(Minghui. org) I started practicing Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, in 2005. I was a mature student studying at Bradford College at the time. Bradford is a small city in the north of England. I had decided to return to education after being made redundant from work, and I shared a house with mainly Chinese students.
I was having a discussion about life one day with one of my housemates. I told him that I had always been fascinated about what the body can do. I had studied martial arts, psychology, counseling, and yoga, in search of improving my mind and well-being.
My housemate then told me of a friend of his in China who practiced a type of qigong. I wasn't really paying attention as he spoke about his friend, and just remained quiet while he was talking.
He then told me about another friend whose mother practiced Falun Gong. The words “Falun Gong” hit me like a sledgehammer.
My housemate was sitting at his desk while we were talking, and I was lying on his bed. I immediately sat up and was immediately attentive to what he was saying. It was a really bizarre experience, as nothing had ever shaken me to be so attentive and intrigued before.
I cut our conversation short and went to my room to search the Internet for “Falun Gong.” The first thing I found was information about the persecution, which grabbed my attention further, as I had always been concerned about minority groups being persecuted.
I was in the city center of Leeds sometime later with another housemate, when a Chinese man handed her a leaflet about Falun Gong. She then passed the leaflet to me, saying, “This is what you are interested in, isn't it?” I quickly went back to the Chinese man, showing him the leaflet. He couldn't speak English and pointed in the direction of where other Falun Gong practitioners were holding an event to let people know about Falun Dafa and the persecution.
As I approached the table with all of the Falun Gong materials on it, a young woman started to tell me about the persecution. I was so much in awe at finding this place that I wasn't really paying attention to her. I signed the petition to help stop the persecution and stood back watching the practitioners meditating.
They looked so peaceful. I remember saying to my friend, “That's what I want to do.”
The rest is history, as they say.
I have made hard work of my cultivation and feel that I need to write this article to get myself back on the right track. I have slid a long way down from where I once was in cultivation.
I was involved in a serious accident in December 2015. I was coming out of a Chinese takeaway when two cars collided at an intersection. One of the cars veered off the road and crashed into a lamppost. The lamppost then fell on my head, fracturing my spine. I wasn't aware of any of this at the time, and only remember coming out of the takeaway, then lying on the ground with a policeman leaning over me.
I started to sit up as I came too, and saw blood dripping down from my ear. After the initial thought of, “This doesn't look good.” I rested my head back on the ground, thinking of what practitioners would do at a time like this. I tried to think of the sharing articles that I had read on the Minghui website.
I lay there sending forth righteous thoughts. I remember that my thoughts for Dafa and Master were so strong at the time. I wasn't worried in the slightest.
It also ended up as a great opportunity to clarify the facts to everyone I met. And it was so easy too! From the policeman who was first on the scene of the accident, the paramedics in the ambulance, the hospital staff, to the other patients in the hospital ward, they all wanted to know what happened.
I was helping to distribute leaflets for the upcoming Shen Yun Performing Arts show in Birmingham, so it was very natural to tell them about Shen Yun and recommend that they go and watch the show.
I didn't need surgery, but I had to spend the next six days confined to a hospital bed until the doctors were ready to release me. I wanted to leave after two days, but one of the doctors said that they had to wait for a senior doctor to check my scans, as they were concerned that I might end up paralyzed. That shook me for a while, but it is Master who decides my future, not the doctors.
I just wanted to go home, but it was the Christmas holidays, and very few doctors were on call.
The other patients in the ward seemed to be in great pain and were taking a lot of medication. The only real pain I remember experiencing was having stomach cramps from laying on my back for so long. I had no need to take painkillers or other medication that was being offered and felt sad to see the other patients taking so many different types of medication, and in large amounts.
After a few days, the nurse even joked that I could have two pills for the price of one. But, of course, there was no need, as I had Master taking care of me.
When I got home, I tried to think of why I had the accident. Was it interference from the old forces to stop me from helping out with Shen Yun promotions? Was it my attachments being taken advantage of? Probably both!
But one thing I can say is that I paid back a huge karmic debt.
When I was young I used to go shooting. One day, I was out with a friend. I was standing under a tree, and a pigeon was perched on a branch just above – I shot the pigeon.
Later in life, I noticed a lump develop under the skin on the back of my right leg.
When I started practicing Falun Gong, I remembered the pigeon and thought about the wrong that I had done quite frequently.
After the accident, I never had these recurring thoughts, and the lump disappeared.
I never went to the doctors to get the lump diagnosed and can only assume that the death of the pigeon was related to the growth on my leg. I guess it was a tumor to take away my life later on, as I owed a debt to the pigeon. Now the debt was paid, so the lump disappeared and my recurring thoughts of the pigeon did, too.
Master protected me from being left paralyzed or killed in the accident. I only had to pay back a small amount of suffering, while Master paid the brunt for me.
I have never really thanked Master for this, even when I met him in person. So now I really need to say, “Thank you, Master, for saving my life.”
I know that these are just human words. The only way I can truly show my utmost respect to Master is to cultivate well and save sentient beings. That is what I need to do.
One day, I was asked to help with security for a meeting of practitioners. When I arrived there I was told that Master may come, so we had to be extra vigilant.
If I'm on security at the door to the meeting room I would probably see Master. What should I do? Do I shake his hand, as it's a polite greeting for westerners to do? Or do I do heshi and greet Master by putting both hands in front of my chest? It's a hotel, and everyday people may think it's strange if they saw me doing that.
I was so concerned that I asked a Chinese practitioner, “How do I greet Master? Do I shake his hand?” I remember the practitioner's questioned response, “Would you shake the Queen's hand?” Of course not. It's not the correct thing to do.
I wanted to be a good host for Master and open the door for him. I'm a bit clumsy, so I kept practicing opening the door, afraid that I may go to open the door for Master, trip over the carpet and probably smash my head on the glass door or something equally foolish.
There was some obstruction in the hallway, and a practitioner asked me to have it moved. I turned around to take care of the matter and saw Master right in front of me. He seemed to be moving so quickly, that by the time I had raised my hands to do heshi, Master had already passed and was by the far door to enter the conference room.
When Master was about to leave after the conference ended I opened the door for him and did heshi. Master then extended his hand. I was so surprised. My mind was a complete blank when I shook Master's hand, but I know it was a magical experience.
My wife later said, “You don't know how much Master has done for you in other dimensions.”
Even after writing this article I had a serious bout of sickness karma, as Master helped cleanse my body.
I just feel that Master has been helping me all the time to help me improve in my cultivation, but I have not fulfilled my vows nor cultivated well. I must change my ways and save more sentient beings.