(Clearwisdom.net) I was a staunch atheist before I started practicing qigong. I didn't believe in the existence of gods at all. I thought about how a spacecraft had reached the moon and there weren't any gods even there. I also didn't believe in qigong. I thought that ghosts, gods and qigong were all superstitions.
In 1991, my husband had multiple diseases including a heart problem, light blood vessel blockage in the brain, and was showing signs of his age. He could not sleep at night or during the day. I had to constantly listen to his complaints about life and work after coming home. After a while I really couldn't tolerate it any longer and started to look for a cure. We went to see western medical doctors and then Chinese medical doctors. He even tried medicines used in mental hospitals. He was admitted to hospitals several times but there was no improvement in his condition. After all these efforts, we couldn't help but turn to qigong. I accompanied him to practice qigong even though I didn't believe in it at all. However, not long after, a miracle happened. His condition improved. Thereupon, he and I continued the qigong practice.
One night I was practicing at the balcony. Less than half a minute after I entered into a tranquil state, my main consciousness left my physical body and kept flying upward unceasingly. Clearly and vividly, I saw scenes in other dimensions and saw Gods and Buddhas! I was shocked and felt it was inconceivable. I repeatedly asked myself, "What is happening?" I knew my mind was very clear and that I indeed saw those things. I felt very joyful. "Gods and Buddhas indeed exist!" It was not superstition, just that ordinary people were unable to see them. Only upon ascending to higher levels will they be able to see them. Qigong is such a mysterious thing.
At that point I became fascinated with qigong. Whenever there was a qigong class, I tried to attend. I had learned seven or eight types of qigong and also experienced many harmful phenomena in qigong, just like what Master mentions in the book Zhuan Falun. Then where could I find something higher and better than qigong? I was confused and I kept searching.
One day in June 1996, I saw a copy of the book Falun Gong in a book store. I opened it casually and read the article "True Cultivation." Master said,
"My truly cultivating disciples, what I have taught you is the Fa for cultivation of Buddha and Dao." [This article was later compiled in Essentials for Further Advancement.]
Just reading this one sentence, I became extremely happy. I knew that this was the Master I was looking for, and this was the Fa I was seeking.
The next morning, I found a Falun Gong exercise site at a nearby park. I stood behind the group, far away, and carefully listened to the music and learned the exercises. When doing the "holding the wheel above the head" in the second exercise of "Falun Standing Stance," I suddenly felt a strand of energy entering my lower abdomen and spinning fast. Although I didn't know it was a Falun at the time, I knew Master had given me something good.
Since then I practiced the exercises and studied the Fa with fellow practitioners every day. In the early mornings, the exercise site was very peaceful and serene. In the evenings, we studied the Fa and shared cultivation experiences to improve our xinxing and our understandings of the Fa. Through studying the Fa, practitioners became less attached to fame and self interests. Our relationships with our families and neighbors became more harmonious. We learned to think of others first at all times when dealing with people or doing work. Although it was hard for those who had to go to work every day, they worked more diligently. On the basis of the Fa, we reminded each other if we noticed anything improper. We all looked inward based on the standard of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" to cultivate ourselves. It was truly a pure land! I really cherish memories of that period.
Many cultivation stories of practitioners tell of Master's compassion and mighty power, and of the dignity and miracles of Dafa.
One day, just after we finished the morning exercises, a woman around 50 years old came to ask me, "Is this the Falun Gong exercise site?" She told me that it took her several days to find the site since she lived quite far away. She had recently obtained a copy of Zhuan Falun. After she finished reading the first chapter, she saw many sparkling things revolving in her room and they had the same pattern in the middle like the one on the cover of Zhuan Falun. The next day, when she was reading the book, she again saw the same things, but this time she couldn't clearly see the pattern in the middle of those things. A few days later, when she was lying down on the sofa in the living room to rest, she saw someone just like her coming out of the bedroom. She felt very strange and decided to come here to ask. I told her that the phenomenon she described had been explained very clearly in Master's book. "It was Master who guided you to the cultivation path. You have a predestined relationship with Dafa."
One time we played Master's lecture video series for new practitioners. On the third evening, after we finished watching the lecture video, I helped an 82-year-old lady to go downstairs since it was quite dark in the stairway. She suddenly said to me, "Master has come. He has been here since the first evening." I was surprised and asked her, "What does Master look like?" She said, "He has blue, curly hair and wears a yellow kasaya." I was really happy for her and told her, "You are so lucky and have good fortune." As a matter of fact, no matter whether we can see or not, Master's Fashen is always with us and protects us. It is Master's benevolence, protection and efforts that have made it possible for us to cultivate till today.
A fellow practitioner took a photo in front of his home. I saw that there were many little flying golden dragons on every picture. Another picture was taken on a winter morning at the exercise site. There were Falun and little angels with wings in the picture. Master stated in Lunyu,
"'The Buddha Fa' is most profound; among all the theories in the world, it is the most intricate and extraordinary science." (Zhuan Falun)
Master's Fashen has purified every practitioner's body. It is truly "The Buddha-light illuminates everywhere and rectifies all abnormalities." (Zhuan Falun) Since my childhood, I had been weak and prone to sicknesses. Later, because of overwork, I had three vertebrae proliferations at my lumbar vertebra, and I couldn't even turn my neck when it was at its worst. I also had bursitis in my shoulder. When I started to practice the second exercise of holding the wheel, my hands would tremble from pain. My trachea became inflamed every spring and fall, and I would keep coughing for one to three months. Since I was a child, I had had diarrhea all year long, and it would occur as soon as I got a little careless with my eating. However, not long after I began Falun Gong practice, all these problems disappeared. I knew a fellow practitioner nearby who had lumbar disc herniation. She was in such pain that it was hard for her to take even small steps. She had visited western medical hospitals, Chinese medical hospitals and even a sanatorium. The doctors said that the best treatment result would be if she was able to take care of herself. After she practiced Falun Gong for several months, she was able to walk with vigorous strides to work and take care of her 80 year-old father-in-law as well as her young granddaughter. Such stories can be heard everywhere.
One of the stories is really special to me. Once we went to a county capital and shared cultivation experiences with local fellow practitioners. There was a woman who was around 30 years old and from a remote village. She had a family of four. She had a handicap herself, and her husband had skeletal tuberculosis and was paralyzed in bed all year long. The doctors even refused to give him prescriptions. Her older daughter was also paralyzed in bed due to aftereffects of nearly drowning during her childhood. Her younger daughter was only five years old. Imagine how hard her life was! Her husband didn't want to be a burden to her and proposed divorce. She firmly refused and said, "A predestined relationship in this life should be resolved within this life." Later her husband asked her to buy some rat poison. He wanted to commit suicide because his life made him as well as others suffer. She said, "As long as I live, you all will." Her kindness brought her to cultivate Falun Dafa. One month after she started practicing, she came back home and saw that her husband was able to sit on the bed. The day we actually came to know her, we found that she had practiced Dafa for just about three months. Her husband had been able to walk about the village with help from others. She was going to come with her husband that day and tell others about Dafa's miracle. Since it was too far, she gave up. Indeed, one person's practicing benefits the whole family. How can one not be grateful for such a miracle?
I watched the video program "Our Master." The article collection of "Recalling Master's Benevolence" moved me so much that I repeatedly shed tears. Although Master never came to our area to give Fa lectures, we are all under his protection and care, and we are saved. We all feel Master's benevolence and the hardship Master has suffered for us.
