(Clearwisdom.net) I obtained the Fa in May 1996. Everyone in my family has predestined relations with Dafa and began cultivation one after another. But due to the persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), my older sister's family and younger brother's family both gave up cultivation. Today I would like to share the stories of my mother and my mother-in-law.
My mother-in-law was religious prior to practicing Falun Dafa. When I first began practicing Dafa, she often argued with me based on what she had learned in that religion. At that time I had only watched the 9-day lecture once and read Zhuan Falun once. I remember at that time, every day at the exercise site after we finished doing the exercises and studied the Fa, someone would read a couple of cultivation stories. The content was usually related to regaining health after practicing Dafa. It was very strange, because every day after I heard the stories, I could remember everything and recount it to my mother-in-law. Soon it was winter time. My mother-in-law had congenital tracheitis and she also smoked a lot. Whenever it was winter, her lips would turn purple and every morning when she woke up, the first thing she did was cough very hard and spit out a lot of sputum. She often said that she probably had enough medicine to fill up a whole gunny sack. She could never stand for more than five minutes. Dr. Li, one of our neighbors, once told me, "Try to take special care of your mother-in-law. She probably does not have many days left." One morning while I was doing the second exercise, my mother-in-law was curious and followed along with me. To my surprise, she did the entire "Falun Standing Stance." She said happily, "I have not felt this comfortable for many years!" From then on she began practicing Dafa.
Within a month, all her ailments were gone. At that time, my home was one of the local exercise sites. My mother-in-law was illiterate, so she would bring her grandson and listen to us when we read the Fa. Everyone who practices Dafa must cultivate his mind. My mother-in-law had a very big attachment. Our neighbor was building a house, and part of the neighbor's roof extended over ours and they also encroached on our plot. My mother-in-law had told me before that she would never forgive our neighbors. Her attachment of being competitive was very big. She and our neighbors did not get along very well and even had several physical confrontations. One year after she began cultivation, the neighbor on our other side was about to build an extension to their house. My mother-in-law said, "I am a Dafa practitioner now. I will maintain my xinxing well and do things according to what Master told us." Though it was easy to say that, when our neighbors began construction, every sound was like a hammer hitting her heart. While seeing that land being taken away, my mother-in-law recited quietly,
"When it is difficult to endure, try to endure it. When it looks impossible and is said to be impossible, give it a try and see if it is possible."(Zhuan Falun, 2000 translation version)
Several times she walked out of the door and then came back. She warned herself, "If you walk out, you will be an everyday person. If you can give up your attachment, you will be a practitioner. Is the Fa greater or a human being greater?" As a practitioner, I could really feel her suffering in her mind, but to a greater extent, I felt happy that she made this breakthrough. Her xinxing was improving as our neighbor's house was going up.
My mother-in-law saw that each of us held and read a copy of Zhuan Falun every day. She also picked up a book and said, "When will I be able to read the characters in this?" I remember teaching her the character Zhen (truthfulness). I wrote it down and put it next to the window. Even after my 4-year-old child was able to read it, she still could not remember it. Master was so compassionate. He saw my mother-in-law's sincere wish of studying the Fa. On one afternoon I went back home to pick up something. At the time "Lecture in Sydney" had just been published. My mother-in-law was holding it and standing in the yard. Her eyes were filled with tears. She said to me, "I can read now. I have already read seven pages." She pulled me inside and began to read it to me.
My tears welled up. Thank you Master! I really felt "the Buddha's boundless grace!"
After the persecution began, my mother-in-law was put into a detention center four times. Although her path was not smooth, with her righteous belief in Master, she continued to walk on the path of saving sentient beings and kept going forward. She said, "I just listen to what Master tells us. Whatever Master tells us to do, I will do it."
Now I will talk about my mother. My mother lives in the countryside. My father is also a Dafa practitioner and was once sentenced to one year in a forced labor camp.
Before she began cultivation, it was well known that my mother took a lot of medications. Starting from my earliest memories, she had always been taking medications. She had heart disease and every year there were always several times when she was taken to the hospital during the middle of the night. At first my mother did not practice Dafa. However, during the time when my father was in jail, my mother hid all his Dafa books, and during that time, she did not have a single heart problem. When my father got back home, he again recommended that my mother practice Dafa. She said that she knew that Dafa practitioners are good people, but she could not practice Dafa, because she could not give up playing mahjong and smoking. As my father made this request of her again and again, she finally said, "Didn't you say your Master is a Buddha? If I can see that, I will begin practicing cultivation." Master is so compassionate and let my mother see his Law Body. However, my mother insisted that her eyesight just went blurry and that was not it. Another time, my father was listening to the Fa-lectures and my mother was sleeping. Suddenly there was an electrical outage, so the lecture stopped and it was about 30 minutes to the end. My father did not move and began to do the sitting meditation. Thirty minutes later, he saw that my mother's blanket was knocked off, so he pulled the blanket up. My mother said, "Why are you disturbing me? Master is standing right here in front of me and giving the lecture! It is almost over." Master was so compassionate to her, but she still did not want to practice cultivation.
However, on March 1, 2003, she suddenly fell unconscious while playing mahjong. She was taken to the hospital and the doctor said it was a stroke, so she could not even have surgery. The doctor asserted that even if she lived, she would be completely paralyzed. She was hospitalized for 28 days and the doctor politely told us that for a situation like hers, one could only stay home and hope for recovery, and staying in the hospital would not help.
After going home, my mother had almost no blood pressure. The next day, her left hand was moving a little, and it seemed that she was saying something. My father went very close to her and put his ear right next to her mouth. With some effort, he finally heard what she was saying. It was, "I want to practice Dafa." Later my mother told us that at that time, there were two hands trying to pull her in different directions. A black hand wanted her to go with it, but the other hand wanted her to practice Dafa. Just like that, she got on the path of cultivation.
Despite pressure from other people in the family who do not practice cultivation, my father and I decided to let my mother listen to Master's Fa lecture in Jinan. At the time, my mother was completely paralyzed. The first day, her mind became clear and in the afternoon, she was able to talk. The second day our relatives came, and my mother was able to sit up with some help. In the afternoon, she even sat for 30 minutes. The third day, in the morning she was able to sit up with only a little help and at noon she was able to eat by herself with one hand, although it was difficult for her and much of the meal was spilled. The fourth day, she hardly spilled anything at lunch, and in the afternoon she could sit up by herself. The fifth day, she wanted to squat down and she was able to do it. The sixth day, she said that if she could squat, she should also be able crawl. She counted as she crawled around the bed and it took her 26 steps. The seventh day, she was able to stand up while grabbing on to the windowsill, and could walk from one side of the window to the other. The eighth day, she could walk from one side of the bed to the other. She was like a young kid trying to learn how to walk, with her arms stretch out. The ninth day, she wanted to get off the bed and walk by herself. She walked down a step, and walked all the way to the end of our yard (the yard is about 13 meters wide). We put two chairs, one at each end, so that she could take a rest on either end. In the afternoon, she walked back by herself.
After listening the nine-day lecture, miracles happened in the nine days one after another. Everyone present was shocked. A neighbor came to see my mother every day and he saw all the miracles. Of course later he also began practicing Dafa. My aunt was the person in my family that was most against practicing Dafa. She once said, "If your mother could become better, then I will also practice Dafa." So she also formed a bond with Dafa.
Now my mother listens to two lectures every day.
Just at a month after my mother completely recovered, suddenly she became paralyzed and could not move at all. It lasted for eight days and she was in bed the whole time. During these eight days, she did not eat anything, but only drank cold water. She could not even drink warm water. The smell of her urine was like one of Chinese medicine. My father and I knew that Master was purifying her body. Eight days later, she said that she should be able to walk, and then she got up and walked. She also said during that eight days, she felt as comfortable as if she were lying on a couch. Who knows how much Master had to suffer for his disciple!
But cultivating in Dafa is the most serious and sacred matter. After another month, my mother suddenly turned to a completely different person. She started to curse at Master and could not control herself. During the worst times, what she said was total nonsense. She also said there were many things on her body. Her movement was like a snake sometimes, then like a fox, and sometimes like other animals. She also wanted to run away from home. My father helped her to memorize Zhuan Falun, and since she was illiterate, my father taught her to study the section "Your Main Consciousness Should Predominate" sentence by sentence. My father and I, and also other fellow practitioners, believed that only Falun Dafa and Master could save my mother. In any case, it was good that my mother still had a righteous thought that it was Master who gave her a second life, so she needed to cultivate. She also understood that her situation was caused by her own karma and for the part that she should endure, she must endure it, and for others that were caused by evil factors, she should send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate them.
With Master's help and other fellow practitioners' support, my mother fought the interference every day and eventually she was able to break through it and overcome the tribulation.
My mother saw that everyone else was able to read Zhuan Falun. She held the book in her hand every day with tears, and wondered when she would be able to read the Fa. One day, she suddenly saw that the room was filled with Chinese characters that were golden and glittering. No matter where she looked, there were Chinese characters. The colorful and glaring light was so bright that she could not even open her eyes. She put a blanket up to cover her head but it turned out even under the blanket, there were shiny gold Chinese characters. Afterward, when she again held up Zhuan Falun, there were hardly any characters that she could not read. Now she can smoothly read all of the Dafa articles and lectures. For the years thereafter, she used her own experiences to validate the Fa. She clarifies the truth wherever she goes, and tries to assist Master in saving sentient beings.
Honestly speaking, if I had not seen the miracles that happened to my mother, these stories really would be hard to believe even for myself.
The above are what I saw with my own eyes with regards to my mother and mother-in-law. If there is anything inappropriate, I would like to ask fellow practitioners to compassionately point it out.
