(Minghui) I am 77-years-old this year. I used to have numerous illnesses before I started practicing Falun Dafa, such as hepatitis, tuberculosis, arthritis, gynecological diseases, and insomnia.
I tried many types of qigong since 1975 in an attempt to rid myself of these illnesses. I even converted to Buddhism in 1990 in the hope that it might help. However, I soon realized that most of those qigong masters and monks were not real cultivators, and were just after my money.
Master said,
“...there are many people in the community of cultivators who have always attempted to practice toward high levels. They have traveled everywhere and spent a lot of money. They have not found the well-known masters after having been all over the country.”(Zhuan Falun)
Whenever I read this, tears flow down my cheeks. I had spent so many years of waiting and searching for a true cultivation way. Finally, I have found it!
I had a chance to read the book Falun Gong in 1992, but I did not want to practice cultivation at the time. I am now very regretful about this decision.
I had practiced other cultivation schools with the wrong intent of having my illnesses cured and for gaining supernormal abilities. It was not for the purpose of being virtuous and improving my moral character.
I even gave money and gifts to fake qigong masters many times, thinking that this would help. I wanted to have my celestial eye opened, and spent 30 yuan (75% of my monthly salary at the time), but I didn’t succeed in fulfilling my wish.
I was lead to believe that there are some high-level masters in Buddhism, but I didn't find this. Instead, I witnessed a lay Buddhist abandon her child and husband, and ran off with one of the monks.
Someone told me that true cultivation schools could be found in the four famous Buddhist Mountains. So I visited Putuo Mountain and Jiuhua Mountain to worship there in 1992. On my way there, local lay Buddhists told me that they gave 20 yuan to a monk, but were not satisfied with what they got.
Even in the four famous Buddhist Mountains the situation was like this. It seemed that it would be difficult to find a pure land anywhere in the country.
I felt disappointed and lost. I had been traveling far and wide looking for something, but found nothing.
One day, I came across a lay Buddhist who was practicing Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa), so I asked her about it. As we chatted, I suddenly felt something turning fiercely in my lower abdomen. I was told that Master Li (the founder of Falun Dafa) was doing something for me and had provided me with a Falun (law wheel). I was so excited, and shouted, “Master has given me a Falun!”
I have never seen Master or given him a single penny, but Master provided me with a Falun. This was just the kind of Master that I had hoped to find. I now have a Master, and I must practice Dafa to the end!
Diligently Studying the Fa
I went home and read the book Zhuan Falun throughout the night, until I finished it. This laid a solid foundation for my future Fa-study.
The profound principles in the book deeply impressed me. Everything that I previously couldn't understand and had been searching for all my life suddenly became clear to me. While holding the book, I was in tears. I felt heavenly joy, as finally I knew how to cultivate!
Master said,
“At that time, when students went to school, they practiced sitting in meditation and emphasized good posture. When they picked up their brush-pens, they would regulate their breathing and qi. All professions believed in emptying the mind and regulating the breathing, as this was the state throughout society.” (Lecture Seven from Zhuan Falun)
Even people in ancient China did everything in a very earnest and respectful manner.
In our Fa-study group we try to study such a divine Fa in a more earnest and respectful manner. I take every character in the book seriously and try to pronounce it correctly.
In many of Master's Fa-teachings, he emphasizes the importance of Fa-study. In order to ensure time for studying the Fa, I set aside a specific time every day (2:30 pm – 5:30 pm). I am very focused when studying the Fa, and am able to concentrate without being distracted. When I study in depth, I can experience the beauty of the Fa. My entire body and mind are melted into it, and the principles of the Fa are revealed to me at deeper levels.
Because I have developed this approach to Fa-study, as soon as I open the book I am in a meditative state. Noise cannot distract me. I can hear nothing, but only feel wonderful and very comfortable. So I have come to love Fa-study and want to study more every time. I just can't close the book.
I sincerely hope that every Dafa practitioner can take Fa-study seriously. I have experienced beauty beyond what language can express. I always feel calm and enriched after Fa-study. So, I always remind practitioners who do not do enough Fa-study that they should study the Fa more often and with great attention.
Master said,
“Don't just go through the motions when you study the Fa. You should study with a concentrated mind, and you must really be studying.” (“To the Australia Fa Conference”)
“In China, there are people who are still reading it after reading it over a hundred times. They just cannot put it down as there is so much implied meaning in it. The more they read it, the more there is to read. The more they read it, the more they get out of it.” (Lecture in Sydney)
I have studied the Fa over 1,200 times and have recited the Fa 50 times. Every day I spend an hour studying Master’s Fa-teachings given at various Fa conferences. Though I keep a record of the number of times I study the Fa, I am not attached to it. I do this just to encourage myself to study more and better.
My husband passed away before I started practicing Falun Dafa, and I planned to get married again. I had a boyfriend whom I appreciated very much. Upon meeting this man I was quite impressed by him. However, after practicing Falun Dafa I believed that I shouldn’t take on this relationship, and should put cultivation as my priority.
I decided to split up with my boyfriend, but I couldn't give up my affection towards him. When I thought about him, I wept silently. Through consistent Fa-study this attachment soon went away.
I once saw him at a distance in a marketplace. I felt that he was a stranger and I didn't have any feelings towards him as I had before.
Through continuous Fa-study I gradually got rid of ego, and learned that when doing anything I should consider others first. As my husband had passed away and our children were all married, I was living on my own. I had a good Fa-study and cultivation environment, but I shouldn't enjoy it on my own. So in 1998 my home became a place for a weekly Fa-study group.
No matter how severe the persecution became after July 1999, our Fa-study group never stopped. If practitioners wanted to get in contact with each other they always thought about coming to my home, which I never objected to. As long as the purpose is for the Fa and saving people, I like to do whatever I can to help.
When practitioners experience tribulations they often want to share with me. I always listen to them, offer encouragement, and try my best to help. In special circumstances, some practitioners thought that it was not safe to store Dafa materials and Dafa books at their home, so they brought them to my place.
I initially didn't like this, especially when a practitioner brought a lot of things to my home. My fear flared up, and so did my complaints. I studied the Fa quietly and realized that the things brought to me were all “tools” to save people, which shouldn't be interfered with by the old forces. As long as my thoughts are righteous, one righteous mind can subdue a hundred evils. As my righteous thoughts came up, the fear and complaints disappeared without a trace.
I went to Beijing to petition for Falun Dafa on April 25, 1999. After returning home, a local policeman came to see me. He asked, “Who asked you to go to Beijing?”
“I just wanted to go,” I said. I then told him about the beauty of Falun Dafa and the miracles that had happened to me in regards to becoming healthy and keeping fit. When I finished, he stated that he would like to practice after he retired.
Since Jiang Zemin, the former leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), started the persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, I started to post letters to let people know the true situation about Falun Dafa. I made every effort to gather the names and addresses of government officials and other influential people, to let them know the facts about Falun Dafa, and to dispel the lies and propaganda put out by the CCP.
As long as we have the wish to save people, Master will help to pave the way.
Eighteen years have now passed since the persecution began, and I have posted letters and hopes to numerous people from many different walks of life.
I have moved my home twice. Each time I moved, I got along very well with my neighbors, as if we were family. I always cleaned the hallway of the building. Some neighbors were moved, and one of them said, “You are very elderly, but still help us to clean the hallway. We are really grateful.”
I replied, “You are all busy and time is precious for you. We are neighbors, just as in a family. So I like to help.”
There was no lighting on the staircase in the evening, so I lit a candlelight on my floor to help people see.
The neighbors were very appreciative, and always offered me some food that they had prepared. On one occasion they offered to help me install a heater in my home.
They also protected me from the police. One neighbor told me, “A police officer tried to find you. We said that there was no such person with your name around here. We all protect you.”
After my children got married, I always told them to be kind to their in-laws. Sometimes, my daughters complained about their mother-in-law, but I never sided with them.
I told them, “Never bad mouth your mother-in-law to your neighbors or colleagues. Otherwise, you would be regarded as being unkind. Being a human, we should be grateful to others, and think about their good points. Your mother-in-law is elderly and not well educated. You should refrain from arguing with her. We will all be old one day ourselves. If you are not good to your parents-in-law, your children will not be nice to you when you are old, and this will be passed down from generation to generation. This is the historic law known as the principle of karmic retribution.”
Having listened to my words, my daughters smiled, “Mom, my mother-in-law actually is not that bad.”
I have never needed to take any medicine or have a single injection since I started practicing Falun Dafa. Whenever I did not feel well, I never regarded it as an illness. I was aware that it was Master who was purifying my body. I never took the symptoms seriously, nor did I inform my children.
There have been two occasions when the situation became serious. One time, I became dizzy, and felt like the sky and earth were spinning around. I had to lean against the wall to steady myself. My two younger sisters came to see me. They were very worried about me and immediately phoned one of my daughters, who came to take my blood pressure. The reading was extremely high, and she wanted to take me to the hospital. I told her that I am a practitioner, and that it is not an illness. I wouldn't go to the hospital. My daughter was very concerned, and asked my younger sisters to look after me for a few days. I immediately felt well again with very strong righteous thoughts.
Another time, in 2001, I started to cough violently and was vomiting blood in the morning. It didn't bother me, nor did I pay much attention to it. The only thought I had was that it was not an illness, as practitioners don't have illnesses.
I continued to vomit blood for about two hours. I maintained strong righteous thoughts the whole time until it stopped.
Master teaches us that whether it appears to be a good thing or a bad thing, so long as you cultivate in Dafa, they are all positive. My experiences have proven this truth to me. I am grateful to Master who has borne so much for me!
My faith in Master and the Fa has never wavered since I started cultivation over 20 years ago. I still have many attachments, but as long as I truly believe in Master and the Fa I will be able to improve in cultivation. As long as I assimilate to the Fa, there will be no tests that I cannot pass, nor attachments that I can't relinquish.
I must do the three things more diligently and not let Master down. I wrote this sharing to encourage other practitioners and myself.