(Minghui.org) I am a village woman in my 50s, and I began practicing Falun Dafa in the autumn of 1998.
When the persecution of Falun Dafa began in 1999, the authorities publicly released a list of Falun Dafa practitioners, and it was announced in my village that I was on the list. I felt very proud that despite having practiced Dafa for only days, Master already recognized me as a Dafa disciple. My fellow practitioners praised me for having good enlightenment quality.
When my husband learned of this, he started fighting with me and forbade me from practicing Dafa. During that period of time, I was under a lot pressure from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and my family. I was treated like a criminal. Under Master's guidance, I managed to get through that period with righteous thoughts, and I have been able to persist in my practice.
I hold myself to strict requirements, and I am kind to people around me. I constantly make sure I adhere to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance because I know that everything I say or do reflects the character of a Dafa practitioner.
Ever since Master asked practitioners to do the three things well, I have been sending righteous thoughts to ensure that I meet sentient beings who have a predestined relationship with me. I always make sure I am kind and compassionate to those around me so that I can establish a good relationship with them to effectively clarify the truth.
Please allow me to share my experiences over the past several years:
Validating the Fa with My Actions
After marrying my husband, we lived with my in-laws. My father-in-law had a bad temper, and my mother-in-law was always full of grudges and grumbling about something. I used to have a relatively strong ego and would begrudge my situation. But now that I am a Dafa disciple, I should always place others' interests before my own.
My father-in-law passed away at the age of 99. Towards the end of his life I had to nurse him daily, including changing his diapers and giving him towel baths.
To date, my mother-in-law is also in a persistent vegetative state, and she has to be fed through a feeding tube. She is incontinent and completely unaware of her surroundings.
The doctors and our relatives felt that she should be discharged from the hospital and be sent home to live out her remaining days, but my husband couldn't bear to do so. So I did my utmost to look after her. Every day, come rain or snow, I would ride over 15 kilometers on my motorcycle to the hospital to look after her. My children would take over the job on weekends and public holidays. Words cannot describe my suffering. Furthermore, I often had to bear the brunt of my husband's bad temper.
Whenever I was upset, I would think of something that Master once said,
“If you can manage to handle things calmly no matter how wronged you may feel, if you can remain unmoved and not try to come up with some kind of excuse for yourself, then with many things you won’t even need to argue. That’s because on your path of cultivation there is nothing that is by chance. So, when you get into a heated exchange and it stirs things up in you, or you get into a conflict over something that concerns your vital interests, perhaps the factors behind it were put there by Master. Maybe you only get upset when it’s a case of someone saying something that really provokes you or hits a sore spot. And maybe the person really did treat you wrongfully. But, those words weren’t necessarily said by that person. Perhaps they were said by me.” (“Fa Teaching Given in Manhattan”)
The nurses in the hospital would say to me in wonder, “Despite her poor prognosis, she is still receiving long-term nursing care at medical fees that aren't cheap. And you are always so cheerful every day, cleaning up her diapers and attending to her needs so closely. This elderly lady is extremely fortunate; without all this, she would likely have passed away a long time ago.”
Out of curiosity, the family members of other patients in the ward would sometimes come by our room, and they would often tell me that I am a very kind person. In return, I would tell them that I am a Falun Dafa practitioner, and that according to my Master's teachings, I was simply repaying a karmic debt. Not only was this a law of the universe, it was also a fundamental act of conscience. I would not have been able to do it if I were not a Dafa practitioner.
The family members would also concur with me that Falun Dafa did indeed teach people to be good, and that the universal principles my Master taught were good. Otherwise, it would not be possible for me to have such an admirable attitude. The doctors and nurses would tell me that there wasn't another person like me in the entire city.
One of the patients in the ward was a retired principal, whose son worked in the Court of Justice. The son once said to me that one would be hard-pressed to find a daughter-in-law like me anymore. He added that it should be broadcast on the television network that those who practice Falun Dafa are compassionate and that the communist party is the one who is corrupt and evil.
During my time visiting the hospital, I became acquainted with many patients and their family members. I know that this was arranged by Master to allow me to save them. I would think of ways to get to know them, and because Master's law body would be by my side, my righteous thoughts would be very strong. They would often be in great admiration of me, and after listening to me clarify the truth, over 90% of them would quit the communist party, the youth league, or the young pioneers. I would be very happy for the sentient beings who had been saved.
Striving to Bring Previous Practitioners Back Into Cultivation
During my course of clarifying the truth in the hospital, I met a woman some years older than I who had suffered a brain hemorrhage. When she was first admitted, she was comatose for the first eight days, and she did not eat for over 20 days.
When we first met, we both felt like we knew each other well. Subsequently, I clarified the truth and spoke to her about withdrawing from the Party. She then told me that she had been a Dafa practitioner before 1999. But after the authorities illegally arrested her and took her to brainwashing classes and persecuted her, she stopped practicing Dafa. She was now practicing Buddhism.
Upon hearing this, I became very anxious and said, You have really let down Master. Over the course of your many lifetimes, Master has always been looking after you. If Master had truly given up on you, you would have died of the brain hemorrhage a long time ago. Master is using this method in the hopes that I would help you wake up. The Fa-rectification period is already ending, and you haven't fulfilled your mission of saving sentient beings. Please come back to Dafa quickly.”
From then on, I would bring her Master's writings to read every day. She said, “Whenever I see you, my spirits are lifted. Thank you for bringing me back to Dafa cultivation.” I replied that she should thank Master instead.
In the past, she could not walk on her own, and constantly required her husband to support her to get around. But now she could walk independently with a walking cane. On the day she was discharged from the hospital, I told her that I had arranged for a network of practitioners to help and support her, as well as prepared a set of Master's writings for her.
I later called her to find out how she was doing. She said that her health was much better and she no longer needed a cane. She was grateful to the practitioners who came to study the Fa with her every night, and she was motivated to be diligent in her cultivation.
The practitioner who introduced me to Dafa also stopped practicing after the persecution began due to pressure from her family and the Party. Whenever I saw her, I would, “When I was in a desolate state, it was through you that Master saved me. Now that you have fallen into a desolate state, Master has sent me here to help save you. But why won't you allow yourself to be saved? Do you know that you are missing out on an extremely rare and precious opportunity?
She visited me last year and told me about an incident in which she and her husband were on a motorcycle to run some errands. The motorcycle ran into a large rock by the side of the road, and she and her husband were thrown forward against the rock. She lost consciousness immediately. When she woke up, she saw her husband still lying unconscious on the road. She recalled that when her head hit the rock, she felt as if someone had cushioned her blow.
I said, “You still haven't enlightened properly. Only Master could have cushioned the blow. It was Master who gave you and your husband a second lease of life.”
She then burst into tears and said that she had let down Master. Later, with the help of practitioners, and with Master's guidance and reinforcement, she overcame many difficulties and obstacles and returned to Dafa cultivation. She has also become very diligent in her practice.
The practitioner's husband also knows now that Dafa is good and Master is good. He no longer causes any trouble for her. She said that the fall had finally made her wake up.
