(Minghui.org) Resilience is a concept taught in most schools now as people realize it can be learned. As stress and anxiety are plaguing our world, people are looking for ways to reduce the negative feelings experienced during adversity.
I believe that practicing Falun Dafa is an excellent way to change one’s outlook on life for the better and to remain positive amid hardship through the development of forbearance.
On the occasion of Falun Dafa Day, I would like to share my experience of this peaceful practice of mind and body. Over the last few years, I have gone through hardships and have developed strong resilience and inner peace thanks to Falun Dafa. Without Dafa’s teachings guiding me, I would have been lost in constant worries and despair, and may not have been able to cope.
Falun Dafa focuses on changing one’s mindset to become a truly better and moral person, and a more truthful, compassionate, and tolerant person. We can then attain a true sense of tranquility when we meditate, and a real sense of detachment from all the worries around us. Everything seems light and we develop a profound spiritual confidence that everything will be fine.
When my child was rushed to the hospital in November 2021, he was taken to a room filled with doctors. He looked terrified. A sudden sense of despair fell over me like a heavy weight.
I felt weak and exhausted from lack of sleep, and I wept. The medical staff told me that his heart might stop beating after the induced coma and intubation. But a thought came to me: Meditate, empty your mind. His heart kept beating.
While I meditated, I was able to totally escape the strong feelings of fear and guilt that otherwise would have suffocated me. I felt a sense of pure calm and peace. When not meditating though, my eyes were glued to the hospital oxygen monitor, and my child who lay there unconscious. I felt happy when the gauges went up and sad when they went down. My heart hurt from the stress, and I felt alone.
I decided to read Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Dafa, with all my heart, word by word. I knew this book well from reading it every day, but I realized that I had to let my worries go, and let go of wanting my child to make it. I knew my child’s fate was in Master’s hands.
Master said,
“If you cannot relinquish the attachment or concern for illness, we cannot do anything and will be unable to help you.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
“While you are enduring all that, you might not care too much about it, and you might not take it to heart.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
I felt the burden and anxiety leave me. The desperate situation that was heading towards life support for my son turned around completely that night. I became very lucid over the next few days. I went to the meditation room where I felt encouraged by a quiet Asian hospital worker who also did the Falun Dafa exercises.
My son woke up a few days later, totally unaffected by the event, and did even better than before.
When the next wave hit in August 2022, in the middle of my busy life, I knew it would be fine, whatever happened. Whether it was life or death for my son, I no longer had this worry. I did not take what the doctors said to heart and I knew he would surprise everyone.
When his situation was at the worst point and I thought he was leaving us, all the doctors rushed in, and everything went down on the monitors, including the heart and oxygen levels. I sat down, put my hands in heshi, closed my eyes, and imagined myself handing my son over to Master. He decides. I let go. Everything returned to normal shortly afterwards.
The nurses in the intensive care unit often told me I was very calm, and a lot of them were interested and curious about Falun Dafa.
Two years ago, I was told that my baby would have a syndrome and would have major problems with his heart and brain. I knew how precious each life is, and never imagined not having him.
My third son was born with respiratory distress and an extra 21st chromosome. I recited the first paragraphs of Zhuan Falun to him from memory during his first hour of life while the doctor did an ultrasound of his heart.
I strongly believe that my reciting the teachings and my calm and positive attitude helped him at that time. His heart turned out to be fine and his breathing dramatically improved. In the days that followed, they were surprised to find that he could eat normally, and that he was as strong and alert as a normal baby. I was then living on the other side of the world in Australia and my husband and other two boys were an hour and a half away. I had to handle everything myself and Falun Dafa was my source of courage. It brought me peace when I felt distressed. It helped me remain calm and rational when my emotions were trying to take me over.
After overcoming this, life returned to normal. My son, who was doing very well, spent most of his days in the baby carrier as I went about raising my other two boys. Little did we know that another storm was coming. In November 2021, he was rushed to the hospital with respiratory distress. He was intubated and remained unconscious for five days. He fully recovered within the next five days. He started babbling after the event, and was a happy baby, developing as expected.
We moved to my native country, Canada, in May 2022 and were very busy with the move and our three children. In August 2022, my son was taken to the hospital again as he was vomiting constantly and was very pale. He was diagnosed with Acute Myeloïde Leukemia. He developed respiratory distress from the first treatment of chemo and was again put into an induced coma, and was intubated for two weeks.
From the moment he was diagnosed all the way to the end of the treatment six months later, I felt stronger with each passing day. The forbearance I obtained from reading the teachings every day allowed me to feel grateful amid hardship, to not yearn for a better and more comfortable life, and to truly feel thankful for the opportunity to return to my true self, the true me, a me with no complaints and a calm, happy mind.
At the same time, it has benefited my son, who recovers from every incident unscathed and stronger. He is developing well and continues to surprise the specialists, who did not expect him to make it.
It was not rare for a new doctor to walk in after reading my son’s file and say, “Wow, your son is so surprising, I can’t believe he has gone through so much but is doing so well.” It reminds me of the lotus flower pendant that I give to people, which symbolizes growing with beauty and purity amidst muddy waters.
When I fall, I know how to look inside, and I have the courage to get back up and improve myself. I have learned to let go of emotion, fear, and insecurity. I am no longer fooled by material benefits, and understand that one’s heart is what matters most. Falun Dafa gives us a resilience that is unmatched in this world.
I would like to take this precious opportunity of Falun Dafa Day to express my deepest gratitude to Falun Dafa and Master Li, the founder of the practice, as it has been a bright light in my life that has allowed me to surpass myself and grow positively among all the difficulties.
I would like to end my sharing by citing Master’s words from his latest article “How Humankind Came To Be”:
“All of this is to say that the purpose of people’s lives on this earth isn’t to accomplish something in the world. All of the intense efforts and attempts people make in life, and their drive to get what they want, which can even involve resorting to unscrupulous means, only make people immoral in the end. The reason people came to this world and became human was to atone for their sins and karma, and to make significant spiritual progress. People came to this world to gain salvation. They came and assumed human form to await the Creator and his salvation back to their heavenly kingdom. And while they waited, they built up merit over their many past lives; and that was the purpose of people’s rebirths. The troubled nature of this world is meant to make something great of these lives.” (How Humankind Came To Be)
(Selected Submission Celebrating the 24th World Falun Dafa Day on the Minghui website)