(Clearwisdom.net) I am a veteran 70-year-old Falun Gong practitioner. I have only a first-grade, elementary school education and can read very few words. I began the practice in 1998. I had to listen to other practitioners and repeat after them sentence by sentence when I first tried to study the book. But after the July 20, 1999 incident we lost our group study environment. In addition, evildoing police officers repeatedly detained me. Social and family pressures caused me to slack off in cultivating Dafa for a while. I later realized that I had to study Dafa, which is the righteous way and makes people more compassionate.
Slowly I picked up the Dafa book again and read it, word by word. At times I asked for assistance from the children in the family who initially objected to my studying the book due to influence from the evil party. Due to the strong faith I have in Dafa and under Master's compassionate guidance I gradually learned many words. I, myself, could not quite believe that even an old woman like me could learn so many words. Thank you, Master.
I had many ailments before I began studying the Fa. One morning in 1996, I fell while carrying vegetables to the market to sell, and my kneecap was dislocated. When the doctor examined the X-Ray he said this was an extremely difficult injury to correct. It requires major surgery and would cost 10,000 yuan. This is a huge financial problem for a poor family. I could not possibly find so much money, so I had to forgo treatment in the hospital. The condition persisted until 1998, and I could no longer walk. Troubled also by arthritis, headaches and a blood vessel problems, my daughters had to look after me. There were people in the village then who practiced Falun Gong. My daughter heard that Falun Gong could help heal illnesses, so she encouraged me to learn. That is why I went to the practice site to learn the Fa.
Shortly after learning the exercises, my feet hurt even worse than before. My family started objecting to me learning the practice. Master said in Zhuan Falun,
"As a genuine practitioner, however, you cannot practice cultivation with an ill body. I will purify your body. The body purification will be done only for those who come to truly learn the practice and the Fa. We emphasize one point: If you cannot relinquish the attachment or concern for illness, we cannot do anything and will be unable to help you." (Lecture One in Zhuan Falun, 2000 translation version)
I knew then that Master was helping to cleanse my body and rid me at the same time of my desire to have my illnesses cured. I had faith in Dafa, and I had faith in Master. In spite of my family's objections and obstructions, I endured the sharp pain and continued to go to the practice site to study and practice. It normally took me ten minutes to walk to the practice site, but with the pain in my feet, it took me half an hour. Soon a miracle happened. My feet recovered. I could walk like any ordinary person and felt almost no pain. No one needed to accompany me any longer. After seeing this, my daughter said, "The Dafa you are cultivating has really helped you and made you recover without taking a single pill." People in the village also thought it was quite miraculous.
My husband does not quite believe in Dafa. When the evil Party began the persecution on July 20, 1999, my husband went around telling people that Dafa was fake. He also said that the reason my feet were able to recover was because I had been pretending to have the pain to avoid going to work in the field. Because of the evil Party's persecution and deceit, my daughter objected even more strongly. My husband often verbally abused me and forbade me from practicing. Despite my daughter's objection and my husband's verbal abuse I still continued cultivating in Dafa and believed that Dafa is good. In 2000, my husband suddenly had a stroke and was partially paralyzed. He was hospitalized, but left the hospital with sequela. In 2003, he relapsed and was again hospitalized. The hospital chief said that my husband's illness had penetrated into the heart and was beyond treatment. After returning from the hospital, he was unable to eat. He was only able to take some fluids, and was on intravenous life support. He knew that he would not live for long, so he asked family members to move him to the living room floor to sleep and asked the family to prepare for the funeral, thinking that he might die any day.
One night my husband regurgitated all the water I gave him, and he could not speak. No other family member was around. I was afraid that he might leave me then and there. Suddenly Dafa came to my mind, and I thought of asking Master for protection. I picked up a Dafa book and started reading loudly. While listening to me read from the Dafa book, my husband fell asleep. He looked peaceful in his sleep. A little after twelve o'clock, my son came and called to him. My husband woke up. Miraculously, my husband started talking and complained that he was hungry, and he wanted to eat. He had not eaten anything for twelve days, but he ate two bowls of rice porridge. My son thought it was a miracle.
The next day my husband no longer wanted to sleep in the bed. He wanted to sit outside, and he asked me to read the Fa to him. He knew that his being able to sit there was a miracle that Dafa had made possible for him. Just like that, my husband seemed to have changed into another person. He no longer verbally abuses anyone. Sometimes he picks up the Dafa book and reads by himself. He tells visitors, "Falun Dafa is good. Truth-Compassion-Tolerance is good." My daughters also stopped objecting to my studying the Fa. They also came to realize that Dafa is wonderful.
To clarify the truth and save sentient beings, I normally carry truth-clarification material with me and tell the facts to people everywhere I go. One time I visited a friend to tell her the facts about the persecution. The friend's dog saw me as a stranger and barked at me. I said, "Dog, do not bark. Go over to the side. You need to assimilate to Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." Then suddenly the dog lay down quietly under a table and even had tears in his eyes.
My granddaughter said, "Grandma, what you say really counts. The dog no longer moves around, and he'll do whatever you ask him to do. Look, he has tears coming out of his eyes." I agreed. After clarifying the facts, my friend accepted the materials, including a beautiful amulet,(1) and asked me if she should pay for them. I said, "This is what Dafa disciples use to save people. No need to pay." My friend gratefully said, "Thank you."
Many children in my village know the truth. Every time I meet them, I tell them to remember that Dafa is good, to be a good person, not to steal, not to hit others, and if others try hit you, you can run away instead of fighting. The children became quite curious about Dafa after hearing this. More than ten children wanted to learn from me. They often came to my house to play, and mimicked me sitting with crossed legs. One time my granddaughter was practicing in the living room. These children also practiced with her. Looking at the orderly and beautiful movements, my husband smiled and said, "It's so wonderful to see so many children learning!"
There was a little girl among these children. After learning the facts about Dafa, she brought her older sister and her classmates to learn more. I told them that Falun Dafa is good, and why they should quit the Young Pioneers. The older sister was a fourth grade class monitor. After understanding what I said she realized the evil Party is persecuting Dafa. It occurred to her that her classmates might be in danger for their association with the evil Party that is doomed to be eliminated by gods. She went back to her school and told her classmates that whoever wanted to quit the Young Pioneers could sign up with her. The two sisters often delivered name lists of "the three-withdrawals" to my home.
In May this year, a sixty-five year old woman in my neighborhood was suffering from hypertension, diabetes, joint hyperplasia, weak hearing and impaired vision. Two years before she became sick I had told her of the persecution facts, but she did not believe me. This year she became so sick that she could not eat anything and was unable to urinate or have a bowel movement. She held my hands and said, "What should I do? The fortune teller said I will not live past June. I am so scared." I said, "Do not be afraid. Let me give you an amulet. You silently recite, 'Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance is good.' Then you'll be fine. However, you must truly believe what I said and have faith in Dafa. Only then will I give you the amulet." She replied, "I believe you. Please give me this blessing. Falun Dafa is good." So she silently recited, "Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance is good." Two or three days later she no longer had hypertension and was full of energy.
Having benefited from Dafa she asked me for a few more amulets, which she planned to give to her friends and relatives. I told her that they were only effective if her friends and relatives truly believe. She said they will believe and promised not to give them away if they do not believe. In August this year she came over and told me, "Every day I recite, 'Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance is good.' Now I am not sick at all. The fortune-teller said I would not live past June, but it is August now. The evil Party is really bad. It's such a good Fa, but they won't let people practice. Do they want to have difficulties with the gods?"
These are only a few experiences I have had in clarifying the truth about the persecution and saving sentient beings. Of course there have been times when I have not done well. I will work even harder in the future to do the three things well and save more sentient beings.