(Minghui.org) I started practicing Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, over 20 years ago in 1996. Through Dafa, I have become healthy in mind and body.
Though I am sixty now, I am healthier than when I was young and I look younger than my age. I owe this to Falun Dafa and the founder of the practice, Master Li Hongzhi.
I was quite sickly when growing up. I always wore a heavy coat, even when the heater was on. Among my ailments was severe hyperplasia of the breast. Later I was diagnosed with leukemia. With this diagnosis my spirits collapsed and my hopes for a good life were shattered.
One day, a colleague loaned me two audio tapes of Master Li teaching the Fa. She suggested that I give them a listen to see if I had a predestined relationship. I didn't understand what she meant but after listening for only ten minutes, I felt very comfortable and warm.
Master said:
“Then just what exactly is the Way? Its highest expression is the fundamental qualities that underlie all of existence: zhen, shan, ren.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
When I heard this, a part of me woke up and I had a thought: “Wouldn’t it be great if everyone did things according to Zhen, Shan, Ren (Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance)?”
My colleague needed to return the tapes to their owner before I could finish listening to them. I told her how I felt while listening and she invited me to go to the park with her the next morning to learn the Falun Dafa exercises.
When I arrived at the practice site in the park, I felt a strong energy and my body was warm and comfortable like when I listened to the tape the day before, but stronger.
I thought it would be hard to do exercises in my heavy coat so I took it off even though it was below freezing that morning. Much to my surprise, I didn’t feel cold in the slightest. The practice site assistant suggested that I put my coat back on several times, but I assured her that I was warm.
The assistant taught me all four of the standing exercises, which I found to be simple and easy to learn. I still felt warm when I got home and thought, “This practice is so magical, the Master of Falun Dafa is great. He helps so many people and doesn’t charge anything.” As I realized that I had just experienced what could only be described as a miracle, I shed tears of gratitude.
While I was eating lunch, I saw many vases containing beautiful flowers in my mind's eye. I didn't understand what was going on and thought it was an illusion, though I knew it was related to Dafa. It was like watching a movie, but it seemed real.
On the third day, my body felt very light with no pain or discomfort. At that point, I didn't even know that there was a sitting meditation exercise. I hadn't read any of the literature by Master Li, yet he had purified my body and removed the root cause of all of my diseases.
An optimism I had never known grew in my heart and I gained a completely fresh outlook on life. Soon I began to study Master Li's writings in earnest. My life took on a whole new meaning as I understood the true purpose of being human.
Four months after starting the practice I was given a physical exam that had been scheduled by my workplace. I was the oldest person in my department, yet my test results were the best. Because I adhered to Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance in all of my interactions with my colleagues, I was awarded the title of “most excellent employee” many years in a row.
My relatives and friends also witnessed the improvements in my health and disposition; many of them started to practice Falun Dafa.
Falun Gong was introduced to the public in China in 1992 at the Oriental Healing Arts Expo in Beijing. Having been awarded the title of “Star Qigong School” by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), seventy to one hundred million Chinese citizens took up the practice in just seven years.
On July 20, 1999, the CCP, led by Jiang Zimen, launched the persecution against Falun Gong and its practitioners. Jiang's intent was to eradicate the practice in three months. Twenty years later, the CCP persists in the persecution at the cost of the wellbeing of tens of millions of innocent Chinese citizens.
There is an old saying in China, “A drop received in need, will be repaid with a whole river.” Master Li saved my life! All of my diseases, even the leukemia, were gone and my moral character was steadily improving. How could I ever repay Master for what he had done for me? Yet suddenly this nationwide persecution was happening and I was being told that I could not practice the Dafa that saved me.
With the launch of the persecution, people all across China were inundated with poisonous lies fabricated by the CCP to turn public opinion against Dafa. I used my vacation time to go to Tiananmen Square and let people know the truth: that Falun Dafa is great!
When I arrived at the square, police searched my bag and found a banner that read, "Falun Dafa is the Righteous Way." I was dragged into a police car and taken to a nearby station. Later, someone from my workplace came and took me back to my hometown. I was put in a brainwashing center where they tried to force me to denounce Master Li and Dafa. My job was terminated and I was left with no income to help support my family.
The guards at the brainwashing center used many types of torture in an attempt to "transform" me. I told them all how I had benefited from the practice and that I would never give up my faith in Master Li and Dafa.
One of the guards told me how everyone looked down on him. I talked to him as a mother would to her son and gradually taught him how to be a good person. Later he told me, “No one has ever been so good to me.” After he learned the truth about Dafa and how to discern good from bad, he took the initiative to stand watch while we practitioners did the exercises.
There was an 18-year-old guard who often borrowed money from practitioners but never paid it back. When she asked to borrow money from me, I said, “If you really need money, I can lend you some and you can return it to me later. If you can't pay me back, you don't have to but I will tell you a principle, 'No gain without loss.' If you borrow money and don’t pay it back, you will lose virtue. Without virtue you will have no way to live. I am telling you this because I care about you. So please guard your virtue. Once it is lost it is very difficult to get it back.”
She recognized this truth and returned the money she had borrowed from the other practitioners. When I was released, she quit her security job and came to my home to thank me for helping her. She said, “Auntie, if you hadn't told me the truth about virtue, I would have harmed Dafa practitioners and ended up a bad person.” I taught her the exercises and we've kept in touch ever since.
Not long after her visit, two officers from the local police station came to my home. They told me that they were asked by my former workplace to “transform” me. I made tea and peeled an apple for each of them. I looked at them and said, “You are here because of a predestined relationship: to learn the truth about Dafa. If Falun Dafa was not persecuted, you wouldn't come here to talk to me even if I invited you.”
One of them said, “You have a good reputation at your workplace. If you write a letter declaring you will no longer practice, you can resume your job.”
I smiled and said,“You know the law. Can you tell me which one I have broken? Our Constitution stipulates that we have the freedom of belief and the right to petition. I adhere to Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance, and always act in accordance with the law. I used my vacation to go and validate Dafa, what I did was a good thing! Now you come and ask that I write a letter slandering Master Li and promising to stop practicing Dafa? Do you really think this is reasonable? I had leukemia! It went away after I started practicing Dafa. Yet my Master has never asked for a penny. Is there anyone else in the world who would do such a thing? I will never betray my Master and Dafa. I wouldn’t write that letter even if you held a gun to my head. You all know that a drop received in need will be repaid with a whole river. My Master saved my life. How could I betray him? Do you see my point?”
They both laughed and the conversation ended pleasantly.
In 2005, I felt a tumor in my lower abdomen. It didn't prevent me from doing the three things, so I didn't pay any attention to it and just kept letting people know the truth.
One afternoon in early 2006, I was about to go out to distribute truth-clarification fliers when suddenly, the tumor dropped out from my lower body. It didn't detach completely; something like an umbilical cord was still connected to me. I held the tumor in my hand and called my husband.
My husband came quickly and found me sitting in a pool of blood in front of Master's portrait. He immediately put headphones over my ears so I could hear Master teach the Fa. He sent forth righteous thoughts, but the blood kept flowing. I was in extreme pain and it felt like my internal organs were about to come out.
My husband put a quilt under me which was soon soaked in blood. I asked him to cut off the connecting tissue with scissors but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. I asked Master to save me.
My husband started to panic and said that he was going to call a doctor. Then he said he was going to call our son. My mind was firm, I told him, “I only follow Master and the Fa. Only Master can save me. I gave myself to Master and I will not leave my body.” I knew that there were are so many people waiting for me to help them learn the truth. What is there to fear with Master and Dafa here? I am in Master's hands and I am fine.
Suddenly the word “blade” appeared in my mind. I asked my husband to hurry and bring me a sharp knife. I thanked Master and asked him to save me as I cut the tumor from its tether.
When our son came home from work and saw the situation, he sat on the floor and sent forth righteous thoughts. I started to feel somewhat better and asked to have dinner. My son said, “I think you will be fine.”
The next morning, I was able to get up and do the exercises with my family. After finishing the exercises, I weighed the tumor and it was 2.7 pounds.
I knew that Master had pulled me back from the brink of death and my tears would not stop flowing. There are no words to thank Master for his compassion, but I will do the three things well, cultivate myself, and save more people to show my gratitude to Master.