(Clearwisdom.net)
Greetings Honorable Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
Our family of five has cultivated Falun Dafa for 14 years. We would like to report our cultivation experiences - how we first got lost in bewilderment and later returned to cultivation, and how we harmonize and collaborate in the process of offering salvation to sentient beings.
The Great May 13
My husband contracted Hepatitis B at the end of 1995. Doctors tried everything they could think of to heal him, but to no avail. In the end, doctors told him that he needed to be bedridden in the hospital and should not move.
My husband got very tired of constantly staying in bed, and at around 4 p.m. on May 13, 1996, he and I went outside of the hospital's main entrance to get some fresh air. At that moment, a person came from inside the hospital and told us: "Let's go learn the exercises." I asked what the exercises were. The person replied, "Exercises from the Buddha school." We followed his directions and went to the place he told us about.
When we got there, they were preparing to play Master's lecture videos. After the first lecture I suddenly understood that it was exactly what I had been looking and waiting for! From then on I watched one lecture video at every night, and later read Zhuan Falun. I watched the nine lectures over the course of nine days.
After four days, all symptoms of the rheumatic heart disease, cholecystitis, and bronchitis I had suffered from disappeared, and my husband was discharged from the hospital. On the 10th day, my husband returned to the hospital for a scheduled check up, and the results showed that everything was normal. The doctor was shocked and repeatedly said that it was impossible and unbelievable. After returning home, my husband began to practice the Falun Gong exercises and 26 days later he went back to work, strong and healthy.
My daughter was physically weak since her birth eight years ago. Every time she got sick, we had to immediately carry her to the hospital. When we began to practice Falun Gong, she joined us, and all of her illnesses were healed.
Our second daughter was born in the following year. We invited my husband's mother, who lived in the countryside, to come live with us and help take care of our newborn daughter. She learned Falun Gong from us, and her illnesses were also healed as a result. Thus, all five of us started to walk on the Dafa path. From then on we disciplined ourselves according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and because of that, happily lived in harmony. Later on our residence became a Fa-study site, and the open area outside our front door became the practice site. On Sundays, and whenever we had time, we would go out to spread the Fa.
Peacefully Appealing on April 25
The volunteer coordinators held an experience-sharing meeting on April 24, 1999, where we learned that practitioners from Tianjin were illegally arrested. Practitioners at the meeting went to Beijing to appeal for justice right away. We arrived past 10 a.m. on April 25, 1999, at the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture. We stood in a line on the sidewalk. Even though there was a large group of us, no one made a sound. A few police vehicles stopped by the roadside.
After 9 p.m., a practitioner told us that the Premier had talked to our volunteer representatives and said we could continue practicing Falun Gong, and that the incarcerated practitioners from Tianjin had been released. Hearing this, the crowd dispersed quietly. Upon returning home, I was able to sit in the double-lotus while meditating, even though I had not been able to do so before.
Agents from the local police department and the police station began an illegal mass arrest of Falun Gong practitioners on July 19, 1999. Although I knew clearly that Dafa is righteous and that our Master is the best, I gave in to the vicious pressure exerted by the CCP. Afterward, my family situation deteriorated.
Because of fear I chose to study the Fa, practice the exercises and clarify the truth secretly, only after everyone was asleep. During the daytime, while at work I would recite Master's lectures. I used every possible opportunity to go out to distribute truth-clarifying materials, and put up banners reading, "Falun Dafa is good," and other banners.
With Master's Protection, My Husband and Daughter Returned to Cultivation
Under Master's protection and with His hints, I sent forth righteous thoughts and tried my best to work on truth-clarifying tasks. At the same time I disciplined myself according to the requirements for Dafa practitioners. My righteous thoughts were strengthened, along with practitioners' help. One incident also helped to improve my cultivation environment.
On October 1, 2005, while my husband was at work, a practitioner and I went to deliver Master's new lectures to another practitioner who lived far away. We planned to go out to distribute truth-clarification materials and return at lunch-time. However, I got a flat tire before all the materials were distributed and we were unable to come back that afternoon.
After I finally got home the next morning, my husband asked me where I went. He thought I had been arrested again. I replied that I went out to clarify the truth. Angered by my reply, he beat me. My older brother also came to my home and slapped my face. After my husband went to work that day, I sat down on my bed and began to send forth righteous thoughts. My husband soon returned, and seeing what I was doing, slapped my face and tried to pull my hands apart.
After he left again, I wrote about how his illnesses were healed and how he and my brother had beaten me during the past few years. I also wrote that I had not done anything wrong by cultivating according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and clarifying the truth about Falun Gong. I told them that forcing me to stop practicing in Falun Gong is the same as asking me to die.
Three days later they asked me to eat, but I refused. When I began to have symptoms of heart problems, they were afraid and agreed to let me do what I wanted. My husband also got a copy of Zhuan Falun and Master's lecture tapes for me.
After everything calmed down, I pondered all of the problems with righteous thoughts and found out that everything originated from my attachments of fear, emotions for husband and children, complaints about my mother-in-law, self-protection, stubbornness, and even having wicked thoughts. If I had let go of all of these attachments and followed Master's requirements, I would not have done so much damage to the Fa and caused so much harm to my family. From then on I looked after my family wholeheartedly, always thinking of them first and taking care of their needs. Gradually, my husband and first-born daughter began to listen to my truth clarification and my mother-in-law also overcame her fear and began to study the Fa.
In mid-October, 2005, my husband's previous illness came back, but this time it was worse than before. He knew clearly that he had no choice but to start practicing Falun Gong again. He had a high fever and stomachache, but with a genuine wish to return to Dafa and after sending righteous thoughts at midnight, these symptoms disappeared. He went back to work after a week. From then on my husband joined us in doing the three things.
My eldest daughter had become a more kindhearted, honest person after she first learned Dafa. For example, a store assistant once gave her more snacks than what she had paid for, and she went back and returned the extra snacks after discovering the mistake. Since the onset of the persecution, the wicked Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) slandering of Falun Gong twisted her young mind, however, making her behave terribly. We retaught her the principles of Dafa and often shared our experiences with her. Whenever she wanted to, we would guide her to study the Fa together. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance healed her heart and made her finally came back to Dafa cultivation.
Master's Protection and Overcoming a Test of Life and Death
When my eldest daughter rode her bike on the way home from school one summer evening in 2005, a motorcycle hit her from behind as she approached our front gate. The powerful collision threw her more than 10 meters and then dropped her heavily on the ground. The motorcyclist blamed my daughter for the accident and rode away, leaving her stunned. When the police vehicle came to investigate, they noticed that my daughter's bike had been twisted badly, but my daughter was not hurt, except for a bruise on her leg. She had not yet come back to Dafa at the time of the accident, but Master still protected her.
My family drove back to our hometown for a 2006 Chinese New Year gathering. My husband stepped out for some fresh air at around 11 p.m., and when he returned to the house, he began shivering and experienced shortness of breath. I whispered to him to send forth righteous thoughts and ask Master for help. I also sent forth righteous thoughts for him. After a while his breathing returned to normal.
Afterward he told me that as soon as he had remembered Master and wanted to send forth righteous thoughts, he saw a few pieces of black matter flying toward him and Master gripped his hand. He recalled that 10 years ago when he was very sick, he kept saying that he wanted to live 10 more years, only to see our daughters grow up. Master once again saved his life.
The CCP intended to persecute me in April 2006. Because of that, I left my home and became destitute to avoid being persecuted. I had a headache one afternoon on January 24, 2007. I sent forth righteous thoughts for a while and then took a nap because I was planning to go out to distribute truth-clarifying materials that evening. However, I was unable to go. After sending forth righteous thoughts at midnight, I fell asleep. My head hurt very badly, and I thought I could send forth righteous thoughts lying down. At the same time I felt miserable in my heart and curled up into a ball.
After that I heard voices crying out my name and asking Master to help me. I heard a soft voice calling me from far away. I heard a woman say, "Let's say, 'The Fa Rectifies the Cosmos, The Evil Is Completely Eliminated!'" Suddenly I became aware and repeated, "The Fa Rectifies the Cosmos, the Evil Is Completely Eliminated!" As soon as I finished, my entire body opened up, and I knew that I had come back to the real world. However, while I was saying the words, my mouth was not functioning well. I wondered why my mouth and the rest of me were so cold. I Immediately I realized that I had just overcome a test of life and death.
A fellow practitioner who was beside me at the time told me that I had been "dead" for more than 40 minutes, and I was soaked in perspiration. She firmly believed in Master and the Fa, and had asked Master to bring me back from the clutches of the old forces. She and I both cried. Thank you, Master, for saving me!
Negating and Trying to Stop the Persecution
During the period when I had decided to leave my family and become destitute, the head of the local Legal and Judiciary Bureau ordered my workplace to stop issuing my paychecks. Our local practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts together to help me, and we put up small posters to expose the evil deeds. In addition, I wrote a letter to the bureau chief. When my husband went to request my paychecks the next day, he ran into the bureau chief. He told my husband, "You have put up so many posters all over the place about me." My husband made frequent trips to the payroll office, but to no avail. We were planning to hire a lawyer.
I had initially realized several loopholes that might provide the old forces with an opportunity to stop issuing me paychecks. Afterward, however, I understood the problem from the perspective of the Fa, and hence decided to negate the persecution. With the pay, I am able to live a normal life and offer salvation to sentient beings. They must issue my paychecks right away. Those who are involved in this incident are also to be rescued.
Afterward one of my relatives who works in the same unit told me that my paychecks were going to be issued. We also found out that they would begin paying me since the beginning of the year. Early this year, I successfully received my paychecks for 2006.
Surviving All Kinds of Difficulties; Regaining Happiness
Our entire family studied the Fa together whenever we could. During each holiday break, my children were able to finish reading Master's lectures. They could also finish reading through Zhuan Falun every four to five days. I read Zhuan Falun with my mother-in-law every day, and if we have time, we send forth righteous thoughts every hour. I have recited Zhuan Falun five times.
My younger daughter clarifies the truth and helps people to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations everywhere she goes. Some of her classmates who have understood the truth also help her to tell more people the facts about Falun Gong. My eldest daughter has also begun clarifying the truth to people.
Our whole family is happy. We think about others first and search inside ourselves when conflicts occur. The difficulties and tribulations we went through have made our entire family more mature on the path of cultivation. Thus we have regained our family's harmony and happiness.
I cannot find words to express how kind and compassionate Master is! I assure you, Master, that we will be more diligent in doing the three things well. We will follow Master to fulfill our vows and offer salvation to sentient beings.
