(Minghui.org) I am over 70. I started to practice Falun Dafa because my ailments were getting worse. But after reading the Dafa books and experiencing the many wonders from practicing, including returning to good health, I learned the real reason for cultivating. I will continue to cultivate to improve my character and eliminate my attachments.
A Turn of Fate
I used to suffer from many illnesses, with the worst being painful abdominal swelling. Despite trying Western and Chinese treatments, it just got worse over a period of five years.
I reached a tuning point when I was walking in a park in July 1994 and overheard several people talking. One man asked another, “Why haven't we seen you lately?” The second man replied that he had started to practice Falun Dafa three months before. The others told him that he looked much healthier and wondered how his appearance had improved so much.
I recognized the man, because he used to be a regular visitor to the park. When I last saw him he was very thin and balding and looked rather sickly, but now he had a full head of white hair and a rosy complexion.
Although I had not heard of Falun Dafa, I thought that this practice must be very powerful to change a person so dramatically within three months. I was immediately interested and wanted to talk to him, but I lost sight of him.
I returned to the park the next day in hopes of seeing him. I finally found him in an isolated section of the park, meditating in a group. They did not want to be disturbed and asked me to return in the evening, which I did with my family. The coordinator of the group then taught me the exercises. That was the day I became a Dafa practitioner.
Passing a Large Kidney Stone
I attended the group exercises in the park every morning and evening and studied the Falun Dafa books. I also began to live by the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. It wasn't long before my health improved.
A few months later, I had severe abdominal pain and profuse vomiting and couldn't keep anything down. I knew that Master was cleansing my body, but my family didn't agree and took me to the hospital.
The doctor said that I had multiple kidney stones and fluid had built up in my kidneys and urinary tract. He recommended surgery, but I refused.
I listened to the Falun Dafa lectures and did the exercises in the hospital when I wasn't in too much pain. A second scan one week later showed that the stones had passed into the lower sections of my urinary tract. My confidence in Dafa increased, and I knew that my cultivation was helping me pass the stones. Therefore, I insisted on being discharged from hospital.
At home, I stayed in bed due to the severe pain, but I remembered what Master said in Zhuan Falun: “When it’s difficult to endure, you can endure it. When it’s impossible to do, you can do it.” I realized that Master was trying to give me hints. I clenched my teeth and told myself, “Let the pain continue if it wants to! I'm not afraid of it.”
I tried to do the standing exercises but could only do a little before collapsing on the bed. I then tried the sitting meditation. After sitting for 10 minutes, I suddenly felt a knife-like pain moving down my urethra. I knew that the stone was passing. About 40 minutes later, I passed a stone.
I was so overwhelmed with gratitude to Master that tears ran down my cheeks. I knelt before Master's picture and thanked him.
I showed the stone to my doctor, who asked, “Did you take any medicine? Tell me how it happened.” I replied, “I didn't take any medication. I practice Falun Dafa, and the stone passed as I was meditating.”
Kidney Stones Pass in Pieces
The kidney stone was so large that it left abrasions on the wall of my urethra, so I had some residual bleeding and it hurt to urinate. I thought to myself, “It would be good if Master could help break up the stones before they pass.”
To my surprise, after having that thought, my urine was chalky white for the next several days, with bits of sediment in it. When my urine was tested, the lab found tiny crystals--pieces of kidney stones. It was simply miraculous.
Master said,
“As a person sits there, without moving his hands or feet, he is able to do what others cannot do even with their hands and feet, and he can see the actual truth of each dimension in the universe.” (Zhuan Falun)
Letting Go of Attachments to Material Gain
I grew up in poverty and learned how to be thrifty from a young age. My attachment to material goods has been quite strong. Shortly after I began cultivating, I had one xinxing test after another.
For example, when I went to buy meat at the market, the butcher gave me 50 yuan in change. He was unhappy when I told him that he's made a mistake but delighted when I handed the money back and thanked me profusely.
Another time at the market, the fish merchant and I got to talking and I forgot to pay him. After I realized it, I went back to pay him. He hadn't realized it either and thanked me for being honest. One of his customers said, “It's rare to find someone like that nowadays.”
I wanted a senior transportation pass, but was not yet old enough to qualify. A relative told me that he knew someone inside the department who could falsify my age. I knew that these “backdoor” tactics were a reflection society's moral decline and I couldn't do that as a practitioner. So I thanked him, but declined the offer.
I am not wealthy, but by strictly adhering to Dafa's teachings I have gradually been letting go of my attachment to material gain.
Getting Rid of Attachments to Fear and Saving Face
My father was a disciplinarian, and I was always afraid of being scolded or beaten. I also had an inferiority complex. These attachments would manifest when I spoke to people about Falun Dafa.
At first, I dared not clarify the facts to strangers, young men, or the police. I was afraid that they would not accept what I had to say, that I would lose face, or that they would report me to the authorities.
After studying the Fa, sending righteous thoughts, and reading experience sharing articles from fellow practitioners on the Minghui website, I was able to get rid of my attachment to fear. Now I have no fear distributing Falun Dafa informational materials anywhere.
At a school reunion I ran into a former classmate, who was a provincial secretary general. At first I was afraid that he would not be able to accept the facts about Falun Dafa and that I would lose face. After sending righteous thoughts to clear the old force beings and bad elements, I talked to him about Dafa's miraculous health benefits and asked him to resign from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliates. He accepted what I told him and withdrew from the CCP.
Dealing with a Truly Poisoned Mind
It took a few years before I could help another classmate quit the CCP. She was an official with the central CCP government, and we knew each other very well. She had a positive understanding of Falun Dafa and said that she wanted to practice after her retirement.
A few years later, she visited me. But when I started to talk about Dafa, her face turned red with anger. She stood up and shouted, “Don't talk to me about Falun Dafa! If you do, I'll leave!” I was shocked and disappointed.
After studying the Fa, I came to realize that she did not truly mean what she said. She was being prevented from listening to the truth by old force elements in other dimensions. I sent forth righteous thoughts frequently to eliminate the old force elements controlling her.
I visited her home a few years later. She and her husband, also a high-ranking official in the central government, began shouting at me. It was terrible.
This time I refused to back down. I told them, “The Eastern European communist regimes were dismantled. Even the Soviet Union, which was so powerful, collapsed overnight. Every one of the CCP's political movements has meant disaster for China. Even Liu Shaoqi, who was labeled a traitor, had his reputation restored. The CCP is wrong to persecute Falun Dafa. In the future, Falun Dafa's reputation will also be restored!”
As I said this, my former classmate began to clap. She said, “I wholeheartedly agree that Falun Dafa's reputation should be restored--the sooner, the better.” She had undergone a complete change in her attitude towards the practice. She and her husband also agreed to quit the CCP and its affiliates, using an alias.
I am grateful to Master for his boundless benevolence. Master gave me wisdom and eliminated the old force beings controlling my classmate and her husband, allowing them to accept the truth.
My heart feels very light now and I know that cultivating in Dafa is wonderful and sacred.
