(Minghui.org) I started to practice Falun Gong in May 1996. I used to get drunk and hang out with girls. I owned a dance club and often didn't go home all night and would have two meals a day in a restaurant. I was very competitive and made trouble when I was drunk. I couldn't remember how many times I got drunk, made trouble, and lost myself. Indulging in such a lifestyle, my health deteriorated. I caught a cold at least seven or eight times a year. Once I had cold for 56 days and had to have shots and intravenous injections every day. It was very painful. My family members didn't have a normal life either because of me, and it was very hard on my children. If it were not for Dafa, my family would have broken up a long time ago and who knows where I would be now. I can't imagine what my children's future would have been like. I was struggling and didn't know the meaning of life. Our great Master fetched me from that hell, purified my body and soul, and let me know how to become a good person and the principles behind why people suffer.
The Change in My Family
I didn't have a book when I began to practice Falun Gong. One of my friends had given me some tapes but didn't have the first four tapes. I started to listen to the tape recordings beginning with Lecture Five. I felt so at peace in my heart when listening to Master's Fa. Master told me so many heavenly secrets and I suddenly understood many principles. Even more magically, I felt my belly start to spin around and around. Seeing me so excited, my wife shouted at me right in my face. She thought I was crazy! Several days later I got all of the tapes and started to listen to the Fa from the very beginning. Then I knew Master's name.
From that day onwards, I was a changed man. I quit drinking and started to do housework. I didn't do any housework before. My wife could hardly believe her eyes when she saw me wash clothes and cook. Before if the dishes she cooked were not to my taste, I smashed the plates and threw out the woks, let alone cook anything myself. We often fought and my wife lived in agony. She started to drink when she was sad. Then she drank more and more and bought bottle after bottle of liquor. After I started to practice Falun Gong, I felt very sad when I saw her drink. I said to her, “I have really changed. Can you please stop drinking? Let's practice Falun Gong together.” She replied, “I have to wait and see how you will behave.” So she went to buy another four bottles and put them in front of me. She said, “After I finish these four bottles, if I see you have really become good, then I will learn Falun Gong.” A few days later she had finished the four bottles and asked me if I really had quit drinking and I said yes. She asked if I really had became good. And I replied yes again. She cried that day and said that she finally had made it through and that her hard life had come to an end. She then also began to practice Falun Gong.
My bad behavior affected our children, and they did poorly at school. Their teachers often punished them and asked my wife to come to the school, but I didn't think my kids were at fault. I said to my wife, “The teachers look down on our kids.” I would go to the school and curse them after I got drunk. Because of this, I transferred my kids to other school. After I studied the Fa, I understood that I, their dad, was the reason my children did poorly in school.
I cultivated myself in Dafa and rectified my behavior according to the Fa. I improved my moral character and didn't fight or compete with others. I did everything following the course of nature. My family also changed. My children went to average schools in primary school and junior middle schools, but they all went to a good senior middle school through their own efforts. Then they went to universities and got good jobs after graduation. They started to practice Falun Gong, too. My whole family is immersed in Master's immense saving grace.
Paying Back Debts
I used to seek fame and self interest and I was not afraid of anyone. I would do anything to be successful. I set up my own factory and had other businesses. Maybe I didn't have fortune in my fate, because I failed every time. I was deep in debt and unable to repay a bank loan. The creditors came to my home every day. At first I didn't have money to pay them. Then, as I earned money, I didn't want to pay it back. I dealt with the credit unions and the court every day. Gradually I gained some knowledge of the law and took advantage of some loopholes. In order not to repay my debts, I divorced my wife and all the property went under her name. One day the president of the court held me and my sponsor in the court overnight to pressure me to repay the debt. The next day I said to him, “You have the right to sentence us but you don't have the right to detain us. You have to apologize to us.” The president didn't give in. Within 10 days, through some connections, I got the court president transferred to work in the countryside. I became even tougher on debt collectors. I said to them, “I can invite you to dinner at a restaurant but don't mention debt collection things in front of me.” Later on they seldom came to see me.
Shortly after I began to practice Falun Gong, the director of a credit union came to me and said to me with a worried face, “I want to retire, but if you don't pay back the 30,000 yuan you borrowed from us, I will not be allowed to.” I told him, “I will pay back the money.” He didn't show any expression on his face and didn't believe me. He said, “Every time I asked for the money, you said you would return it, but you never did.” I said, “In the past I didn't know the heavenly principles and did many bad deeds. You have chased this money for over ten years. I am very sorry for the trouble I have caused. I am now practicing Falun Dafa. Our Master asks us to be good people and requires us to live according to the principles of Truth-Compassion-Forbearance and consider others first.” He was very happy. In reality, I didn't have the money. I said, “I have a shop of about 50 square meters. I will put it up with a pawnbroker and pay you back.” The director felt uneasy and said, “You don't have a job and rely on the rent. How will you live without it?” After negotiating, my tenant acted as a pawnbroker and gave me the money for half the price of the house. I invited the staff members of the credit union to dinner in a restaurant and gave them four copies of Zhuan Falun. Everyone was very happy. They said that Dafa was so powerful, and, that if everyone in China learned Falun Dafa, the country would become good without needing anyone to govern it.” The news spread and people around us were moved. My brother, however, couldn't comprehend it. He said that I was a fool.
Two years later my tenant wanted to return the house to me. My brothers lent me the money, and I got the house back. Soon after the settlement, the price of the house soared. The tenant was so disappointed, but I knew that Master saw me trying to be good. Even in difficult situations I still tried to be good according to Master's Fa and so the house was returned to me.
This is my experience and how I elevated myself. If I hadn't learned Falun Dafa, it would have been impossible for me to change. Master's boundless compassion has saved me and let me understand the principles of loss and gain, good and evil, helped me give up the attachments to fame and self interest, and be a good person that benefits my family and society. I will continue improving myself according to the Fa principles and try to be a qualified Dafa disciple.
Here again I would like to thank our compassionate Master.
Category: Improving Oneself