(Minghui.org) It was a sunny day in March when tourists crowded a tourist spot in Dujiangyan City, Sichuan Province. On the steep uphill road to Lingyan Temple, an elderly lady walked swiftly up the stone stairs of the 800-meter-high cliff.
Her children and grandchildren tried to catch up. When they did, they had to stop and rest, while she continued to climb. Tourists looked at her in amazement. The year before she climbed to the top of Qingcheng Mountain, which is 1600 meters high. That elderly lady is my mother.
My mother is 82 years old. She was born into a poor family and was illiterate. She had to start working at the age of eight. She worked on the farm and brought up six children. Because of the hard work, she had low blood pressure, stomach problems, not enough platelets in her blood, and constantly coughed.
All of her ailments disappeared within several months after she started to practice Falun Dafa in October 1998. She does the exercises every day and follows the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in her daily life.
She wanted to read Zhuan Falun, the main book of the practice, and was very saddened to see that other people could read the book while she could not.
However, within three months of starting the practice, she could! She talked to Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa, in her mind, saying that she was deeply troubled that she couldn't read the book.
Rows of words from Zhuan Falun appeared before her eyes when she meditated as Master taught her how to read. She started to read alongside fellow practitioners and was, in time, able to read by herself.
When my mother walks at a brisk pace, it looks like she's floating. Her neighbors thought that she was jogging. She used to be a burden on her children and they used to have to help her walk. Now, she no longer takes any medicine and looks after her grandchildren. She also helps with the daily chores and shopping.
After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched the persecution of Falun Dafa, my mother told people that Dafa was good and not to believe what was said in the media.
She distributes Dafa informational materials in the countryside with other practitioners. At times she walks 25 miles to her hometown in the mountains to tell people about Dafa. She often left home at 6 a.m. with a full bag of materials and didn't return until 9 p.m.
My mother was arrested twice for telling people about Falun Dafa. She talked to the guards in the detention centers with compassion and told them how she benefited. The guards told her to practice at home and not to talk in public about it.
“Our Master asks us to follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,” she said. “If we don't tell people, they will believe the CCP's lies and propaganda about the practice. The CCP will collapse soon. Those who are part of it will suffer the same fate. Please withdraw your membership from the CCP.”
The guards told us to take her home.
After our family members, friends, and neighbors saw the positive changes in my mother, some of them also began to practice.
I was employed in one of China's legal departments and used to believe the CCP's misinformation about Dafa. I was an atheist, but now I, too, am a practitioner.
More than 40 of our family members have quit the CCP.