(Minghui.org) My mother is in her 80s. After she began practicing Falun Dafa her physical and mental health improved.
My mother always worked hard. She was a capable worker during China’s “production team” era (a communal system for farmers from 1962 to 1984). She didn’t sit idle, and was renowned for not fearing hardship or fatigue. To supplement the family income, she even wove cloth all night. By working hard, saving money, and living frugally, she built two houses. However, the strain on her body led to multiple illnesses, including bronchitis, emphysema, heart pain, and one major surgery. She was very thin and weighed only about 27 kilograms (60 pounds), and was 1.6 meters (5-foot 3-inches) tall. Her nickname was “medicine addict.”
Practicing Falun Dafa gave my mother a new life. Now in her 80s, her courtyard is filled with the sounds of chickens and dogs, and her vegetables are lush and green. Children, neighbors, and fellow practitioners enjoy her vegetables. My mother’s face beams with a proud and gratified smile. Her chickens don’t stop laying eggs even on the hottest summer days. While other people’s chickens die from the heat or become sick, she has lost only one when a weasel carried it off.
I worried she was working too hard, and tried to persuade her to take it easy. My two younger brothers (there are three of us siblings) felt the same way. But my mother enjoys working, is full of energy, and knows how to manage her time. Cultivation is her priority, while farming is a hobby, so I stopped trying to dissuade her. The children and grandchildren benefit greatly—they do not have to worry about her health, and she is happy. Why not let her work as much as she likes? We siblings often bring her good food to eat. Our mother is content.
The village where my mother lives has four markets every 10 days. My mother often goes to the market to clarify the truth about the persecution. Her children and grandchildren try to shop for her, but she always cheerfully says, “I’ll go out for a stroll myself. It’s good for me. You are all busy with your own things.”
My mother walks quickly. People say, “How can you be so energetic when you are in your 80s?”
My mother tells them it’s because she practices Falun Dafa, “My good health is from practicing Falun Dafa. You know how sickly I used to be. Don’t listen to the lies about Dafa on the radio and television—they’re deceiving and harming people. Sincerely recite ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good’ and you’ll receive great blessings.” She also frequently hands out informational flyers about Falun Dafa. Some people ask her for materials.
My mother lives a fulfilling and happy life. Every time she goes out, she sends righteous thoughts and asks Master to strengthen her. ““Buddha’s light shines everywhere, propriety and righteousness harmonize everything.”” (Lecture Three, Zhuan Falun)
Before she posts truth-clarifying stickers, she says in her mind, “May people look at this but not tear it down, so more people will be saved. I ask Master to strengthen me so no one interferes while I am posting.”
She finishes posting without any problems. No one passes by while she is posting. My mother knows she has Master’s compassionate protection. Whenever she talks about this, she expresses wonder at Master’s benevolence and how extraordinary Falun Dafa is.
My father passed away three years ago. Although she now lives alone, mother told us, “Master watches over me. You are all busy. Remember ‘Falun Dafa is good!’” She does the exercises every day without fail, and goes to bed around 10 p.m. Her daily routine is arranged well. Everyone who knows her marvels and says Falun Dafa is amazing. Her children and grandchildren who don’t practice don’t talk much about it because of the persecution, but they are aware.
My mother doesn’t get sick or spend money on medicine—how many elderly people are like this? Yet this is not unusual for practitioners. Dafa’s effectiveness in eliminating illness and keeping fit is amazing. The CCP’s lies and slander dreamed up the “1,400 cases” and staged the Tiananmen self-immolation hoax.
The changes in my mother after she began cultivating were tremendous. Beyond her physical transformation, what stands out most is her ability to patiently and quietly listen to others speak without interrupting. She used to monopolize every conversation and she talked endlessly. Everyone else was just the audience. My mother no longer interrupts, and rarely engages in gossip. She often says that Dafa is good. When the time for sending righteous thoughts approaches and she sees the other person has no intention of leaving, she sends a thought in her mind, “Please leave now, don’t prevent me from sending righteous thoughts.” Then the other person quickly says goodbye and leaves.
My mother once felt angry because she was scolded after an certain incident. The next day, her throat was dry and hoarse, and she had trouble hearing. When I called her on the phone she could not hear me and I had to shout. When I got home, I learned what happened. My mother realized she needed to improve, and I saw that she felt grievance, was imbalanced, and had resentment. She found her attachments and sent righteous thoughts to correct herself. It was truly miraculous—she saw immediate results. Her throat was no longer hoarse, and she could hear clearly even when I spoke softly on the phone.
My mother experienced another miracle. All her upper teeth fell out, and her gums receded, so the dentures wouldn’t stay in place. The dentist said the only solution was dental implants, which cost 15,000 yuan per tooth. How could a person in a rural area afford that? My mother said, “I won’t get them. It’s fine. I can still chew.” Then, miraculously, a tooth emerged from the upper jaw (left side), right above the lower jaw where a few teeth remained, aligning perfectly. My mother could even eat hard, crispy corn pancakes. Everyone who saw it marveled—I knew this was a blessing from cultivating Dafa. I am grateful to Master for his compassionate grace.
My mother kept working in her courtyard vegetable garden. On her right side, above where her spine was not level, a lump protruded, and it was there for two or three years. When she read a practitioner’s article suggesting this might be the consequence of accepting the concepts of “old age, sickness, and death,” she followed a practitioner’s suggestion and increased the length of time she sent righteous thoughts. She also looked within to correct her thinking, and diligently practiced the exercises. Now both sides of her spine are even and her voice has become louder and clearer. Her younger brother, in his 70s, also heard the change over the phone and said that his older sister had become young again.
My mother’s life seems ordinary and commonplace, but as a person who is continually assimilating to Dafa, the ordinary is extraordinary.