(Minghui.org) I started practicing Falun Dafa in the spring of 1997. Looking back over my 15-year journey of return, I feel I'm extremely fortunate to live this life.

I am a doctor. I live and work in the most prestigious medical university in China, a place where experts have gathered. But something rarely seen in medical history has happened to me.

In the winter of 1984, I was so overworked by my hospital duties that I caught a cold. I felt cold and sick all over, and the symptoms lasted for more than a month. I was acquainted with a well-known Chinese medicine doctor, who prescribed some Chinese medicine for me. Unexpectedly, after a few doses, my condition got worse. I felt very cold and feared the wind, as if I had fallen into ice. My feet were too cold to wear shoes, and my hands were too cold to touch anything. Frightened and restless, there was no place on my body that was unaffected and no joint that didn't hurt. However, my physical strength and energy were normal, as were my organs, and the X-rays and other tests were all normal. The pain, however, was unspeakable, and any attempt at treatment worsened it.

I consequently lost the ability to work (including housework). As my illness progressed, everything went wrong! I knew very clearly that this was a holistic problem, so I put all my hope into fighting it myself: physiotherapy, jogging, exercise, and Tai Chi. I also tried qigong, but my illness still worsened.

There was a qigong association at the university. The person in charge introduced me to a “qigong master,” and I accepted his “qigong treatment.” As it turned out, not only did I waste a lot of money, but my condition deteriorated. I had to use a hot water bottle all day long, even in summer. I had to wear cotton-padded shoes and a cotton-padded hat at home. I could not turn my head, couldn't see clearly, and I had to keep the curtains down in my room. I even lost the ability to urinate on my own. I was mentally and physically exhausted and was completely desperate.

At the time, everybody was seeking a healthy way of life, and there were several different kinds of qigong practiced at the university. The qigong association held a seminar every year. Falun Dafa's miraculous healing ability was commonly known. Many elderly cadres told their personal stories, which coworkers and neighbors witnessed. I obtained a copy of Zhuan Falun.

I couldn't lower or turn my head, and I couldn't see clearly, so I couldn't read. Flipping through the pages caused me inexplicable fear, and I did not read the book for a long time.

One day, I put on my glasses and read Zhuan Falun for 40 minutes. Even today I still can't remember how it happened: how I got out of bed, reached for the book, and started reading. The book fascinated me. The content was all new to me and was very refreshing. After finishing 1/3 of the book, I was deeply moved. Deep down, my heart was saying, “This is the good qigong I have been looking for.” I walked to the living room, very excited, and kept saying, “I will practice Falun Dafa! I will practice Falun Dafa!” I couldn't remember how many days I had been unable to get out of my bedroom and how I got out that day.

The next morning I woke up feeling that numerous wheels were expelling the coldness from my bones. My whole body felt very warm, and the wonderful feeling of comfort was beyond words, given that I had been trapped in illness for over a decade and had forgotten what comfort was. In shock, I stopped thinking, and I enjoyed it lying down with my eyes closed.

It wasn't until three days later that I realized I should finish reading the book. Having read so many books in my life, most of which were about healing illnesses, I never knew that reading itself could treat illness. I was a stubborn atheist. Although I had practiced qigong before, I did not know the relationship between qigong and cultivation practice or about Buddhas, Taos, and gods. This book changed me fundamentally, and I suddenly came to understand many things in life. I realized it was not an ordinary book. With reading and practicing, along with xinxing improvement, my health improved. I soon got rid of the hot water bottle and cotton-padded hat and shoes and walked to the practice site a few months later.

I do not remember how long I had been unable to get outdoors due to my illness. Consequently, my ankles and every joint in my toes ached with every step, and it was extremely difficult to walk. I reminded myself that I was a Dafa disciple and that I should have the demeanor of a Dafa disciple, so my gait had to look normal. It took me a long time to walk to the practice site. Early that morning, I felt a warm current suddenly travel down from the top of my head to my toes, reaching every part of my body, including my fingers and toes. And I saw several long, red lines running from my shoulders down my arms, just like blood vessels. I knew Master gave me many things at that particular time. At the practice site, while doing the second exercise holding the wheel, a glowing pink, spinning Falun approached me. It stopped as soon as I could identify the Taiji symbols and swastika. Miraculously, when I finished the practice, the joints in my toes and ankles did not ache at all. I walked lightly and arrived home quickly.

At that time, there were fewer than 20 people at the practice site, and each one had had a miraculous experience. One practitioner had previously been confined to a wheelchair, one used to suffer from a blood-related disease and was in critical condition, another one recovered from heart disease, and still another survived a car accident.

Every day, we started our group practice at 5:30 a.m. and then went to work. In the evening, we studied the book together and shared our understandings. I felt my whole body was light, as if every cell in my body was smiling, and I was happy like a child. My health got better and better; I felt energetic all day long; my white hair turned black; and my skin tightened and turned rosy. I looked ten years younger. In the past, I dared not touch room-temperature water, even in summer. After practicing Falun Gong, I took cold water showers regardless of how cold it was. My surroundings improved, too. My grandson was only four years old. In the past, he was only free from illness one week a month. As I practiced Falun Dafa, his health improved, too. I discovered that when he had a fever, his temperature would break as soon as he looked at Master Li's photo. I truly came to understand, “The Buddha-light illuminates everywhere and rectifies all abnormalities.” (“Lecture Three” in Zhuan Falun)

New practitioners joined us every day. In less than a year, our practice site increased to more than 200 practitioners, so we moved to the Cultural Activities Center Square. We easily filled the square during the daily practice. On Chinese New Year's Day one year, while we were doing our group exercises, wow, I saw flowers all over the sky, the same kind of flower as the one on the back cover of Zhuan Falun. It was so beautiful and magnificent.

A qigong seminar was held at the university in 1998. The director of the Political Department and the person in charge of the provincial qigong association attended. At the time, three kinds of qigong were practiced in the university. Representatives from the first qigong talked about how to use supernatural capabilities to make money in the stock market, while those from the second talked about how many classes had been held and how many people had attended. Falun Dafa practitioners talked about improving health and surviving deadly illnesses. The provincial qigong association leader was very touched and gave an example to illustrate Falun Dafa's miraculous healing effect. He said there was a rheumatoid arthritis expert who suffered from the illness himself, and the joints in his fingers and toes had become so deformed that he could not walk. However, one of his patients with the same disease and symptoms practiced Falun Dafa. That practitioner got out of his wheelchair and his deformed joints gradually returned to normal.

At that time, we had a large scale group practice once a month throughout the city. Every park was filled with practitioners. As soon as the music started, everyone quieted down and started the exercises, without any coordinators. At the annual city-wide Fa conference, there were so many people that a stadium was not large enough. Everyone was orderly. This kind of solemn, respectful, and peaceful atmosphere is unique to Falun Dafa, the pure land.

The illness that I had was intangible and considered a “functional disease” by Western medicine. Even though the patient is suffering, the doctors cannot diagnose the problem, not to mention treat it. The more the patient suffers, the more unbelievable it seems. In my own case, the physical therapy doctors ridiculed me because they had never seen anyone with so many symptoms. Doctors at the hospital cursed me in public because they saw me as having good hands and fingers but not helping them weed, clean the classrooms, or do any cleaning. People mocked me and laughed at me. Evidence-based medicine will never find the root cause of illness, which is in other dimensions. Zhuan Falun explains the cause and tells how the cure can be found. How does “Falun Dafa miraculously cure illness” as everyone knows? One has to understand illness from beyond-ordinary principles. As a matter of fact, the traditional Chinese culture is based on faith, and it values morality. Cultivation practice was the essence of this traditional culture. However, the evil Communist specter promotes atheism and the philosophy of struggle. It has fundamentally damaged the traditional culture of our nation and undermined morality.

There is currently a “Falun Gong phenomena” in China. If one understands the truth and repeats “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” with sincerity, one's illness will be cured and one will be safe. Some people believe it and have survived car accidents, earthquakes, and fires. Some people do not believe it and think it's superstitious. There is a saying in the Buddha school, “The Buddha Fa is boundless.” In the face of harsh realities, if one can discern right from wrong, good from evil, and recognize Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, isn't this Buddha nature? It will shine like gold, and the person will be protected by higher beings.

From the Call for Submissions to Commemorate the Twentieth Anniversary of Falun Dafa's Introduction