(Minghui.org) I began practicing Falun Dafa in 1997. Prior to that, I was in ill health and had all kinds of health problems. The most serious ones were rheumatoid arthritis, iritis, and cardiac disease. All of them disappeared after I began to cultivate.
In 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a campaign to persecute Falun Dafa. As a result, in 2001 I was illegally detained in a forced labor camp for two years. Because I seldom studied the Fa and had to make a living, I eventually stopped cultivating. As a result, all my ailments came back. It got to where I couldn’t take care of myself anymore.
At that time, I had one thought: “Only Dafa and Master Li, the founder of Falun Dafa, can save me!” My brother brought me MP3 recordings of Master Li Hongzhi’s teachings, and I lay in bed listening to them every day. Compassionate Master Li cleansed my body and, eventually, I could study the Fa, do the exercises, and walk again!
In 2007, my son finished high school and we moved to the city where my husband worked. Unfortunately, there were no other practitioners nearby. In October, my father passed away.
Because I was too attached to emotions, once again, I stopped cultivating and couldn’t get out of bed. But compassionate Master did not give up on me. My niece’s mother-in-law told me to get up and do the Falun Dafa exercises. She said her friend was once confined to a wheelchair but by practicing Falun Dafa, she overcame her health problems. Now, she said her friend could ride a bicycle and go anywhere they wanted. I thanked her for encouraging me.
In January 2013, I returned to my hometown. Fellow practitioners came over to read the Fa and do the exercises with me. At that time, my joints were stiff and deformed. I couldn’t sit cross-legged, bend down, or lift my arms, but I was faithful about studying the Fa and doing the exercises. Practitioners were busy making truth clarification DVDs, but since I wasn’t well enough to go out, I stayed home and helped to get the DVDs ready. I was happy to be able to do something for Dafa. Eventually, I was well enough and could go out to clarify the truth with other practitioners.
I went out with the telephone team to make truth-clarification phone calls. I also sent Falun Dafa texts and MMS messages. When I returned home, I couldn’t move. My legs were swollen, and whenever I moved it felt as if I were being cut by a knife. I thought I wouldn’t be able to walk for a while. However, by the next day I had recovered and went out again.
For two months I participated in these projects. By then, I'd regained my health and my legs weren’t that painful anymore. The other practitioners told me to stay home and make informational materials, but I didn’t know how to use a computer. Eventually, with their encouragement and assistance, I learned how and have continued to do this ever since.
Before I became a Falun Dafa practitioner, I was hot-tempered, couldn’t bear hardships, and often said hurtful things. My husband and my mother were the two people I most often had trouble with. When I returned to cultivation in 2013, because my husband and my son worked out of town, the person I spent most of my time with was my mother. She took care of me when I was ill.
I knew that I was resentful of her in the past, and I tried my best to let go of this attachment. But just being around her made me feel quite uncomfortable. She had a sharp tongue: she often spoke harshly and in anger and that irritated me. At first I would argue with her, but after the quarrel I regretted it. I was a cultivator and must be tolerant, but I wasn’t. Mother was in her 70s, and even an ordinary person should know how to be grateful and respectful to her elders. I was a cultivator, so I had to watch my behavior.
However, if I was ready for all the tribulations, they wouldn’t be tests anymore, so Master used different ways to help me improve. Once I was chatting calmly with my mother when something set her off. She began to fuss at me and her language was abusive. I knew that it was a test and I must watch myself. Yet the abuse continued as I tried very hard to resist the temptation to talk back to her. I told myself that I had to pass this test, that she was helping me to improve my character, and that it was a good thing. I had to thank her.
But holding back wouldn’t work if I just forced myself to do it. The harsh words continued, so I turned the fan in my room on high to drown out my shouting, “That's it! No more! I won’t do this test!” At that moment, I remembered something Master said in “True Cultivation.” All I could recite was, “Every disciple who truly cultivates must pass it.” (Essentials for Further Advancement) I cried and cried.
I told my fellow practitioners about the incident later. With their help, I gradually let go of the hatred I had for my mother. She went home three months later. By that time, I could take care of myself. I felt I had at last made many changes.
In October, my brother was arrested for his faith in Falun Dafa, and so were his employees and my sister-in-law. They were all taken to a brainwashing center. Another practitioner asked me to go to the proper department to ask for their release. I knew this was a test and that I needed to improve my character, but I was just too afraid. I had no courage to go out and help anyone. I was afraid of being abducted.
Other practitioners said they would help me, so we contacted practitioners in my brother’s area so we could all go together. I also called my husband and my son and asked them to show up at the police station. Many local practitioners also joined the rescue efforts. We went to the police station as family members, and all the practitioners in the area were to send righteous thoughts.
The fight against evil had begun! We went to the police station, the police department, the procuratorate, the 610 Office, and the court. At first the officers in the police department were arrogant. But later they became friendly. We also met the procurator and clarified the truth. She said, “Sorry, we can’t do much. I have to keep this job so I can take care of my family. But I’ll be happy for you if you can get your family members released.”
Then we went to the 610 Office and found the person-in-charge. He shouted, “None of you can leave here today!” We told him about situations where good people were rewarded and bad people punished. When he said he was a good person. I said, “Good people need to do good deeds, so you have to help Falun Dafa practitioners and let them go home.” He said, “Go back to your local 610 Office to find who you’re looking for.” I said, “You’re the one that arrested them, so you ought to release them!” When we went to the office again the next day, his attitude had changed.
For the past two years my husband and I often argued over small things. In fact, he had been supportive of me practicing all these years because he'd witnessed how I had improved my temperament and regained my health. After the persecution started in 1999, my brother, sister, and I were arrested and put in forced labor camps. Then, in 2013, my brother was arrested again. He was worried that this would happen to me, too.
My husband was amazed that I was able to operate the material production site at home with the help of fellow practitioners. Whenever he came home and saw me busy making informational materials, he praised me for having such abilities. When he saw that one of our books was The Ultimate Goal of Communism, he said to me, “You’re putting yourself at risk! The communists are everywhere. If they were to discover these, they’d arrest you!” I wanted him to read the book, but he refused. He said he knew what it was about because the title said it all.
The old forces took advantage of my husband’s attachment to fear and influenced him to say things disrespectful of Dafa. Whenever he said such things, I argued with him. Master gave me hints about our ongoing arguments because I couldn’t keep calm. First, the color cartridge in my printer didn’t work, then papers kept getting stuck. Sometimes the machine froze. That was when I knew that I needed to fix my problems.
Once I truly improved, my husband stopped nagging me. Now he is always happy and we don’t fight anymore. I asked him to give cultivation practice a try and he said, “Not now. Maybe later.” I believe that one day he will. My husband never hides the fact that I practice Falun Dafa. He often tells his friends, “Thanks to Falun Dafa, my wife’s illnesses were all cured. I didn’t even spend one single penny on medical care.” His friends know that Falun Dafa is good and they all quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its youth organizations.
I have improved a great deal, and I know I will continue to do so. Thank you, Master, for teaching me!