(Minghui.org) May 13 is a special day for Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, practitioners around the globe. On this day in 1992, the practice was introduced to the world by Mr. Li Hongzhi. The first World Falun Dafa Day was established on May 13, 2000, and since then May 13 has been widely celebrated by Dafa practitioners every year to express their joy and renewed hope from the practice.
As usual, tens of thousands of greetings were received by Minghui.org in early May this year from practitioners in dozens of countries, expressing their gratitude to Mr. Li and Falun Dafa for helping them improve health and character.
Since May 17, many articles have also been published on Minghui that documented the extraordinary experiences of practitioners. Listed as a series of articles “Celebrating World Falun Dafa Day,” they illustrate how practitioners have been improving their mind and body through the practice, especially by following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. In addition, their stories have encouraged more people, non-practitioners and practitioners alike, to further embrace or support this practice for a brighter future.
Below are comments from practitioners in Taiwan after reading the series of articles.
New Practitioner: Heartening and Inspiring
Ms. Meng Shan from New Taipei City began to practice Falun Gong in January 2021. After attending the Nine-Day Video Lectures, she began to read the Falun Gong Books one by one, and finished all 48 books in three months.
When reading recent articles in celebration of World Falun Dafa Day, Ms. Meng said she was touched by the upright manner of practitioners and the their positive influence on people around them. Their perseverance during the harsh persecution and constant efforts to tell people the facts about Falun Gong are also admirable.
Ms. Meng was specifically touched by the recovery of a 1-year-old baby as told in the article titled, “A Baby's Rare Skin Disease Cured.” The child had developed a serious skin disease when he was only a few days old, and he cried day and night due to the pain. Medicines only made his condition worse, and doctors from local hospitals and clinics declared it incurable. The baby’s grandmother and mother are both Falun Gong practitioners, and they believed Dafa could save the baby, given the countless miracles they had seen. They played audio lectures of Master Li’s to the baby. A miracle happened and the boy fully recovered by the time he turned one.
Amazing stories were also seen in adults, as described in an article titled “A Mute for 60 Years Speaks.” The author’s cousin had meningitis when he was one year old. With no money for medical care, he became mute and could not speak for the next 59 years. When the author visited him in early March 2021, she taught him the Falun Gong exercises. He took great interest in learning the exercises and was able to get most of the movements correct. After beginning to listen to an audio lecture tape from Master Li, he suddenly became very serious, even solemn. “About half an hour later, he suddenly burst out with the words, ‘Mama, Mama....’ No words can describe what I felt at that moment. It was utterly amazing, and every cell in my body was stunned,” wrote the author. She was amazed, so was her cousin and his mother – for the first time in decades, the cousin could finally smile and speak normally.
Improvement in Intellectual Disability
Since childhood, Ms. Meng’s daughter had an auditory and intellectual disability, plus epilepsy that required constant medication. Now 21, she has normal physical development, but her intelligence is lower than that of a one-year-old. She can walk but is unable to run. She cannot speak or take care of herself at all. She needs help with eating, brushing her teeth, putting on clothes, and taking a bath. She has to wear diapers. When there are leaks and the bedding gets wet, she doesn’t notice. Also, she might occasionally open the door and go out, leaving her caretaker stressed almost all the time.
After beginning to practice Falun Gong and talking with other practitioners, Ms. Meng began to play Master’s audio lectures for her daughter to listen. “She has improved a lot since then. She stopped taking medicine and when the diaper is wet, she comes to me for a change,” she explained. “These few days, she is very quiet whenever listening to the lecture and sleeps well at night. I am so thankful to Master!”
“True Miracles”
Ms. Cheng Yao began to practice Falun Gong in January 1996. When reading this year’s articles celebrating World Falun Dafa Day, she was even more touched by the authors’ stories and refers to them as “true miracles.”
One example is “Meeting Master Li at the 1993 Oriental Health Expo,” in which a practitioner described how Master cured illnesses during the event. The article related, “Three family members pushed a man in a wheelchair to the booth. Two women helped the man up. Master Li told them to let the man stand on his own. They wouldn’t, fearing that the man might fall. Master said, ‘How can I help him if you hold onto him?’ They let go. Master told the patient to go ahead and walk. He replied, ‘It has been twenty years. I’ve forgotten how to walk.’ Master said, ‘When you start to walk, you will remember how to walk.’ The patient lifted his legs, and he was able to walk again! His family members burst into tears, knelt down, and thanked Master profusely.”
Ms. Cheng said it was hard to imagine that a person who had been paralyzed for over 20 years, and whom no doctors could help, would be able to stand up and walk with just a few words from Master. “From this we know Falun Dafa is indeed extraordinary and Master came here to save people,” she added.
Regaining health is only part of the miracles. Many more practitioners have become better citizens following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. A good example is the article of “Confessions of a Tax Officer: Dafa Taught Me to Be Honest and Upright.” To make a living, the author drifted along with the declining morality like other people. The over-drinking also damaged her health and her husband’s betrayal led her into a greater despair. After beginning to practice Falun Dafa in August 1998, the author improved dramatically, both physically and spiritually.
Ms. Cheng said she was surprised by how corrupt Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials have become and amazed at how wonderful Dafa is in changing such officials into good people. “I came out clean from the muddy waters,” the author wrote, “Hence, I calmly rejected a bribe for the first time; I paid for my meal in a restaurant for the first time; I paid in full for a purchase I made for the first time (in the past I enjoyed the benefit of paying wholesale prices); for the first time, I realized how much a haircut costs; I took public transportation for the first time. After going through so many firsts, I discovered that the sky had turned blue, the wind was pleasant! I no longer felt lost in my heart. I found purpose and a goal in life, and in my heart I felt how great it is to have true guidance and Master’s teachings!”
Society Will Likely Fall Apart Without Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance
Similar to the positive changes Dafa has brought to practitioners and the society as mentioned above, standing up against the CCP to protect the innocent and the freedom of belief is also critical.
This can been clearly seen in the article titled “My 88-Year-Old Father Tirelessly Raises Awareness about Falun Dafa.” The author’s father had worked in the CCP government for decades. After the author was arrested for her belief in 1999 and beaten during detention, her father saw the wound. He then went directly to the Municipal Public Security Bureau and the city procuratorate.
“Under my father’s insistence, the director of the Public Security Bureau not only apologized to my father, but also ordered the policeman who beat me to write a repentance statement,” wrote the author.
If more ordinary citizens and officials in China could step forward to support innocent practitioners, the situation would improve quickly, explained Ms. Cheng.
Making the Best Use of Opportunities
Shuru has practiced Falun Dafa for more than 20 years and she was moved to tears many times by these articles. “Although from different backgrounds, all these people were able to practice Dafa, improving themselves and benefiting their families as well as the society,” she said.
In one article, the author lost his job because of the suppression. But he did not give up hope. He started a small business to make a living and made use of the opportunities to tell his customers and suppliers the facts about Falun Dafa and debunking the hate propaganda from the CCP.
These experiences have inspired her to do better, Shuru added. “Practitioners in China have suffered so badly for their belief, and they are working so hard on raising awareness of the persecution,” she continued. “In contrast, we live in a free world and sometimes we have not cherished all of this.” She said she would be more diligent as a practitioner, so that more people have the opportunity to see the beauty of Falun Dafa and the compassion of practitioners.
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