(Clearwisdom.net) I had the predestined opportunity to read Zhuan Falun in 2007.
I had suffered from many illnesses since birth and almost died before I was a year old. Thanks to a doctor who took care of me at home for eight days, I lived. When I was young I rarely ate rice; instead, I often ate unsalted, steamed vegetables and sweet potato without oil. I lacked proper physical development because of insufficient nourishment. As a result of my illnesses I was emaciated with a pale, sickly complexion. My relatives and I endured much in the process to cure me and went everywhere to ask help from Buddhas.
When I was in the 7th grade I suffered from nephritis and had to miss school for a year. During that time I couldn't eat salty food and couldn't move because I took so many injections in my legs. People nicknamed me "half-life." In 9th grade I had surgery on the middle finger of my left hand. And then, in 1989 an examination revealed I had hepatitis B. I took nearly twenty kinds of medicine for more than ten years, which cost me more than ten thousand yuan. I had already lost three teeth by the time I was in my 30s. No one could image the tribulations I suffered. I often worried that I would die at any moment, and admired others' good health very much.
Missed opportunities to obtain the Fa
In the beginning of the 1990s qigong became the rage in my local area. In hopes of finding a cure, I ordered a magazine called "Qigong." I wanted to practice it, but couldn't understand it, and thus did it carelessly. Then, Falun Gong was introduced in my town in 1996. There was a practice site in my company, but I didn't pay attention to it.
One day the company CEO held an emergency meeting and asked somberly, "Is there anyone in our company practicing Falun Gong?" He told us that officials from higher authorities forbid people to practice Falun Gong and that they wanted to register those who practice. I thought at that moment, "It's just doing the exercises. Is healing and fitness also forbidden? Is it worth making such a big fuss about it? The higher authorities are certainly doing political movements and are victimizing people." I knew well from personal experience how evil the Communist Party is. The Party confiscated my grandfather-in-law's personal belongings in his home. My grandfather and grandmother-in-law died from the great famine between 1958 and 1960. My family was a family of scholars for generations, but communist officials burned those ancient books in the one of the Party's campaigns to destroy traditional culture known as "anti-four olds." In addition, I witnessed the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre and saw how the evil Party cruelly killed students.
My family often received informational handouts about Falun Gong through a crack in the door. We read them carefully. Once I saw someone put a letter through the crack. All people present in my home kept silent at once in order not to scare that practitioner. We didn't take the letter until we heard that the practitioner had gone upstairs. I really admired practitioners; perhaps my kind and righteous mind provided the predestined opportunity to eventually practice Dafa.
Toward the end of 2002 my father was diagnosed with lung cancer. One colleague whose father was a practitioner secretly sent us Dafa materials and encouraged my father to practice Falun Gong. Later on, another friend whom I will call practitioner A came to talk to my father. At that time we only considered Dafa as ordinary qigong that might be better than others. As the political situation became tense, I disagreed with my father learning Falun Gong. He died on May 5, 2004. Looking back, I am full of regret and wish I had known how miraculous Dafa is.
In October 2005, I was diagnosed with lung cancer. The tumor was egg-size (3.9×4.1cm). Doctors said chemotherapy for people with lung cancer was ineffective, indicating that the cancer had metastasized. The cancer could transfer to other parts of the body and recur at any time. I was only in my 30s.
Soon after I left the hospital, an uncle taught me to practice another qigong. During the process, practitioner A visited me and brought me some gifts, and encouraged me to practice Falun Gong again. He showed me how to do the five sets of exercises on the spot, and told me of the wonders of Dafa. However, my fear prevented me from agreeing to the practice. What a pity! I let Dafa pass me by once again.
Starting to practice Dafa
In the summer of 2007 my wife and I went clothes shopping. While chatting with the store owner she learned of my health problems and asked, "Why not practice Falun Gong?" She told us that her brother's diseases disappeared after practicing Falun Gong. When we were about to leave, she said, "I'll give you a copy of the book Zhuan Falun another day, OK?" I agreed.
The store owner arrived one night with the precious book and told me, "This is a book from heaven. It's hard to get - even you spend gold. You need to read it carefully, and then decide whether to practice it." She also told me many miraculous stories of practitioners. I found her to be a sincere person, so I carefully read the book and immediately understood many things. I decided to practice Falun Gong.
The store owner's brother, practitioner B came to my home. He brought a tape player and taught me how to do the exercises. I remember feeling an electric shock when I did the third exercise. The same thing happened when I did the exercise in front of a mirror. Mentioning this to practitioner B, he said, "It's all natural and all good. You might have a lot of reactions in future."
When I practiced the sitting meditation, I could initially only sit in half lotus. Master requires the full lotus double-crossed leg position; as a disciple, I should follow Master's requirements. I could sit in the full lotus position on the fifth day, but after one minute it hurt so much that I burst into tears. The second time I could endure for ten minutes; the third time I could endure for more than twenty minutes; on my fifth try I was able to sit in this position for one hour. I remember that I was covered in sweat.
I told myself again and again, "Persist for several more minutes." But I still put my legs down. Several minutes later I thought, "It's not easy to put the legs up. Why not last a few more minutes? I need to sit in the full lotus position after the music finishes today." Having finished the meditation, I had difficultly putting my legs down and found that I was all wet, and that so was the sheet I was sitting on.
Since then I read one lecture from Zhuan Falun and did all five sets of exercises almost every day. Soon, my body leaned backward when I sat in meditation and became light.
One night in November 2007, I dreamed. I saw Master's fashen appearing in a salmon pink cassock. His middle finger pointed at the middle of my forehead. At once I felt thunder and lightning in my brain, and a current of heat went through my whole body. Then I awakened, and saw the same fashen pointing at my forehead again. Then, the same thunder and lightning happened again. Words cannot describe the sense of relief I felt. My tears immediately burst out. The fashen pointed at me for the third time. I felt a deity's heavenly waters purifying every cell of my body; it was so wonderful. Then the fashen left and my tears still flowed.
It is my first experience of this kind. I couldn't believe it and thought it was a dream. I looked at the photos on the wall and found the photos were there. I touched my face and found it was covered in tears. I then touched the pillow and found the tears had wet it, too. This really happened! Although I had asked deities for help many times, this was my first miraculous experience. But this time I saw a Buddha-image, he purified my body. I had no words to express my joy and appreciation.
I loaned the previous book to another person in 2008 and thought, "If he wants to practice cultivation, one book is not enough for both of us. What should I do? Well, I can hand-copy the book and give him the original." I copied the book. Usually I was careless about my handwriting and often wrote quickly. With this project I wrote carefully and accurately. In the winter the cold numbed my hands; but I ignored it. In the summer my palm sweat. I put a clean book under my palm. I wrote from winter to summer and finally finished six months later. Then I proofread it several times for accuracy. Eventually I also copied Hong Yin II.
Fellow practitioners soon encouraged me to memorize the Fa. I also read many experience sharing articles on memorizing the Fa and began to do it, memorizing one page a day. I wanted to give up several times. Sometimes I couldn't memorize even one short paragraph in one hour. The attachment to comfort and ease, impatience and the quest for entertainment always emerged. I knew that they were parts of my ego I should get rid of.
After about eleven months I finished memorizing the whole book. Later on I also recited several of Master's lectures and Hong Yin. The benefits of memorizing the Fa are many. I got rid of many attachments during the process, I could recall the Fa to correct my thoughts and behavior in various situations, and I could study the Fa at anytime without a book in hand.
Getting rid of the attachment to self-interest
I used to be very stingy and always tried to get the best deal for myself. Since the beginning of Fa study, I tried proactively to get rid of this attachment. When my wife withdrew money from the bank, a teller gave her an additional one thousand yuan. She mentioned this when she returned. I told her to immediately return the money, and she did.
In October 2009, my wife and her sister wanted to buy a house for their father. Everyone in the extended family needed to donate thousands of yuan. I thought, "I am a Dafa disciple now. I need to be kind to others. My father-in-law and mother-in-law are old. It would be nice if they lived near us." A solution appeared as soon as I had that thought. When they were moving and fixing up the house, I went to help. Practitioners B and D also helped a lot. My father-in-law and mother-in-law both spoke highly of Dafa disciples. I explained the truth to my father-in-law. He agreed to read Zhuan Falun. I brought him the precious book. Unexpectedly, when he received the book, with great respect he bowed his head underneath the book. When he returned the book to me he said, "It is so miraculous. I read it without my glasses." I thought, "Perhaps he moved here just to learn the Fa." He saw the positive changes in me since I began the practice, especially what I did for them when they moved. My father-in-law was a long-time Chinese Communist Party member, however, he quit the Party.
Getting rid of fear
I had always been timid. One day, I went to a well-known metropolitan hospital in my province for a physical exam. I ate lunch in the hospital cafeteria. Many people bought lunch; most were patients and their relatives. Their painful expressions stabbed my heart. I used to be in pain like them; however, I had become a Dafa disciple. How lucky I was! If they all knew the truth about Falun Gong and could also step onto the cultivation path, how wonderful it would be! I thought, "Let me tell them about the practice in this dining hall."
I had never done this before and was afraid of the security guard. I hesitated for quite a while. Then, an elderly lady and a young lady came to the table next to me. The elderly lady was the patient, and the young lady was a nurse whom I had already seen several times. They looked kind. I approached them and told them of Dafa and the persecution. They were surprised. The nurse said, "Don't you fear being arrested?" I didn't have any fear. I told them my personal experiences, showed them my previous medical examinations, told them the truth about the staged "Tiananmen Square Self-immolation" incident, and many miraculous stories from practicing Dafa. The elderly lady told me she would find a Dafa disciple in her local area, to get more information. The nurse still half believed and half doubted. On my way home I made a wish that all the doctors in that hospital would learn the truth about Dafa. Once at home, I wrote letters to the doctors in that hospital.
Gradually, I took charge of many activities like making truth-clarification fliers, discs, posting truth-clarifying posters, distributing materials, and writing letters to persuade people to quit the Party. With Master's help, and with help from practitioners, my fear has considerably lessened, and I became more and more mature.
Miracles I have experienced
1) Two of my karma elimination experiences were quite severe. The first one was in June 2008. Even though I had already covered myself with two comforters I still felt cold. It felt like my brain was swollen, and I hurt everywhere, especially in my liver, lungs and heart. I had a runny nose and then began coughing, and eventually coughed blood. I knew it was karma elimination. But I kept recalling the image of my father painfully coughing blood before he died. I couldn't steady my mind.
A practitioner arrived to encourage me. He told me to firmly believe in Master and Dafa, send righteous thoughts and persist in studying the Fa. He also told me veteran practitioners' and his stories of karma elimination. I thought, "Master already purified my body several times. It is just a bit intensive this time. I don't need to fear anything." Master's Fa came to mind, "Can't you overcome such a petty tribulation? Everyone can make it." (Zhuan Falun)
I then persisted in Fa study, doing the exercises and sending righteous thoughts. I still went to work and didn't take the discomfort from karma elimination that seriously. About twenty days later all the symptoms were gone.
The second incident happened in January 2009, and it seemed more serious this time. I coughed a lot of blood. Having survived the first experience I was less afraid. I kept studying the Fa and doing the exercises, and carried on as usual. The symptoms went away in about six weeks.
Strangely, while studying the Fa and doing the exercises I did not experience the symptoms. In the past my skin was sallow; but now my skin is clear and healthy-looking, and I have gained more than 5 kg. I go to work each day, but I am aware that I have heavy karma that needs to be eliminated.
2) I was involved in five traffic accidents, and three of them were severe collisions. Thanks to Master's care, I escaped unscathed.
3) While I studied the Fa at another practitioner's home the neighbor's stereo was very loud. I thought purely and righteously, "Keep the noise low. Don't affect our Fa study." At once the noise stopped.
I am writing this article in tears. On the occasion of World Falun Dafa Day, I sincerely wish Master Happy Birthday!
Finally, I respectfully recite Master's Fa to encourage each other,
"If a person can truly obtain Dafa, this person is simply most fortunate. A human body is hard to acquire--that is what it means."
"I hope that both veteran and new practitioners will be able to practice cultivation in Dafa and succeed in it! I hope that after going home everyone will make the best use of his or her time for genuine cultivation practice." (Zhuan Falun)
