(Minghui.org) I have been practicing Falun Dafa for eight years. I have experienced joy and shock when I first started practicing Dafa, regret and upset when I failed in the tests, and happiness and contentment when my family benefited because of my practicing Falun Dafa.
Life Turns Different Than Expected
Everyone has the right to look forward to beautiful things in this world, including love, doing well in business, having good health, and so on. As a girl, my most important goal was to find Mr. Right, and good parents-in-law.
The reality, however, was a different story. I got married to a person that was not my Mr. Right. The marriage was arranged by my parents, and I had to comply.
I came to gradually know him after the wedding. He was very aware of his appearance, loved gambling, and was not realistic. He was born into a rich family and spoiled. His bad habits became more apparent after the marriage, which resulted in confrontations.
He stayed out late after our child was born. Our home no longer attracted him – he preferred the outside world. I had to put up with him. I did all the house chores and looked after our child.
My husband’s sister came to stay with us often. Then his brother stayed with us for over a year while he was studying in our city. My parents-in-law came to stay from time to time. No matter how I contributed to the family, my husband continued going his own way.
Furthermore, he gambled away all his earnings. He was arrested for gambling several times, and I had to bail him out.
My health deteriorated due to my hard work at home, at work, and the harm done by my husband. The thought of divorce frequently came into my mind. But, did I really want to get a divorce, just as my mother and sister? Would my child be discriminated against in the future? If my child didn’t behave growing up in a single-parent family, what would be my way out? I must practice forbearance. I had to forbear for the sake of my child.
At that time I suffered from migraines, rheumatism, back pain, rhinitis, uterine cysts, severe insomnia, and caudal bone fracture. I felt extremely tired after cooking a meal. I could barely walk to the fifth floor. I couldn’t see any hope, and my life came to a dead end.
Introduced to Falun Dafa
I met a couple online in 2010. They happened to live on the same street as I. Both of them were professors at a university, and are Falun Dafa practitioners.
They introduced the book Zhuan Falun to me. It opened up my mind after I had read it. I came to understand that all my suffering had a reason.
After I had read the book for several months, I recovered from all my illnesses. I became healthy and energetic. At the same time, I felt regret, because I missed Dafa 10 years ago, when my neighbor recommended it to me. I didn’t have a good impression of Falun Dafa practitioners after watching the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda on TV. It was as if I was awakening from a dream, and I finally understood the difference between good and bad.
Husband’s Escape from Reality
My husband, however, slid deeper in deprivation. He was seeking to live more comfortably, and more freely. He was after money, and beautiful women. He even took drugs, was caught, and was detained for 15 days.
He quit his job and established his own business. He did whatever he wanted once he got money. To enlarge his business, he bought and sold properties, and took out loans using different credit cards. Then he gambled massively, and messed around with women. His investment in an engineering project failed in 2014 and his life plummeted to the bottom. He was arrested for cashing out 1,000,000 yuan using bank cards in August 2017.
I was shocked. Why had my husband become depraved, even though I was a Falun Dafa practitioner? Did my indifference and resentment play a role in his sliding down?
Escaping from reality was not the way to solve the problem. There were two ways for me – divorce or to change him. Many of our relatives were very disappointed with him, and urged me to divorce him. But, the Dafa principles told me that I should no longer ignore him. I put up with him before for the sake of my child, but felt deep resentment.
As I was a practitioner, I would follow the Dafa’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and let go of my hatred and resentment. I couldn’t afford to go wrong again. I knew that only Dafa could save him.
Facing Prison Sentence
I consulted some lawyers, and some suggested that he might be sentenced to at least a 10-year prison term.
I hired a female lawyer for him. I believed that the female lawyer would be able to understand him better, comfort him when he felt helpless, and help him build up his confidence to face reality.
When I wrote letters to him, I hinted that he recite “Falun Dafa is good, and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” It was not easy to convey this message under the current circumstances. I had clarified the facts about Falun Dafa, and asked him to recite “Falun Dafa is good, and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” in the past. I believed he could understand my message.
Amazingly I learned that his lawyer was a Falun Dafa practitioner. We were fellow practitioners.
I told the lawyer that my husband had a fearful temper, could not control himself, and had done many bad things. But one good thing he had done was that he kept a box of Dafa books and other materials safe when our Fa-study group was harassed and persecuted. It was a remarkable action that he protected Dafa books despite huge pressure and fear. I believed that he would be blessed for that. This time I was genuinely concerned. My compassion came out. So Master arranged the most suitable lawyer for him.
I deposited money into his account as much as I could. I sent him seasonal clothes on time. I let go of my bad thoughts toward him, and believed that things would change when his thoughts had changed.
In addition to helping the practitioners in the detention center, I spent the rest of my free time studying the Fa, hand-copying the Fa, and doing the exercises. When I sent righteous thoughts outside the detention center, I sometimes forgot that my husband was still inside. The procuratorate filed a public case against him, and suggested he be sentenced to up to 7 years. It was a kind of relief to us considering the lawyer said it could be 10 years. For some reason my other family members fired the lawyer without consulting me. I was a bit upset, but I remembered that I was a practitioner, and should follow the course of nature. Master had the final say.
On the trial day two months later, I listened to the defense of both the prosecutor and our lawyer. Once, the trial had concluded, my lawyer said that the best result would mean a five-year sentence, and there was a chance to have his sentence reduced while in prison. This could mean that he would be set free two years later.
Believing in Dafa Changed Sentencing
Things changed dramatically. About 10 days later his sister notified me that I could take him home, because she paid off his debt, and he was not sentenced. It was beyond my expectations. At the start, she didn’t want to take care of him because of the amount he owed, and she would accept his sentence. But, then she extended her helping hand. What a significant change of heart!
He was very skinny when he was released. His head was full of pustules and an egg-sized boil grew on his neck. There was no hair around the pustules. He looked frightening. I asked him if he knew he would be freed immediately. He said that he simply couldn’t believe it when the guard asked him to take off his prison clothes. He said that even in the detention center he believed that Falun Dafa would save him, and he believed in Falun Dafa. So his genuine thought played the role, as he was convinced by the power of Falun Dafa.
On his return home, his health worsened. He was diagnosed with severe diabetes. I asked him not to worry, because Dafa had already shown him its power, and he should know what to do next.
Then I played the video of Now and For the Future-- The Story of Falun Dafa and Moments in Life for him. I also downloaded programs about Chinese traditional culture from the Minghui website for him and asked him to recite “Falun Dafa is good” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” in his heart. Two months later the medical examination showed that there was no sign of diabetes. It was amazing!
His hair grew and he no longer looked ill, but was of high spirits. He has started a small business, and is determined to pay back his million-dollar debt. He has returned on the right track.
No matter how long it takes, as long as he puts his heart into doing the things he should do, behave well, respect the Buddha Fa, he will eventually succeed, no matter how hard it looked at the start.
