(Minghui.org) A well-known Chinese saying goes like this, “When one intentionally grows flowers, the flowers won’t bloom, but a willow branch that has been unintentionally left on the ground may well grow into a tree.” I initially became interested in Dafa because I wanted my husband to learn, but did not plan to practice myself.
In 1997, my husband suffered from various kinds of illnesses. He had emphysema, high blood pressure and heart disease, among other things. He had tried both western and Chinese medicine, and was given 50 to 60 doses of pills after each visit, but to no avail. One day my cousin introduced Dafa to me when I told her about my husband’s situation. She told me that she knew a very good practice which included doing a set of gentle exercises, called Falun Gong. She said that I should ask my husband to learn it as soon as possible. She also loaned me a copy of Zhuan Falun for my husband to read.
My husband was a veteran, and was assigned to work for a national firm in the financial sector. Because he had a very good job, he was supportive of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In addition, because he grew up under the influence of Party culture, he was deeply poisoned by its atheistic notions. He rejected the idea of practicing the exercises when I brought up Falun Gong to him. I laid Zhuan Falun on top of the dresser and forgot about it.
1. Walking on the path of Dafa cultivation
My third eye has been open since childhood, and I often saw a big eye. One fall day after I put the book on the dresser, my ankle became swollen. The doctor examined me and found that there was a fracture in the ankle. I went to ask the person across the street to massage my ankle, but she said that she could not treat me anymore because her Master did not permit her to give other people massages. I had no choice but to go to the hospital, and brought home anti-inflammatories. I was bed bound and could not do anything. I began to read Zhuan Falun . As soon as I opened the book, I found out that it was extraordinary; every word seemed to jump out at me and was surrounded by shining colorful lights. I was very excited and believed that I had found Heaven's book.
I immediately finished reading one lecture, and afterward, I could feel something spinning in my lower abdomen. At that moment, I could walk again. After reading Lecture Seven, “On the Issue of Healing Illness”, I suddenly remembered that the person across the street also practiced Falun Gong. I went to ask her to teach me the exercises, and she told me that at 3:30 the next morning, she would come to take me to the practice site. I told her that I could go there by myself.
I could not fall asleep that night because I was afraid of oversleeping. Surprisingly, even though the practice site was in our village, I circled around our village five to six times, but could not find it. Even more surprisingly, although I had only studied the Fa for a few days, my feet did not hurt at all after I circled around the village so many times. Fortunately a man told me how to get to the practice site.
Soon after I began practicing, my nephritis was healed before I even noticed it. My husband also began to practice the exercises and study the Fa after seeing the positive effects on me. Gradually, all his illnesses disappeared. After that, when I watched Master’s lectures on DVDs, I found out that Master looked like a golden Buddha for a moment, then back to Master alternately. Practicing the exercises on the square, I saw a big circle around all the practitioners. That circle was like a round belt 30 centimeter in width. Magical things happened to me one after another, and my confidence to keep practicing became stronger. I told myself that no matter what difficulties emerged, I must continue practicing Falun Gong.
2. Dafa has deeply taken root in my heart after reciting the Fa
Although I did not have a good education, I told myself that such a magnificent Dafa should be stored in my mind. Thus I not only studied Zhuan Falun every day, I also recited Essentials for Further Advancement and Hong Yin. After doing this for a while, I can memorize many lectures in Essentials for Further Advancement . I can also recite every single poem in Hong Yin . Being able to recite the Fa would later help me in assisting Master in validating the Fa.
3. A single word, “faith,” helps me break through tribulations
It is beyond my understanding why the CCP and Jiang Zemin’s regime could not accept such a great school of cultivation. Jiang Zemin utilized the government controlled media, armed police, army, and all other government agencies to persecute Falun Gong. I was shocked that the regime made Falun Gong its enemy overnight. I knew that I could let go of anything, but I could not live without Dafa. When fellow practitioners went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong and validate the Fa, I wanted to go too. However, since I was making Dafa materials, fellow practitioners told me not to go at first.
It was not until December 30, 1999 that I went to Beijing with another practitioner. On our way there, we met nine practitioners from our local area, so together, we arrived in Beijing at around 7:00 a.m. the next day. We first talked to Beijing practitioners to discuss with them what to do, and then at 6:00 p.m., we arrived at Tiananmen Square. It was close to the New Year, and the square was packed with people. A large number of police officers were scattered in all corners of the square, which made the atmosphere tense. We were told that the government had decided that from then on, they would imprison Falun Gong practitioners in jail or labor camps. Hesitating, some practitioners asked what we should do, we replied in one voice: Stand up! Over a dozen of us stood in a circle holding our hands up doing the second exercise.
Right after that, a large group of practitioners joined us. Blowing their whistles and yelling, the police officers surrounded us and lined us up. There were several hundred. We moved forward together while reciting poems from Hong Yin .
As we entered the local police station, fellow practitioners from other areas gave us a thumbs up and told us that we had set a good precedent. Not afraid at all, we recited, “Benevolent Might” in Hong Yin ,
“Dafa is what you carry everywhere, Zhen Shan Ren, rooted in the mind; A great Arhat walks the earth, Gods and demons fear with awe.”
We were taken back to the local police station three days later. Around 7 a.m. that day, I told my colleague who had been brought there to watch me, “You’ve been working hard. Go home and take a break now.” An officer from the police station said, “Aren’t you leaving now? Why are you still here? Just say that you won’t practice Falun Gong, then you can go!”
I replied, “Stop practicing Falun Gong? Why did I go to Beijing then? That's impossible!”
Even though I did not promise the police anything, they let me go home with my family in the afternoon.
We practiced the exercises outside in April and May of 2000. Because of that, the police arrested me. I thought that I still needed to go distribute Falun Gong materials and that they should not persecute me. Master helped me when He saw my thought. I had no fear, and constantly recited Hong Yin the whole time.
They asked me who told me to go practice the exercises outdoors. I replied that I did it myself. They asked how long I had practiced there. I said that I came out to stretch, but saw people practicing, so I joined them. I then asked them why it was wrong to practice some exercises.
Since I did not cooperate with them, the police fined our village Party committee 2000 yuan. They threatened that the village Party committee would confiscate all of my personal belongings to pay for the fine.
Our village Party head had learned the facts about Falun Gong. He often protected practitioners. To avoid having my belongings confiscated, he had my furniture, TV set, refrigerator, sofa, etc. moved to the village office ahead of time. So when the officers from the police station came, they found nothing in my house. They detained me for four days, and then released me.
After I came home, the village officials returned my belongings, but I gave them 2000 yuan. It was not because I admitted that I had done anything wrong, but I believed that I should not let others be fined because of me. Being Dafa disciples, we must think of others all the time.
I had to make a very important decision in May 2003. A practitioner gave my name to the authorities after enduring torture. I was then illegally arrested and incarcerated at the police station.
There I met a very vicious officer with the family name of Song, who was a member of the 610 Office. I made up my mind that I would not give them any names. Zong said that no practitioners in his custody were able to remain silent. I told myself that I would not talk, but only recite Hong Yin .
He showed me a practitioner’s car, but I told him that I did not know who owned it. He showed me the interrogation records of other practitioners, and I told him that I did not understand them since I never went to school. He then showed me photographs, and I said that I had never seen those people.
Finally he told me the exact time and location that fellow practitioners gave me the materials, so I found it hard to deny it. I admitted that I did get materials one time. He asked who delivered the materials to me, but I did not reply. Song became furious. His fingers were trembling, but this notorious and cruel evildoer dared not beat me. He told me that he knew that I had destroyed all the materials. He then left with a sigh.
After that, the 610 Office had 4 to 5 people watching me 24/7. They forced me to squat down, and if I refused, they subjected me to sleep deprivation. I recited Hong Yin if they prohibited me from sleeping. Two kindhearted guards tried to convince me to eat more food, but I did not feel tired or hungry. Even though I ate little, I felt light and looked clean and pure. My family told me that it looked as if my face was coated with a layer of facial powder.
In order to transfer me to the detention center, they handcuffed me to take me to the hospital for a check-up first. I shouted, “I practice Falun Gong, and have not committed any crimes. It is Jiang Zemin who is the criminal!” Hearing that, a guard immediately asked, “Who put the handcuffs on her? Take them off now!”
Miraculously, when they measured my temperature in the hospital, it was 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 Fahrenheit), but back in the local police station, it was perfectly normal. This happened several times. Then a distorted thought occurred to me, “Don’t bring trouble for others; if I have to be detained, go ahead and detain me.” Consequently, the 610 Office sent me to the detention center anyway.
Someone told me that in order to leave the detention center, I must write the three statements. I said that I would not write a single word for them. I sent forth righteous thoughts and recited Hong Yin every day.
Fifteen days later, they sent me back to the police station, where they attempted again to transform me. I sent forth righteous thoughts to stop them from brainwashing me. The evil forces in other dimensions did not let the evildoers talk to me, fearing that I would sway them.
Later they used a new strategy. They went to manipulate my children, relatives and friends, trying to use them to pull me down. My family and friends cried and fought in front of me. My husband called me after seeing our children crying. I still did not write anything. I firmly trusted that Master would send someone to get me out. Although I suffered from persecution, my faith in Master and Dafa was not shaken.
I was detained for two months. On May 27, 2000, my husband’s brother passed away, and about 60 people came to bail me out because they said that I must go there to make the funeral preparations. The 610 Office held the village party secretary responsible for my return and kept him detained as a guarantee. Thus a mob of police officers took me home as if they were at war. It looked like a high ranking government official was visiting, because police were on both sides of the road while I walked in the middle. I knew that once I was out, I would not go back. They would not have the right to detain the party secretary from our village for long anyway. I got into a relative’s van and left. The party secretary was released two hours later.
When I did the sitting meditation that day, I saw that a human shell had fallen off my back, and behind the shell were three pieces of paper.
4. Threats abound everywhere, but with Master's protection there is no danger
Before setting up our own materials site in 2000, we had to use everyday people's printing shops to make copies for us. Since the government would fine the business 5000 yuan if they were caught printing Falun Gong materials, the printing shops were usually afraid to make copies for us. Therefore, I had to go to many shops, and ask each of them to copy a small number for me each time.
After our materials site was established, we could make a large number of materials. I then took on the task of delivering materials. I went to distribute materials in the west side of town where my mother lived, and stayed with her or in my friend’s house during the day. In the evenings, I went out to distribute materials. I could cover two to three villages a night distributing a total of over 1000 copies. Even though I am an older woman, I was not afraid of walking in the dark by myself. With Master’s help, the police could not see me even though I encountered police vehicles several times.
After I finished distributing materials in a large village with over one thousand households, a car suddenly stopped in front of me. The driver told me, “Get in the car.” I said, “I have no money.” He then said, “I don’t need your money. I’ll take you to the next village.”
Sitting inside his car, I pondered who he was, and why he offered to give me a ride. I later realized that Master had arranged for him to take me to the next village to deliver the rest of the materials.
One day I planned to go to East Village to distribute materials and took a large amount with me. While standing at a stop in East Village, I told myself: it would be better if there were two people. Soon after I sent out that thought, a woman came toward me on her motorcycle. I thought maybe Master had arranged for someone to come and help me. It turned out that she was indeed a practitioner. After I told her my plan, she parked her motorcycle, rode the bus with me to the East Village and did not leave until we had finished distributing all the materials.
There was a public goods exchange event in our city square one day in fall 2002. I had a few dozen copies of materials with me. However, I was busy looking at clothes with another practitioner, and completely forgot about them. When I was about to take off my clothes to try on some clothing, my ankle suddenly hurt as if it had been shocked by electricity. As I reached my hand out to touch the ankle, I remembered that I still had the materials with me. If I took off my clothes, the materials would have fallen out where the police could see them. I knew that Master had helped me to avoid danger.
5. Cultivating every single thought to prevent the evil from exploiting loopholes
I have learned many lessons in this regard, and here I would like to focus on three incidents.
My husband was furious with me one day and roared at me. Upset, I asked myself, “What have I done to you that you would treat me like that?” As soon as that thought was formed, I saw a piece of white substance flying away from me. I did not care about that, but continued feeling agitated. As a result, a large piece of white substance left me and landed on my husband. At that moment, I realized that every single thought of ours is vitally important!
When I went to a friend’s house one evening in fall 2004, I suddenly saw the evil forces in other dimensions. They were in distorted shapes, some staring straight at me. Those that looked nice had desire in their eyes. I wanted to send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil forces, but did not. Then my friend told me that she could not move her feet. I blamed her for not practicing Falun Gong with me. She asked if Master had helped me by healing the pain in one of my feet. Master did purify my body for me and it did not hurt anymore, but the polyp was still there. So I replied without thinking, “No!”
On my way home, I went inside a building to distribute materials. However, after missing a step, I fell to the ground with a crash. I could feel a big lump on my foot after the fall. I asked myself what loophole I had left open for the evil forces. I begged Master to help me, “Master, even if I have loopholes, I do not permit the evil forces to take advantage of me, because I still need to go distribute more materials.” After that, I slowly got up, and then went home on my bicycle.
After I got home, I could not stand up from the sofa, and had to crawl to the toilet. I asked myself what had gone wrong with me. Suddenly, I remembered when my friend asked me about the pain in my foot, I told her that Master had not purified my body since the polyp was still there. Why couldn’t I have told her that it had been purified since it did not hurt anymore? How could I still be a Dafa disciple when I did not validate the Fa?
I woke up at 3:00 the next morning as usual, but found out that my ankle was not swollen anymore. I could do the sitting meditation again. On the third day, I could practice the standing exercises as normal, and a week later, I could go out to distribute materials again.
6. Letting go of the husband and wife attachment; solidly saving sentient beings Through my third eye, I could see that my husband had signed a contract with the old forces. With insufficient righteous thoughts, he played mahjong with friends for three straight days because he was attached to fame, profit and such human emotions. He would not listen to me when I told him to stop. After that, his illnesses relapsed. Although our local practitioners and I helped him by sending forth righteous thoughts for him, he did not cooperate well and passed away in 2011.
After my husband passed away, I fell deeply into the trap of emotional attachment and could not emerge from it. Because of that, for a while I was unable to do the three things well. Fellow practitioners told me to lay aside my emotional attachments, and not miss the opportunity for which I had waited hundreds and thousands of years. I realized that the reason I came here was to cultivate, and I even vowed when I first started cultivating that no matter what happened, I must continue cultivating! Master said,
“Fame, gain, emotion – cultivate each away, And ascend to the Firmament at Consummation, See the human world with eyes of compassion, Then are you freed from the spell of delusion.” (“Success at Consummation” in Hong Yin)
Master’s words awakened me. From that point on, I coordinated our local tasks, made truth-clarifying materials, as well as helped people to quit the CCP with fellow practitioners.
I know that I still have a long way to go to meet Master’s expectations. I must be more and more diligent in the future to save more sentient beings, cultivate myself well and return home with Master. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
