(Minghui.org) I am 55 years old. I started practicing Falun Gong in May 1995. Master has done a lot for me during my years of cultivation. I can find no words to express my deep gratitude. I can only continue to be diligent and do well the three things.
After the Storm
Before practicing Falun Gong, I had suffered from asbestos silicosis. On New Year’s Day in 1996, pre-natal problems caused me to come down with severe systemic rheumatism that affected my heart and eyes.
For the next few years, to cure my illnesses, I used up all my family savings, closed my lucrative insulation business, and sold my car. I was dragged from affluence to the point of being down and out.
My illnesses were not cured but my asbestos silicosis got worse. The medicines I took created side effects that ruptured my blood vessels. I was on the brink of death.
Just at the critical moment, I got hold of the most precious book, Zhuan Falun.
The first day when I read Lecture Three of Zhuan Falun, I had a sudden urge that I wanted to practice Falun Gong.
I knelt down in front of Master’s picture in the book, and vowed, “Master, I am going to start my cultivation practice this very day. No matter how long and hard, I will practice to the end. I want to go home with Master.”
My will was strong. There were cultivators among my ancestors, so I had always believed in the deities.
That afternoon when I laid myself down for a rest, I felt a big hand hold up my back and carried me swiftly to a far off place. I saw a clear pool of water. Then I saw myself sitting at the edge of the water with a white towel wrapped around my just cleaned body.
That very day, all my aches and pains were gone. I was able to be up and about fixing dinner and doing all kinds of household chores.
There was no word to describe my feelings of lightness and happiness.
After half a year, Master started to cleanse my body.
Many lumps began to appear in many of my joints, the biggest one as large as a goose egg. Those lumps had the immense power of absorption. The more they absorbed, the bigger the lumps would get until three or four days later, they would start to rupture. Pus and stuff that looked like rotten flesh would seep out. Then, the rupture would heal itself.
Later, I also gradually spit out a lot of lumpy things the size of kidney beans.
I realized Master was ridding me of my rheumatic problems, which had ruined me financially to cure them, but were now easily eliminated thoroughly through Dafa’s extraordinary power.
Master says:
“The ill part of your body, which you thought was healed before through qigong exercises or by a qigong master, will again have illness. This is because that qigong master did not cure the illness for you—he only postponed it. It was still there and would recur later if not at that time. We must dig it out and eliminate it completely from its root.” (Zhuan Falun)
That was my actual personal experience. The irrefutable miracle validates that Dafa is an extraordinary science, with limitless power.
Through further Fa study, I knew from the day I accepted Dafa, Master had scooped me from hell and purified my body so that I could cultivate in everyday society.
My skies were cleared after the storm. The Buddha light shines everywhere. My family recovered our former joy. I rebuilt my insulation business, and everything was as it had been before.
Treat Others with Compassion
I found time every day to study the Fa and do the exercises. I strictly required of myself to measure my every thought, word, and deed in accordance with Dafa’s requirements. I became considerate of everybody, both inside and outside my family.
The first thing I did was to correct the past learned corrupt notion in ordinary society of dragging on accumulated debts.
I cleared up all the money issues with my former business partner, who was so grateful that he took time out to drop by to thank me in person.
I also paid back all debts owed several manufacturers from other provinces. One of them came all the way to thank me. He also stayed to learn the exercises and left with a copy of Zhuan Falun.
My husband’s family had a wonderful neighbor, Mr. Li, who had helped the family out time and time again and lent both my great grandfather and father much money on two different occasions. Those debts had not been repaid for over 40 years.
That was what I found out soon after I started Falun Gong practice, when Mr. Li dragging his aged, frail body to our house to say that he had gotten sick but had no money to pay for treatment, and that it would be helpful if we could pay him the money my husband’s family owed him.
My husband asked me what to do. I said, “Of course we’ll pay everything back.”
I was afraid Mr. Li could not manage the entire amount at once because of his advanced age, so, I decided it best to pay him part of what was owed him that first time.
I told him, “When you spent all of it, come back for more until you said we’ve paid back everything.”
We also thanked Mr. Li for all his past kindness and generosity to the family.
Mr. Li was in tears. He said to us, “I should not have come to bother the two of you when your parents are still living. I never imagined you would be so good to me.”
We told him not to worry as children, we had the obligation to take care of any family obligation.
Mr. Li thanked us over and over again.
We told him, as we told all others, “Don’t thank us. Thank Falun Gong and thank our Master who teaches us to always do the right thing.”
Letting Go of Life and Death
I felt extremely sad when the persecution against Falun Gong swept throughout the country on July 20, 1999.
“How can such a wonderful Dafa be allowed to be defamed by such slanderous propaganda by the media? Why am I sitting home stunned? I must go to Beijing to speak up for Dafa and to stand up for Master.”
On September that year, I went to Beijing but was arrested and imprisoned. I witnessed the violent beatings and electric baton shocks some practitioners received from the police. I had no idea why, and I couldn’t fall asleep. I had a strong feeling it would be my turn tomorrow.
I knew I must let go of life and death. I said to Master, “If I really have to die tomorrow, my cultivation will end then, but I will not feel a bit of regret.”
I didn’t feel afraid. I fell asleep toward morning.
The following day, all that could have happened, all that I thought might happen didn’t happen.
I thanked Master and was all the more determined to continue my Falun Gong practice and be a genuine Dafa disciple.
I helped to expose the facts that it was the then leader Jiang Zemin who, out of some personal vendetta and jealousy notion, was using the power and resources he could command in his position to buy up and coerce the police to enforce a brutal persecution on Falun Gong.
I was thrown into the detention center. The police took away my Dafa book Zhuan Falun. I wanted to study the Fa but I could only rely on the little Fa I had managed to have stored up in my memory.
I requested the book be returned to me. When I was ignored, I began to protest by going on a hunger strike.
After about five days, a group of plainclothes officers tried to “transform” me. I refused their carrot offer, so they used the stick on me.
At night, the guards took me out from solitary confinement to the prison cell. There they forced-fed me in front of fellow practitioners and other inmates.
From then on, they put me in handcuffs and foot shackles in such a way I had to walk with my head practically bent to my knees and could go only about two inches with each step.
Every day, they made me walk like that all the way to the infirmary, where they would again force-feed me.
That lasted until the 12th day of my hunger strike.
The entire time of my demand to have Zhuan Falun returned to me, I was quite slow-witted and with low xinxing, so I was basically allowing the guards to call the shots.
The police kept promising to give me the book, but they kept pushing it to the next day.
One day, they told me if I would drink a glass of milk, the book would definitely be mine to have the following day. So, I drank the milk.
When I asked for the book the next day, they said the security office would not give permission. I was so mad, I yelled at them.
I realized I had not passed my tests well. I was too keen on getting the book back that I had neglected to work on finding and getting rid of my attachments.
On top of that, I should not have allowed myself to be led by evil. I should have played the leading role.
I thanked Master for enlightening me while I worked hard on rectifying myself under the Fa.
Very soon, I was given my book with the stipulation that I had to keep this a secret and could only read it in the guard's lounge.
Later on, I adamantly demanded that I be allowed to read the book in bed at night.
So, they broke up the book and gave me one lecture each day, with the same condition that no one was allowed to know about this and that I could only read under my bed cover.
At first, I was okay with the arrangement, but gradually I began to feel sad. There were so many practitioners close by who had to work hard every day with not a chance to study the Fa.
I thought to myself, “Here I am studying the Fa in hiding. What kind of Dafa disciple am I? I must be able to study the Fa and do the exercises openly and with dignity. Others must be able to do the same.”
The next day, I said to the guard, “I must restart my exercises. My body is beginning to exhibit symptoms of paralysis.”
The guard refused, sure that the authorities would not approve.
I asked him, “If I have a relapse, will the detention center take the responsibility? Will the police department? Who among you wants to be responsible? I must do the exercises. I must take responsibility for my health.”
The detention center made a prompt decision to release me without ado.
I was abducted on November 13, 2000, while distributing Dafa materials and sent to the detention center. Several days later, another practitioner was thrown in with me. That evening, the TV showed how her house had been ransacked and many Dafa books were taken.
When I saw that, I immediately went on a hunger strike to protest and demand the books be returned, telling them, “The books are written by our Master to guide us in our practice. The police had no right to take them. Which word, which sentence in the books is wrong? Show me.”
Nobody could answer me. Nobody could show me.
“Then, you need to give the books back to us…”
The chief was stomping his feet in rage, “The last time, you had already turned the detention center upside down. You dare to do it again!”
He threw me into solitary confinement and every day he would order two about-to-be-released inmates to force-feed me fluids with added salt and xanthate pastes.
My body began to shrink, stiffen up, and discolor.
One day, I hung onto the white coat of the prison doctor and asked, “What’s happening to my body?”
He burst out crying, almost audibly. Then, he pushed open the ward door and left.
The prison guard told me, “You have been put under re-education.”
I thought, “Nobody has any say so. Only my Master can decide what happens to me.”
On December 29, 2000, the 12th day of my hunger strike, two inmates carried me into a police van and I was sent home.
Escaped from the Devil’s Clutch
A practitioner couple took my family in and helped us a lot.
One day, a practitioner came for visits but called soon after she left, saying, “The outside situation is critical. It is best if you can leave as soon as possible.”
So, we made arrangements to have our child taken care of. That night, after I gathered my Dafa books and my husband packed our clothing, we ordered a cab.
The cab driver noticed the look of fear in our faces, mistook us as burglars, and took us to the inspection station. The first one was not manned.
We knew the driver meant to take us to the next one, which would likely be manned. So, we got off as soon as we could and went on foot alongside a river covered with snow and ice.
I was much weakened when I was released from the detention center. I had to drag myself along, all the while wishing I could just rest a little on the soft snow.
My husband was worried, “In this deep dark night, who will take us in?”
I said, “Don’t worry. Somebody will.”
But, I was really unable to go on. There were still several hills to climb…
I thought, “I don’t want to catch any more cabs. If only an ox cart would come by and give me a ride for a bit, that would be wonderful…”
Just then, a very strong light came from behind. A white van stopped a little in front of me. The car door opened. A sturdy young man invited us in. I noticed his was a brand new car and I didn’t want to get in.
I asked the young man, “Where are you going?”
He said, “Toward such-and-so university.”
I said, “You run along. We’re not going the same way.”
But, the young man was adamant, saying, “Tonight, no matter where you’re going, I’ll get you there. I admire your tenacity.”
I was shocked. “How did he know whether I’m tenacious?”
When we finally got in his van, the young man asked, “Why are you guys on the road so late at night?”
So, I made up a story. He listened intently. At the end of my story, he remarked, “From now on, try to remember to be truthful.”
I was doubly shocked. “So, he knew I was telling a lie? Who is he? Perhaps we should get out of his car soon. I cannot lead him to a practitioner’s house.”
So, as soon as I found a suitable place, even though it was still quite a ways from the practitioner’s house, I asked the young man to stop his car to let us off.
He asked several times, “I’ll take you to exactly where you’re going. Are you sure we are there?”
I tried to pay him for his trouble but he absolutely refused.
He said, “I don’t help you out for money.”
The practitioner’s neighbor was someone who entertained evil thoughts about Dafa. I needed to be careful not to rouse him at that late hour.
When we finally arrived at the practitioner’s house, I raised my hand to give a soft knock and found the door ajar from my touch. A voice came from just inside the door. When I announced myself, the door was opened to let us in.
“Why are you waiting at the door?” I asked in surprise.
The practitioner told us, “Half an hour ago, a phone call woke me up, but nobody was at the end of the line. When I finally laid myself down again, there was another similar phone call. That happened several times. I thought evil was making plans to persecute me… I didn’t realize the door was unlocked.”
The practitioner arranged for us to stay with another practitioner. After about a week, the practitioner’s husband asked me where I was from. My attachment to fear made me lie. I suddenly recalled what the young man in the white van reminded me of being truthful.
On January 14, 2001, we moved in with another practitioner who, together with his non-practitioner wife, gave us a warm welcome.
My internal organs, damaged by unknown drugs administered in the detention center, began to ooze. Pus would come out from my mouth and nostrils.
One night, Master sent me a dream telling me that it would be time to move on when someone would give me two steamed buns stuffed with sugar.
In an environment where I could return to Fa study and exercises, my body quickly recovered.
Two nights before the Dragon Boat Festival, my husband and I had the same dream. We went separately to a construction site to look for work.
My husband didn’t land any job. I was led to a plush office.
After I told the person behind the desk my name, he took out a big book, and said, “She’s a senior engineer, find her a position, provide her an ID card, and have her report to work.”
The day of the festival, the practitioner’s wife offered me two steamed buns stuffed with sugar. I remembered my dream and knew it was time to leave.
I was full of gratitude toward Master and toward the practitioner and his wife.
The next day, my husband and I left our temporary haven and went on our way.
That city’s Dafa materials production site had been badly damaged by the evil Party. I stepped up to take it over.
Revisit Beijing
At the materials production site, I recalled an unfulfilled promise. On September 1999, when I was at Tiananmen Square, under a certain circumstance, I made a vow I would return once more unfurl the banner that says “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good! Falun Dafa is good!”
I was on my way to honor my vow on August 15, 2001. I was abducted to a police van that took me to the Daxing County Dingfuzhuang Police Station. I clarified the truth all along the way.
In the courtyard of the police station, the director told me to look around. “Take a look and see how you can possibly get out from here.”
I saw all the buildings were attached to another; even the door was part of a wall. I saw a tall tree growing all the way to the starry heavens. I knew Master was up there.
I said to Master in my heart, “If I am a Dafa disciple, I am a God. Then, nothing can keep me here.”
At first, the police wouldn’t let me sleep. They ordered me to stand. I sat down on the sofa and refused to get up.
The next day, all police officers were summoned to a meeting. A thought crossed my mind: “They are discussing ways to torture you.”
Master opened my celestial eye for less than half a minute. I saw the place dense with countless evil spirits and rotten ghosts.
The police transported me in a van to a maternity and children’s hospital. The entire medical staff was chased away. The corridors were filled with police.
I had already let go of life and death. There would be nothing they could do to put fear in me.
The police got me onto a bed. I thought, “I’m but a frail female with no brute strength to fight them. I need to think of another way.”
I turned to Master, “Master, I put my life into your hands. Please take control of my body and I will take control of my heart.”
A big, bald-headed doctor in a white coat entered the room. The police asked if I knew him. I said, “No.” They said, “If you did, you’d be scared to death.”
A female voice kept asking me this question and that question, I told her I just wanted to sleep. So, I ignored her, closed my eyes, and started snoring.
The doctor stuck steel needles into my every joint and acupuncture points, starting from the top, every time asking if I felt pain.
All along, I was thinking, “How can I make my snores more sonorous and more realistic?”
After the doctor was done with sticking his needle into the vertical groove below the base of the nose, which is the most sensitive acupuncture point, he gave up.
I heard someone yelling, “Wake her up…”
When I was returned to the police station, I started to do the first four Falun Gong exercises. The police officers were all watching. I noticed Master at a far distance.
I thought, “How wonderful if Master would get closer…” and Master did.
The next day, they took me to the same hospital again. This time, the medical staff was there to help the police detect my accent to determine where I was from.
I took the opportunity to clarify the truth to them and answered a few of their questions.
That evening, I did my first four exercises. Then, I felt like taking a rest before continuing with the sit-down meditation. So, I sat down, closed my eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.
When I woke up, I found everybody fast asleep, including those who were playing mahjong outside.
I accidentally looked out and saw clearly the leaves and rocks under the street lamps. “Where is the door? Where are the walls?”
I put on my shoes and walked out to the courtyard, and couldn’t remember how I got out of the police station.
I had a general idea where I was going. As I walked along, every time a light showed up behind me, I would jump into the darkness, afraid it was a vehicle sent from the police station.
I damaged my shoes the first time I made the desperate jump, so I could only walk on bare feet.
I walked past a brightly lit yard and heard the gurgling sound of some running water. By then, I hadn’t eaten any food or drank any water for three days.
I was just about to stoop down and look for the water when I heard a voice in the sky. “That’s dirty water. Don’t drink it.”
I raised my head to the sky and thanked Master.
Every time I jumped into darkness, I sensed Master comforting me and telling me not to be afraid. Every time I got to a crossroad, I would know which road to take.
Throughout my long trek, I remembered the line in Master’s Fa.
Master says: “With Teacher guiding the voyage, the Fa saves all beings...” (“The Knowing Heart” from Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Thank you, magnificent Master! Thank you, magnificent Dafa!