(Minghui.org) Prior to beginning the practice of Falun Dafa, I suffered from several health problems such as hypertension, dizziness, cardiovascular disease, and Meniere’s disease. I spent my days in despair and had suicidal thoughts at times. An elderly woman named Ms. Li knew about my situation from my granddaughter and came to my house to visit me. She told me that killing is a criminal behavior, whether one kills another person or kills himself. As Master Li said in Zhuan Falun, “…Buddhism held that lives that were not supposed to die would, if killed, become lonesome spirits and homeless ghosts. Without such services, these souls would suffer hunger and thirst, living in a very bitter situation. …” (Zhuan Falun, Lecture 7)
The woman advised me to recite sincerely, “Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” In case I forgot the words later, she wrote them down for me. Since I was illiterate, I was unable to recognize a single written character, except my name, but the woman taught me how to read it. It took me three days to recognize these nine characters. Since I was worried about forgetting it, I recited these words in my heart many times every day. To my surprise, my blood pressure returned normal, the dizziness was gone, and my heart disease was healed. It was beyond my expectation, and I wanted to start cultivation immediately!
I wondered how I could cultivate if I was unable to read Zhuan Falun. How could an illiterate woman, who did not even know how to hold a book, read a 300-page book? I “talked” to the book, “ Characters! Characters! You can recognize me because Master shows us the Fa in written characters. Then, tell me how to let me recognize you!” I thought that, since I couldn't read, I had better listen to the Fa at first. Although I didn't understand some things Master talked about, I felt very good as I listened to the Fa. Wherever I went, I brought a tape player and listened to the Fa dozens of times in a row. I did not have all the lecture tapes, however, and that worried me. One day in front of Master’s photo, I said in tears, “Master! Please give me help. I want to learn to read. I want to read your books.” Elderly Ms. Li knew my thoughts and said, “If you make the decision to learn to read, I will make the decision to teach you.” The next day, she started teaching me to read Zhuan Falun, sentence by sentence. She divided long sentences into two or three sections and then told me how to read each part. With my undivided attention, I pointed at characters, one by one, to follow Ms. Li. In the beginning, I was so nervous that I was dripping with sweat. It took us 40 days to complete Zhuan Falun. I soon recognized that this book was the best book in the world and that I was so lucky to have found it. I decided to study the Fa well and closely follow Master's guidance.
Amazing! On my second reading of Zhuan Falun I could recognize most of the characters and read the book through without Ms. Li’s help! Although I could not read at a normal speed, and it took me three or four hours to finish a chapter, I was so excited that wanted to shout in public, “I can read! I can read the Fa!” Few people would believe that an illiterate old woman could read such a book in two months! Since then, the most important thing in my life is to read the Fa and it is also the most interesting thing I do it every day. I study the Fa until midnight or later, and sometimes I read the book the whole night through. Although I did not sleep much, my mind was still clear, and didn't feel tired at all. I forgot to have breakfast and lunch when I was absorbed in the book. Later, I had only one meal for breakfast and lunch to save more time for Fa study. Something amazing happened! Every word became alive and jumped out of the book. The sentence that I was reading would jump up in front of my eyes. Kneeling in front of Master’s photo, I said, “Thank you so much, Master, for giving me wisdom, and allowing an illiterate woman to be able to read the Fa! I am grateful for having obtained this Fa and being able to walk along the path of cultivation.” Within three years, I finished all of Master's lectures and some of them I even read more than ten times.
To be healthy is a blessing. I am very happy every day. I walk swiftly and ride a bicycle like a flying bird. I do not know what hardships are. The only pity is that I obtained the Fa later in life. I hope that everyone with a predestined relationship with the Fa will recite, “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” and take the opportunity to read the book from heaven, Zhuan Falun. Even if you are totally illiterate, as I was or whatever obstacles you may face, the same blessings could come to you if you make the decision to start cultivation practice in Falun Dafa.
