(Clearwisdom.net) My parents started to practice Falun Gong in the summer of 1997. Because of their jobs, they lived in different cities. Before the 1998 Chinese New Year, my father called me and said that he had quit drinking. I didn't believe him. I thought, “In the past, he claimed many times that he had quit drinking, but nothing ever changed—he liked alcohol as much as life itself. How could he have quit this time? It can't be true.” I asked my mother and she also said, “Your father really quit.” I still couldn't believe it and asked my elder brother, knowing that he wouldn’t lie to me, “Is it true that Dad has quit drinking and smoking? How did he do it this time?” He told me, “We are all Falun Gong practitioners now. Practitioners don't drink or smoke, and I quit also quit.” I was surprised and kept asking him, “Falun Gong sounds like a miracle to me. Can I practice too?” He said, “Of course you can. Come home for the Chinese New Year and I will teach you the exercises!” I was excited, purchased the airplane ticket, and prepared to go home to learn Falun Gong.
I mentioned this to my brother-in-law. He said, “You can also learn Falun Gong at your current location! Let me find the contact person's phone number for you.” This is how I started my Falun Dafa cultivation!
In the summer of 1998, my sister and I invited my parents to attend the Falun Dafa experience sharing conference in our city. When I saw my parents, I was shocked. I remembered when I went back home for the Chinese New Year in 1996, both of them had gray hair. They were close to 70 years old, and also had quite a few health problems. At the time I thought sadly, “My parents are really getting old!” So I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw them this time! Both had black hair and they looked like a middle-aged couple. I couldn’t have imagined that my parents could be so rejuvenated! They looked very energetic and healthy. Their skin looked rosy and the wrinkles on their faces were almost non-existent. Compared to the state of their health two years before, they looked like two completely different people. Especially my father. He had a lot of gray hair when he was young. However, it seemed that I had a young and handsome father again.
I really didn't know when their hair turned black again. I only knew that they started practicing Falun Gong about a year earlier. I could almost not accept the fact, but it was real and right in front of me. I couldn't help but say, “Miracle! Miracle! Falun Dafa is really a miracle! It's really unbelievable!” My dad said to me, “Master said in Zhuan Falun that 'your practice will benefit others.' Now, all our family members practice Falun Gong and we have all benefited!”
After the persecution of Falun Gong began in July 1999, this wonderful situation changed. Many members of my family were arrested, including me and my mother. My father was so worried about us that he kept looking for us throughout the whole area. He couldn’t eat or sleep well, and finally gave up his practice. After I was released from the detention center, Master enlightened me to the fact that my father was in a tribulation and needed help. I was anxious to see him. Master enlightened me again with the Chinese words “晶” (meaning "three days"). I understood this to mean that I needed to meet my father in three days time.
I was shocked by his appearance. His hair had again turned gray, his face was pale, he looked listless, and his eyes were diseased. I understood that my father could not withstand the torture and pain of the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong. He could not keep practicing cultivation and his life was almost over. Master had been extending his life.
I said to my father many times, “Dad, you really don't know how long you will live. You must be steadfast!” My father was unhappy about what I had said and retorted, “Cultivate your speech. Don't talk to me like that. I only wish that I can live for ten more years.” I didn't tell him what Master showed me, since I was afraid that he could not take it. I only told my brother-in-law.
Because the police from our local police station kept harassing me and my parents, I was forced to leave home. Right after I left, my father had a car accident, and soon after, another one. His life was taken away by the old forces as a result of the second accident.
I wanted to share my experience here with the practitioners who aren't moving forward diligently, especially some older practitioners. We really have to be steadfast! Master mentioned in Lecture One of Zhuan Falun,
“Yet some people have limited time left in their lives. Their years for living are numbered and may not be enough for cultivation. Our Falun Dafa can solve this problem and shorten the course of practice. Meanwhile, it is also a cultivation practice of mind and body. When you continually practice cultivation, you will constantly prolong your life. With consistent practice, your life will be constantly prolonged. Those elderly people with good inborn quality will have sufficient time for practice. There is a criterion, however, that the life prolonged beyond your predestined time to live is completely reserved for your practice. If your mind goes wrong a little bit, your life will be in danger because your lifetime should have long been over.”
I felt responsible for my father's death, as I was not patient enough to help him overcome his hardship. I even had the mindset of taking a chance, “He should be OK even if he is not diligent.” However, the old forces take advantage of any loophole. Since my father did not accept my advice and I gave up trying to help him, the old forces took the chance to pull him away.
My mother went to Beijing twice to appeal for Falun Gong. She was arrested and harassed numerous times. Because she doesn't read Chinese characters, she could not read Master’s lectures. She could only learn Zhuan Falun from listening to the audio. She didn’t know how to recite the verse for sending forth righteous thoughts. She tried to persuade people to resign from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but after being turned down several times, she gave it up. For a long time, she only did two out of the three things. As a result, her black hair gradually turned gray again. After I was released from jail, I cut her hair to about four or five inches long. I found that she only had a few black hairs right above the neck, and gray hair covered the rest of her head.
I started to read Master's other lectures and the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party to her, and gradually she became clear about the Fa. She again started to try to persuade people face-to-face to quit the CCP. She was getting better in doing the three things. After a month, I saw that her hair had turned black again. I looked closely and found that she only had a few gray hairs. In addition, the black hair wasn't half gray and half black. The whole length of the hair was black. I concluded that her black hair had not grown black, but had changed to black. Normally, a person's hair only grows about an inch per month. However, my mother’s hair, which was about four or five inches long, turned black in only a month. I said to her, “Mom, your hair has turned black again, which indicates that you are doing well in the three things. Master said, ‘The cultivation is up to you, gong is up to the master.’ (Zhuan Falun) Master is encouraging you! You should be more diligent!” My mother could not believe that her gray hair had turned black in only a month. She look at it in a mirror and said with a smile, “Yes, It is true! It turned black! Thank you, Master! I have to be more diligent!”
After hearing the news, my relatives came to see my mother. They couldn't accept the fact and suspected that my mother had dyed her hair black. When they were finally convinced that her hair had turned black naturally, no one was negative about her going out to persuade people to quit the CCP. They even encouraged her, saying, “It's good to save people! Falun Dafa is good. It's miraculous! Save more people!”
These is an old Chinese proverb, “If you give other people a rose, the good smell remains in your hand.” Master let us give the beautiful future and the brand new universe to the common people. The things remaining in our hands won't be just a good smell. Master said in “Fa Teaching at the 2007 New York Fa Conference,”
“You will receive all the honor and glory that Dafa disciples are to have in the future.”
Fellow practitioners, let's move forward together diligently and remain steadfast during the Fa-rectification period to save more people!
After I finished writing this article, I found that every word in Master's lecture became twice as large as before. I enlightened that Master is encouraging me. I would like to give my greatest appreciation to Master for saving and supporting me, and also share the happiness of saving people and observing the miracles of Dafa.
Please kindly point out anything improper.
Heshi
