(Minghui.org) After I started to practice Falun Dafa, I measured myself with Dafa’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I became more tolerant and optimistic and was no longer self-centred. I took care of my husband, my son, and my family wholeheartedly. Our relationships became harmonious.
However, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to persecute Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999, my life was turned upside down. I was arrested many times because of my belief, and the police often came to my home to harass me.
I lost my stable, high-income job. My husband said that although I was a good mother and wife, he did not want to live with someone with no social status. He had an affair and wanted to divorce.
My parents were intellectuals, and my husband was from a poor family in the countryside. I married him because I thought he was a good person and never imagined he would divorce me when I was going through difficult times.
My mother, who had always treated my husband well, became ill when she learned he wanted a divorce. My husband did not care about my mother at all. While I was out of town taking care of her, he called me repeatedly to pressure me to divorce him.
When he took me to court, he got all our savings and guardianship of my son. However, my son still chose to live with me because I took good care of him.
A group of police officers broke into my home in 2013 and ransacked the place. My son was young at the time, and he ran to the kitchen to grab a kitchen knife and tried to stop them from taking me away. I managed to calm him down before I was taken away.
I later learned that my son was also taken to the police station. Many years later, he told me hat he thought about killing the two officers who took him to the police station: “I was a child at the time, and thought I wouldn’t be held criminally responsible.”
I was sentenced to five years in prison. I survived the torture during those dark days and worried about my son very much. Those years were the most critical for a child growing up. My ex-husband didn’t allow my son to visit me, so I had not seen him for five years.
Everything was just as I feared after my release. My joyful and lively son was gone and replaced with a tall, strong young man with a cold look about him. He spent a lot of time playing video games and reading novels online. His father rarely spoke to him, so he was hostile to his father and stepmother. He was socially awkward and did not get along well with his classmates.
He was in a boarding school at the time and came to see me for half a day every two weeks. I took good care of him and cooked him nice meals. I was open to him and treated him like a friend.
My son said he hated the police who arrested me, and he hated his father for abandoning me. I could feel his pain. Although I wanted him to give up his resentment, I had great patience with him and did not expect him to change overnight.
I gradually told him about Dafa’s principles of being kind. When he was in a good mood, I suggested he be good to his father, as it wasn’t easy for his father to raise him, and also asked him to help his stepmother with some of the household chores. He agreed.
My son said I was a good mother and that Falun Dafa is good, so I often shared my understanding of the Fa principles with him.
Master Li Hongzhi said,
“Of course, we go about our practice in the secular world, and so we should still be devoted and respectful to our parents and care well for our children; we should be good to others, not to mention our own families, in whatever setting we may be, and treat everyone with kindness. We should treat everyone well, which of course includes parents and children, and think of others first at all times. Your heart will not be selfish, then, but will be loving, kind, and compassionate.” (The Sixth Talk, Zhuan Falun)
I read this paragraph to my son and said that the officers who persecuted me were the most pitiable because they would be held accountable for their evil deeds.
I gradually told my son how to measure things in life with the Fa principles. He slowly opened his heart and talked about his life. He liked to be with me and started to stay with me one day a week. He began to study the Fa every day, and Dafa gradually changed him and revived his kind nature. He became gentle and started to smile at people.
He once brought a sharp Mongolian knife with him and said, “I bought this for self-defence. I wanted to sell it as I don’t need it any more. One of my classmates had promised to buy it, but he changed his mind. Maybe Master Li didn’t want me to sell it to anyone because he didn’t want anyone to use it. Can you please keep it for me as I don’t need it anymore?”
I was very touched because I witnessed the power of Dafa that melted the resentment in his heart.
My son also quit his bad habit of playing video games and started to study harder. In a few years, he became a top student and went to a good university with the highest score in his school. In his university days, he studied the Fa every day.
He was considerate of others and kind to his father and stepmother, and their relationships improved. His stepmother’s parents also liked him very much.
Many young Dafa disciples, like my son, have experienced similar twists and turns in their lives. They have endured family breakups or the loss of their loved ones. Falun Dafa’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance have guided them through these tribulations and made them into respectful citizens.