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Tender Care of Parents-in-law Touches Family, Relatives, and Neighbors

September 12, 2018 |   By a Dafa practitioner in China

(Minghui.org) I started practicing Falun Dafa (also called Falun Gong) in May 1997. Tears rolled down my cheeks when I first saw Master's picture in the book Zhuan Falun. I couldn't stop, like a lost child had finally found her mother.

I studied the Fa diligently and soon witnessed the supernormal power of Falun Dafa. I lived by the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and looked inside to identify my own faults in conflicts big and small. Within about a month my dark complexion started to glow and my weight increased from a scrawny 84 pounds (38 kgs) to 95 (43kgs).

My friends, relatives, and colleagues witnessed the wonder of Falun Dafa from my physical and spiritual changes. Many of them took up the path of cultivation in Falun Dafa in the following days. We were immersed in Dafa every day and felt an atmosphere of serenity and peace.

Appreciated by My Sisters-in-law and Neighbors

Since July 20, 1999, when the CCP started persecuting Falun Gong, I have been arrested several times, held in a detention center four times, taken to a brainwashing center, and done forced labor in a labor camp.

Under tremendous pressure and a horrible environment, my business was suspended, my son lost his good job, and my parents-in-law were forced to give up the practice of Falun Gong. As a result, my mother-in-law's health returned to what it was before she practiced Falun Gong and then got even worse. She was not able to take care of herself and became incontinent.

One day, as I was washing my mother-in-law's diapers in the courtyard, two of her daughters came to visit us. I told them how their mother was doing and took them into her room. My mother-in-law suddenly said she needed to have a bowel movement, but when I removed her quilt, she had already defecated. When her two daughters saw what had happened, they covered their noses, turned away, and walked out.

I pulled on my gloves; cleaned up the mess; cleaned my mother-in-law; changed the quilt, mattress, and her diaper; and put my mother-in-law back in bed. I was sweating when I was done. My mother-in-law weighed 154 pounds (70 kgs), much more than me. My sisters-in-law stuck their heads in and asked, “Is everything done?”

I replied, “Yes, it's done. Just come inside. It's cold out there.”

When they came in and saw their mother comfortable in bed, they smiled at me and said, “Our sister-in-law is really great. You are not afraid of the smell. You are not practicing Falun Gong in vain.”

My mother-in-law's condition gradually stabilized. The doctors said that she had to walk every day, get her medicine on time, and have regular meals. I accompanied her on a walk twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. We often met people in the neighborhood on our walk.

One day we met an old couple, who said to my mother-in-law, “Your daughter is really nice. She takes you out for a walk every day.”

My mother-in-law said, “This is not my daughter. She is my daughter-in-law.”

When they asked if she had a daughter, I replied on behalf of my mother-in-law and said her daughters were all busy.

“How many daughters do you have?” they asked.

My mother-in-law told them she had three daughters.

The old couple asked me, “But why are you the only one that takes her on her walk?”

I told them it was because I practiced Falun Gong, that our teacher tells us to consider others in any circumstance, to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, to treat people nicely, and to treat everyone the same. I told them to remember that “Falun Dafa is good.”

One of them asked me, “Falun Gong is so great. Have you ever seen your teacher?”

“No,” I replied. “Our teacher gives us one book, Zhuan Falun. As long as you read it attentively and follow his teachings, you will know how great Falun Gong is.”

The old lady said, “Since the book Zhuan Falun is so great, I want to read it, too.”

I said I would lend her my book. She was very happy.

We went back to my place, where I wrapped up my copy of Zhuan Falun, handed it to her in both hands, and further explained, “This is an advanced self-cultivation practice of the Buddha School. Please wash your hands before reading it. Please do not put it in the bedroom after you read it in the evening.”

The old couple saw the book as a treasure and were very happy. They promised to follow my advice.

A Father-in-Law Reborn

I was taken to a forced labor camp in 2005. My mother-in-law's illness got seriously worse. She was in constant pain and couldn't get out of bed. All the housework and the burden of taking care of her fell on my father-in-law, who was tired and broken down.

I was released in 2007 and returned home. My mother-in-law choked with sobs and said to me, “After you were taken away, no one ever smiled at me. Sometimes your father-in-law beat me.”

My father-in-law explained that he just gave her a few slaps when she defecated again right after he had cleaned her.

My mother-in-law never stood up again and passed away in pain five months later.

After my mother-in-law passed away, my father-in-law was not in good spirits. I asked her son if I could keep his father company at night. His spirit was low for days. One day I asked him if he would like to come stay with us for a few days.

And so we brought him to live with us. I took him to the supermarket and purchased his favorite foods and several new articles of clothing. I also gave him a haircut and a bath.

He started to look better. Every morning he recited “Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” while he was taking a walk. Gradually his mood improved, and so did his health.

On the Qingming Festival, his three daughters came to visit their mother's grave. I was going to fix lunch and asked them to visit with their father while I cooked. At noon, when we were eating together, my father-in-law looked unhappy. When we returned from his wife's grave in the afternoon, my father-in-law went to bed and my three sisters-in-law left.

After a while, I saw my father-in-law in the sitting room and asked him why he looked unhappy and if I'd done or said anything wrong that had upset him.

“It's not you,” he said. “They (his three daughters) were unreasonable. They have my salary card and my medical card, and they withdrew all the money from the cards. You are paying all my living expenses. I want my salary card, but they refused to give it back to me and said some ugly things.”

I reassured him: “It's all right as long as they are happy. We are not short of money. I will give you some if you need it.”

After that, my father-in-law seldom spoke and often sighed. He ate very little and sometimes spit it out. He was 84 years old and had cardiac inflammation. One day, my daughter who works in a hospital took his blood pressure and temperature discovered he had a little inflammation. The next day, she set up an IV with liquid nutrients to feed him intravenously for seven days. But he didn't get better and was obviously losing weight.

I notified his three daughters and suggested they take him for a physical at the hospital. They said they had no time. I encouraged them to go with us so that we all could have a definite idea about Father's illness and that one day was all it would take. Finally they decided that the husband of the eldest daughter would go with us because he knew someone in the hospital.

My brother's son drove us to the hospital, where my father-in-law was given a comprehensive exam. An hour later, the results came in. My son sat with him outside the doctor's office, while my sister-in-law's husband and I went in to get the results.

The doctor showed us an X-ray and explained it was all black, so further medical intervention was unnecessary. The doctor said that my father-in-law, who was 84, had late stage stomach cancer and could not live more than three weeks. He told us to be mentally prepared.

I asked my sister-in-law's husband not to tell our father-in-law the news. On our way home, we told him that he had an inflammation and would be all right after my daughter gave him intravenous injections for a couple of days.

At home, I played Master's Fa teaching audio recordings for him. I said, “Let's listen to Master's Fa teaching recordings every afternoon and go to the supermarket or park for a walk every morning.” I told people the facts about Falun Dafa whenever I had an opportunity.

Ten days later, my father-in-law stopped spitting out his food. He seemed more energetic and cheerful.

One day, my father-in-law's two younger brothers came to visit him. They talked about how my father-in-law was so blessed to have such a filial daughter-in-law. I told them it was because I practice Falun Dafa, that Falun Dafa is good, and that my father-in-law listened to Master's Fa teachings every day. It was because our Master is compassionate and great and we should thank him.

Five years have passed. My father-in-law, who was told he only had three weeks to live five years ago, is now 90 years old. His weight went back up to 150 pounds (68 kgs). His face glows with health.

Who can give us a healthy body and a happy family? Who can teach us to be so kind? Only our compassionate and great Master.

Over the past 21 years, Master's compassion for me has been beyond words. All that I can do now is cultivate myself well and honor my sacred vows.