(Minghui.org) We lived in the countryside outside Jiamusi City in Heilongjiang Province. Day after day, year after year, we worked hard in the fields to make a living. Many of us suffered from various diseases, which made life tiring and painful. We were unsure of the cause of this suffering until the day Falun Dafa's light shone upon us and brought us a start of a whole new life. Below are some of the stories from the villagers in our area.
Villager A: I Regained Good Health by Practicing Dafa
My wife and I lived in the northeastern part of the village since we were little. Before I began practicing Falun Dafa, I had a critical heart problem. I also had Hepatitis B and often experienced excruciating pain, as if there was a big stone pressing down on my back. I could not sleep in any comfortable position. My stomach also had problems: many types of food would trigger stomachaches, and I would feel as if someone was pulling at my insides. I was incredibly scared of eating the wrong thing. Later, I also contracted hemorrhagic fever. Damage in my kidneys led to nephritis, a very painful condition. I also suffered from phlebitis, which hurt my hands, feet, and shoulders. If that wasn't enough, I also had arthritis and problems in the back of my head. I spent many years taking various medicine. I felt that my life was worse than death, and I seriously considered suicide many times. I couldn't even do work around the house due to the pain.
Before my wife began practicing Falun Dafa, she too suffered from heart disease and frequent heart attacks. The second she went to sleep, angina and nephritis would accompany her. When she fell sick, she would urinate blood. She also suffered from edema, and the nerves in her kidneys were prone to pain. In addition, she had Hepatitis B, liver problems, headaches, cholecystitis, peptic ulcer, and lumbar disc hernia. Not one part of her body was without pain. When these conditions flared, her body was so weak that she dared not stand up, walk, or even make the slightest movement. Like me, she was kept alive by medications.
Then there was my son, who also suffered from a variety of disease and had to take injections and medications, sometimes even having to stay at the hospital.
My wife and I were very worried about our financial situation: we constantly borrowed money yet did not make any ourselves. We were quickly falling into debt. Our relatives feared that they may be next to be asked by us to borrow money.
By January 1999, my wife and I had lost all hope in finding a cure for our illnesses. That was when we first had a stroke of good fortune: we encountered Falun Dafa. We immediately took up the practice in hopes of relieving our ailments. After we started practicing, we learned that our diseases came from karma accumulated from past lives. We were so happy to find something that produced miracles.
We devoutly followed the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in order to become better people. When we encountered problems, we first looked within to see what we did wrong, instead of charging forward and blaming someone else without knowing all the facts.
After practicing for just one week, I recovered from my illnesses. In a short time, my wife's diseases also disappeared. These miracles also happened to my son, although he did not actually practice Dafa. He benefited because my wife and I had begun to practice.
It was just as Master said, “...with one person practicing, the whole family benefits.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference in Australia”)
My family's economic situation improved greatly as well. We could finally work and cultivate many kinds of crops. From that point on, we reaped extraordinary harvests. In the next two years, our income towered over that of our fellow farmers. All the villagers could see the amazing effects Falun Dafa had on us, and our relatives praised Dafa. We were so happy that it's hard to describe in words.
Villager B: Dafa Saved My Family From Chronic Illnesses and Worries
I was a very perverse and stubborn person and had a bad temper. After my marriage, I learned that my husband was a frail person, practically catching a new illness every day. His mother complained about everything. I had no idea how we were going to survive. Every night, I would cry myself to sleep, wondering when my husband would be well enough again to take care of the family. I could not sleep or eat well, and I was constantly in a bad mood. My temper, already bad enough, flared even more easily. I was often in a semiconscious state, as if I had a high fever. I also had inflammation in my gallbladder, kidney stones, hemorrhoids, and other illnesses. My body always felt partly numb. Whenever I started to worry, I would catch a fever. With all these symptoms, I felt as if I was experiencing a very painful death. Every time I saw my poor husband's face, I felt my heart breaking. But I could not spare even a single moment for my heart to sew itself back together.
In order for my husband to see a doctor, we had to spends almost all of our family's savings. My husband saw doctors from both Western and Chinese medicine. He took all the drugs he was was prescribed, yet his condition did not improve. Over time, on top of my chronic pain, I developed new illnesses as well: a bone spur in my foot crippled me, my stomach started having problems, and my heart condition deteriorated. After I cried away all the tears I could hold, all that remained was worry.
In the spring of 1997, someone told my mother-in-law that other villagers had started practicing something called Falun Dafa, which created nothing short of miracles. My entire family soon began practicing Dafa. I started using the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to measure my actions while trying to become a better person. Slowly, my illnesses disappeared, and I was finally able to sleep properly. My temper gradually evened out, and I was usually in a good mood. Even my mother-in-law and sister-in-law could see Dafa's great impact on my personality. My relationship with my mother-in-law transformed from one full of complaints to one of harmony. My husband's health also improved steadily, and he smiled more often. Truly, Falun Dafa saved my family.
Villager C: My Mother-in-Law's Bad Temper Disappeared After Practicing Dafa
Before I married my husband, people said that his family was not easy to get along with. I did not mind it at first, but I came to learn just how particular his family was. They did not have any social life. My mother-in-law was the worst of all: the cantankerous fifty-year-old lady would not even let me visit friends and family. If I did, she would yell and scream at me. She started big battles and arguments over the most trivial things.
Once my mother-in-law began practicing Falun Dafa, her quick temper disappeared. She ditched all her bad habits and appeared incapable of escalating anything into a fight. When I said unkind words, she would just pretend not to hear me or ignore me completely. Falun Dafa is truly amazing. My mother-in-law seemed to have transformed into a new person entirely devoid of anger. Her health also improved dramatically.
Villager D: Dafa Taught Me to Consider Others
I used to be a very selfish person. When it came to profits, I would fight to the very last penny. When I rode on a bus with my parents, I hoped that they would pay for my bus ticket. I couldn't wait to get to their house to eat a delicious feast cooked by my mother, and I planned in advance on taking part of that meal home with me. I treated my daughter similarly and tried to spend as little money on her as possible. When her school required uniforms, I flatly refused to buy one for her. She was the only student who did not have a uniform, and she recalled this memory many times in the years that followed. I also liked to take advantage of others. I hoped that my daughter would marry a wealthy man so I, too, could have a share of their money. My mind was constantly busy thinking through all the possibilities of having a happier life. I saw my current life as sad and dull in comparison. I ended up catching many illnesses.
After I started practicing Dafa, I learned that Master wants us to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and to consider others first. When it came to profits, I made myself act in accordance with Master's requirements. When my mother gave her property to my elder brother and not to me, I did not start a fight, even though I knew that in two years he would collect at least 20,000 yuan in profits. Had I not studied the Fa, I would have started a big battle for that property, but I was more understanding now and knew why my mother made the decision she did. My brother was in poor health and unable to really contribute to the family, a fact my sister-in-law complained about often.
With respect to my daughter, I also made sure to follow Master's requirements and to think about her before myself. Our family's financial situation was not great, but I did my best to put money into buying some spare uniforms. When my daughter got married, she exhibited a lot of filial piety and was not so capricious. My daughter told me: “Since you began practicing Dafa, our mother-daughter relationship had strengthened a lot. Had you not practiced Falun Dafa, we would have fallen out a long time ago.”
Villager E: I Say “Falun Dafa is Good” to Cure My Illnesses. Why Should I be Arrested?
One morning in the winter of 1998, I suddenly began spitting blood. My father and I went to the Jiamusi City Hospital's Tuberculosis Department. An examination revealed several pea-sized holes in my lungs and that my heart was skewed to the right. The doctor told us that I needed surgery, which still would not guarantee that I would stay alive.
I thought to myself: “Well, death is not surgery. Even if I die, I shall keep my entire body.” After I declined to have surgery, the hospital chose more a conservative treatment and discharged me after three months.
After I came home, we did not spend any less money than we did at the hospital. Every day, I had to drink a bitter medicine called streptomycin. My struggle with pain continued for the next twenty years. During that period, not only did my disease not go away but I also contracted many new ones. I often had bouts of lightheadedness, and one day I found myself stumbling around drowsily because I could not fall sleep. I couldn't stomach anything and often had very painful stomachaches. The pain was unbearable, and my body relied on the bitter medicine to survive.
In the autumn of 2005, I coincidentally met some Dafa practitioners who were out clarifying the truth about Falun Dafa. They explained that the Tiananmen Self-Immolation Incident was staged by the communist regime, and that Jiang Zemin fabricated this lie to deceive people so they would not practice Falun Dafa. They also told me that Falun Dafa teaches people to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in life and introduced me to its moral, physical, and mental benefits. Looking at my body, which was in terrible shape, one man advised: “Brother, recite in your mind, 'Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance is good.' As long as you believe it sincerely, everything will work out.” I began to mutter this in my head. I had no clue that Falun Dafa was so divine. After reciting this for a week, my head was not dizzy anymore, and at last I could eat and sleep. My face grew rosier, and twenty years of pain completely disappeared. I felt more wonderful than I had in a long, long time. I was disease-free and out of danger. I experienced all of Dafa's magnificent power.
I really wanted to be a Falun Dafa practitioner. My wife and the other practitioners asked me, “The persecution is so severe right now, aren't you scared?” I replied: “I was close to death before. What should I be scared of now? When I was sick, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) didn't give me a single penny, yet when I muttered 'Falun Dafa is good' in my head, I healed. How could they arrest me for something as simple as that?”
Since then, I have followed the cultivation path of Dafa. I would like to thank Master Li Hongzhi for giving me a second life. There were many ups and downs in the past five years, and in that process, I was illegally arrested twice. However, my firm faith in Dafa has never wavered.
Villager F: Disagreeable Person Changes After Practicing Dafa
Before practicing Dafa, I had completely given up on doing anything good. I smoked, drank, and played mahjong. I yelled at my family over the smallest of disagreements. My daughter was actually very gentle and obedient, and my husband was also a very nice person. He treated my daughter as his own child, despite the lack of blood relationship. I never felt comfortable in my heart, and something always bothered me. I blamed the heavens and felt that gods were treating me unfairly. I also suffered from pain in my cranial nerve, gastric inflammation, a soft spleen, mouth ulcers, rheumatism, and certain gynecological diseases. My body was in terrible shape, and life was very painful.
I began to practice Falun Dafa in 2005. On the first day of that new lunar year, I sought out an elderly practitioner for help. Two days later, she sent me the book Zhuan Falun. She asked me, “The persecution is very extreme right now, aren't you scared?” I replied: “Why should I be scared? Dafa helps people become better persons, and they practice according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Practicing Dafa allows people to regain good health. I am definitely not scared.” Since then, I've continued practicing Falun Dafa. I strictly comply with the standards that all practitioners have to follow. When I encountered problems with other people, I would first look within to see what I did wrong. I dropped my former bad habits by improving my temper, not scolding my daughter excessively over the tiniest things, and not causing quarrels with my husband. My family began to harmonize, and my diseases slowly faded away.
I've gained a new life by practicing Falun Dafa, and I hope everyone can share the greatness of Dafa.