(Clearwisdom.net) I am 78 years old and began practicing Falun Gong on June 12, 1998. Prior to that, I suffered from various ailments—the most serious was back pain. Whenever it recurred, I felt as if my back was broken. The first time I went to the practice site to learn the Falun Gong exercises, I had difficulty walking and needed to use the wall for support. However, I felt balanced when doing the second exercise. After I finished doing all four sets of exercises, I was able to walk freely and didn't feel any pain. Words cannot describe the feeling of having reached the state where my body felt light and free of illness. At that time, I was really excited. I told a colleague, “It's so wonderful!” My firm belief in Dafa has helped me make it through the last ten years even though I keep “falling down” in cultivation.

Modern science has left a deep impression in me, so I always use its concepts to think about the profound inner meaning of Dafa. I had a notion that as one ages, one's bones and muscles will shrink and put pressure on the spine, thus causing back pain. This wrong concept was strengthened when a white mark appeared on both sides of my knees. There was extreme pain whenever I tried to bend my knees and I couldn't squat down. When doing the sitting meditation, I was able to do the double lotus position only after I finished doing the hand gestures.

I also used to suffer from tracheitis, a bacterial infection of the trachea, that was diagnosed in 1954. I was afraid that since I was getting older, the tracheitis would get worse until it became incurable. After practicing Falun Gong, I didn't have to take any more medications and was illness free. However, I still always felt the need to spit and sometimes would spit out blood whenever I did heavy work. The thought of “incurable disease” was always on my mind and I didn't realized that I should eliminate it. As a result, I still had symptoms of tracheitis.

After reading Teacher's recent article, “Dafa Disciples Must Study the Fa – Fa Teaching Given at the 2011 Washington DC Metro Area Fa Conference,” I realized that I failed to concentrate when studying the Fa, but thought about other things instead. I then decided to memorize the Fa during the day and study Teacher's lectures in the evening. During the process I made sure I was aware of my thoughts. When my mind drifted away, I would pull it back. As a result, I made progress in studying the Fa. Teacher said,

“There is a specific supernormal ability for curing every illness. With regard to the supernormal abilities for curing illnesses, I would say that there are over one thousand kinds, and that there are as many supernormal abilities as illnesses.” Zhuan Falun

For practitioners, there is no such thing as an “incurable disease” or “shrinking of muscles and bones.” I realized that I had brought the concepts, or notions, of modern scientific understanding into my cultivation, so I didn't cultivate on this issue.

After I enlightened to this issue, my body experienced positive changes—my gray hair gradually turned black again and I could bend my knees. When I went on a tour in Sichuan with my children, we climbed Mount Emei and Mount Siguniangshan (both over 4,000 meters above sea level). I realized that I could bend my knees and squat down without any pain. Owing to the high altitude, I was a bit out of breath for several seconds. Many tourists suggested that I shouldn't climb the mountains. I told them, “I am all right.” I thought to myself, “I am a Dafa practitioner so I will not give up halfway.” After we reached our destination, several tourists asked me, “How old are you?” I replied, “I'm 78 years old.” Impressed, they all gave me a thumbs up. However, I was afraid to righteously tell them that I am a Falun Dafa practitioner. So I failed to clarify the facts about Falun Gong to them. From this experience, I see that I still have a mentality of fear. I must strengthen my righteous thoughts.

Please kindly point out any shortcomings!