(Minghui.org) When I recall the experience of attending Master Li's Fa teaching lectures and stepping onto the path of Dafa cultivation, I am always moved by Master's grand compassion and broadmindedness.
Meeting Master at the Health Expo
One day in the second half of 1993, I saw my neighbor Lao Li, a retired government cadre, practicing qigong. I didn't pay much attention to it. After a few days, Lao Li said to me, “You are welcome to do the exercises with us. It’s called Falun Gong. It's very good and very effective for improving health and healing illness. Since you often go to doctors and take medicine, you should come and give it a try.”
I had cervical spondylosis at the time. I was afraid to open my eyes when I fell ill, as if I did, everything would be spinning. I also suffered from lumbar spondylosis, rheumatism, a gastrointestinal disease, and gynecological problems. I sought medical advice, but there was no improvement. I had to rely on medicine and hospital visits. I spent the entire summer of 1993 in the hospital. I had also practiced two types of qigong, but they did not help either. Upon hearing Lao Li's kind advice, I wanted to give it a try.
After dinner, I joined Lao Li and the group to learn the exercises. Just as I started to do the exercises, something was obviously happening. I couldn't stop yawning, and tears ran down my face that tasted like bitter, salty sea water. I was wearing a thick cotton jacket while meditating, but I was still shivering. I was told that this meant Master Li was eliminating my illnesses. I hadn’t yet read any of the Dafa books and just wanted to have my illnesses healed.
One day a practitioner told me that there was going to be a Falun Gong booth at the Beijing Health Expo and that they'd treat illnesses there, so I went.
When we arrived, it was as Master later said,
“There were not many people at other exhibition booths, but our booth was crowded with people. There were three waiting lines: The first line was for those who had registered early in the morning for the morning treatment, the second line was waiting to register for the afternoon treatment, and the third line was waiting for my autograph.” (Lecture Seven, Zhuan Falun)
One of Master's disciples treated my illness. I obtained the book Falun Gong and asked Master to sign it. People gradually dispersed at about noon. The practitioner told me to stay a bit longer as the energy field was good.
When I turned around, I saw that Master was looking at me from about ten meters away. I looked at Master's lean figure and kind face. My mind was blank at the time, and I couldn't even think of greeting him. Now I really regret it!
During the exhibition, I had the honor to participate in Master's experience report meeting. Before the meeting started, many people presented pennants to Master to show their appreciation. The most impressive was the wording on two pennants thanking Master for curing a child's leukemia.
An elderly man stood on the stage and shouted with his hands raised, “I'm cured! I'm cured!” He shouted and jumped with joy. This man was a model worker on the railway system and had relapsed after undergoing two surgeries for rectal cancer. When he found Falun Gong, Master cured him.
Master Li then came and began to teach. I listened very intently, even though I had only a preliminary understanding of Dafa. After the lecture, Master asked everyone to extend their hand to feel the rotation of Falun (law wheel). People expressed their surprise and delight, as they really experienced the wonder of Dafa. I made up my mind to continue practicing. What a precious experience!
Master's Teaching the Fa in Tianjin
Lao Li told me at the end of the year that there would be Falun Dafa classes in Tianjin in January and asked if I could go. “Yes!” I said decisively. That was four days before the winter break. So I finished up all my work, and the school allowed me to leave early.
We bought train tickets. Unexpectedly, on the night we left, I started to have a fever. When I had a fever in the past, I had pain all over due to my rheumatism, and usually had trouble getting up. Strangely, this time I just felt a bit dizzy and could easily get up. I later learned that Master was purifying my body in advance.
When we arrived in Tianjin, we practiced the sitting meditation and listened to other practitioners sharing their experiences during the day. We listened to Master teaching the Fa and the exercises in the evening.
When listening to Master lecture, I do not know why, but the more I wanted to hear it, the more I felt sleepy. After later reading Zhuan Falun, I learned that Master was treating illness in my brain, so I had to be put into a state of anesthesia. The students had all sorts of reactions when Master cleansed our bodies for us. I kept blowing my nose, which was full of sticky mucus, all day and night (except when listening to Master's lectures), and used two rolls of toilet paper. After Master purified my body, my health got better and better. Previously, I couldn't walk much, but after the lectures I felt very light. When riding a bike, I felt like I was being pushed by the wind. When climbing stairs, I felt like someone was pushing me up. I couldn't express how happy I was!
A practitioner who had practiced many kinds of qigong said, “This is not an ordinary qigong. We have really met a high-level master!” He was a middle school teacher. After returning to Beijing, he used the school's classrooms to host many Falun Gong nine-day seminars. He played Master Li's videos and taught everyone the exercises. I also helped out. There were nearly 200 people in each class. Many people obtained the Fa through these classes.
In March, I heard that Master would teach a second class in Tianjin. I really wanted to attend, however, as a teacher, I wondered how I could cancel so many classes at school? Then one Sunday as I went to the park to practice the exercises, I suddenly heard someone say that a large work unit was arranging for a bus to take employees to Master's classes in Tianjin every day after work and return at night and that there were still a dozen seats available. The fare was 15 yuan each day. I was so happy, and I immediately signed up with my neighbor Lao Li. In order to catch the bus, I moved all my afternoon classes to the morning and only needed to leave an hour early each day.
We arrived at Yongding Gate at 4:30 p.m. to take the bus to Tianjin, and came home at midnight. The next day, I went to school without feeling tired.
Listening to Master's lectures again, I further understood the meaning of life and how to be a true cultivator. There was a fundamental change in my view of the world!
In the course of teaching, Master corrected the students' exercise movements Himself.
The last two days were weekend days, so I didn't need to go to work. We stayed in Tianjin for two nights. After listening to the lecture, when I returned to the hotel and meditated, Master opened my celestial or third eye. The scene I saw at the time is still vivid today.
In the past, I didn't seem to know how to laugh. I am now happy all day long. I often giggle in my sleep. Perhaps I have suffered so much in this life, and that is why I never have fear of enduring hardship when doing the exercises. In the past, because of arthritis, it was very hard for me to sit in the lotus position. I could initially sit for half an hour, then extended it to 45 minutes, and then an hour.
Regardless of how painful it was, I continued. After the others finished the sitting meditation and left, I continued with another practitioner, and we meditated for two hours every day. Sometimes it was so painful that it seemed that my thoughts were frozen. I didn't even have the strength to keep in mind the passage:
“When it is difficult to endure, try to endure it. When it looks impossible and is said to be impossible, give it a try and see if it is possible.” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)
But I endured to the end every time.
Miraculous Experiences in Cultivation
With more and more people coming to the practice site, we moved to an open space downstairs to practice the exercises. We persevered no matter how cold or hot the weather. After one winter snow, the temperature dropped to -13 degrees Celsius (9°F), and it was still dark at five o'clock in the morning. We simply swept away the snow and put down our mats to meditate. It was very windy between the buildings, and sometimes the wind made us sway, but no one left early. We all cultivated diligently.
We read the Fa together after dinner in the corridor of the building I lived in. We sat face to face and took turns reading. We then shared our cultivation experiences. Some talked about dealing with family conflicts, others talked about how to be good at work, and some talked about the changes they experienced after taking up the practice.
One elderly man used to use the bathroom more than 20 times per night and thus couldn’t get any sleep. After two months of practicing, he was getting up only twice a night. A practitioner's younger sister (also a practitioner) broke her leg in a car accident and was taken to the hospital to have a cast put on. While others at the hospital were shouting in pain, the practitioner didn't feel pain at all. When the cast was removed, the doctor could not locate where the break had occurred. A 70-year-old practitioner said that she'd had a hysterectomy ten years prior, but after cultivating, she menstruated again.
An elderly assistant who took care of a practice site at the park had a miraculous experience. One night she stayed at her daughter's house, which was far away from the park. In the early morning she needed to bring the tape player to play the exercise music for practice in the park. It was very dark. There was no elevator at her daughter's place and no light in the staircase corridor. She thought, “I can't delay everyone's practice. I have to go down even if I have to crawl.” Immediately after having this thought, a ramp appeared with moonlight shining on it. After she walked out of the building and looked back, it was totally dark again. She knew that Master had helped her.
On another occasion, after she finished doing the exercises and was walking by a tall lamp post, she heard a bang and felt a large hand covering her eyes and moving downward to protect her. When she opened her eyes, she saw broken glass all around. It turned out that a large light bulb at the top of the post had exploded. The light bulbs on Chang’an Street were so large that one could not put their arms around them. The people around her were stunned. When they saw that she was not injured, everyone said that the woman was very fortunate. She said that Master once again protected her. She later saw that her clothes had been torn by the broken glass and showed it to us.
I told many friends and relatives about how great Dafa is. I taught the exercises to more than a dozen teachers, and we practiced together at the school every morning. We read the Fa together during lunch break every Monday and Thursday.
Our school guard was from Shen County, Hebei Province. He also wanted to practice, so I let him read the book first. He said that when he read the first lecture of Zhuan Falun, he levitated while sitting in bed. He had been smoking for years and hadn't been able to quit. One Monday when he came to join our Fa study, we happened to be reading the lecture that spoke about quitting smoking. When he came to study on Thursday, he smiled and told us that he could no longer think of smoking after reading the lecture on Monday. He had been addicted to smoking for decades and just quit smoking so easily. Everyone said it was amazing!
Master said,
“Always cultivating as if you were just starting will surely result in achieving your ultimate rank.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2009 Greater New York International Fa Conference” in Teaching the Fa at the Conference IX)
Now in mainland China there is no environment where practitioners can study the Fa and practice the exercises in large groups. However, we still use a variety of ways to study the Fa and exchange insights together in small groups and go out together to clarify the truth. We have never stopped. I have, however, sometimes slacked off.
Whenever I think of this memorable experience, it inspires me to be more diligent in cultivation and to do a good job of what Dafa disciples are supposed to do.
(Submission to “Celebrate World Falun Dafa Day” 2018 on the Minghui website)
