(Clearwisdom.net) I have been practicing Falun Dafa for over 16 years. It has been a rough road all these years of cultivation, and I know that I have yet to catch up to Teacher's requirements. I have experienced the greatness of Dafa and all that Teacher has blessed me with over the years. I have no regrets for choosing the path of cultivation, and am certain that this path is without a doubt the right one.
Before I practiced Falun Dafa, I had headaches so severe that I never felt fully awake. I took all sorts of medicine, but it was of no use. In addition I was developing unbearable pain in my arms, and even in these difficult circumstances I still had to work. When you live in the countryside there is always an abundance of work. My husband had many illnesses, so he could not do any labor-intensive work. My child was still young, and my husband's family was not wealthy when we married, so we still owed money that we had to pay back. My husband and I had difficulties getting along and we fought constantly. I felt it was really a misfortune to be married to him. Life was bitter, hard, and seemed to have little meaning. I felt depressed, with nary a day of happiness.
The year my son turned three, I visited my husband's family where I had the good fortune of learning the Falun Gong exercises from one of my brothers-in-law. The first time I did the sitting exercise, I did it for about half an hour. I felt sleepy afterward and slept for three days and three nights straight, and I didn't know what was happening. I hadn't even heard of Teacher's lectures at the time. When I got home I played audio recordings of Teacher's lectures, and I was immediately taken by what Teacher said. The more I listened, the more I wanted to hear. I learned why I slept for so long; Teacher was cleansing the illnesses from me. From that day forward, I took the path of a cultivator. My head stopped hurting and my mind was clear. The pain in my arms was gone, and my body felt light. I walked with ease and no longer got tired doing farm work. There was an indescribable sense of happiness within me.
I remembered that I once had a skin ulcer in the back of my head. It spread to my ear and even my neck and I had difficulty hearing, but I was unafraid as I knew it was Teacher helping me eliminate karma. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began its persecution of Falun Gong around this time. Afraid that we would go to Beijing, the authorities threw me into a detention center. Even so, I held onto my beliefs in Dafa, and not long after my skin ulcers healed and my hair grew back.
Not only were my illnesses cured, my temper changed as well. Teacher once mentioned in Zhuan Falun:
"As a practitioner, the first thing you should be able to do is to not fight back when you are beaten or sworn at--you must be tolerant. Otherwise, what kind of practitioner will you be?"
I realized that I should not yell at my husband anymore. I became more tolerant. I stopped blaming him and instead began being more considerate. My temperament became gentle and peaceful. When one person practices, the whole family indeed benefits. My husband's health improved as well, and our family became more harmonious.
Of all the things I have done for validating Dafa, my husband never objected to any of them, and he was even supportive of what I did. On many occasions when I delivered materials to other practitioners, my husband would take me there on his motorcycle. On other occasions when I distributed Dafa truth clarification materials with another practitioner, my husband also helped by driving both of us for long distances. He never complained once for helping us, and it's made me very grateful.
Some days I would say "thank you" to him from the bottom of my heart. He would look at me and smile. He has helped me a lot in doing Dafa work, something that a typical non-practitioner wouldn't bother to do.
Because he had supported Dafa during the persecution and was the first person in our village to withdraw from the CCP, he has been given a great blessing and he had put himself on the path to a happy future. At some point all of his illnesses completely disappeared, and he regained his weight. He experienced how miraculous Dafa truly is, and only occasionally would he have a minor illness. He would think out loud "Falun Dafa is Good, Truth-Compassion-Forbearance is good." and he would quickly recover. After his health recovered, he was more capable and hard working than ever before.
In 1997, I was living with my brother-in-law and mother-in-law. After only a year I was driven out by my brother-in-law's wife. She also asked my mother-in-law to move in with me and my husband, and so I had an extra responsibility to look after my mother-in-law.
Our home was small, and my husband and I shared one room and we had a smaller room for my mother-in-law to live in. In the winter time, however, the smaller room got too cold and I let her move into the larger room with us.
My husband had four brothers and three sisters, and there were many problems associated with the family. Before I practiced Dafa, I had a lot of quarrels with my youngest brother-in-law's wife. Many people in our village found her to be irritating. She was short-tempered, complained a lot, and never yielded to anyone. Our neighbor would say to me: "Having the misfortune of being in the same family as her, you really must have put up with a lot." After I practiced Falun Dafa, although I had my shortcomings, I never argued with her again. I always managed to use Teacher's Fa to conduct myself.
After seven years of providing for my mother-in-law, she was in the late stages of her diabetic condition. Every day she had a large appetite of eating and drinking, while she also had to empty her bowels frequently. She would often urinate in her trousers and on the sheets, and so I had to wash them every day. At night my husband and I took turns watching over her. It was summer and we had a lot of farm work as well. We would get very little sleep every night, and there was no one who would help us. When I felt the situation to be unfair, I thought of something that Teacher taught us "Under all circumstances, we must be good and kind to others, not to mention to our family members." (Zhuan Falun, Lecture Six) I felt all my grievances dissipating after that.
On her deathbed my mother-in-law said to me: "I really owe you a lot, and how could I possibly repay you?" I told her it was what Teacher told me to do, and she shouldn't worry so much about it. My brother-in-law's wife said to me: "What you have done was beyond even what her daughters and sons would have done." Isn't it so? If I hadn't studied Dafa I would never have been able to do this so well. When my mother-in-law passed away, my husband and I bore the majority of the expenses.
My son practices Dafa as well. In school, he used Truth-Compassion-Forbearance to conduct himself. His teachers liked him very much and he was often praised for his studies. When other students were having difficulties, he was willing to help and put others before himself. At home, he was very sensible, and all the neighbors liked him as well.
Falun Dafa has transformed me to be without illness, without suffering, and without worry. Every day I feel indescribable happiness. Dafa has saved our family from disintegration, and instead it has transformed us into one that's full of harmony and happiness. Even though we aren't wealthy, we lead a life of happiness and optimism. When our neighbors expressed their admiration for our family, I told them that it was all because of Dafa. I feel an incomparable sense of honor and dignity to be a Dafa disciple.
I am still, however, far from being able to measure up to Teacher's requirements. What Teacher has given us is beyond what words can describe. I have confidence that I will do well. I won't let Teacher down, and I will become ever more diligent.