(Minghui.org) I am a 72-year-old woman from the countryside. I used to believe in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) propaganda about Falun Dafa, and even blamed the practice for the persecution that my daughter and her husband experienced. Fortunately, I learned the facts about Dafa, and now practice it.
I shouldered all the work in the family after I got married. I had to carry stones, dig ditches, and plant crops in the field. I still had to work in the field when I was nine months pregnant. After years of living a difficult life, my health deteriorated and I suffered from a heart condition, depression, migraines, and varicose veins.
Our family of six people lived frugally, using only around three liters of oil for cooking each year. I let my brother-in-law and his wife adopt my fourth and fifth daughters because they had no children.
My husband and I still had to support their family, however, and pay the children’s school tuition, since my brother-in-law refused to work. My husband and I often fought over how much money to send to them, because we needed to have enough to pay for the fertilizer.
Under tremendous pressure, I became depressed in my 30s. I had insomnia, was afraid of being around people and light, and attempted to commit suicide.
My second daughter and her husband were arrested for going to Beijing to appeal for their right to practice Falun Dafa in July 2000.
My daughter’s husband was taken to a forced labor camp, while she was detained in the old building of an unused factory. She was later forced to quit her job.
I prepared meals for her during the day, and tried to persuade her to stop practicing Dafa in the evenings. I stood outside the building crying while carrying her son.
Witnessing their plight and watching TV programs and news that slandered Falun Dafa around the clock, I believed the CCP’s lies and began to resent the practice. I even believed that my son-in-law would kill us one day, and complained to whoever I met.
After they returned home, my daughter and her husband could not talk about Dafa in front of me, or I would yell at them.
Since my daughter had lost her job, she opened a small diner to make a living. I helped her with the cooking, washing, and grocery shopping. But my health subsequently worsened, and I could no longer help her.
I once fell off my bicycle immediately after saying something bad about Dafa. My daughter said that I was being punished, but I didn’t believe her.
My neighbor, an elderly woman who does not practice Falun Dafa, said that the practice was being treated unjustly. She also shared how all of her illnesses disappeared after she sincerely recited, “Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”
She came over almost every day to chat with me. I could see that she had changed, as she no longer complained about her joint pain caused by the excess fluid build-up. My perception about Dafa began to change.
One day, I had a headache, a stiff neck, and I couldn’t move. My daughter asked me to recite, “Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”
I began reciting the phrases from morning until night, and asked my daughter or my grandson to continue for me when I got tired. We also listened to Master Li’s (the founder of Dafa) lectures.
Nothing happened until the 12th day, when I suddenly felt a balloon-like object popping out from my forehead, and my headache disappeared right away. I had recovered and no longer felt depressed.
I can not describe my gratitude toward Master at the time. I realized that everything being said on television was lies.
I then wanted to learn Dafa, but I was unsure if I could since I couldn’t read well and I had said bad things about the practice. I eventually decided to begin practicing Dafa after hesitating for a month.
I got up at 3:40 a.m. and did the Dafa exercises every day. I felt wonderful. I did not feel cold or need to wear a thick sweater in the winter, as I did in the past.
The more I studied Falun Dafa, the better I felt and the calmer my mind became. I was able to gradually let go of the resentment towards my brother-in-law and the attachment to money by following Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and being a good person.