transformed.” I began reciting the Fa in my mind. I didn’t make a sound, but when I moved my lips, they covered my mouth with a cloth. I protested, saying, “What are you doing?” They replied, “You can’t move your lips.” I protested, saying that I hadn’t made a sound.
We were later required to write “thought reflection reports.” I said, “I don’t know how to write.” They then sent someone to write for me. I told her, “Just write these words: I’ll firmly practice Dafa with my heart unmoved.”
The person asked, “Do you want to stay here forever?” I replied, “That’s up to my Master.”
Soon enough, I had been at the labor camp for a year. However, my term was extended by another year because I refused to be “transformed.” A guard said, “Your husband is so worried and stressed by your situation that he’s fallen ill and been hospitalized. The hospital has issued a critical condition notice, and your husband says he wants to see you one last time. Your children told us this.”
The labor camp allowed me to go home for three days. When I arrived at the hospital, I walked to the ward entrance but was afraid to enter. I knew my husband would be agitated. The next day, I saw that he was quite ill. He weakly said, “Don’t go against the CCP—you can’t beat them!”
I thought to myself: “It doesn’t matter what the CCP says; only what Master says counts.”
I was about to return to the camp by 1 p.m. on the third day, but my husband took a turn for the worse. The doctor said, “Let’s try one more injection; we’ll assess how he’s doing in 20 minutes.”
Twenty minutes later, my husband was revived. I told my sons, “Don’t worry, your dad’s fine; he isn’t ready to go yet.” One of them asked, “What if something happens?” I replied, “If it comes to that, you can do whatever you need to.”
After I returned to the labor camp, I asked for Master’s help: “Master, don’t let my husband die just yet. If he does, regular people will think he died because of me. Wouldn’t I have tarnished Dafa’s image?”
At a general meeting in the labor camp a few days later, the warden singled me out and said that my husband had come back to life. I burst into tears. Master used the warden to tell me my husband had recovered.
Eliminating My Attachment to Self-Interest
My family lives in a rural area. We have 0.16 acres of land bordering my husband’s sister’s land, which is twice as large. One year, we had a complete crop failure, and the village provided a subsidy of 200 yuan per 0.16 acres for seedlings. My sister-in-law kept the 200 yuan that was supposed to be ours, which made me upset.
After a while, the subsidy was increased by 100 yuan per 0.16 acres. This time, I went to collect the 300 yuan for my land, thinking, “Now we’re even!” Unexpectedly, my sister-in-law came to my house demanding the money, saying I owed her 200 yuan. Although I wasn’t happy, I thought that, because I’m a practitioner, I shouldn’t argue with her. So I gave her the money. Otherwise, I would never have done it. Thank you, Master, for helping me remove this attachment!
Three other practitioners and I went out to clarify the facts to people. We were tired and hungry from walking around, so I found a noodle shop for us to eat. I paid for everyone’s meal. A couple of days later, a practitioner told me, “The noodle shop owner complained to me that we hadn’t paid him for our meals.” I thought, “I definitely paid him, so why is he saying we didn’t?”
There’s no such thing as a coincidence; maybe I owed him in a past life. The next day, I made a special trip to give him the money. Thank you, Master, for helping me look at the issue from a practitioner’s perspective!
Overcoming a Tribulation
Fellow practitioner Ms. Chen was renovating her home in 2020, and my curiosity got the better of me. So I decided to go see what she had done.
Upon arriving at her home, we had exchanged only a few words when several policemen barged in and handcuffed Ms. Chen. An officer asked me, “Do you practice?” I replied, “Yes, I do,” and they handcuffed me as well.
I had brought a small bag containing amulets, truth-clarification DVDs, and a picture of Master, which I had placed on the couch, so the police officers hadn’t noticed it. I begged Master, “Master, your disciple is in a tribulation. Please protect me. Don’t let them see the bag and its contents.”
While talking to a police officer about Dafa, I slowly moved to the couch. A young policeman was looking at his phone, so I discreetly put the bag behind the couch backrest. None of the officers searched the couch.
Both Ms. Chen and I were taken to the police station. I said, “I didn’t commit any crime. I went to visit a friend. Why are you arresting me?” I kept sending righteous thoughts and repeatedly asked for Master’s help. I also told the officers the facts about Dafa whenever I could.
The next day, a police officer announced he would take me home. When I got there, I saw several tall, burly officers standing in the courtyard. When I entered my home, they followed me in and illegally ransacked it. Afterward, they arrested me and took me back to the police station.
At the station, I began sending righteous thoughts. An officer said, “Don’t do it too obviously. There are surveillance cameras.” I ignored him. I asked for Master’s help, “Master, this is not the place where a practitioner should stay. I haven’t finished my mission yet. I must help save more sentient beings.”
On the afternoon of the third day, they sat me down in the lobby and said, “You can stay here as long as you want, just don’t go out the door.” They then drove me home at 6 p.m. Thank you, Master, for your benevolent protection once again, which helped me get through this tribulation.
I’ve come this far over the past 28 years. Whenever I faced danger or tribulations, it was always under Master’s benevolent protection that I made it through. I have no words to express my gratitude to our compassionate and great Master!
