(Minghui.org) When I was little, Mom always told me that I adapted to changes awfully easily. Daddy often commented I was cunning and too smart for my own good. I didn't understand what my parents meant at the time, yet I knew those comments were not compliments. It was not until I grew up that I knew my parents meant that I didn't have much patience and that I didn't have any perseverance to see things through. They also meant I was too cowardly to stand up for myself. In retrospect, they were right in their assessment because I seemed to give up easily.
I started practicing Falun Gong in 1999 despite the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) banning it and broadcasting hate propaganda about it. I have now been practicing for 13 years. More than one person has told me, "I admire you for your perseverance. If I were you, I would have given up." I always reply with a smile, "Yes, sometimes even I am amazed. It takes perseverance to do the Falun Gong exercises every day, not to mention follow the practice while it is being suppressed. Do you know why I persevere? Falun Gong is wonderful. I certainly wasn't born with perseverance."
All My Illnesses Cured by Falun Gong without Any Medical Treatment
When the CCP began persecuting Falun Gong in 1999, people would repeat the CCP's unfounded lies—in its hate propaganda against Falun Gong—about how practitioners refused any medical treatment even when they needed it. They would say that the founder of Falun Gong forbid his students from taking any medication or getting any medical treatment. Yet the truth is that no one can find in any of Master Li's books, or audio or video publications, where our Teacher, the founder of Falun Gong, ever tells his students to avoid medication or any medical treatment. The fact is that Falun Gong practitioners have found that their illnesses were healed when they began practicing.
Take myself as an example. I would not describe myself as frail, but I had to take a lot of medicine while growing up to treat a myriad of small problems, ranging from eye infection to cold sores around my mouth to diarrhea. They might not have been serious problems, but I often had to take sick leave from school. After I got married, I had laryngitis, bronchitis, appendicitis, annex inflammation, rheumatism, and breast lobular hyperplasia. These are common illnesses that did not keep me from working or leading a normal life, yet they were quite annoying. I often had to take anti-inflammatory drugs to keep them under control. A few years ago I developed an allergy to pollen. When the allergy surfaced, I would sneeze and have a runny nose and itchy eyes. Sometimes I wished I could remove my eyeballs to give them a thorough scratch.
After I started practicing Falun Gong, I gave away all of my drugs because all of my illnesses disappeared without a trace. It is not that I never get sick again, but that I get well very quickly. Take colds and fevers as an example. It used to take a full week for me to recover from a cold despite the expensive drugs I took. I had to take fever medicine as soon as I had a fever or it would last a long time. Since I started practicing Falun Gong, colds and fevers will go away in two days without any medication. Even my colleagues at work have noticed the difference in my health. The speediest recovery happened in 2010. One afternoon while I was at work, I suddenly felt very cold. My bones ached and I felt listless. I had to be driven home that day. I took my temperature—it was 104 degrees. I did not take any medicine. I laid in bed listening to Teacher's lectures with three quilts over me until 11 p.m. when my fever dropped. I was as good as new. When I returned to work the next day, the chauffeur stared at me in astonishment.
There were two more miracles from practicing Falun Gong that have impressed those who know me.
The first happened to my legs in the summer of 2005. I had just finished doing the dishes and turned toward the living room when I realized I had lost feeling in my legs. I literally had to drag them to get to the living room. But I was stuck at the entrance to the living room because I couldn't lift my legs to step up one inch to the living room. I asked my son to bring me a chair. I leaned on the back of the chair and pushed myself up into the living room.
Although I had lost the feeling in my legs, I had agonizing pain in my lower back.
I had hurt my lower back before I started practicing Falun Gong. I got a few shots at the time. Since then, my lower back would hurt from time to time. The problem lasted for three days. I guess the problem area in my spine might have compressed the nerves in my legs. For three days I could not risk laughing, coughing, or even speaking out loud. Any vibration in my body would send sharp pain to my lower back. For three days I could not do the Falun Gong standing exercises because I could not stand. I only did the sitting meditation.
On the fourth day, both problems disappeared. My work colleagues were shocked when I showed up at work looking as though nothing had ever happened. They asked me to stretch and squat to prove I was all right. I could do anything and nothing hurt. To this day my lower back has never given me any pain again and my legs have been perfectly fine.
I should add a postscript about my legs. I cannot remember which leg, but I would occasionally lose control of one leg before I started practicing Falun Gong. Sometimes I couldn't turn over at night because I had lost feeling in that leg. I had to wake my husband up and ask him to massage the leg until I could feel it again. If my husband was not home or if I was traveling, I had to rotate my body until I regained feeling in my leg. This particular problem has never surfaced again after I started practicing Falun Gong.
The second miracle was that I was cured of shingles. In the fall of 2009 I developed herpes zoster, commonly known as shingles, around my waist. There were large blisters all around my waist. The blisters were so large that I could feel them with my fingers. I was in agony. I didn't know what it was at first. I thought there might be something wrong with my bones because I had pain in my bones, too. It was not until older colleagues at work told me that I had shingles. When I started to practice Falun Gong, the blisters began drying up. I was cured in two weeks without any medical treatment. All I have done differently is to practice Falun Gong. The guard in my community parking lot was diagnosed with shingles at the same time. He spent more than 1,000 yuan on medical treatment. It took more then two weeks to get his shingles under control. He was quite envious after learning of my speedy recovery without any medical treatment.
I have a large balance on my health savings plan whereas most colleagues don't have enough money in theirs. It is no wonder, because prescription drugs are getting increasingly expensive. A relative of mine told me that all of his children are prescription drug representatives. One of them sold more than 70,000 yuan worth of prescription drugs in one month and earned a profit of 20,000 yuan. This was only one of his many deals. He said many prescription drugs actually cost less than one yuan to manufacture but can be sold at 50 or even 100 yuan to patients. Another child has sold more than 500,000 yuan worth of prescription drugs. He said he has stopped counting.
Treating My Parents-In-Law as My Own
I was never a beauty in college, but I was often described as elegant. Since I grew up in a well-off family, I could afford to spend money on my wardrobe and make myself attractive. I had a lot of suitors, but fate would have it that I ended up with the man that is now my husband. He and I came from the same city. He is not tall or particularly graceful. He comes from a middle-class family. He is two years older than I.
In his senior year, my husband was under a lot of pressure academically and frequently left the campus. The school decided "love's keen sting" was the root cause of his lack of diligence and expelled him. Yet we had not even held hands! Being expelled from school led him to the edge of mental collapse. In order to prove that his behavior had nothing to with our relationship, I went to the dean with his father and explained the situation. Eventually the school reversed its decision. However, his father and I decided to have him treated in a local psychiatric hospital. He checked out of the hospital a few months later, but he was a changed man. His eyes were dull and he responded slowly. I was heartbroken and cried in private. When my family found out what had happened to him, everyone told me to break up with him, except my mother, who was sympathetic towards him. My father said he wouldn't approve of the marriage, knowing it would be a tragedy. In order to get my father's blessing, his father and my future husband paid us an official visit. It was quite a condescension, because his father was 12 years older than my father. My father sat back and refused to give his approval. After four weeks of battle, my father finally gave us his blessing after I declared, “I belong with him. If he were a beggar, then I would be a beggar, too.”
My family had thought my husband's family would have a large wedding because of what I did for him. [In East Asia, it is the groom that plans and hosts the wedding.] I am the only daughter in my family and the first college graduate for several generations. All of my relatives had thought I would have a wedding fit for a queen. Yet no one could have imagined that his family would say nothing about the wedding reception after my husband and I got our marriage certificate. It was my father that checked the lunar calendar for a lucky day for a reception, but my father-in-law said coldly, "I am busy. I have to go play croquet.” My father was furious. However, he had no choice but to suppress his anger and concede repeatedly for the sake of my future happiness. Finally my father said, "I can send my daughter over. If you would set off some fireworks, we will have our own wedding banquet for our own people. What do you think?" Even though my father had compromised to the lowest level possible, my father-in-law refused to spend any money on our wedding. He insisted that registering for marriage was the same as having a wedding.
My husband and I had no wedding ceremony. My parents hosted a three-day wedding banquet. I stayed at my parents' home for three days. My husband came to raise his glass to the guests during the day and returned to his parents' home at night. I cried under a cloud of guilt every night. My husband was very unhappy, but he couldn't make his parents host a wedding. After all, his parents had suffered a lot when he was sick. He felt he owed his parents a lot and couldn't bring himself to ask for something his parents did not want to do.
After I moved into his parents' home, I was not on friendly terms with his family. I refused to address my parents-in-law as father and mother. I would exclaim from time to time, "I did not marry your family." I hated my parents-in-law. I hated my husband's older siblings as well, because none of them spoke up for or fought for me. I thought his siblings faked being nice until I learned that none of them had had a proper wedding either.
We soon moved out of his parents' home. Before I started practicing Falun Gong, I would spend no more than five minutes at his parents' home when my husband and I returned to our hometown. I always stayed with my parents because I never regarded his parents' home as my own. For nine years, until I started practicing Falun Gong in 1999, I complained about his parents and said many nasty things about them. I couldn't bear being at a wedding reception. Every time I watched a bride smiling with joy at a wedding, tears would well up. Sometimes I even felt like divorcing him because I never had a good day with him. My tormented husband once asked to divorce me. He said, "Why don't we divorce? Then I can marry you all over again and give you a proper wedding. I don't want you to trample on me for the rest of my life."
It was not until I started practicing Falun Gong in 1999 that I realized the true meaning of life and the cause and effect of our interpersonal relationships in life. I began to follow Teacher's teaching the best I could and to conduct myself according to Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Gradually I found myself no longer holding any grudges against my husband's family. I tried to be a part of his family day to day. I would do my best to help with things.
His family used to fear me and keep their distance to prevent me bringing up old grudges. Nowadays I am the most popular and respected member in his family. His two older sisters confide everything in me. They say I am a most forgiving and tolerant person. My sister-in-law, who is married to his older brother, has a lot of grudges against my husband's family as well, yet she sings my praises both in front of me and when I'm not around. The younger generation in his family treat me as their own blood. A niece, who is almost 30, puts her arms around my neck like a child every time she sees me. She says her friends from school envy her for having a dear aunt. My husband's nephew, a college student in his senior year, always follows me and chitchats with me. He has the strictest confidence in me and tells me everything. He says, "Aunty, I will buy you a present when I get my very first paycheck." His parents grin from ear to ear when they see me. They prepare my favorite food and snacks in advance for our holiday visits.
I have the very same parents-in-law and relatives by marriage, but everyone appears to have changed. Yet it is my heart that has changed. Many things have happened with my husband's family in the past 13 years, but each time his family has felt nothing but my devotion and love for them.
My Mother-in-Law Sold a House
Two years ago, my mother-in-law sold a bungalow and gave all the proceeds to her oldest son secretly. My husband's second oldest sister was mad when she found out. She called it unfair. My husband was not happy about it, but he hid the news from me for fear I would be mad. When I finally heard about it, I said to my husband, "It is her money. She is free to give it to anyone she likes. It is none of your business even if she chooses to give it away to a beggar on the street." In a few words, I prevented a potential family feud. His sister commented, "The other son's wife (me) didn't say anything. It is not a daughter's place to say anything."
My Brother-In-Law's Illness
My husband's older brother was admitted to a large hospital in the capital city of the province twice. The first time he had a heart bypass, an open-chest surgery. The second time he was in for a stroke. Each time my husband and I took care of everything. My husband nursed him most of the time. When he had to go back to work, it was my family that bribed and gifted the doctors and nurses [a customary practice in China]. While my brother-in-law was in the hospital, his wife kept her store running. When all the relatives were mad at her for never leaving the store, I thought, "If she had closed the store for a period of time, she might have lost her customers forever."
Bringing My Brother-in-Law Out of Darkness
My brother-in-law gave up all hope because of his health and his endless fights with his wife. In July 2010, he took poison in an attempt to end his life. He was found in time and rescued. However, they fought until they could not stand the sight of each other. After long consideration, I asked my husband to have his brother stay with us for a while. My husband stared at me and said I must be out of my mind. After all, his brother had become paralyzed from the waist down after the stroke. Combined with his feuding with his wife, no one in the family dared to help. Yet I knew nothing could help my brother-in-law except Falun Gong. My husband reluctantly gave in to my persistent pleas. Once we obtained approval from his daughter and wife, we quietly brought him to our home. The trip took more than four hours. When my husband's family finally heard the news, they were astonished. Everyone said I was out of my mind because it would be a huge burden to bear.
After my brother-in-law arrived, I made sure we ate very well although husband and I normally eat simply, often only one dish for a meal. Nevertheless, I knew no lavish meals would bring him out of darkness and into the light. He made a failed attempt of suicide and he might try again.
At first, he would not listen when I suggested that he read Falun Gong books. He dismissed all books and said nothing could help him. Eventually my husband and I sat him down in front of the TV and played Teacher's lecture video. A fellow Falun Gong practitioner in my neighbor paid him a visit and shared how she had benefited from Falun Gong. He stayed with us for seven days. When he left, he took a copy of Zhuan Falun with him and gave up the thought of suicide. He even told his daughter excitedly, "I have seen hope for me!" He is now staying with his parents. Although he is not very diligent, my husband and I can talk to him as fellow Falun Gong practitioners when he gets emotional.
My Niece Wanted to Be a Buddhist Nun
My brother-in-law has a daughter, who I will refer to as Yan. At one point, she grew very frustrated with the people and things in her life. Lost and confused, she fled from home shortly before the college entrance examination. Apparently a Buddhist led her to a Buddhist temple in Changchun. We only found out because she had to return home after the temple refused to take her when she could not produce an ID.
Her decision to become a nun was like a bomb to the family. My brother-in-law threatened to murder the Buddhist and kill his daughter with a club. Yan came to stay with me at my emphatic and repeated invitations. I had her study Falun Gong books with me. We discussed the meaning of life. Falun Gong changed Yan in two short months. She is no longer lost or listless. She became energetic. I found her a private college in the province's capital city and she became a happy freshman. Yan is happily married. She is now working in a big city with very good pay and often goes on international business trips. This year I received a gift from her, a whole set of Lancome cosmetics. The note says, "Aunty, I wouldn't be where I am today without your help and support."
My Sister-in-Law Wanted a Divorce
As I have mentioned, my brother-in-law and his wife had never been happy together. Two years ago they decided to divorce. One day she just packed up and went to stay with her cousin for a week. When my husband learned that she had left my brother-in-law, he called her and invited her to stay with us. At first she refused because she felt embarrassed to face me. But she eventually agreed because she did not want to outstay her cousin's welcome. I knew I wouldn't be able to talk her out of divorce, so I played Teacher's lecture video for her. Within several days she had seen the whole video, and most of her anger had drained out of her. I also showed her articles where Falun Gong practitioners shared their cultivation experiences and insights. I shared with her my own stories of cultivation as well. It was as though she suddenly saw things in a new light. She stopped talking about divorce and started practicing Falun Gong. She told me on her way home, "I was bad according to Teacher's teaching. My husband is busy enough tending the store all by himself. No one cooks for him. If I were at home, I could at least cook for him."
My Father-in-Law's Transformation
My father-in-law is already in his 80s. He was a cadre in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) starting before 1950. He was strongly opposed to me practicing Falun Gong for the first few years after the CCP started persecuting and lying about it in 1999. He was very angry with me because my son practices Falun Gong as well. He called my mother and ranted. He even went to my parents and condemned them for allowing me to be a dissident and allowing his grandson to be one as well. He accused me of ruining the next generation of his family. He embarrassed my parents.
But now my father-in-law thinks I walk on water.
It is the same family that I had put up a thick, tall wall of ice in front of before I started practicing Falun Gong. I made my heart cold and made them feel cold. Sometimes I wanted to change, but I was unable to. I once thought my relationship with my husband's family was a foregone conclusion. But Falun Gong has given me a new perspective. I felt joy and happiness once I melted the thick wall of ice. I truly feel my parents-in-law's home is my home, too, because I have married into their family.
My Work Colleagues Are Like My Brothers and Sisters
I used to be proud and considered myself better than others. I looked down on others and always wanted to act superior. I was also vain and enjoyed dressing better. If I saw someone ascending in status and better dressed, I would be overcome with jealousy and unhappiness. When I was in college, there were eight girls in my class, but not one was a real friend. I once had a big argument with my boss in the corridor at work, and I thought I was in the right. I felt I was very competitive and looked down on everyone else.
When I was promoted in 2000, a lady in my office was so angry that she cried all night. (She confessed this to me later on.) The truth is that no one in the office liked me. I would never have gotten the promotion if the HR director had not been a family friend.
I had only practiced Falun Gong for a few short months when I got promoted, so everyone in the office had not changed their opinion of me yet. But gradually everyone discovered that I had changed. The lady that cried over my promotion became a dear friend. Everyone teased me about my improvement and said I had become "stupid" (as opposed to "cunning.")
Impervious to Self-Interest
Several times a year, an auditor comes to our department. I am responsible for his accommodations and transportation, giving him bribes, and buying him presents [the custom in China]. These days there are a lot of accounting loopholes in China's corporations. No one examines the receipts. You will get a reimbursement as long as you can produce a receipt. In those days receipts were handwritten, leaving large loopholes to be exploited. One day I bought a shirt for the auditor with a 10,000-yuan check. The shirt cost less than 7,000 yuan. When I asked for a receipt, the cashier offered to transfer the remaining balance onto a prepaid shopping card and write me a receipt for the full $10,000 yuan. I automatically refused. She looked at me, dumbfounded. The chauffeur laughed at me as he watched, saying, "You have wasted a perfect opportunity."
I have been working here for more than 10 years and I have never stolen a penny. If it had not been for Falun Gong, I am certain I would have bought designer clothes and bags with taxpayers' money. Speaking of gifting, I have only met one auditor that refused to accept any gift and he turned out to be a Falun Gong practitioner as well. His conduct has impressed my work colleagues. Every time my department has to gift an auditor, they recall this Falun Gong practitioner.
A Company Car vs. a Private Car
I have been at the management level for more than 10 years. Outside of normal business hours, I do not use the company car. Actually, the company chauffeur has even used my private car for his family emergencies. For everyone else, company cars have become their private cars. Gas, tolls, maintenance, and repair can cost more than 10,000 yuan per year. But if you use a company car, the company assumes all the expenses. My chauffeur would proudly tell other company chauffeurs about me and cause a lot of envy.
One day my boss's wife and I went on a personal trip to the province's capital city. I paid for all the gas and tolls. She knows I never get reimbursed for these expenses, so she urged me to get reimbursed on the way back. I promised her I would, but I never did because it was a personal trip.
Accepted by the Department
In 2006 I was transferred to a new department, one that I once tried to move to a decade before. Now I got the transfer without trying. However, people in this department did not approve of me, especially a female colleague a few years older than me.
A few days after my transfer, she made a sarcastic comment within earshot: "Well, she is now in our department as a leader, unlike before." I managed a smile and let it roll off my back. I would complete all the tasks assigned to me quietly and diligently. I would help even if it was not part of my job. I wouldn't fight for tasks that brought benefits. I treated my new colleagues as my own brothers and sisters. I helped them whenever I could. When it came to dividing benefits, I chose the poorest and took the least. I am in charge of the expenses, which is a job everyone envies. Those in charge of expenses can decide on buying gifts for the holidays. For me, it means no more than an added responsibility.
Gradually, ill-meant gossip about me was replaced with open praise. Even the lady that made the sarcastic remarks has let down her guard and jealousy and confides in me. She sometimes brings me delicacies from home.
At the company dinner at the end of 2007, a man announced, "My daughter-in-law (who works in our department) told me that she has never seen a lady more generous than your leader (me)." Everyone applauded.
Kindness Is Infectious
After more than a decade of practicing, my husband notices my transformation the most. He used to feel helpless about my behavior, but now no one is prouder of me than he is. He often says, "You bring sunshine with you everywhere. I dare not upset you now because no one would believe me if I should make any complaint about you to my family."
I am changing, but so are the people around me.
A colleague once complained at work about her family feuds. Another colleague suddenly interjected, "The leader (I) said that all conflicts will cease to exist if you upgrade your xinxing." Everyone laughed. A male colleague I work closely with often says, "She (I) is a woman and even she does not take it to heart. Why should we be upset?" Many conflicts were resolved naturally.
I was on a business trip with my boss, traveling to a government agency for an end-of-year audit at the end of 2011, when I met a young lady that had just lost her mother. I learned during our conversation that she did not get along with her mother-in-law. After I shared my story about me and my mother-in-law, she told me excitedly, "I've never been able to find anyone like you to talk to. I doubted that I did the right thing to fight with my mother-in-law, but my colleagues and friends always suggested new tactics to get the better of her. When I followed their advice, I became all the more unhappy. Now that you have told me your story, I feel as though I have seen light."
I gave her a DVD with of Shen Yun Performing Arts. This year she added me as a friend on QQ. She sent me a message: "I have watched the DVD. It is wonderful. My relationship with my mother-in-law has improved. I no longer fight with her. She has a difficult life."
I could go on forever with such stories. The CCP has always told the public that Falun Gong is a danger to China's society, yet the truth is that Teacher teaches us to become better and better people. All the Falun Gong practitioners that have been in touch with me are good people and have inspired people around them to be good people. A colleague once told me, "I don't think I have the perseverance to practice Falun Gong, but I hope everyone else does." A school friend is now the police chief. We don't keep in close contact, but he does not doubt my character just because I am a Falun Gong practitioner.
Thirteen years may seem like a long time. Why am I able to persevere when I used to not be patient? I think you have seen the answer by reading this article. The road of cultivation may be difficult, but I have no reason to give up. After all, who would willingly give up joy and happiness?
I sincerely hope that those who do not yet know the truth about Falun Gong will sit down and listen to the personal stories of cultivation from Falun Gong practitioners around the world and near you. I hope that you will attain happiness like the tens of millions of people that have been practicing Falun Gong.
