(Clearwisdom.net) I am 69 years old and began to cultivate Dafa in 1996 on a rather loose idea of getting my illnesses healed. With a host of illnesses, I preferred death than to have to live with coronary heart disease, peripheral neuritis, colitis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Due to my allergic reactions to pharmaceuticals, I practiced Qigong exercises in search of a cure. After learning five or six kinds of qigong, my pains persisted with no relief.
In 1996, on the recommendation of a friend, I bought a copy of Zhuan Falun and I thus embarked on Dafa cultivation. By closely following the standards of cultivation, my temperament improved very quickly. I remember a few months into cultivation seeing a string of Falun appear in front of me. There were many shining stars as well. When I went to sleep, I saw a glittering golden Buddha moving towards me from afar to right before my eyes. Oftentimes I also dreamed of flying in the air. I knew this was Teacher encouraging me to cultivate diligently. As I slept, a warm current would suddenly flow all over my body. Later, through studying the Fa, I knew it was Teacher purifying my body. Unknowingly, all the illnesses that had been bothering me vanished all of a sudden.
After 1999, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started persecuting Falun Gong practitioners, my husband, who worked for the Political and Legal Department, put me under house arrest. My home phones were monitored. Due to my fear, I gave up the practice.
I felt regret for allowing fear to dominate me when Teacher and Dafa were being slandered. Because I stopped Dafa cultivation, all my diseases recurred. I felt my life coming to an end. I even wrote a deathbed letter waiting for death to come. At this juncture, Teacher sent a fellow practitioner to rescue me. The practitioner gave me Dafa books, articles, and videotapes. Once again, Teacher purified my body so that I could return to Dafa cultivation.
Fa Study Is Key to Improving One's Mind
With determination to mend all the losses, I started to memorize Zhuan Falun. In the process, I contemplated more deeply and understood the principles of the Fa more clearly. As such, my human notions diminished, enabling me to face tribulations with a more sure-footed resolve.
I set a goal to read one lecture a day and memorize at least two pages. I also read Teacher's lectures to improve my xinxing and do the three things well. Each morning after I finished doing the exercises and sending forth righteous thoughts, I would try to memorize a paragraph even when short on time. In keeping this promise, I let nothing stand in my way.
Through memorizing Zhuan Falun, my xinxing has improved. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance embodies my whole life. Now I consider others when conflicts occur and look within at all times. As if to further spur my diligence, Teacher has enabled me to marvel the golden brilliance in every word of Zhuan Falun.
Eliminating Fear Makes Possible Predestined Relationships
When the persecution started, fellow practitioners and I went to see a public security chief to give him a copy of Zhuan Falun. When we got there, he was in a meeting. When he came out, I introduced myself as family member of a certain person and said that I wanted to give him a book to read. I told him that it would be good for him to read. He took the book and said that he would. A few days later, my husband heard about it and swore at me when he got home. He said, “You dared to give a Falun Gong book to the Public Security Bureau? Just wait. They will come for you soon.” I told him that I had Teacher to protect me and no one would dare to touch me. Besides, if they arrested the wife of a veteran leader, wouldn't that prove how ugly the persecution was? After a long time nothing happened, so I saw it as encouragement to keep doing what was right. Last year, I met a leader from the Public Security Bureau on a bus. He made a comment about my excellent health. I told him that it was because I practiced Falun Gong. He was very surprised. I told him that if not for Falun Gong, I would have died a long time ago. I told him to withdraw from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and be saved. He said he would and thanked me. A life was saved in a matter of five minutes.
A police officer often came to my home to harass me. After I clarified the truth to him, he said he was only following orders. In 2008, he had an auto accident, so I went to visit him and brought him a present. He praised my good health, so I told him that I was still practicing Falun Gong. He told me to practice at home and not outside. I told him to recite, “Falun Dafa is good” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” and to withdraw from the Party. He said he would. I told him about police officers who had encountered tribulations for persecuting Dafa practitioners. He told me that he had been transferred to the second-tier now and was no longer involved in persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. At the time, his wife was also hospitalized due to uremia, and I stopped over to see her and persuaded her to quit the Party as well.
Eliminating Sentimentality towards Relatives to Save Them
Many times I failed to clarify the truth to my husband because of my attachment to family. I remember on the evening of January 15, 2007, I dreamed my husband and I were being chased by a huge, black wolf. As we stopped momentarily, he asked me what we should do. I said, “Let's climb up the cliff.” When I reached the top and I didn't see him, I was so scared that I woke up. I knew it was Teacher trying to enlighten me to save him quickly. When we got up that morning, I told him to quit the Party right away. He grabbed a pair of scissors and came after me. I got angry. When he saw me getting angry, he lay down the scissors and didn’t say anything. I said to him, “It is for your own good and yet you behave like that. Now I am going to go see after your mother. If I didn't cultivate Dafa, would I bother to do that?”
When I got out of the house, I started to look within and knew I hadn't done right. I hadn't clarified the truth to him with compassion. The main reason was that I hadn't laid down the attachment of emotion. Instead, I was thinking that, as my husband, he was obliged to listen to me. After understanding this, I regarded him as another sentient being and put down my attachment.
In 2008, my husband's work unit organized a sightseeing trip and they could bring family members along. Before we went, I noticed that he was in good mood. I said that it was dangerous to climb mountains and walk in the canyons and that he needed to recite, “Falun Dafa is good,” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” to be safe. He just smiled and didn't object. I thought this was his recognition of Dafa and, perhaps, he might have been reciting it secretly all along. When we arrived at our destination, the low altitude affected his breathing when he slept. I told him to recite, “Falun Dafa is good,” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” He smiled and didn't dispute it. When we arrived at Kaifeng, Henan Province, he asked the tour guide, “Do you know a Public Security Bureau chief by the name of Ren Changxia?” After the tour guide said that he did, my husband asked him, “How did he die? And why did he die when he sat in the safest spot in the car during the accident, while others did not get hurt?” The guide said nothing. People in the entire vehicle were silent, listening. I was pleased, thinking it was arranged by Teacher to let people know the truth.
When we returned from the trip, I helped my husband to withdraw from the CCP. Two months later, the test results of his doctor's visit showed that the shadow on his lungs had disappeared. This made a deep impression on him. From that time on, my cultivation environment has been more peaceful.
My brother had liver cancer when he was 74 years old. Because he and my sister-in-law had provided so much for the family, I had deep feelings for them. After I started Dafa cultivation, I clarified the truth to my brother, but he did not agree and said, “I cannot quit the party, and neither can you. We cannot destroy our family, and you cannot create trouble for your husband.” I was afraid of offending him and thus played along with him. Since his cancer was in a late stage, I could not bear it any longer. I sat beside him and sobbed and told him to quit the Party. He saw how sad I was, so he finally said, “Don’t cry. I'll quit the Party. You and your sister-in-law can help me to recite, 'Falun Dafa is good,' and I will as well.” I worried about his mood and thus didn't clarify the truth any deeper. From the surface, he had withdrawn from the Party, but I felt that I hadn't clarified the truth enough. I feel the evil exploited this loophole from my attachment, and he died three months later. My sister and my in-law’s mother also had cancer. When they knew the truth, they quit the Party and always recited, “Falun Dafa is good” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” They are not only alive but also live well now. I will never forget this lesson.
Getting Rid of Hatred to Save People with a Predestined Relationship
I had a boss who once asked my husband for a favor, but because we didn't follow through to her satisfaction, she often found fault with me to get at me. Before I retired, I trained two workers to enable them to carry on my work when I retired. But she later let them go. Instead, she hired a non-professional accountant. Because of my hatred of my boss, I had failed to clarify the truth to her when there were opportunities.
Teacher said in “Teaching the Fa in Canada, 2006:”
“In fact, the entire Fa-rectification has been done in this most lenient, most merciful manner. The mistakes that beings made in history are not counted against them. No matter how large of a crime you committed or mistake you made in history, none of it is held against you: Only your attitude towards Fa-rectification today and your understanding of Dafa matter. That's the only thing that counts.”
This paragraph made me realize that I was wrong and I found I still harbored hatred for my former boss. Teacher arranged another opportunity for me. I came across her in the street. She praised me for my youthful appearance. I told her I was still practicing Dafa. She advised me to just practice it at home and not outside. I replied that it wasn't a coincidence that we'd met. I recommended she quit the Party and recite, “Falun Dafa is good,” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” She said OK and thanked me. I also told her to have her husband and child quit the Party as well, and she agreed. Afterwards, I thanked Teacher for strengthening me to exert reason over anger.
These are some of my encounters in cultivation. It is Teacher's blessing that has kept me on the path up to this time. We need to study the Fa well, send forth righteous thoughts, and save more sentient beings. Let us walk well the final cultivation path and return home with Teacher.
