(Minghui.org) I used to be a socialite and partied every day of the week. I smoked, gambled, enjoyed wine and dining. I frequented karaoke bars and danced the nights away in clubs. I was quite famous and well respected in that circle, and others’ compliments pleased me.
I didn’t realize that the lifestyle I was leading was the direct result of the deteriorating morals of the Chinese society under Communist rule. I had lost myself in chasing after fame and pleasure.
These words of Master precisely described my life then,
“Luxury and feasting—the modern worldFascinated by demons, dancing hysterically,all of which leads to depravity” (“Lacking All Restraint,” Hong Yin III)
Finding My Predestined Relationship with Falun Dafa
After having lived at our home for 20 years, we moved to a new place in 2002. I soon made a friend with a lady who lived on the 1st floor of my building, and she introduced me to her older sister who lived on the 4th floor.
When I had a really bad toothache in 2005, the older sister took me to the hospital and paid the 60 yuan co-pay. We had a good conversation that day and she helped me to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its youth organizations.
I sincerely thanked her but was curious, “You’re such a nice person. You’re about 10 years older than I, aren’t you? But, you have barely used your medical insurance—you have several 1,000 yuan accrued on your insurance card. What is your secret? Tell me. Please tell me.” She smiled, “I practice Falun Dafa.” Without hesitation, I said, “I want to also practice Falun Dafa.”
I asked the older sister to teach me the exercises that night. She showed me a few of the movements. However, she didn’t think I was serious about taking up the practice, as she knew how much I enjoyed gambling, drinking, and partying. I am very outgoing and entertain frequently. There were always people playing Mahjong, singing, eating, and drinking at my house.
I started doing the exercises at home by myself. In hindsight, I now see how much I was interfered with when I tried to cultivate in Falun Dafa. As soon as I started doing the exercises, my surroundings became noisy—neighbors bickering, thermos bottle exploding, and other distractions. However, I also experienced extraordinary things when doing the exercises, such as my entire room being covered by a red light.
I was determined to cultivate, so Master arranged for me to find what I needed. I visited the older sister using all kinds of excuses and had her show me the movements over and over again. Still, I didn’t find what I was looking for until one day, I saw a book on top of her old dresser.
Without thinking much, I took the book in my hands—it was Zhuan Falun. I borrowed Zhuan Falun from her every afternoon, so she could read it in the mornings. I did not make a lot of progress reading it only in the afternoon. As I soon was going to retire and move I grew anxious and worried that I wouldn’t be able to finish reading the Zhuan Falun book before I moved. So, I decided to copy the book.
Seeing that I was serious about learning the practice, the older sister helped me get a copy of Zhuan Falun. I finally found my predestined relationship with the Fa.
Dafa Changed Me
I took Zhuan Falun with me when I moved to another city. I didn’t know much about the persecution and I didn’t know any other practitioners. Although I lived among ordinary people, my true self was aware and I knew I had waited for hundreds and thousands of millions of years for this Fa. My divine side was waking up and I was very excited. I knew that Zhuan Falun is a precious and divine book—it is the ladder to heaven.
Master said, “When one’s Buddha-nature emerges, it will shake the World of Ten Directions.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
I kept reading Zhuan Falun even though I didn’t fully understand what I read. I read it every day and didn’t want to put this book down. I also tried to put into practice the principles that Master taught in the Fa. Starting with being kind and getting rid of bad habits, I quit clubbing, drinking, and smoking.
I had accumulated much karma, had many bad habits, and had taken many lives, but Master arranged for me to obtain the Fa and purified my body. I recovered from the many illnesses that I used to suffer, such as stomach problems, hepatitis, dizziness, constipation, anemia, and so on – It felt amazing.
Over the following nine years, I didn’t join any Fa study group nor knew any other practitioners in my city. I didn’t know about Master’s new lectures, didn’t know what cultivation really is nor how to cultivate. I still played Mahjong, and occasionally played for money.
Recovering from a Back Injury
I went out for a walk one day in the summer of 2013 and looked forward to playing Mahjong with a few friends. As I did my routine exercise on the single bar in the courtyard, I fell flat on my back and passed out. It took quite a while to regain consciousness. Despite excruciating pain in my midsection, I slowly got up from the ground.
I stayed in bed for the next two days, but the pain didn’t let up. I thought my intestines were injured, as I felt gas moving inside my abdominal area. This made me cry out loud as the pain was just unbearable.
My son suggested that I go to the hospital and find out what the problem was. After an X-ray scan, I was told that my fifth lumbar vertebra sustained a comminuted fracture, and a small sharp piece of bone was protruding. The doctor wanted to perform surgery the next day, but I told him no. I was discharged after three weeks.
My husband had passed away, and it was just me and my son. When he went to work, I stayed in bed all day, and only got to eat when he came home in the evenings. Still, I read Zhuan Falun every day. I propped myself up with pillows and positioned my head close to the window. I didn’t have audiotapes of the exercise music, nor Master Li’s (Dafa’s founder) lectures. I didn’t have any practitioners to talk to or share with. For the most part of the day, it was just Master, Dafa, and me.
I eventually recovered, thanks to Dafa’s incredible healing powers, and thanks to Master for not giving up on me and helping me to get rid of my karma.
Improving My Xinxing
My son asked me to move out of the family home in 2014 as he planned to propose to his then girlfriend, explaining that she would not agree to marry him if I didn’t. I was furious—our apartment was family property. Plus, the unit had two bedrooms and shared living space and it was spacious enough for the young couple and I. Why did I have to move out? Why did they have to treat me this way?
Master said,
“In cultivation, there may be two scenarios when dealing with specific conflicts or when others treat you badly. One is that you might have treated this person badly in your previous life. You feel in your heart that it is unfair, “How can this person treat me like this?” Then why did you treat this person that way in the past? You might claim that you actually did not know it at that time, and this lifetime has nothing to do with another lifetime, but that won’t do. There is another issue. In conflicts, the issue of transforming karma is involved. Therefore, when actually dealing with conflicts we should take the high road instead of acting like everyday people.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
I came to understand that I might have owed my daughter-in-law something in one of my previous lives, or had bullied her, and now I had to pay back the debt. As a Dafa cultivator, I have to hold myself to higher standards and not act like ordinary people. I have since moved out and have lived on my own for the past seven years.
Connecting with Other Practitioners and Clarifying the Truth about Dafa
Since hurting my back in 2013, I’ve moved four times and it took a toll on me mentally and physically. I thought it would be great if I could find other practitioners. Master soon arranged for me to connect with local practitioners and join a Fa-study group. With the help of others, I also started clarifying the truth about Dafa, and have become a part of the local one body of Dafa practitioners.
The local practitioners helped me find Master’s published books. Through reading the new lectures, I now understand what Fa-rectification cultivation is. Master wants us to clarify the truth and awaken more people. With fellow practitioners’ help, I cultivate myself solidly, and have improved my xinxing by living by the Fa principles. I now can clarify the truth in person and distribute truth-clarification materials by myself.
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