Falun Dafa Cultivation Is Changing My Life

(Minghui.org) I have been fortunate to practice Falun Dafa since 2019. In fact, as early as 1997, a colleague from Sichuan told me about Falun Dafa. At that time, I believed in the Buddhism of Shakyamuni, and I argued with him a lot. Thinking about it now, my enlightenment quality at the time was just so poor, causing me to waste more than 20 years before I truly began to cultivate.

Master Li Has Always Been Watching Over Me

I experienced a miserable youth. My father passed away before I was born, and my mother remarried. When I was six years old, my mother passed away. I remember when I was 10 years old, I did everything possible to earn tuition fees for myself, such as picking up cow dung, digging medicinal herbs, digging corn stubble, weaving baskets, and so on. Once, I made six baskets and exchanged them for six little rabbits. I wanted to sell them when they grew up and use the money toward my tuition. After a while, they got pretty big and I was very happy. But, one day when I came back from school, my stepfather called me to eat meat. I was stunned and asked him what kind of meat. He said rabbit meat. It turned out that he killed all six rabbits and stewed them in a large iron pot. I felt so angry and heartbroken. I cried so hard.

As my stepfather and my stepbrother were happily eating, I drank Chinese hard liquor by myself. I didn’t know how much I drank. Then I walked out with another bottle and continued drinking as I walked away from my home. Not realizing, I got to a place called “Ditch of Hanged Ghost.” The name came from a story that someone had committed suicide at that place some time ago. It was a large ditch, about four meters deep. I didn’t remember how it happened, but I fell into the ditch.

When I walked out of my home, my three dogs stayed with me. After I fell into the ditch, the three dogs stayed at the top of the ditch. I lay on the bottom for two days and one night. Then, a classmate of mine passed by and saw my dogs, so he came closer to have a look. He saw me at the bottom of the ditch, and I didn’t respond when he yelled my name. He wasn’t sure if I was still alive. He wanted to go down to the ditch to have a look, but my dogs were very protective and wouldn’t let him get close to me. He got my family members, who took me to the village infirmary. I was unconscious for the next three days in the infirmary, and I could not move for another three days. Recalling this after I practiced Dafa, it was clear that Master Li (Dafa’s founder) was watching over me at that time, or else I would have died.

I left home and wandered through the streets at the age of 14. I worked on construction sites while helping others collect debts, steal things, and fight. I couldn’t do a lot of construction work, because I was too young and weak. When I pushed a two-wheeled cart, it often flipped over because I couldn’t control it. Once, when I was helping someone collect a debt, a group of us beat up the debtor. All the people involved were sentenced to prison, and I was sentenced to one year. After I served one year in prison, they would not release me because I couldn’t pay for food. I told them I had no money to pay. They said I would need to ask my relatives to pick me up, and I told them that I had no relatives. I then told them I would work for them to pay for what I owed without eating anything from then on. I worked for five days, without eating or drinking. They couldn’t watch it anymore, so they let me go. Looking back, it would be impossible for ordinary people to survive without eating or drinking for five days, not to mention while also working. Master was helping me. Master has been taking care of me my entire life. Thank you, Master!

Another time, because I stole things, I ran away, walking along the railroad for over 20 days, starting in Guangzhou City, and moving through Guangdong Province to Hengyang City, Hunan Province. In Hengyang’s train station, I tried to jump on a train while it was moving. I failed to hold on to it, and was knocked out. I ended up under the railroad embankment. I would have died if instead I rolled under the train.

I believed in Buddhism for over 20 years, and I could be regarded as a lay Buddhist. But, in today’s vicious world, there is no moral standard and everyone is the enemy of one another. My belief in Buddhism didn’t change a thing for me. My life was a mess, my health was a mess, and a few times, I almost died because I was so drunk.

Having lost my family I was struggling alone in society from a young age. I suffered from hunger and had poor living conditions, resulting in poor health. I had rheumatism and would feel great pain in spring and fall or on cloudy and rainy days. I had pneumonia, and I would cough hard. Once, I had nephritis, and my urine was full of blood. Before that, I had never taken medicine. No matter what kind of illness I had, I never went for medical treatment. I would just take the suffering and get through it myself. But the nephritis was so severe, and it hurt so badly. I couldn’t move for many days and it was not getting better. I felt I couldn’t bear it any longer, so I asked a fellow villager to take me to the hospital. After an examination, the doctor said I needed to be hospitalized immediately and asked me to pay for it first. I asked how much, and he said 10,000 yuan, to begin with. That was in the 1990s, and 10,000 yuan was not a small number. I said that I had no money. The doctor lowered it to 8,000 yuan, but I said I really had no money. The doctor then said, “Maybe just 4,000 yuan and we will just get some medication.” But I still couldn’t come up with the money. In the end, I said to the fellow villager, “Forget it, let’s go back.” However, gradually, I miraculously recovered on my own.

At that time, I was still a so-called Buddhist, but I smoked, drank, fought, stole, and did many other bad things. How could I be a Buddhist? Thinking about it now, it is so true that Buddhism has long been unable to save people. It is just as Master said,

“Shakyamuni stated that by the Dharma-Ending Age, even the monks in temples would have a difficult time saving themselves, let alone those lay Buddhists who are being looked after by no one.” (Lecture Three, Zhuan Falun)

Changing Into a Totally Different Person After Practicing Dafa

In the blink of an eye, half of my lifetime had passed. I was lost and helpless. I felt that life was meaningless, as I couldn’t find its purpose, and I had no hope. In 2019, I finally had a seemingly accidental but inevitable and predestined encounter.

I clearly remember that it was one afternoon when I was on the street selling watermelons from my truck. A lady came to buy a watermelon and she paid me with cash that had Dafa phrases on it. She then asked me to read those phrases⸺ Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. I felt that she was very kind. I said, “This is very good.” She said, “Of course, and those who use this money will be blessed. They will be rewarded for understanding the truth.” She then clarified the truth about Falun Dafa to me. I said, “I have heard about Dafa before. Someone told me about it in 1997, and many people have told me about this cultivation practice over the years. When others told me about it, I asked them if they had any books I could read, and they all said that the books were rare and they did not have one for me. I’m wondering if you have one I could read. I want to see if it’s truly that great.” She said, “I will bring you a copy.”

She brought me Falun Gong, the introductory book of Falun Dafa, the following day, and it took me a few days to finish reading it. She then got me the precious book Zhuan Falun, the main book of Falun Dafa, and told me that I should finish reading it in the shortest amount of time possible. But it still took me more than a month to finish reading it. She asked me how I felt, and I said Zhuan Falun was for teaching people to be good people. She said, “It isn’t that simple. The book Zhuan Falun contains much more profound meanings.”

Later on, she suggested that we study the Fa and do the exercises together at least once a week, and I agreed. She was very kind to my wife as well. Whenever she had delicious food at home, she would bring some of it and share it with us. She often chatted with my wife and listened to my wife’s stories from her past. During the times when I went out to do business in other provinces, she sometimes came to stay with my wife at our booth, and she told my wife about the preciousness of Dafa. They became close friends. My wife welcomed her to our home to study the Fa. Later on, she invited another fellow practitioner to study the Fa with us at my home. From both of them, I saw the selflessness of Falun Dafa practitioners, which helped me gain righteous faith in Dafa and strengthened my will to practice Dafa.

After we studied the Fa together, we also shared cultivation experiences. It really helped me a lot during that time. Fellow practitioners told me that studying the Fa and doing the exercises in groups is the way that Master left for us, and only by following this path, can we achieve consummation, and so we must maintain it.

After persisting in group Fa study for some time, I could not put the Fa down anymore. Before I knew it, all my health problems had disappeared. My xinxing also improved a lot, and my temper became much better. Before I practiced Dafa, I used to smoke two or three packs of cigarettes a day, and I could drink a lot of Chinese hard liquor in one sitting. I often drank to the point that I was completely drunk. I got involved in many fights, too. My wife and I both had tattoos, all done by me. When people saw me, they would know I was the kind of person who did not mind getting hurt. Thus most people didn’t dare to provoke me and they would just choose not to deal with me. After practicing Dafa, they all wanted to associate with me. They said that I had become a good person. When I was selling fruit outside, others often brought me food and drink. I felt so fortunate to be able to practice Dafa.

When I read Zhuan Falun for the first time, I was able to quit smoking and drinking when I got to Lecture Seven. I have never gotten into a physical fight again after that, and I would always think of others first. Once, when I was doing the sitting meditation, I felt like I was floating up, and my head had reached the roof. I didn’t dare open my eyes, and then returned to the ground. Falun Dafa has transformed me into a healthy person, a good person, a better person, and even an extraordinary person.

About two months after I practiced Dafa, I had a conflict with my wife’s family. I couldn’t maintain my xinxing and I drank some hard liquor. I then drove back home on the expressway very fast. I heard a voice shouting outside the car window, “Slow down! Slow down! You are driving too fast!” It continued to shout at me. When I was not too far from home, my car crashed into the protective fence on the side of the road, but both my car and I were fine. Master protected me.

My Wife Also Started Practicing Dafa

My wife also used to have a very bad temper. In the past, we fought frequently. She was surprised to see the great changes in me after practicing Dafa, so she also wanted to study the Fa. She was not literate so she listened to Master’s audio recordings of the lectures. Afterward, she also changed into a different person and became very tolerant. She recovered from all the illnesses she had prior to practicing Dafa. Master also protected her.

My wife has a better enlightenment quality than I, and she always remembers to call on Master for help whenever she encounters a tribulation. Master opened her Celestial Eye, and she could see some people and objects in other dimensions. She saw a big eye just like it was described in Zhuan Falun. She said it was so big and beautiful, with long eyelashes and double eyelids. Once, when I was lying on the bed, she said that she couldn’t see me, but instead, she just saw a ball of white light where I was. She listened to Master’s words and always remembered to help awaken people. Whenever she met someone, she would talk to them about Falun Dafa and ask them to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its youth organizations. Once, we went to the large wholesale market in the provincial capital to buy goods, and she was able to help several people withdraw from the CCP one morning. She helped me in my cultivation as well. When I played with my mobile phone, she would tell me to stop and ask me to study the Fa more. When we were selling fruit, if it was not too busy, she would tell me to go inside the vehicle to study the Fa, while she watched the booth by herself. I am very grateful for her support and help in my cultivation!

Because we have multiple vehicles, when fellow practitioners needed a car, we would stop doing business and give our full support. What we have done is still very little. We must do more in the future!

Understanding the True Purpose of Life

Given that I practice Falun Dafa, I understood the true purpose of life. I understand that all disasters and tribulations I encounter are caused by karma, which is the result of the bad things I did in my past lives. Today, I am fortunate to be saved and cleansed by Master and be a Dafa practitioner. I must cherish this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

Given the rule of the CCP today, people’s moral standards are rapidly declining, and 5,000 years of a great civilization are being completely destroyed. People are committing all kinds of crimes such as doing drugs, gambling, prostitution, bribery, and so on. Most people do not believe in divine beings and are poisoned by modern concepts and atheism. People’s moral standards are already below the level of hell, and they are on a path of destroying themselves. As Dafa cultivators, we should take the initiative to abandon modern concepts and follow traditions, and we should not be content with just thinking that we are a little better than ordinary people. We must strictly demand ourselves to follow Master’s requirements, do things according to the standards of Dafa, work hard to truly and solidly cultivate, closely follow Master’s Fa-rectification process, and return to our true homes with Master.