(Clearwisdom.net)
I am a 49-year-old woman from the countryside. Before practicing Falun Gong, I was plagued by many diseases including cardiovascular disease, gastritis, gallstones, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colitis, gastroptosis and adnexitis. I also suffered from rheumatism so much that I had to stay in bed, unable to cook or work in the fields. After a hard day's work, my husband still had to prepare our meals, and he would be frustrated whenever he saw me in bed. Sometimes he would tell me, "You are a bottomless pit. My monthly salary isn't even enough to pay for your medication." Indeed, paying for the treatment of my illnesses consumed all of my family's money, causing us to fall into poverty.
Just as my life hung by a thread, I started to practice Falun Gong in 1997. As I held the book Zhuan Falun, tears flowed from my eyes. After reading the book once, my heart suddenly opened up, and I had a much deeper understanding of the true meaning of life and how to be a good person. From then on, I have walked the path of cultivation. With the deepening of my understanding of the Fa came a reduction in my bad temper and the elimination of many attachments. I used the Fa as a guide to judge my weaknesses and failings. Within a few months, I began to feel light all over and I truly experienced what it is like to be a healthy person. I began telling my friends and relatives that Falun Dafa had helped me recover fully from my ailments.
Previously, I could not eat many foods because of my frail body. Now I can eat anything, and I can even perform strenuous physical labor. After one year of cultivation, I had not once fallen ill. Dafa cleansed my body and spirit, and even my husband stopped complaining that I was a "bottomless pit," the greatest waste of money. Instead, he fully supported my studying the Fa and practicing the exercises.
On July 20, 1999, when Jiang and his followers began slandering and persecuting Dafa, home searches, book confiscations, and arrests were common in my village. I hid at my niece's home in fear, but before living there long, my sister and brother-in-law were deceived by the lies. They told my niece and my brother not to provide me with a residence, for they were afraid that they would be persecuted for being relatives of a Dafa practitioner. Due to the lies spread by the Jiang group, they were also afraid that at night, I would become a murderer and kill them if I were living in their homes. My nephew quickly chased me away upon hearing this from his mother and father. At the time, I did not look within myself, and instead of clarifying the truth to them, I harbored resentment against them. It angered me that I had been so good to them before, yet during these hard times, they did not have the heart to aid me. Later, after seeking answers within, I discovered that I was the one in the wrong.
Afterwards, I did not return home. Instead, I studied the Fa in the mountains during the day with fellow practitioners. At night, I slept close to my house in heaps of corn stalks. Because the heaps allowed wind in from all directions, I would often awaken with frozen legs, leaving me unable to walk. These difficult times were all caused by my attachment of fear.
I returned home, but several months later I was harassed by authorities who came to my house to ask if I still studied the Fa. I replied truthfully and told them I did, so they began searching my home. This time I was not afraid. I sat on my bed sending forth righteous thoughts, clearing the other dimensions of all evil factors. Under my strong righteous thoughts, they failed to find anything. While leaving, they told me, "We didn't find any books. If we find any, you will be arrested."
The second time they came to my house, they again searched and found nothing. I sent forth this righteous thought, "Don't ever come into the homes of Dafa practitioners." From then onwards, they never returned. And during this second search, the Dafa books were right on my bed, yet they could not see them. I thought to myself, "This must be the work of Teacher and the deities who protect the Fa. They have protected me and the Dafa books."
As true cultivators, we should seek within when we encounter tribulations, and we must walk our paths righteously. Since July 20, the seven or eight other Dafa practitioners and I in our village have not had easy access to Teacher's lectures. At first, we were worried that without these lectures, we would have no way to cultivate. Then, because I truly wanted to learn, I finally found another fellow practitioner while under Teacher's guidance. I have since frequented his house to obtain Teacher's lectures and truth clarifying materials.
One night, a fellow practitioner and I handed out truth clarifying materials from house to house, and we walked over 45 kilometers (about 30 miles). When we arrived home at dawn, our toenails had turned black. It hurt so badly we could not walk. My husband complained and yelled about this, but I tolerated it all quietly. Just at this moment, the practitioner who provides me with truth clarifying materials called to ask me to pick up some things up. I thought to myself, "I just got home, and my husband is still angry. What should I do?" I then recalled, "I have come solely for the Fa." I got on my bicycle and left, only to hear my husband say, "If you leave, don't come back."
My house is over 25 kilometers (over 15 miles) from the fellow practitioner's. The sun beat on me. It was very hot, and I was tired, hungry, sleepy, and penniless. I couldn't pedal far before I had to rest, and by the time I had completed half of my journey, the pain in my stomach had become unbearable. Just at this time, I noticed peanuts growing in the field next to the trail I rode on, and nobody was around. I began eating the peanuts, and I felt our kind Teacher right besides me protecting me. I burst into tears, remembering that I still had a difficult journey home. However, I then remembered that I am a Dafa practitioner, and this relieved my burdens completely.
When I finally returned home, my husband yelled, "So you still have the nerve to come back?" He continued yelling and wanted to hit me, but I tolerated it all. He then inquired, "What are you doing with this large package of stuff (truth clarification materials)? I will report you." I replied, "I'm not afraid," but he responded, "If others find out, I will lose my job. You might not be afraid, but I am." I then made it clear that every day I lived would be spent clarifying the truth because it is a most righteous act. I argued that it never interrupted my work, and following Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance is in no way wrong! My husband was so angry that he called my brother and sister to our house to arrange a divorce. I, however, thought to myself, "The more people you call over the better. It will be a perfect opportunity to clarify the truth."
After their arrival, my relatives would not let me study the Fa. I was not allowed to distribute truth clarifying materials, and they tried to persuade me to only practice secretly at home. They even called me silly for practicing Falun Dafa. I told them, "As Dafa is defamed, Teacher is slandered, and my fellow practitioners are persecuted, how can I not stand up and say a few just words for them? If I practice secretly at home, only trying to benefit from the Fa and not giving back, could I still call myself a Dafa practitioner? In my opinion, such actions would make me a most wretched person. Moreover, you are all aware of the health benefits that Dafa has bestowed upon me, yet you deny me the freedom to make sacrifices for Dafa. If it were not for Dafa, I would have left you a long time ago." At this point, my husband added that the cultivation of Dafa had clearly impacted my health in a positive way.
I continued, "If it were not for Dafa, our children would have lost their mother long ago, and we would not have the large, happy family we have now. Just imagine, if a doctor had cured my ailments, you would have given him many gifts. Yet Dafa's Teacher does not want a penny from me, only that I cultivate my heart. Over the course of the seven years of my cultivation, I have not been ill again, and we have not paid any medical expenses. Dafa practitioners only walk the most righteous of paths. Please awaken now and treat Dafa and practitioners with kindness. Do you realize that there are many others like you who have been misled by the lies, who do not know the truth? These people are waiting for Dafa practitioners like me to rescue them." When my relatives saw my steadfastness in the Fa, my husband decided at last not to divorce me. From then onwards, I have visited my other relatives and clarified the truth to them. They awakened to the truth of what was righteous and what was evil, and they even requested truth clarifying materials and CD's. Now when my husband sees anyone, he always tells them that Dafa is good, and my whole family supports my studying the Fa, practicing the exercises, clarifying the truth, and saving sentient beings.
After July 20, only seven or eight practitioners in our village studied the Fa together. Now, there are over twenty fellow practitioners in our Fa-studying group. Everyone has studied the Fa well and walked onto the path of Fa rectification. Every day, we study the Fa, send forth righteous thoughts, clarify the truth, and save sentient beings.
I am pleased in knowing how fortunate and awe-inspiring it is to be one of Teacher's disciples during this period of Fa rectification, aiding Teacher in rectifying the Fa and saving sentient beings!
