(Minghui.org) I live in northeastern China and am 47 years old. I have practiced Falun Dafa since December 1998. I would like to share my experiences of how I have benefited from the practice of Falun Dafa.
My Days of Drifting with the Tide
I graduated from college in 1989, after which I accepted employment at a Chinese state-owned company. Customers from all over the country purchased our products, which were always in short supply. The employees, including myself, who worked in the company fought and schemed for personal fame and gains using the company's resources. I was always angry because employees that had family connections were offered all the desirable positions and they were always surrounded by customers who complimented and bribed them. I knew that I was much more capable than they, but I had to make do with a minor position. I felt stepped on and like I was a member of the lower class.
In 1992, I married, but we were not compatible and fought constantly. My son, who was born in 1993, cried and fussed constantly, which stressed me out even more. Before I was 30, my health had deteriorated. My head hurt a lot, I had chest pain, got tired easily, suffered from liver disease, kidney stones, and stomach pain every morning. I got into drinking and gambling. Seeing me like that, my wife bought a lot of goods and suggested that I give them to my supervisor. I was really against the idea.
Later a more honest person became my supervisor. In August 1998, I became the director of the manufacturing department of the company.
Practicing Falun Dafa
In June 1998, a coworker gave me a copy of Zhuan Falun. I read the entire book that afternoon in my office. I understood the answers to many questions I had had about my life. I was no longer lost, because the teaching dissolved all my doubts. I used to like philosophy and was interested in fortunetelling. However, somehow I did not think that was all of it. I dreamed one day that there would be a master that would come and teach me something at the highest level. Zhuan Falun taught me the true meaning of life and answered, in simple words, the questions that had bothered me the most for years.
I took the book home and encouraged my wife to study it. She quickly became a practitioner. I, on the other hand, still wanting to achieve a lot of things, wasted six months. In December 1998, I finally gave up my human notions and became a practitioner.
I used all the time I had outside of work to study the teachings, promote the practice, and do the exercises. I was no longer pessimistic. I felt happy and fulfilled, like I had found a way home. I wanted more people to know about Falun Dafa and was very enthusiastic about spreading the good news. My mother, younger brother, and younger sister became practitioners.
Five of my coworkers in the manufacturing department began to read Zhuan Falun. I remember one day when I took a nap at noontime, I clearly felt that my body was immobilized and something was pressing down on my abdomen, like a hand grabbed something out of my body. A few days later, it happened again when I was taking my nap. I knew that Teacher was cleansing my body and removing terrible illnesses, which I would have come down with at a later time. I also saw in a dream that Teacher removed bad spirits from my body. I remember one day when I was getting ready to do the sitting meditation, trying to press my legs down, Teacher cleaned my head. Not long after that, all my ailments disappeared. The kidney stone that was close to 1 inch in diameter was gone, I could climb upstairs easily without panting, my head and chest stopped hurting, and I had more energy than I ever needed. It felt wonderful, as if I was on a cloud. Since then I have not taken any medication nor spend a dime on medical expenses.
My View of Life Changed
I stopped fighting for personal gain and fame. I believed in what Teacher said:
“If something is yours, you will not lose it. If something is not yours, you will not have it even if you fight for it.” (“Zhuan Falun”)
I became friendly and considerate. I looked within to find my attachments when conflicts arose, and I no longer hurt anyone.
Before I practiced Falun Dafa, a friend from Tianjin wanted my help. I used my influence to help him out. It was against the rules, of course. Later the friend gave me 5,000 yuan to express his gratitude. I took the money. After I learned Falun Dafa, I knew that was a mistake and wondered how I could make it right. Later, I got a phone call from him, asking to meet me. I brought the 5,000 yuan with me and put it in his hands. I told him, “Please do not be offended. I am returning the money because I recently started to practice Falun Dafa. The teachings require us to be a good person and not to take advantage of others out of greed. We are still friends. If you need my help and it is not against the rules, I will do my best.” My friend stared at me for a while. After he calmed down, he said to me, “I have been in this business for many years and have met many people in this industry, but I have never seen anyone like you. If all the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials were like you, this country would have returned to goodness a long time ago.”
One time I borrowed a light bulb from the manufacturing department to replace a broken bulb at home. The next day I bought one at the supermarket and returned it to the storage manager. Stunned, the manager said, “I have worked in different manufacturing facilities for over 20 years. All of the directors treated the supplies in their facilities like they were their own. They took whatever they needed or gave them to personal friends as gifts. I have never seen a director who actually returned a light bulb.”
I used to lose my temper all the time, and my wife and child suffered because of me. After I became a practitioner, I quit cigarettes, alcohol, and gambling. I also gradually improved my temperament. I stopped throwing tantrums, and my family life was harmonious. When conflicts arose, I treated them rationally and looked within for my own problems. I became patient with my child.
I respected and treated my parents and in-laws with great respect after I began practicing Falun Dafa. My father-in-law was bedridden for more than four years. I often visited him, played Teacher's lectures for him, and talked with him to cheer him up. My father-in-law has a big family. During holidays there were over 20 people at his house. My wife always ended up cooking for everyone. I now began to help her in the kitchen, which I never did before I was a practitioner.
After the persecution of Falun Dafa started on July 20, 1999, my family members had different degrees of misunderstandings about Dafa. I tried to behave myself even better in everything I did at home. I wanted to show them how beautiful, righteous, and pure Falun Dafa was. Gradually they saw that I had changed for the better and how I was different from the CCP's lies. They became willing to be around me and I tried to find opportunities to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa to them. Now, most of them have quit the CCP and its affiliates. When I was illegally arrested and incarcerated, they did everything they could to rescue me. Now, the next generation of my family has quit the CCP and its affiliates. They have all graduated from good schools, have stable jobs in good companies, and have good marriages. These are their blessings for having a good opinion of Falun Dafa.
In the winter of 2007, my younger sister had surgery for breast cancer. I rushed home to take care of her. My brother-in-law was depressed and anxious and just couldn't cope very well. I took care of my sister, including emptying her bedpan, until she was discharged from the hospital. My sister was depressed and lost her will to live because of the cancer. I tried to guide her to look at things based on the teachings of Falun Dafa. She then began to learn Falun Dafa and the exercises. She was very diligent in her practice. For the past several years, I helped them with their business and problems without wanting anything in return. My brother-in-law used to have negative views about Falun Dafa because he believed in the CCP's slander about Falun Dafa and Teacher. He once swore that he would never have anything to do with me and my wife. After my sister's surgery and I was there when they needed me most, his attitude changed. He became friendly and was no longer condescending.
In the summer of 2008, my father was diagnosed with cancer of his left kidney. He was hospitalized and had surgery. I quit my job to take care of him while he recovered. My wife also helped a lot so other relatives could have more time off. My father used to be poisoned by the CCP's slanderous lies about Falun Gong and once told me that I should be executed because of my practice. Now that he saw that my wife and I took care of him without any complaint, he was embarrassed. After he was discharged from the hospital, we often went to his place to care for him and cheer him up. We took him to the hospital for check ups. We were always smiling and did not make him feel uncomfortable. My father began to talk to us more. I asked him to quit the CCP and its affiliates and he agreed. Three years ago we sold our house and bought an old one near my parents' so we could take better care of them. They offered to give us money, knowing that my financial situation was not good because of the persecution. I refused. Last year when my parents proposed to let us live in their big house and even proposed to put the house under my name, I talked them out of it. I told them not to worry about us. Our sincerity, kindness, and honesty moved my parents and now everyone in the family gets along well.
In the fall of 2000, I began to make and distribute fliers that tell people the facts about Falun Dafa. In 2001, to avoid the persecution, I became destitute for a year and a half, but I continued to make fliers for practitioners in nearby towns. All the money came from fellow practitioners. Some gave me most of their savings and some of them tried to live on little so that they could give me a few hundred yuan. Some practitioners who did not have money still managed to give me the extra coins they had, just to help me out.
I've cried many times because of practitioners' righteous actions. I told myself that I would not disappoint them, that I would give everything I did my best. Practitioners lived very frugally. The practitioner who lived with me would not even throw away carrots that were sprouting. He washed them, sliced them, and ate them for several meals. We let go of our attachment of fear in the process of making materials.
I was able to return home in 2002. In 2003, I bought a computer and printer and established a material production side at home. I learned all the basic computer techniques, such as downloading, editing, typesetting, and printing. I produced the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, Falun Dafa books, and DVDs. I tried to do everything myself, including fixing the equipment so I did not have to bother other practitioners. I want to thank those practitioners who have been helping and supporting me over these past many years. Some of them have lost their lives in the persecution. It was their selfless contribution that helped me walk on the path of saving sentient beings.
From the Call for Submissions to Commemorate the Twentieth Anniversary of Falun Dafa's Introduction
