My Husband’s Tribulation Helped Me Look Inward

(Minghui.org) My husband began practicing Falun Dafa in 2006. His chronic lower back pain, stomachache and vertigo were soon resolved. He and I read the Fa and did the exercises together.

One morning in November 2016, I suddenly noticed that my husband’s left arm was out of commission. When I asked him what happened, he said that he couldn’t use either his left arm or leg. As soon as I realized how serious his situation was, I quickly told him, “Please ask Master to help you. Hurry up and recite ‘Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!’” He did that immediately, even though he had difficulty speaking clearly.

This sudden incident caught me off guard. I called my son, who was also a practitioner, and told him what happened. He and his whole family came.

As soon as my daughter-in-law saw my husband, she said, “Hurry and take him to the hospital.” My son asked my husband if he really wanted to go to a hospital. My husband said yes. Seeing his situation was rather serious and because I lacked righteous thoughts, I didn’t object.

My husband had two major hobbies in his life: One was smoking, the other was playing mahjong. If he came too late to join the game, he stood there and watched others play until the game was over, sometimes until the next morning. After he began practicing Falun Dafa he stopped playing mahjong, but he didn’t quit smoking. He knew he should not smoke and tried to quit many times. As time passed, instead of quitting he became even more addicted.

Master said,

“When that substance is inhaled, inside of your body it forms a very thin and light version of you.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2019 New York Fa Conference,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XV )

I felt that substance, his attachment to smoking, was controlling my husband and he couldn’t get away from it.

Because he couldn’t look at things from the Fa’s perspective, we went to the hospital to get treatment. After the examination, the doctor said he had serious cerebral infarction. The arterial ducts were already narrow and he needed bypass treatment. He also developed bile duct stones, which required surgery. In addition, his heart had some issues. The doctor admitted him to the hospital. After hearing what the doctor said, I suddenly understood: Wasn’t it all caused by this unrighteous thought of needing to receive treatment?

After he was hospitalized, he didn’t get better but instead got worse. He completely lost the ability to use the left side of his body; his face became deformed; he needed someone’s help in order to sit up; when he tried to eat or drink, the food and water leaked out of his mouth.

I asked the doctor, “Yesterday when we came in, he could walk. Why is he worse after taking the medication?” The doctor replied, “It’s normal. Now it’s the time for the onset.” I immediately negated that and thought instead, “Only Master can help him!”

I brought him a MP3 player which had recordings of Master’s lectures and asked him to listen to them. I also told him to sincerely say, “Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!” After listening a few times, he said that he didn’t want to listen anymore. I knew it wasn’t him who didn’t want to listen, but rather the negative substance that was controlling him. I suggested he continue listening to Master’s lectures, so that Master could help him get through this trial.

During the day, my son and I took turns taking care of him. At night, I had to look after him by myself. I had to help him turn his body, and I had to help him go to the restroom. If we went too slowly, he soiled the bed. He also couldn’t rest. Seeing that he became like this, I deeply came to feel how unstable life was! Fame, self-interest, social status and money, everything passes quickly! Only one’s life is most precious. My mind was in turmoil and it was hard for me to calm down.

At that moment I recalled Master’s words,

“Those ordeals and the suffering, no matter how great or harsh you find them to be, are good things, because they take place solely on account of your cultivation. A person can eliminate karma and shed human attachments when he goes through ordeals, and through ordeals he can improve.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2008 New York Conference,” Collected Teachings Given Around the World Volume VIII)

I suddenly understood that there must be a reason why this tribulation happened. It was an opportunity to firm up my cultivation and turn this bad thing into something good. I also realized the hospital was a place to clarify the facts and help people quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). No matter how much hardship I had to suffer, I would endure it in order to take good care of my husband, so that he would recover quickly. During this process, I looked for my attachments, eliminated them and cultivated myself solidly.

Clarifying the Facts and Improving Myself

I adjusted my mindset and I began sending righteous thoughts. No matter how tired or busy I was, I made time to listen to Master’s lectures and practitioners’ sharing articles. After the lights were out at night, I sent righteous thoughts, and then did the exercises.

One time, when I was doing the exercises, a nurse came to do her rounds. Seeing I was sitting there, she asked me, “What’s going on, Auntie, why don’t you go to bed? How can you take care of uncle all day if you don’t rest?” I said, “Thank you, I’m fine. I’m actually taking a rest.”

Another day, a nurse asked me, “Auntie, do you do Yoga at night?” I said, “No. I’m doing the Falun Dafa exercises.” She was very surprised and said, “How dare you practice Falun Dafa?” I told her that I practiced for more than 10 years. Then I told her about what Falun Dafa is, and why the CCP persecutes it. I said that the so-called “Tiananmen self-immolation incident” was a hoax, and was orchestrated by the former CCP leader Jiang Zemin to deceive Chinese people as well as people all over the world. He wanted to justify the persecution by claiming practitioners were irrational. After she learned the truth, she decided to renounce her memberships in the CCP and its youth organizations. She also asked me for a truth-clarification calendar.

People in my husband’s ward said I was healthy and easygoing. They all praised me for my positive mindset, as I didn’t get agitated when running into difficulties. I told them I was not like this before. I always fought with others. Practicing Falun Dafa transformed me. I explained that they only heard the CCP’s propaganda against Falun Dafa. They all decided to quit the CCP and accepted the informational materials.

One retired cadre from a county police station was also hospitalized due to cerebral infarction. After I clarified the facts to him, he quit the CCP as well.

Seeing the joy of people who had been saved, I realized the great responsibilities on my shoulders. I thought I shouldn’t be confined to this small hospital any more, but I should go out to save more people. Instead of being bound by my notions and sentimentality, I told my husband, “We have stayed in the hospital for 20 days and spent a great deal of money, but your condition hasn’t improved. Don’t you still want to practice Falun Dafa?” He said, “I surely do!”

“If you really want to cultivate, you have to have faith in Master and Dafa, as well as having a correct understanding towards your situation, i.e. you need to understand this is only an illness karma illusion, treat it as a trial in your cultivation path and elevate your xinxing. Master is taking care of us.” Then I asked him if he wanted to go home the next day. He immediately agreed.

After we returned home, we focused on studying the Fa, doing the exercises, and sending righteous thoughts. While performing solid cultivation, I helped my husband study more Fa, do the exercises more intensively, and improve his understanding based on the Fa. We truly negated the old forces’ persecution through our actions.

Soon after my husband came home, he could walk with the help of a walker and he was able to speak clearly. He said excitedly, “Master didn’t give up on me!” Seeing these changes, I did Heshi in front of Master’s portrait and said to Master, “Master, I remember my vow before coming down to this human world. I must go out to clarify the facts to people and save them. Master, please empower my righteous thoughts and help me let go of my sentimentality towards my husband.”

From that day on, I studied the Fa with my husband in the morning, and then I went out to clarify the facts to people in the afternoon. This has become my routine every day.

On the afternoon of June 24, 2021, as soon as I came home, my husband said to me excitedly, “I enlightened to something when I read the Fa today. Master said a practitioner has no illness, then why do I still take the medication?! I decided to stop taking it.” I said, “Great! You finally enlightened to this.”

During the process, Master eliminated bad things from my husband’s body multiple times. Without Master’s benevolent protection, he wouldn’t have lived to this day. Thank you Master for giving him a new life.

It has been six years since that tribulation. In the process many of my attachments were exposed and eliminated, such as resentment, agitation, looking down on others, etc. As soon as they surfaced I eliminated them.

Negating the Old Forces’ Persecution Through Righteous Thoughts and Actions

I was writing a sharing article until 3 a.m. on September 2, 2021. Suddenly my eyes became very itchy and painful. As a result, I couldn’t see things well. I decided to take a break. I realized it was time for me to do the exercises. So I started to do them instead. However, I became muddle-headed while I did the second exercise. I felt myself sway and I tried to grab a chair. But I ended up on the ground. My lower back hurt terribly and I was soaked with sweat. After several attempts I was finally able to shout, “Master, please help me!”

I lay on the floor and I couldn’t move. Then I remembered this sentence,

“We believe that one thought can determine the outcome of things, for better or for worse.” (The Fourth Talk, Zhuan Falun)

I reminded myself that I am a practitioner, a being created by Dafa. I do not acknowledge any other arrangements, I only follow the path arranged by Master.

I wanted to stand up but when I turned, I was in extreme pain. Even though I tried several times I just couldn’t stand up.

Remembering that I planned to go with another practitioner that afternoon to clarify the facts to people, I was determined to stand up. I begged Master to help me. I could suddenly stand. Right then, a thought flashed in my mind, “Just lie down and rest.” But I knew it wasn’t my true thought, so I negated it immediately. My lower back hurt and I couldn’t stand up steadily. I wanted to lean against the table. I told myself: No! I will do the exercises!

After I finished doing the standing exercises, I really wanted to lay down and rest. But I firmly negated it and did the sitting meditation. I could only sit in the half lotus position. But I remembered what Master said, that by enduring hardship one could eliminate karma. I was able to pull my other leg up and sit in the full lotus position. Even though I couldn’t straighten my lower back I continued meditating. I was gradually able to straighten my back.

After I finished the exercises I sent righteous thoughts for half an hour. All my symptoms disappeared. I felt fine! I tearfully stood in front of Master’s portrait and lit incense. I said, “Thank you Master for your benevolent protection! Without your empowerment and safeguarding, I wouldn’t have been able to get up from the floor today. I am so grateful for our benevolent and wonderful Master!”

My education is very limited. I was also interfered with while I wrote this sharing. During the process I also came to understand some Fa principles. This tribulation made me realize that it came down to the fact that I couldn’t stay focused in doing the exercises or sending forth righteous thoughts, to the point where I became muddle-headed. I always used the excuse that I had too many chores. For example, I needed to take care of my husband, take my grandchildren to school and pick them up after school, plus doing the three things. Thus I had little free time. The truth is, I didn’t look inward when running into tribulations, so I wasn’t solidly cultivating myself. Therefore, the abnormal state appeared.

Thank you Master for your benevolent protection! Thanks to wonderful Falun Dafa! No words can fully express my gratitude. Only by cultivating diligently to assist Master in Fa-rectification and save more sentient beings, can I accomplish my mission.

This is my understanding based on my cultivation level. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.