(Minghui.org) I would like to tell you some of the amazing things I've experienced since I began practicing Falun Dafa almost 23 years ago.
My mother died when I was four years old, and I was a sickly child. After I married, my husband and I were transferred to a defense factory in a remote mountain area. Life was tough back then. We left for work early and returned home late. It was humid where I worked, and I developed rheumatism.
As I grew older, I developed heart disease, nephritis, cervical vertebra hyperplasia, gynecological issues, severe rheumatism, gastroenteritis, and periodontitis. Some of my problems even the doctors couldn't name. The rheumatism and gynecological issues were the worst. My rheumatism was so bad that my entire body hurt. I couldn't turn over in bed and the pain frequently awakened me. I tried Western medicines, but all they did was irritate my stomach. When it was really painful, I tried folk medicine. But nothing helped.
An old doctor who had extensive experience with rheumatism told me, “Your condition is very serious, but you waited too long to seek treatment. I've never seen such a severe case. You should prepare to be completely paralyzed by the time you're in your 40s.” That frightened me because I was already in my 30s. What could I do? I had to take care of three elderly people and two children. I couldn't live nor could I die. I wept and asked him what to do. He said, “The only thing you can try is qigong.” So I tried many different kinds of qigong and spent a lot of money, but nothing helped.
It was the most desperate time of my life.
In April 1997, I met a relative who practiced Falun Dafa. Before that, she had all kinds of illnesses and was hospitalized many times. Soon after she started practicing, she was fine. She said, “Falun Dafa is a practice of self-cultivation. No money is collected and everything is run by volunteers. But there are strict requirements for those who practice. They have to conduct themselves according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.” She suggested that I read ZhuanFalun.
As soon as I read the book, I understood the answers to many questions that I had about life and I began to practice. I felt so wonderful after I did the exercises that I stopped taking medicine.
Within a year, all my ailments disappeared. I truly knew what it meant to be free of sickness and the wonderful feeling of being totally healthy! It was Dafa that helped me when nothing else could—and I never spent a penny! My appreciation for Master Li is beyond words.
Falun Dafa gave me good health and also helped me understand many things, such as the true meaning of life, why people get sick, why we are here, what true happiness is, and how someone can become a good person. Falun Dafa teaches me Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and how to conduct myself accordingly. I knew that I had to work diligently and take personal benefits lightly. At work, I was praised and earned multiple awards at both the municipal and provincial levels.
Master said,
“Spiritual things like these are sacred, and not to be treated like toys or normal skills. Your mind needs to dwell on a higher plane if you want to get anywhere in spiritual practice.” (The Second Talk, Zhuan Falun)
I would like to share some of my experiences.
Before I retired, I worked in an epidemic prevention department. Because they were short of people, I actually did two jobs: I managed procurement and posted vaccination statistics of the planned immunization vaccines in the district. Our financial system listed procurement and vaccine reporting separately, but I took care of both.
It turned out that the person who bought supplies got a rebate that was not shown on the invoice. Some of the managers didn't even know about this. As a cultivator, because I knew about the principle of “no loss no gain,” I never took the rebate. I asked the manager to make some adjustments so that, at the end of the year, someone else would do the financial statement, and I wouldn't need to deal with money. My manager accepted my suggestion.
I never took a penny in kickbacks during the more than ten years I was in the program. After I retired, I heard that the Commission for Discipline Inspection later investigated kickbacks, and many employees suffered repercussions. My superior was dismissed for taking 50,000 dollars in kickbacks and his salary was lowered.
If I didn't practice Falun Dafa, I, too, would have taken the money. I'm so thankful for Master's teachings, which helped me take personal gains lightly. I was glad I went against the tide of corruption.
As my character improved, my attachment to self-interests lessened. I could even give up the benefits I was entitled to.
In April 1999, I was in charge of doctors from 15 medical units that went to study in Hainan for six days. The total cost was 2,260 dollars. As the team leader, my travel expenses were paid. I was also qualified to get other subsidies but I didn't claim them. The other team members couldn't believe it. I told them that I'd already enjoyed a free trip, so I shouldn't take the subsidies. Wouldn't it be a good thing and help our employer save money?
Just before I retired, my employer wanted to give everyone two new uniforms. Each one cost over $200. We were told to go to the office to have our measurements taken. Since I was about to retire, I didn't want a new uniform, so I didn't go. When people found out, they didn't understand, because after I retired, I wouldn't have benefits like that. I thought, “Master teaches us to be good. My understanding is that we need to hold ourselves to the standards of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. We also need to consider others first. My employer wasn't rich, and I already had uniforms. If I didn't get new ones, wouldn't I help my employer save money?”
I'm not telling you this to brag about myself or to claim how well I've practiced. I just want to illustrate how Falun Dafa has changed me in positive ways. The practice has helped me understood how to be a good person. Now I take things lightly and don't follow the trends.
To be honest, before I began practicing, I wouldn't have done things that way. I would have fought for my share.
Getting Over My Resentment for My Stepmother
I was in so much pain before I began practicing Falun Dafa that I always looked angry and resentful. I sighed all day long and rarely smiled. I had a bad temper and couldn't understand why my life was such agony.
I felt like a different person after I started to practice. My health was good and I felt uplifted. My family saw the positive changes and everyone recognized that Falun Dafa was good. My daughter, husband, and brother-in-law also began to practice. But when the persecution started, some of them stopped. My son, daughter-in-law, and everyone at home supported my practice. My mother said, “Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” Sometimes she even added, “Falun Dafa's Master is good.” She read Master's new lectures. Everyone in the family is healthy.
Most amazingly, Dafa helped me resolve the resentment that I had for my stepmother.
My three siblings and I did not have a good rapport with our stepmother.
My son was born in her home because my in-laws were in the countryside. A few days later I had a fight with her over some trivial matter. She was angry and scolded me in front of many people. From that day on, she ignored me and wouldn't say anything even when I greeted her. So I left and went to my colleague's home. The bed she had was only three-feet wide, but I would rather sleep there. I didn't want to go back to my parents' house until my father called me back.
It was hot in the summer and there were lots of mosquitoes. Although my stepmother had a mosquito net, she wouldn't let me use it. The baby cried constantly and I wasn't able to sleep at night. She wouldn't pick up the baby up even when she cried non-stop. I couldn't go to the bathroom or eat. My stepmother never once held the child. I really hated her. When I was later transferred back to the city, I still went to see my father once a week. But my stepmother and I seldom spoke.
My father passed away in 1996. Soon after that, I began practicing Dafa. I thought that, after my father died, I would never go back home. But Master teaches us to be good and that we need to treat everyone well. So I went home once a week. But my resentment for my stepmother was hard to relinquish. Each time I saw her, I remembered the past and my anger swelled. Our conversations were strained. I didn't want to care about her.
To let go of my grudge against her, I repeatedly studied the Fa. Master said,
“The altercations or mistreatment that you encounter as you practice might be either of two scenarios. One is that you mistreated the other person during a past life. Perhaps the situation preys on your mind, and you can’t believe someone would treat you as they are. Well, then you shouldn’t have treated them that way in the past. You might say that you didn’t know better back then and that this lifetime has nothing to do with that one. But you can’t write it off like that. Another thing is, karma is surely being reworked with any altercation you get into, so we should be magnanimous and not handle it like most people would.” (The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
Master's teachings helped me understand that I must have treated her badly in another lifetime and that was why she mistreated me now. So I owed her, and I should pay her back by being compassionate.
Although I understood the principal, it was extremely hard to let go of years of resentment. Whenever I saw her, my anger and resentment would rise. Whenever this happened, I recited Master's words. Gradually, my resentment for my stepmother lessened, and eventually it went away. I began having compassion for her. Life was not easy for her. After my father died she was alone.
When I really thought about it, I saw that she had many attributes, like working hard. She helped my father take care of all the details in the family. Without her, the family would have fallen apart and we wouldn't have turned out as well as we had.
I began to appreciate all she had done for our family. I told myself that, from then on, I needed to be kind to her, just as though I were her biological daughter.
In 2005, she had a car accident and broke a few bones. I took her to my home after she was released from the hospital and took good care of her. She recovered in three months. She didn't want to stay with me, but I didn't want her to live alone. So I hired someone to take care of her. She didn't have much money, and my brother and sisters didn't make much. I chipped in whatever I could. I also paid for all of her other expenses until she died.
My family was touched, especially my stepmother. Before she passed away, she insisted on giving me a gold ring that she had before she married my father. When I politely refused, she wept and said, “I owe you so much. Without you, I wouldn't have lived until today. If you don't take the ring, I won't die in peace.” She died peacefully at the age of 95.
I'm in my 70s and I began to practice Falun Dafa in 1997. My life was changed in such a positive way that I wanted to share what I've experienced. Falun Dafa is truly amazing! Falun Dafa gave me good health and taught me how to be a good person. Falun Dafa helped me to settle the grievances I'd harbored for years. Falun Dafa renewed my life and helped me become a selfless person. No words can express my gratitude to Master.
The sentence “Falun Dafa is good” sums up everything I want to say. I sincerely hope that, by reading my experiences, people will choose the best for themselves, find out the truth about the persecution, and stop believing the Chinese Communist Party's deceptive lies.