(Minghui.org) Rain, pattering against the glass window, awakened me after reading the following story.

Spring rain nourishes all creatures, and never competes with them, but just keeps a low profile. In ancient China, both rain and water were used as noble symbols. Du Fu, a famous poet from the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem to praise the spring rain.

“Welcome Rain on a Spring Night

Good rain is coming to our delight.
Its early-spring timing is perfectly right.
With wind it drifts in all through the night.
Silently it's nourishing everything in sight.”

The early spring rain descends to the earth and awakens all creatures. Because of its arrival, willows and grass turn green, flowers blossom, and everything fills with vigor. But it is precious that spring rain never publicizes itself, shows off, or brags about itself.

Laozi, the founder of Taoism, said, “The highest compassion is like water, which nourishes all creatures but never competes with them. It dwells in places the multitudes loathe. Therefore it is somewhat like the Way.”

Watching the spring rain outside the window, I reflected on this story, and the stories of Falun Gong practitioners I had just read, and couldn’t help sighing with emotion. This first story tells of a person’s dramatic change. He had committed three crimes and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but later he changed from having been a burglar to becoming an independent and kind person who was able to earn money on his own.

Changing from a Rogue to a Good Person

He wrote,

“15 years of imprisonment not only did not change me, but made me even worse. As a youngster in school, I was kind and honest. However, prison made me believe that kind people were easily bullied and humiliated. Gradually I became afraid of nothing. In prison, if any inmate bullied me, I fought back with full strength and beat him almost to death. The guards also knew that I was dangerous. They were afraid of starting a conflict with me, and prisoners were afraid of being beaten, so everyone was afraid of me and would not bother me.

As I was walking a dark path, I was lucky to run into Falun Dafa. I read the book Zhuan Falun. That is when I awakened to the truth of life and I was deeply regretful for what I had done in the past. I stole a lot of money that didn't belong to me and brought much harm to innocent people and their families. I was immersed in selfishness and lost a lot of virtue. I was wondering, "I am a person with many sins. Will Teacher accept me as his disciple?

“As I studied the Fa, I came to understand that Teacher is compassionate and doesn’t care about a student’s past mistakes. I let go of my attachments and focused on studying the Fa, practicing the exercises, and improving my xinxing. All this helped me turn into a new person.

“One time, I saw 100 yuan on the street, but didn’t pick it up. When I began to work for a hotel, my boss distrusted me and was very cautious around me. One time a guest left 100 yuan in the room. I picked it up and gave it to my boss. He was very surprised and asked why I didn’t keep it. I said, "It’s not my money, so I can't keep it. Falun Dafa teaches me not to take what I haven't earned." My boss said, "Falun Gong is really miraculous!" From then on, he trusted me completely. He asked me to handle the income and expenses of the hotel and regarded me as his family.”

Tears covered my face when reading the above story. Yes, it’s true. The Falun Gong principles, just like the spring rain, silently nourish hundreds of millions of people’s hearts and elevate their spiritual levels. There are countless such stories. Each story contains a life’s new understanding about the meaning of life. It also means a life’s awakening.

Thinking of Others First

There is an elderly practitioner whose husband died at a young age. She had three daughters. During holidays or the Chinese New Year, her daughters wanted to be with her, but she said that it was not necessary. She said, "I suffered from many illnesses before I began practicing Falun Gong. At that time, you had no choice but to take care of me. Now, I am healthy, so don’t worry about me. Practitioners should think about others first. You don’t need to come and stay with me." People miss their families during holidays more than at any other time. Although she lost her husband many years ago and suffered loneliness, she never complained.

Falun Dafa Brings Great Change

One time I interviewed a middle-aged practitioner. She talked about her great physical and spiritual change after practicing Falun Gong.

“Before I practiced Falun Dafa I was very weak and suffered from many illnesses. I couldn’t do any work and no medicine or treatment helped me become healthy. After practicing Falun Dafa, I became healthy and my spiritual level elevated."

She continued to tell her experience, "In the spring of 2003, a woman approached me. She told me that she had been living with my husband for three years. They had traveled to Beijing and Shanghai and had visited her parents. She spoke of how she loved him and how well he took care of her. After I listened to her I remained calm and thought of Teacher’s Fa. I thought, 'She is also in pain.' I handed her a cup of hot water, as it was still a little cold in early spring. She had been shivering because of not wearing warm clothes. I covered her with my coat. I told her the facts about Falun Dafa and the principles of being a good person. She became ashamed and lowered her head. She said, ‘I didn't expect you to be such a good person, inside and outside. I will definitely go back to my hometown.’"

She then said to me, "I haven't mentioned this to my family, nor have I talked about my troubles. If I hadn’t practiced Falun Dafa, such an incident would have been my death sentence.”

Being Persecuted to Death for Being a Good Person

The Minghui website published an article about Mr. Yuan Shengjun, a practitioner from Jiyuan City, Henan Province who was persecuted to death. He started practicing Falun Gong in 1997. Soon after he stepped into the practice, his high blood pressure and heart disease disappeared. He was also appointed as president of the Jiyuan City Commodities Bureau. He was a responsible, trustworthy, and good individual. Because of his righteous behavior, he won much support from the entire staff. Moreover, thanks to his management, the bureau did very well.

An employee who had been working with the bureau for 22 years wrote a letter to his superior, saying, “Mr. Yuan Shengjun was full of confidence and we all held much hope at the Jiyuan City Commodities Bureau... He had no political supporter or a background of favoritism, but he had a sincere heart. No wonder some people said that he was a person who didn't drink, smoke, dance, womanize, or play Mahjong. He was just the opposite of our former bureau president.”

Letting Go of the Attachment to Gain

Practitioner Mr. Lu Xiaowei was a former journalist, employed by the Xinhua Daily Press. In 1997, during the local Falun Gong Experience Sharing Conference, he shared his cultivation experiences. He spoke of how he lived by the Falun Dafa principles and let go of his attachment to personal gain. When others attempted to bribe him, he refused immediately. If by chance he couldn’t return it, he donated the money to the Hope Project, which amounted to tens of thousands of yuan over the years. As a result, he was given the awarded "1996 Most Beneficial Person of Hope Project in Jiangsu Province."

From the aforementioned stories, you may have found the answer to a question that is asked often of practitioners, "Why do hundreds of millions of practitioners refuse to renounce Falun Gong despite the unprecedented persecution by the Chinese Communist Party? Despite the brutal persecution, they neither argue nor flatter, but insist on telling people the facts about Falun Gong with compassion. They have been purified because of practicing Falun Dafa and they know that they have made the right choice."

Falun Dafa is the righteous Fa! Falun Dafa is awakening sentient beings and bringing hope for a bright future to the entire universe!