(Clearwisdom.net) I began Falun Gong practice in March 1997. Master quickly purified my body. The old illnesses, including a low white blood cell count, hypertension, and arthritis, disappeared. I felt like a newborn again, illness-free. For more than ten years since beginning the practice I no longer needed any medication or treatment. My parents, brothers, and sisters all witnessed my changes and recognized that Falun Gong was good. Most of my relatives practice Falun Gong now, and all of them have quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
My husband was initially strongly against the practice. He refused to go attend Master's Nine Day Lecture Series, refused to listen to Master's lecture audiotapes at home, and refused to learn the Falun Gong exercises. Occasionally, when I came back from group practice, he locked me out of the house. Other times he broke things and physically abused me.
After the persecution began on July 20,1999, he became more violent, but I reminded myself of Master's words that teach us,
"Under trying circumstances of any type, you must all keep steady in thought. Just by staying unaffected you will be able to handle all situations." ("Teaching the Fa at the Conference in the Midwest-U.S.")
In March 2003 I was arrested and held at a detention center. Master's words flashed into my mind,
"An enlightened person has no attachments at all. He quietly observes the people of the world deluded by illusions." ("Realms" from Essentials for Further Advancement)
I realized that I should consider myself an enlightened person with high standards. I later recalled additional quotes from Master's teachings and attempted to memorize them silently in the detention center.My goal was to save the guards and officials. The common question they had for me was "You are old and should be wise. The government told you to stop practicing Falun Gong. Why didn't you?" Calmly I explained to them how many benefits I had obtained from practicing Falun Gong. Later I told them, "There is nothing wrong with the practice. I have to defend the practice and merely want a legal environment for it." They were speechless and silently agreed with me. With the help of outside practitioners and their righteous thoughts, and fortified by my righteous thoughts, I left the center after just over three weeks.
Once home again, my husband treated Dafa and me even worse. Whenever he saw me either practicing or studying the Fa, he resorted to either verbal or physical abuse. He ripped my Dafa books into pieces. I had to practice or study the Fa when he was absent. I felt sorry for him, that his mind was so deeply poisoned. Nevertheless, he was my husband. I couldn't let him react like this without offering him salvation. I attempted explaining the facts to him, but the results were not very good.
My daughter's mother-in-law was then diagnosed with cancer, needed surgery, and was unable to take care of my granddaughter. I had just retired and wanted to baby-sit my granddaughter at my daughter's home. My husband didn't want to go with me and decided to stay home, but he couldn't find a reason to object to my decision. I went to my daughter's home alone and felt that my granddaughter had predestined relationship with Dafa, and that this was most likely Master's arrangement. I was not worried about babysitting, but thought rather that I had lost the group practice environment and might be unable to catch up with the Fa-rectification process and improve my cultivation.
I shared my thoughts with my children who understood Dafa. They bought me a computer and taught me how to use it, to go on-line, and how to type. I cried nonstop tears the first time I visited the Minghui website (Chinese version of Clearwisdom). It was my first time to access the website. I typed a letter of greeting to celebrate Master's birthday. I felt I had melted into a larger cultivation environment. Reading experience sharing articles on-line allowed me to find my weakness, and I studied the Fa more diligently.
I took care of my granddaughter during the daytime and listened to Master's Fa lectures. When she went to sleep I went on-line, downloaded Dafa materials, and made a booklet to explain Falun Gong. When I took my granddaughter for a walk, I used the time to save more people by mailing and handing out flyers or by talking to people face to face. I understood the broad cultivation path that Master had provided for us, but I also worried about my far-away husband, with whom I had lived for a couple of decades.
Reading an article regarding letting go of emotions gave me a new understanding. Master said,
"If you don't sever emotion, you won't be able to cultivate. But if you do break out of emotion, nobody can affect you, and ordinary attachments won't be able to sway you. What replaces it is compassion, which is more noble." ("The Fourth Talk," from Zhuan Falun)
These words were constantly on my mind. I realized that I had been so focused on emotions and had treated my husband as the person closest to me. Saving anyone with the mindset of human emotions was not going to work. I had to let go of my emotions and send righteous thoughts.
It was close to the Chinese New Year. Our children invited their father over for the New Year. He refused to come and asked me to return home. My daughter told him on the phone, "Can't you see how much mom has improved since beginning Falun Gong practice? She is so healthy now. Why don't you let her practice, and why do you abuse her?" His sister also called him and criticized his behavior. With support from the righteous Fa, he finally showed up. I commented, "You should realize the mistakes you made in the past and write a statement promising that you will not make them again." He said he did not know how to write it. I drafted one for him that said, "Solemn Statement: I hereby declare that whatever I wrote, said, or did against Dafa, Master, and Dafa practitioners to be null and void. From now on, I will be good to Dafa and practitioners and have respect for their belief. If I do not follow through, I will be responsible for any consequences."
He signed it, and we posted it on the Minghui website. Since then he has become a completely different person. He no longer abuses me and sometimes reminds me when it is time to send righteous thoughts. My husband is saved, and my family once again witnessed the power of Dafa and realized that no matter what we do, as long as we follow Master's words we can save more people.
My cultivation environment is more relaxed now, but I still need to cultivate diligently, do the three things, not only cultivate myself but also harmonize with the one body, eliminate evil elements, and save more people.
