Practicing Falun Dafa Improves My Character

(Minghui.org) I had the good fortune to begin practicing Falun Dafa in 1998 more than 20 years ago. My colleagues, relatives and friends all say that practicing Falun Dafa has changed me in some very good ways. 

I started playing mahjong (a form of gambling) in 1996. At first I gambled one yuan. Within six months, I gambled ten yuan each time I played. I mainly played with the people in my work unit. During work hours, we secretly made appointments to play. Sometimes we played throughout the night. I didn’t spend money on other things so that I had enough money to gamble. I played almost every day, and the first thing I did when I woke up every morning was to make an appointment to play mahjong.

At that time, I was in charge of the workers’ union and the women in my unit. The work unit had us attend an event on March 8, Women’s Day. As soon as the bus arrived, those of us who played mahjong went to a room to play. When it was time to eat we were reluctant to leave the mahjong table.

One of my best friends practiced Falun Dafa, and she invited me to try. I was too busy playing mahjong to talk to her. As addicted as I was to gambling, she didn’t have much opportunity to tell me about Falun Dafa.

On April 30, 1998, her eighty-six-year-old mother came from her hometown to visit. When I went to see her, she showed me the book Falun Gong and The Great Way of Spiritual Perfection. The books stated that practicing can change the path of one’s life, and I was very interested. I borrowed the two books. I read The Great Way of Spiritual Perfection that night, and decided then to practice Falun Dafa. 

As soon as I woke up the next morning, the first thing I did was to look for the exercise instruction video, and have practiced Dafa ever since.

Falun Dafa teaches that one should not kill, smoke, drink, gamble, or do bad things. As soon as I started practicing, I told my old friends: I practice Falun Dafa now, so I’m no longer interested in playing mahjong.

But it was difficult to completely quit. We all lived in the same neighborhood, and sometimes I went to watch them play. Two weeks after I began practicing Falun Dafa, I went to pay my gambling debts. Someone wanted me to play mahjong, but I said I couldn’t. He insisted and I played three rounds with him. My lower back hurt a lot that night, which I took as a message to give it up. Although I did not play with anyone else afterwards, I continued to play with my children at home for two more years.

One day at noon, my children asked me to play mahjong. I promised to play with them after I washed the dishes. But I cut my middle finger washing a porcelain bowl and I bled heavily. I knew I couldn’t play mahjong anymore, so I told the children, “I can’t play Mahjong. I cannot touch the pieces because my hand is bleeding.” Since then, my family stopped playing mahjong. But I sometimes still watched others play. This was because my addiction was not entirely removed. Later, I studied and memorized the Fa more, and I didn’t even want to see a mahjong board. 

No More Cursing

Before I began practicing, I had to have the final say on everything at home. I cursed when people didn’t agree with me. I was also bossy in my work unit and could not tolerate different opinions, and I frequently complained. For the unit head, I would scold him whenever he provoked me. I was a notoriously crooked person in my work unit.

Dafa requires practitioners to be good people according to the standards of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and we must not fight back when hit or curse back when cursed. Since the day I first practiced, I never scolded anyone but sometimes I still cursed.

In March 2000, I went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa and was taken to a detention center by the police and held for 15 days. Fellow practitioners overheard me saying some bad words, and pointed it out to me. I have never spoken bad words since then. 

Resolving Resentment

Because I was bossy and smart before practicing, I always paid attention to the financial affairs in my work unit. The accountant and the cashier took an extra movie ticket. I quarreled with the accountant and our relationship was tense. The accountant didn’t talk to me for several years, and treated me like an enemy. 

After I began practicing Falun Dafa I knew this was not acceptable. I looked within according to the requirements of Dafa, and I realized from the bottom of my heart that I was bossy, fussy, and unreasonable, which hurt my colleague. I felt regretful. 

During an event for retired administrators organized by my unit, I humbly approached her and sincerely admitted my mistakes. I apologized to her in front of several retired officers. She was moved. Afterwards we became good friends. 

Later, she told everyone about the changes she has seen in me since I began practicing Falun Dafa. She sincerely felt that Dafa was good. Before she moved to the provincial capital, I gave her an amulet and some truth-clarification materials. I helped her quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organizations she had joined. Now she is in her 80s and in good health. 

No Longer Need Eyeglasses 

When I was sixteen in 1964, I had to get eyeglasses because of my nearsightedness. As time went by, the myopia worsened. My visual acuity was below 0.1. Before practicing, in addition to myopia, I had presbyopia. When I worked in the office, I couldn’t see my writing when I wore my glasses. I had to take them off and lower my head closer to the page to write. I couldn’t recognize people two feet away when I took the glasses off.

Six months after I began practicing I was doing the exercises at a practitioner’s home. We took a break to prepare for the meditation exercises. The left lens of my glasses suddenly dropped out. I felt strange, why did it fall out for no reason? 

I went to fix it the next day. After another month, I read Master’s teaching and realized that I didn’t have to wear eyeglasses anymore. I went to the optical shop to test my vision, and my vision acuity reached 0.7. I was so happy! I thought I would have to wear glasses for the rest of my life, but I took them off after practicing Falun Dafa for just six months! I don’t know when my presbyopia disappeared. 

Healthy for 24 Years

I practiced Dafa for more than 20 years, and I haven’t taken a single pill or had an injection. It’s not that I won’t take medicine if I’m sick, but that I haven’t been sick since I began practicing. Now that I am 74 years old, I am free from illnesses, walk lightly, and I’m full of energy. My friends and relatives envy me for having a healthy body.