(Clearwisdom.net) I started practicing Falun Gong in April 1999. Imparted with high-level principles, my confusion and resentment were gone. I felt I was surrounded by kindness, and as if the whole world was changed. I became a new person. I got out of bed at 3:30 a.m., joined group practice at 4:00 a.m. and took every opportunity during the day to study the Fa. Without knowing it, Dafa has changed me. I considered others first in any situation, measured things with the Fa and looked within to find my shortcomings when problems arose. When I felt any physical discomfort I knew Master was cleansing my body.
Ten days or so after I started practicing Dafa a thief let himself into my house and stole a lot of things, but I was not moved and did not swear at anyone. Others wouldn't understand how I could do it. I said it was because I learned Dafa, and it was my goal to follow the principles of Dafa, assimilate to into Dafa and become a better person.
On another occasion I didn't do well and regretted it very much. A veteran practitioner told me the moment you realize where you fell short is the beginning of improvement. So, it was like this; with Master's protection and fellow practitioners' help I walked peacefully on the cultivation path three months prior to the onset of the persecution.
Due my human notions and the authorities' pressure I gave up practicing Falun Gong and stopped reading the books and doing the exercises when the persecution began on July 20, 1999. Even so, the police constantly checked on me and called my house at night and threatened me around "sensitive days." Although I did not read Falun Gong books or practice, I strove to measure things with the Fa and suppress my bad thoughts and behaviors. I lived like an everyday person but I didn't want to read non-practitioner books. Others gave me religious books to read but I didn't read them after all because I remembered Master's words about "practicing only one cultivation way", and "no second cultivation way." I did not allow things from any other cultivation ways to enter my mind.
Master saw my dedicated heart for cultivation practice and arranged for a practitioner to contact me. I returned to Dafa cultivation practice in the summer of 2004. I read several lectures Master had given overseas and also read His lecture at the May 23, 2004 Chicago Conference, and lamented my wrongdoings and wasting precious time.
I was insatiable in reading the Fa and memorizing Hong Yin and Hong Yin II. I read the truth-clarification materials conscientiously, too. I told people about Dafa's beauty, explained the facts of the staged Tiananmen Self-immolation incident and exposed the persecution. I studied the Fa, sent righteous thoughts and told people of Falun Dafa and the persecution every day. My mind was calm in studying the Fa, as if I were listening to Master giving lectures in person. Dafa is the one and only thing I want in the whole world.
In November 2004, small cracks started to appear on my hands. They grew bigger and bigger, more and more. The cracks were extremely painful and never really healed. I took it as burning sickness karma and endured it blindly. In February 2005, large festers started to develop on the back of my hands. They were itchy, sore and inflamed, and discharged pus. When scabs began to form, inch-long cracks appeared, and my hand would bleed. No matter how painful it was, I was not moved. I ignored it and continued to do what I was supposed to do. In a period of time, the scabs started to discharge pus, and large festers began to appear on my neck. Sometimes I had to hit my hands against the wall to ease the itchiness. At night I could not fall asleep due to the swollen forearms. But I continued to study the Fa (unfortunately I did not do the exercises as much), and worked as usual.
The situation lasted for two months and showed no signs of healing. Fa study made me understand it was the old forces trying to use my karma to undermine my righteous thoughts. I saw through it and said in my mind, "I have Master. I will only follow the path Master has arranged for me. No evil beings or factors of the old forces are worthy of interfering with me. I do not acknowledge you and I do not allow you to continue persecuting me." I followed Master's teachings with righteous thoughts to benevolently resolve it. Through constant Fa-study and frequent sending righteous thoughts my hands started to heal and were completely healed by mid-June 2005.
People around me witnessed the entire process. They knew I was a practitioner; one person asked me, "Can other people let it heal like this without going to the hospital, too?" I told him that it is impossible for a non-practitioner to endure such great pain. The reason for my recovery was my steadfast belief in Master and Dafa, and my firm determination in cultivation practice and Fa-rectification.
Master has said,
"When a tribulation arrives, if you, a disciple, can truly maintain an unshakable calm or be determined to meet different requirements at different levels, this should be sufficient for you to pass the test." ("Expounding on the Fa" from Essentials for Further Advancement)
What I did had met the requirements of the Fa at that level, therefore I passed it.
Witnessing the magic that happened to me, my non-practitioner family members began to support Dafa and show respect to Master. My neighbor said, "From now on I will not believe anyone if he says Falun Gong is not good. See how much money it would have cost you to treat your hand problem had you not practiced Falun Gong. But it did not cost you a penny, and you did not take a single pill." I could tell she believed Dafa is righteous and admired Dafa. She added, "It's not easy to do what you want. Cultivate well."
