(Clearwisdom.net) I feel fortunate to have been able to become a Falun Gong practitioner during the Dharma-ending period.
I have been like a drifting leaf on the ocean, not knowing how many times I have run into unexpected reefs. One after the another, I encountered tribulations that caused me great dismay and made me lose hope. Then, all of a sudden, my path was illuminated by a light I had been eagerly searching for over many lifetimes. From that time on, my life has been refreshed.
In my memory, the most impressive thing that I met with after I came to America was Falun Gong. However, I had many suspicions about it at at first. In China, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is desperately persecuting and suppressing Falun Gong practitioners, arresting and detaining them, sending them to forced labor, and putting homes under surveillance. In contrast, in America practitioners can practice their belief openly in parks, doing the Falun Gong exercises or studying Falun Gong books in groups, whatever the weather. What impressed me most were their warm smiles and their kindness. They persistently clarify the truth about Falun Gong to people in parks or on the street, always in a peaceful way.
One day at home, I watched a VCD that I got from a Falun Gong practitioner. From that moment I started to understand that the CCP is fabricating lies against Falun Gong to deceive people around the world. I saw through the nature of the CCP, and my previous wrong notions about Falun Gong completely changed.
I work in a Chinese restaurant. Because of the heavy workload and long hours, in addition to my poor physical condition, my heath had deteriorated. I suffered from back pain, which sometimes extended to my legs. I resorted to acupuncture treatments but without any improvement. I was so depressed that I could not sleep well. One Saturday, after a day of hard work, I went home, so tired that I could do nothing but lie in bed. I felt my heart beating quickly and I was so weak that I felt that I was drifting in another world. Fortunately, one of my colleagues, seeing me in such dire straits, made up some sugar water and gave it to me. He took such good care of me that I was moved to tears. At my worst and most helpless moment he offered me generous help and warmth. He also told me that I could improve my mentality and my health by practicing Falun Gong.
After that, I practiced Falun Gong with him. In the beginning, I could not cross my legs to do the meditation, even my single leg crossing was awkward and I could do it for only a short time. After cultivating for a while, the pain in my back improved and my legs did not hurt any more. In addition, I could sleep well and was full of energy, like a completely new man. Now I can do the double leg crossing (full Lotus position) even for a long time.
Early in the Spring as I walked down the street, I suddenly had a thought that warned me of imminent danger. I stopped and looked up without intending to. I saw a huge icicle, sharp like a sword, drop from a the 4th or 5th floor of a building and hit the ground about four steps in front of me. Seeing this, I remembered that Teacher said in Zhuan Falun that he is protecting all genuine Falun Gong practitioners.
I sometimes could sense the Falun rotating in my lower abdomen, just like Teacher taught in Zhuan Falun. From then on, I cultivated Falun Dafa even more firmly, improving and purifying my "xinxing" to an even higher level.