Falun Dafa Minghui.org www.minghui.org PRINT

[Celebrating World Falun Dafa Day] The Silver Lining Behind the Adversities

May 24, 2023 |   By Cai Yun, a Falun Dafa Practitioner in China

(Minghui.org) I suffered from osteochondrosis (a type of bone disorder) when I was born. I could not even turn my body when I was four years old. I could not walk. My parents had to carry me all the time.

One day, my parents took me to visit a relative. They left me in the house alone and went out. I was irritated and one of my eyes popped out. As I grew older, the eye popped out even more. My mother did not take me to see a doctor, instead, she applied alum on my eye, which caused my eyeball to sink in and I lost my eyesight.

A few years later, a relative said to my parents, “You should just get rid of this girl. She can’t walk by herself and her eye is bad too.” Our neighbor also said so. I was eight years old that year and could understand what they were saying. I was afraid of my parents abandoning me. With a strong desire to survive, I suddenly stood up while holding onto the wall and window.

Gradually I was able to walk on my own. My parents were very happy. Then I went to school, found a job, and got married.

I took great care of my parents. After I got married, I visited my parents very often and provided financial support to them. When my father was sick, I delivered food to him every day. When both my husband and I lost our jobs, we started our own business. My husband complained that I went to visit my parents too often and lost opportunities to make more money. He also worried that I wore myself out.

The physical exhaustion did take a toll on my health. I began to have trouble walking and was feeling very low. My husband said, “Out of your many siblings, only you take care of your parents. If you lose the ability to walk one day, I will abandon you.” I was saddened to hear that. I made up my mind to get well.

The following day, I got up very early to take a walk. When passing by a park, I heard beautiful music and felt as if I was transported to a different world. Later I got to know that it was the exercise music of Falun Dafa.

I followed the music into the park and saw over 200 people standing there, doing slow-moving exercises. I felt an atmosphere of peace and compassion. I was drawn to it.

The next day, I joined the exercise group and started practicing Falun Dafa since then.

Looking back, from how I stood up on my own when I was young to how I discovered Dafa, everything seemed to have been arranged for me to make the big step whenever I needed to.

A Strong-headed Woman Learns to Put Herself Down

Because of my blind eye, I’m not a good-looking woman. To overcome my low self-esteem, I developed a strong personality. I always demanded to be a top student and a top employee. I never wanted to be discriminated against or bullied by others.

I liked to do things my own way. I had a bad temper and was very stubborn. At home, I often scolded my child and was not gentle with my husband either.

Since the day I got married, I often fought with my husband over trivial things. He did not like to have green onion, ginger, or garlic. And he did not want me to eat them either. Once my sister brought a few green onions for me. My husband threw them out. I had a big fight with him by smashing a thermos bottle filled with boiled water on the ground. I even attempted to smash the TV but was stopped by him. As he kept silent, I took it as he admitted his mistake.

After I practiced Dafa, I changed. I followed Dafa’s principles of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” and put myself in the lowest position at home. When I had a conflict with my husband or my daughter again, I tried my best to control my bad temper, until I was able to stay unmoved.

I no longer scolded my daughter but began to communicate with her with reason. She said, “After Mom learned Dafa, she changed. Not only did she become healthier, her character also became great.”

I treated my husband differently. I searched within when facing conflicts with him. Once, my husband tried some garlic sprouts dumplings that I brought home from work and said it tasted good. So I added some garlic when I made dumplings at home on another day. He was mad all of a sudden and dumped the dumplings and fillings on the floor. I thought I am a practitioner and I have to be more tolerant. I did not fight back but quietly cleaned up everything. Then I bought some vegetables and made four different dishes. He finished them all. If something happened like this in the past, it would have evolved into a big family war.

My Daughter’s Kind Thoughts

My daughter is very supportive of my practicing Dafa. She also follows Dafa’s principles herself and has been blessed.

A few years ago, she worked as a sales associate for high-end silk scarfs, ranging from several hundred to thousands of yuan. My daughter was very capable. Her daily sales were often over a few hundred thousand yuan and she got paid very well too.

Later her boss asked her to sell some lower quality scarfs at an unfairly high price as well. My daughter did not agree because she did not want to do things that would go against Dafa’s principles. She persuaded her boss. However, the boss did not want to listen. So my daughter quit the job.

Later the boss’ husband passed away due to a heart attack and the boss herself also passed away three months later due to cancer. This further affirms my daughter’s understanding that one has to do good things and stay kind.

When my daughter and her boyfriend got engaged, his family also supported me in practicing Dafa and they said to me, “There is nothing wrong with being a good person.” Now my daughter has had two children and her husband’s business is also booming.

My Husband’s Kind Action

My husband did not believe in Dafa at the beginning. Later, he saw that I did not take any medicine and yet became healthier with a better temper. I became more considerate of others and more tolerant. He not only started supporting my practice but also publicly clarified the facts about Dafa to others.

Once he heard others say something bad about Dafa in a park. He chatted with them, “Falun Gong teaches people to become better. My wife is a practitioner. She has become a better person.”

My husband’s kind action brought him blessings. After he started practicing the exercises with me, his stroke and high blood pressure went away. He personally witnessed the wonderfulness of Falun Dafa.

Kind Action By Supporters

My younger brother had a stroke and could not move. When I visited him in the hospital, I asked him to chant the auspicious phrases, “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” He did and recovered quickly. He shared his experience with his friends and coworkers. All of them were impressed with the wonderfulness of Dafa.

One day, when I was ready to pay for some groceries at a market, a young man came over and offered to pay for me. It turned out that I talked to him at the hospital and told him about Dafa. After he agreed to quit the Chinese Communist Party and chanted the auspicious phrases, he recovered from a heart attack without further medical treatment.

My family and friends all witnessed my changes after practicing Dafa, and are very supportive. When I was imprisoned, they visited me often and urged the prison guards not to participate in the persecution. The guards asked then, “Are you all Falun Gong practitioners?” They said, “No, but we saw her doing really well thanks to the practice and we all support her.”

Once, when I was talking to the locals about Dafa on the street, two police officers saw me and attempted to arrest me. A few people passing by said, “She is a Falun Gong practitioner. That is great!” “Why are you arresting good people?” With their righteous support, the police didn’t arrest me and left.

Conclusion

I used to be an atheist and did not believe in anything we can’t see with our naked eyes. After I practiced Dafa, Master Li (Dafa’s founder) opened my celestial eye. When I read Dafa books, I can see every word is a Falun and sometimes I could see layers of Buddhas and Taoists. I can see Master is with us every day. My understanding is, Buddhas and Gods would give kind people who admire the Heavens and Gods a bright future.