(Minghui.org) My husband started practicing Falun Gong in the summer of 1998 after being introduced to the practice by one of his colleagues. Our daughter was only two at the time. I gave in to my persistent husband and read Zhuan Falun. I highly approved of the book's content, which teaches people to be good and moral. Moreover, it has a healing effect on people's health. However, I didn't have a good understanding of Falun Gong or cultivation. Perhaps it was not yet my time to practice Falun Gong.

Soon it was July 1999. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a nationwide hate propaganda campaign against Falun Gong and oppressed those who practiced Falun Gong. My family, like millions of families in China who have Falun Gong practitioners, suffered from the CCP's persecution. We felt alone and helpless, like a boat weathering thunderous storms at sea with no place to seek refuge. I used to support Falun Gong, but I gave in to the regime's pressure and began to try to talk my husband out of practicing Falun Gong. The conflict between us became so intense that we nearly divorced. The persecution of Falun Gong took a severe toll on our mental health and marriage.

Our daughter is now in high school and excels academically. I am no longer opposed to Falun Gong. In fact, I have become a Falun Gong practitioner. My family basks in the grace of Falun Gong daily. We are very happy together. Words cannot describe my immense gratitude for Teacher and Falun Gong. I hope my story will inspire people to reflect on what Falun Gong really is about. Think about what has happened to Falun Gong practitioners over the past 13 years of brutal persecution. How has everyone responded to the oppression? What have we done in response to the oppression?

1. My Husband's Transformation

My husband and I were college sweethearts. We moved to this city after graduation. He had a good job with a good pay. My husband is a very talented and diligent man. He had a really good relationship with his boss and colleagues. As a result, the management counted on him and quickly promoted him. Everyone thought he would rapidly climb up the corporate ladder. My husband, too, had high hopes for his career. I was quite proud of my husband. Soon we bought a home and our daughter arrived, bringing more joy to our family.

After my husband was promoted, he became increasingly busy. He would leave home for work early and return home late. Sometimes, he had to stay up writing, or work overtime on the weekends. He was so busy that he was rarely home. His department was known to have off-the-books income. Sometimes he would bring "gifts" home, such as men's shirts or household goods. Sometimes it was cash. When we chatted, he talked mostly of what was going on at work and how people fought over recognition and money. I felt he became increasingly complicated and attached to the pursuit of recognition and money. He was no longer the man fresh out of college, innocent and happy. Even when he came home to my daughter and me, he rarely smiled or laughed.

One year his organization called for blood donations. My husband was one of the first to sign up. He was supposed to rest after the blood donation, but I didn't have time to look after him because our daughter was only a few months old and our parents were not with us. The next day he was called to work for an emergency, so he didn't get any rest. On the third day he started to have a fever. He took shots and received blood transfusions, but they failed to bring down his temperature. The fever lasted for a week. His body temperature remained at 102.2 degrees. Then, he started to cough violently. He coughed for a month. Sometimes I woke up to his coughing at night. I was very worried. He didn't want me to worry, so he always told me he was fine. Finally, he recovered, but after that he would have a high fever once a year. He became frail. Our child was small at the time. I exhausted myself looking after both of them.

The summer of 1998 was a turning point for my husband and my family. He learned about Falun Gong at work and began practicing it. One day he held up Zhuan Falun and told me solemnly, "I am going to start practicing Falun Gong." Since then my husband was a changed man. It was as though he was fully charged every day. He always looked happy and relaxed. Nothing seemed to bother him any more. He became very considerate and thoughtful. He remained busy at work, but he stopped complaining. Even when he came home late, he would help take care of our child and help with housework. He stopped taking "goodies" from work. Most importantly, he became perfectly healthy. He has never been sick like he used to be. Even to this day he has never gotten sick again.

When my husband studied Falun Gong books, he sometimes asked me, "Why don't you read [Falun Gong books] as well? They are great. We both received many years of education, but we were never taught about the meaning of life. Now I realize a man is supposed to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance and be a good person. One shouldn't be so calculating about his self-interest. One shouldn't hurt others on account of it. I thought only of climbing up the corporate ladder and fought over fame and personal gain. I exhausted myself entirely. Now I know what is mine will be mine. I needn't fight over it. I am following nature's course and feeling very relaxed. If you have time, why don't you study the Falun Gong books with me?"

When I was not busy with our child, I started reading Zhuan Falun. I really liked its contents, but I was always busy with my work and looking after our daughter. I never felt I had enough time to myself. I would read the book sporadically. I was never like my husband, who really understood its contents and was determined in practicing Falun Gong. Nonetheless, I supported his decision. I took care of housework and our child so that he would have time for studying Falun Gong books. Sometimes when my husband listened to Teacher's Fa lectures, our daughter and I would sit quietly and listen. It was as though our daughter could understand the lecture because she would always listen quietly. At the time we had a perfectly happy little family.

2. The CCP's Suppression of Falun Gong

Happy days always seem to end quickly. In the summer of 1999, the party secretary of my workplace began to ask every employee whether he or she practiced Falun Gong. I was quite dumbfounded about the inquiry because my husband rarely got in touch with any fellow Falun Gong practitioners. He always studied and practiced Falun Gong alone in the privacy of our own home. Because he practiced Falun Gong alone, he did not know that thousands of Falun Gong practitioners went to the State Appeals Office on April 25, 1999 to petition the government to act justly toward Falun Gong.

My husband told me that the party secretary at his workplace did not approach him. Rather, he volunteered the information because he felt that he should speak the truth as someone who follows Falun Gong's cultivation principles. He had no idea, by speaking the truth, that it would lead him and our family to the cruelty of the CCP's suppression. He had no idea that the CCP would subject the innocent and peace-loving people who practice Falun Gong to over a decade of suppression, torture, and immense cruelty.

Starting that year, the happiness ended in our family. Happiness was replaced with an unprecedented level of pressure, previously unknown terror, and endless fights. My husband endured even more pressure because he practiced Falun Gong—lack of acceptance from his family, the pressure from the management at work, the look of contempt from people who fell prey to the CCP's hate propaganda, as well as the ill-founded persecution against him because he practiced Falun Gong. As I write this article, I hate to recall what we went through at the time. I wish it were nothing but a nightmare. Yet the nightmarish situation challenged the conscience and courage of everyone in China.

At first, the management called my husband in for a meeting in which they asked him to give up practicing Falun Gong. My husband took the opportunity to tell them about the physical and spiritual improvements he had experienced as someone who has benefited from the practice of Falun Gong. He validated through his personal experiences that there is nothing wrong with practicing Falun Gong, and that it is just a personal belief and has no adverse effect on society, work, or family. Finally, he said he would not give up practicing Falun Gong.

Because my husband refused to renounce Falun Gong in writing, the management repeatedly came to our home to try to talk him out of practicing. At first, I stood by my husband and explained to them the amazing transformations my husband had undergone. I told them how much happier we were since he started practicing Falun Gong. But the pressure kept mounting. Both my colleagues and my husband's colleagues did not understand Falun Gong. They told me to follow the CCP's order to stop practicing Falun Gong. They told me not to defy the CCP. They told me I was completely powerless before the CCP. They told me not to ruin our future because of Falun Gong. Slowly my attitude changed. I asked my husband to think of our child and me. I asked him to give up Falun Gong. I didn't want anyone to disturb our life any longer. I wanted nothing but a peaceful life. I felt that I was on the verge of breakdown because of the pressure surrounding us.

Actually, my husband faced even more pressure. Whether he was at work or off work, he faced endless "talks" with the management. His work colleagues didn't understand him. Now I stopped standing by him as well. Nevertheless, he never wavered.

"I have done nothing wrong. Falun Gong has done nothing wrong. I will not give it up," he said.

Even to this day I have no idea how he managed to prevail. In those days I would take the pressure out on him. "Our kid and me, or Falun Gong? Take your pick," I would challenge him.

One day my husband said in tears in response to my rage, "I want both. There is no conflict of interest. I should not need to choose. People don't understand me. But how can you not understand me? Have you forgotten the happiness Falun Gong has brought us? We must follow our conscience. I understand that you are facing a lot of grievance and pressure, but time will prove everything. What is right will ultimately be proven right. You will not sacrifice in vain."

In my heart I knew that my husband was right and that Falun Gong is good. I also knew I would not be able to alter his belief. In fact, no one can. Gradually we received less "visits." People stopped trying to make my husband renounce his faith. It appeared as though things had finally calmed down, but the fact is that overall the severity of the persecution was escalating.

Shortly after the New Year of 2001, the CCP started broadcasting the staged self-immolations at Tienanmen Square. This state-run propaganda aimed to instigate hatred against Falun Gong and to justify the CCP's suppression of Falun Gong. People became fearful and discriminated against Falun Gong practitioners. Once again my family faced enormous pressure from people who watched the hate propaganda. This time both of our parents kept calling us. His parents even threatened to disown him. A close friend at work even suggested that I divorce my husband. Completely enveloped with pressure and agony, I felt completely worn out. I lost the strength to fight any longer. It was his spiritual faith that kept him going, but it was our vulnerable, young daughter that kept me going. I wanted to give our daughter a complete home.

Falun Gong became taboo in our home. We both avoided talking about it. We stopped watching TV. When I heard people talking about Falun Gong, I would avoid them. However, who can avoid the CCP as long as he or she lives in China?

My husband was arrested at work in 2002 for practicing Falun Gong. The police took his house key and ransacked our home. They confiscated our computers and monitors and never returned them to us. The police told us that they made the confiscation because we visited illegal websites, but they failed to list any specific website they claimed my husband had visited illegally. Under such an ill-founded charge, the police kept my husband in a detention center for two months.

My daughter was attending kindergarten at the time. I broke into tears when I saw the mess left by the police. I didn't know what to do. I grew up in the midst of the CCP's propaganda. It had never crossed my mind that the "glorious, righteous and magnificent" CCP, which is how it portrayed itself in the propaganda, would be capable of such a dishonorable act of deceiving and persecuting its people. On the other hand, I knew that my husband was a very good man. I read Falun Gong's books and knew that Falun Gong was nothing like the CCP had portrayed it as in its propaganda. What was going on? I completely lost my sense of judgment. I was utterly confused.

My husband was fired after he was released. Yet he did not bear any grudge. I found it particularly impressive that he bought a new computer and started doing what he thought was right. I felt I had reached my limit, so I finally asked for a divorce. He saw I had made up my mind, so he agreed with a pained look on his face. "I wish you nothing but happiness from the bottom of my heart. I have always wanted you to be happy although you might not agree. If you think divorcing me would free you from pain and pressure, I will give you my consent."

Perhaps it was not our fate to part ways. We managed to stay married.

3. I Started Practicing Falun Gong

Life went on. There is a Chinese idiom, "Time validates." My husband continued to follow Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. He was diligent at work and never complained about working overtime. He was always obliging when his colleagues and neighbors asked for help. He looked after our parents and our siblings. His actions spoke volumes. Little by little, his colleagues and friends came to him when they had problems with their kids' education, troubles at work, and conflicts with their spouses. They wanted advice from my husband—they trusted him. They found it helpful to speak to my husband.

My husband's father finally came around. At first, he vowed to disown my husband if he would not give up practicing Falun Gong. Then my mother-in-law and my brother-in-law both got sick and were admitted to the hospital. My husband reached their doctors, gave money as gifts, and delivered food to the hospital. [The hospitals in China do not provide food to patients.] My husband was ever thoughtful and attentive. My father-in-law sang his praises behind his back. My sister-in-law said jokingly, "Your son is wonderful, but it is a pity that he practices Falun Gong." My father-in-law immediately refuted that, saying "What's wrong with practicing Falun Gong? It is good to practice Falun Gong. If every man on earth would practice Falun Gong like my son, the world would do well without any policemen!"

Living with my husband, I have started to change my attitude towards Falun Gong. I was most impressed with my husband's restored health. For more than a decade, he has never been very sick. Every once in a while, he might have a fever or catch a cold, but he always recovers in no time. He had the most remarkable recovery from back pain in June 2007. One evening my husband returned home and complained of back pain. He lay in bed and was sweating because of the pain. He could not even turn in bed. I asked him to go to the hospital, but he promised he would be better shortly. Based on his history, I thought he would recover quickly, so I dropped the subject. I woke up that night and realized he could not sleep because of the pain. I didn't say anything because I knew he would not listen. The next morning he was still in pain. He decided to take the day off, but insisted that I go to work as usual. I told him emphatically, "We have been married for many years. I know you won't have anyone change your decision. You alone will decide what to do with your body and health. If you decide to go to the hospital, give me a call and I will take you."

I looked up his symptoms online while I was at work and suspected it might be kidney stones. If that were the case, he could face death if they were left untreated. I started to feel anxious and wished he would call me soon. But he did not call. I called him, but no one answered. Finally it was time to get off work. I hurried home. My husband must have heard my footsteps because he opened the door before I knocked. He stood before me, good as new. I checked him out from head to toe in disbelief. It was like a dream. There was not a sign of illness. It was unbelievable.

My husband was rather pleased to tell me, "This is a miracle of Falun Gong. Have you wondered why Falun Gong practitioners have persevered in their faith in Falun Gong despite more than 10 years of persecution, deprivation of jobs, arrests, prison time, torture, death, and even having their organs removed while still alive? The suppression of Falun Gong in China has not exterminated Falun Gong. Instead, Falun Gong has spread to over 100 countries around the world. More and more people now know that the CCP has told nothing but lies about Falun Gong. More and more people now know the truth about Falun Gong. More and more people are moved by Falun Gong practitioners' manifestations of benevolence and forgiveness. More and more people openly support Falun Gong."

My husband took this opportunity to talk to me more about Falun Gong. It used to be taboo between us. I listened, all ears. There are things I could hardly imagine, such as the staged self-immolation act at Tienanmen Square. I could hardly believe that the CCP would fabricate such horrendous lies to justify its suppression of Falun Gong. Then there is the organ harvesting from living, breathing Falun Gong practitioners. The CCP is far more cruel than Fascists. Even I, the wife of a Falun Gong practitioner, had been believing in lies spread by the CCP for nearly 10 years. As a result, I disapproved of Falun Gong for nearly 10 years. Now that I know the truth about Falun Gong, I no longer disturb my husband when he studies Falun Gong books, practices the Falun Gong exercises, or goes on the Internet. Before I realized it, I also purged the bad behaviors that have become commonplace in today's Chinese society.

Then my husband played a video program "Prophecy and Life" for me. I believe both the eastern and western prophecies are true. A completely degenerate society will ultimately collapse. Heaven's laws will ultimately prevail. Only the lofty cultivation practice of Falun Gong is the salvation of the mankind's soul and will lead us on the path to our original innocence.

I finally started to read Zhuan Falun again at the beginning of 2008. This time I think I understood its meaning. I knelt down before Teacher's photo with tears flooding my face. I said to Teacher from the bottom of my heart, "I shall cultivate. From now on, I shall follow Teacher's words and follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I shall be a good person, a better person, and a cultivator that meets your standard."

4. The Grace of Buddha Is Boundless

After I decided to practice Falun Gong, I felt indescribable feelings of sacredness and happiness. I felt like a changed person. Troubles in life, unpleasant things at work, or mind games and competition between colleagues no longer bothered me. I felt weightless. Many years of pressure, mental torture, and suppression took a severe toll on my health. I often suffered from insomnia and chest pain. I had been frail and prone to illness. I also had gynecological problems. All of these health problems went away after I started practicing Falun Gong. I kept witnessing Falun Gong's miracles in me. Now I finally know how my husband felt and why Falun Gong practitioners have been able to remain strong, optimistic, and happy in the face of the severe persecution.

Because I was mad at my husband for practicing Falun Gong, I didn't get along with my parents-in-law. I only paid them visits during Chinese New Year and other important holidays. I had not bought anything for them for many years. I also forbade my husband from giving more money to his parents than he gave to his brother and sister. After I started practicing Falun Gong, I took the initiative to visit my parents-in-law with many presents. When I showed up at their house with many gifts in my arms, they were so happy that I could see all of their teeth when they smiled. Last year my mother-in-law was very ill and taken to a hospital. My husband took vacation time to look after her. We paid for most of the medical expenses as well. My husband's older brother and sister were very happy. All of sudden my husband and his family of more than ten people got together again as one big happy family.

Last year my department underwent a reorganization. I was transferred from a nice working environment without much work to another department with a poor working environment and a ton of work. Moreover, my salary and bonus were both reduced. I didn't complain. I worked hard to learn new technology at the new department. I didn't complain about the workload or the environment. I don’t fight over personal gain. I am always smiling. I am always peaceful and calm. Most of my new colleagues are young men in their 20's. They admire me because I manage to remain happy and peaceful despite the reorganization. One of them asked me one day, "Aren't you upset at all? You seem to be smiling every day." I get along with all of my colleagues very well. They confide in me about everything. They respect me and would fight to help me with my work.

In the past, I had high hopes for my child like most parents. I wanted her to be highly accomplished when she grew up; therefore, I paid a lot of attention to my daughter's academic performance. I would take her to many after-school lessons. My daughter was under a lot of pressure. Since I started practicing Falun Gong, I don't just pay attention to her academic performances. Instead, I focus on teaching her the proper way to conduct herself as a good person, such as respecting her teachers, getting along with her classmates, forgiving others, being polite, and being responsible. Growing up in a happy family, my daughter has become happy, optimistic and willing to help others. Her teachers and classmates like her very much. She performs well academically. This year she got admitted to a prestigious high school.

Conclusion

It is as though my family and I have finally seen a rainbow after a thunderstorm. My husband has won respect and approval from his boss and colleagues. My daughter and I are both healthy. The three of us are finally happy again. Our colleagues and friends are quite envious. But I know it is because of Teacher and Falun Gong that we are so happy today. If it had not been for the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong, more families in China would have been as happy as we are. I hope that everyone will come to realize that the CCP has been spreading lies about Falun Gong and make a good, wise choice.

(From the Call for Submissions to Commemorate the Twentieth Anniversary of Falun Dafa’s Introduction)