China Fahui | A Barber Shop Owner’s Cultivation Journey

(Minghui.org) I am 57 years old. Although I started to practice Falun Dafa in 1998, I didn’t know how to cultivate, so I stumbled along for years. Fortunately, Master Li (Falun Dafa’s founder) protected me, which is why I have come this far.

My mother often told me mythological stories like the Investiture of the Gods and the Eight Immortals. The Chinese New Year pictures in our house were all about things like Magu offering longevity cakes and the Goddess of the Luo River emerging from the water. I had longed for the world of immortals since I was a child. When my older relatives passed away, I felt sad and I was afraid of death. I often thought that if I could cultivate and become an immortal, I could live forever. But, I didn’t know how to cultivate.

After we married, my husband was honest and dutiful, but he was a chronic alcoholic. He would drink for three to five days, and he often smashed things, yelled at me, and beat me while he was drunk. I was terrified, and I felt suffocated. I wanted a divorce. Other people who were laid off found work and earned money to support their families, but he did nothing. I despised him. The more he drank, the more my resentment towards him grew.

One time, he beat me, chased me with a knife and tried to kill me. I came up with a plan: when he was drunk, I kept quiet; when he sobered up, I mocked and ridiculed him to vent my anger. When he drank, he didn’t eat anything; when he was was sober, he yelled that he was hungry and wanted food. When I brought him food he said, “I won’t eat, because you don’t want me.” I thought to myself: You’re absolutely right—I wish you were dead. Each day was more bitter than the last.

I run a barbershop, and my income was just enough to support us. I tried every possible way to earn more money. When I lay down to rest, my soul often left my body, which terrified me—if I couldn’t come back, would I die? When I woke up, I didn’t understand what happened. After I began practicing Falun Dafa, I realized that Master had been watching over me all along; seeing me drifting further and further away, Master was reminding me that it was already very dangerous.

A Foolish Practitioner Finally Changed

In the summer of 1998, I noticed my neighbor was reading a book. She said her father’s chronic stomach problems were resolved after he practiced Falun Dafa. I was curious and borrowed it. I thought that it really is possible for a person to cultivate into a divine being. This book was exactly what I had been looking for. I did the exercises and studied the Fa every day. My heart was filled with hope. I wanted to be a good person and return to my true self.

However, when conflicts arose, I still thought I was right and others were wrong. I did not apply Dafa’s teachings. Every time my husband became drunk, I felt wronged—I kept enduring until I finally exploded. To relieve the pain, I chatted online and played games.

Although my husband’s drunkenness repeatedly prevented me from overcoming this obstacle, I still wanted to do well and continue to cultivate. I saw a scene one day: in a past life, I was running ahead, and my husband was chasing after me. He was about to catch up. I turned around and hit him with something like a sickle, leaving him lying on the ground, barely alive. I went over and saw that his eyes were exactly the same as when he was drunk. Ah, so in a past life I had killed him! Everything I was experiencing today was repaying karmic debts, but I didn’t want to repay them, and even wished for his death—how wicked I was! Another time, I was riding on his shoulders, and he was carrying me forward. Understanding my karmic connection with my husband, I wept bitterly and resolved to overcome this obstacle.

Fellow practitioners downloaded Minghui podcast files for me, and I listened to them while I worked. I was often moved to tears by other practitioners’ good deeds. Some practitioners talked about how memorizing the Fa helped improve their understanding of cultivation. I wanted to assimilate myself to the Fa, so I started memorizing the Fa.

I had been lost in fame, gain, and sentimentality, and I created countless karmic obstacles for myself. My thought karma interfered, making memorizing very difficult. It took me two years and eight months to memorize Zhuan Falun once. During that time, I also memorized Hong Yin and Essentials for Further Advancement. As I was purified by Dafa, my main consciousness strengthened, and I occasionally gained insights into the Fa principles, which increased my confidence in cultivation. I gradually realized that the root of my suffering was my ego, my selfishness, and deep down, my pursuit of a happy and comfortable life. I also had the desire to be loved, and when I didn’t receive it, I felt resentment, jealousy, and hatred. I also saw clearly the vain, domineering, arrogant, and insecure person I used to be.

Looking back, I realize my husband was kindhearted. He knew Falun Dafa was good and never opposed my practice. When I was forced to stay away from home, he accompanied me. He helped me contact fellow practitioners in the area. He also participated in the lawsuit against Jiang Zemin, the former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader who initiated the persecution of Falun Dafa in 1999. During the CCP’s Zero-Out campaign attempting to force all practitioners to renounce our faith, officials saw that I wouldn’t sign, and they told him to go to the police station. Although he was afraid, he didn’t compromise. I sincerely apologized to him, “I’m sorry, I was wrong before. If I do anything wrong in the future, please tell me, and I will change.” He didn’t say anything, but he silently wept.

From then on, I genuinely cared for and respected him. When he was drunk, I took good care of him and cooked him delicious meals. I used him as a mirror to improve myself. Now he drinks less often, no longer roars with a ferocious expression, and our relationship has become harmonious.

I truly regret my behavior. Why did I wake up so late? Why did it take me so long to understand? I’ve wasted so much precious time. I understand that my true self is pure, but it’s controlled by various acquired concepts—that is, by human notions. These notions then lead to various attachments. Therefore, by changing my perspective, these attachments can be easily eliminated. Everything should be measured by Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.

Actually, Master mentioned enduring hardship many times in his teachings, but I didn’t really take it to heart. Occasionally, I would even want to eat something nice to relax. When I was memorizing “How Humankind Came To Be,” Master repeatedly mentioned hardship and enduring suffering. I suddenly enlightened. Enduring hardship helps us, and I must endure more hardship. Therefore, I often remind myself that enduring hardship is a good thing, and indulging is a bad thing. I can’t always wait for Master to eliminate my karma; I must actively cultivate myself. From then on, I started had copying the Fa, trying my best to match it with the original book. I could only copy one page a day, and it took me more than a year to finish copying Zhuan Falun once.

Afterwards, I experienced significant physical and mental changes. I no longer felt tired even after a full day's work. My heart’s capacity expanded, my mindset became more peaceful, and my willpower and endurance strengthened. A fellow practitioner said, “In my dream, we were climbing Laoshan Mountain. There were three paths. One was a direct ascent, very steep but the fastest. The second path had steps, and the third path had a rest stop after each set of steps. We were both rushing up the first path, but halfway up, I wanted to slow down and fell back down. I then chose the third path. When I reached the halfway point, I saw that you had already reached the top.” I understood that enduring hardship is part of cultivation, and Master was telling me I was doing the right thing.

After I finished reciting Zhuan Falun for the second time, I don’t have enough time each day, so I have to reduce my sleep to recite the Fa. Now my husband takes care of the housework. My daughter told me, “Mom, I dreamed that when you were born, there were two of you inside your body, like twin sisters. After you grew a little older, you started to devour each other. One of you shed its disgusting, seemingly soft but actually very heavy shell made up of fat, blood, and some organs, which could stand upright on the ground. You finally won, were reborn, and became very young.”

I choked up and I silently said: Thank you, Master, I will try my best. Sometimes when I don’t maintain my xinxing, my daughter dreamed again: there were some bad people, like evil forces, who specifically humiliated and tormented people, grabbing me and throwing me into a cesspool, and my daughter came to save me. I feel ashamed and grateful for Master’s salvation.

Family Members Also Received the Blessings of Dafa

My mind and body were purified by Dafa, and my family was blessed. When my maternal grandmother was alive, she was tormented by spirit possession to the point that she couldn’t get out of bed. It was said that the spirit was a hedgehog, very fierce, and no one dared to mess with it. My mother angrily cursed the spirits, after which they came to my mother. My mother had no choice but to make offerings to them. After I started to practice, all those spirits were eliminated by Master. My 83-year-old mother is clear-headed and quick-witted, believes in the goodness of Dafa, and now she uses truth-clarification currency when she goes shopping.

My second sister owns a restaurant. In their quest for wealth, her husband obtained an object and enshrined it at home, which caused my sister frequent nightmares. I told her to say, “Falun Dafa is good,” and she recovered. Once, my sister said that in her dream she saw a group of things trying to enter the house. She quickly shouted “Falun Dafa is good,” and they disappeared.

Before I started practicing Falun Dafa, my family constantly argued. My daughter was often scolded by her drunken father and didn’t feel any warmth at home. She became somewhat willful and extreme in personality, suffered from mild depression, and even considered running away from home. As I studied the Fa and cultivated myself to improve my character, things changed. Everything improved. My daughter, who used to hate coming home, said, “This home is so warm and harmonious now, Mom, you’ve changed.” She said, “You’ve become gentler.”

Once, my daughter said, “I dreamed that Master was sitting on a white cloud, wrapped in a thick red cloth, with only one shoulder exposed, and he spoke to me telepathically.” I showed her a picture of Master, and she said, “That’s exactly right.” Sometimes she also dreams of Master, wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and suit pants, smiling, showing her some wondrous sights.

I often tell my daughter, “You should cultivate quickly! You have such a strong predestined relationship with Master. You came here for Dafa, and Master is always watching over you.” Perhaps I was too attached to my daughter, which had the opposite effect. Although my daughter hasn’t officially started to practice Falun Dafa, she uses Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance to measure herself in her interactions with others. After she changed, so did her husband.

One day, my daughter said to her father, “If my mother hadn’t embraced Falun Dafa, would our family have everything we have today?” Indeed, when we got married, we lived in the east and west rooms of our house with my mother-in-law. He lost his job, and then our daughter was born. We had no income and struggled financially. To make ends meet, I opened a small hair salon. Later, my sister-in-law sold her house and moved back to my husband’s family home, so the three of us squeezed into the small shop. As I rectified myself in the Fa, business improved, and our family, on the verge of breaking up, became harmonious again. Now we have a house and savings; everything is a blessing from Master.

I often remind myself that this shop is a place for cultivation practice and helping save people, not for me to become fulfilled or rich. Every day I played music from Dafa practitioners in the shop, and many people enjoy listening to it. One person said, “What kind of music is this? It’s quite nice.” Another person added, “It’s very comfortable to be here; my mind is very calm.”

Street Vendor: “Without Master Li and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, China Would Have Been Finished Long Ago.”

Here are a few short stories about how people received blessings after they renounced membership in the CCP and its affiliated organizations.

There was a man around 60 whom I successfully helped renounce his membership in the CCP and its affiliated organizations. Then I explained the facts about the persecution of Falun Dafa, and he readily accepted it. He said, “The Communist Party is so evil; they do nothing good. My grandparents were very wealthy back then; they owned factories and banks. When the Communist Party came, they took everything away; my family had nothing left.”

I said, “When you have free time, please recite 'Falun Dafa is good.' Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is the universal law. Sincerity is key and you will receive Dafa’s protection.”

He replied, “I believe you.” He then recited the phrases very often after that.

Not long after the New Year, the man came, beaming, and said, “I have a good news for you: A few years ago, I wasn’t feeling well and suspected I had heart disease. I went to the provincial hospital for a checkup, and the doctor did an angiogram. It showed that more than 50% of my blood vessels were blocked. They said that if it got any bigger, I’d need a stent. A few days ago, I went again, thinking if the blockage was serious, I might need a stent. But the doctor did another angiogram and said there was no blockage at all.” He laughed as he spoke.

I said, “You’ve received blessings; you should thank Dafa and Master Li.” He agreed and repeatedly said thank you.

There was also a junior high school student whom I talked to about Falun Dafa and helped him withdraw from the Young Pioneers. I told him, “Sincerely reciting ‘Falun Dafa is good’ will open your wisdom and intelligence. Do you want to try it?”He replied, “I’ll try it.”

After the high school entrance exam, he came to my shop again. I asked him how the exam went. He happily said, “Before, my total test score was around 470, never exceeding 480. This time I scored over 530 and got into my ideal school. My classmates and teachers were all very surprised.”

I smiled and said, “Please thank Master Li in your heart and continue reciting ‘Falun Dafa is good’ in the future.”

He replied, “Sure!”

An older woman came in for a haircut. I first talked to her about the various political movements orchestrated by the CCP to harm people, and an ancient Chinese saying, “Good is rewarded and evil meets with consequences.” I explained that it was bad to be affiliated with the CCP. She understood and agreed to withdraw from the CCP organizations. Then I told her about Falun Dafa. She said she had breast cancer surgery a few years ago and cataract surgery recently, but her eyes were still uncomfortable; plus she also suffered from insomnia. I told her that sincerely reciting “Falun Dafa is good” would have miraculous effects.

“Because when you sincerely recite it, you communicate with the positive energy in the universe,” I explained. “Why are you sick? Because of negative energy. When positive energy enters, it eliminates the negative energy. The more sincere your heart, the more effective it will be.”

She replied, “Okay, I will recite it after returning home.”

After a while, the woman came back and told me that she recited it every day, and her eyes were no longer uncomfortable, and her sleep had improved.

I said, “Sincerity is key!” The woman is now very energetic, and I am very happy for her.

I talked to a street vendor in his 50's. When the topic turned to the persecution of Falun Dafa, he asked me if I still practiced. I laughed. Then he said something startling: “Without Master Li and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, China would have been finished long ago.”

(Selected submission for the 23rd China Fa Conference on Minghui.org)