(Minghui.org) I started to practice Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, in 2005 when I was on the verge of death.
Guided by Falun Gong’s spiritual teachings, I am more willing to help other people and am happy when I do. If more people practiced Falun Gong, our society would be much better.
I am healthier and my business is much better than before. I know that everything is given by Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa. The only way I can repay Master is by being a better person by following the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.
I was always domineering and had a bad temper. Many people considered me a shrew and always tried to avoid me.
I seemed to have been born with a good head for business. I could foresee the kind of business we should engage in and where we could make good money. Our business grew, and as it grew, so did my greed. We sold expensive counterfeit goods, including high-end liquor. Nobody dared to try to return anything they bought from us for fear of my temper.
I would do anything, by hook or crook, as long as it was profitable. Morality had no meaning for me at all.
We accumulated millions in assets and were able to buy shops, stores, villas, and houses in the city. I started to live extravagantly. I got deeply into debt gambling and spent excessively on travel and luxury items. My life was a mess.
My abusive lifestyle took a big toll on my health. I ended up with gastroptosis, migraine headaches, hepatitis, and insomnia. I tried all kinds of drugs, prescription and non, but to no avail. I even went to temples to seek a cure and incurred some kind of spirit possession. Thunder started to frighten me.
Later, my whole body began to swell. The doctor said that my kidneys were the cause and prescribed hormone pills, which of course did not work. In 2005, I went to a hospital in Shanghai and spent about 10,000 yuan for a renal puncture. That did not help, either.
I had lost so much weight that my face looked horrible, like a snake’s head. I was only in my 30s then and felt helpless. I was just waiting for death.
Just then, my sister-in-law came to see me. For some reason, as soon as I saw her, I felt that I would be saved.
She said, “Why don’t you practice Falun Gong? Only that can save you now.”
Without any hesitation, I agreed and said, “I’m willing to let Master Li (the founder of Falun Gong) take care of me.”
That surprised her. She said, “How do you know you have a master and that he will take care of you?”
“I just know it,” I said.
“You must be predestined and have good inborn quality,” she said.
She left and came back with Falun Gong books and videos. When I saw them, I couldn’t stop the tears that ran down my face.
After my sister-in-law left, I lay down to rest and had a dream in which a Taoist in a green shirt looked down at me. After I became a practitioner, I realized that the Taoist was Master Li. I also saw a python staring in the window at me. I knew that I had incurred possession by this animal. Master removed it for me, and my swelling was gone the next day.
As I watched Master's Fa teaching videos, Master started to purify my body. All my ailments disappeared within a few days.
I changed so much. Master gave me a second life. There are no words to describe my gratitude to Master and Dafa.
After I started to practice Falun Gong, I realized that I had exchanged my virtue for my fortune. I also understood that the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are the highest standard and are what I must abide by.
As soon as I started to practice, I took all the counterfeit goods off the shelves. Our customers realized after a period of time that all our goods were genuine. The business was better than before.
On one occasion, a customer came to return a purchase. For no reason at all, she started to curse. I tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen and just cursed more bitterly. It reminded me of how I used to be.
I reassured my clerk, saying, “Just leave her alone. She is lashing out at me.” My mind was very calm. I followed Falun Gong’s principles to behave myself and listened to her patiently. This would not have happened if I were not a practitioner. She left 30 minutes later.
Over the past ten years, I have found money left behind by customers at least 30 times. I always return it. I also return extra goods to our suppliers when they make a mistake. Slowly, everyone has gained a new impression of me.
I often used to run red lights and told my husband to bribe the police to settle it each time. But now I follow all the traffic rules and do not run red lights anymore.
I was riding an electric bike one day when a motorcyclist knocked me down. I quickly got up to see if the other person was all right. He was stunned at my attitude because it was his fault. I said, “I am a Falun Gong practitioner. I am okay because my Master always protects me.”
I used to look down on everyone in my husband's family except him. I didn’t bother to hide my contempt for my mother-in-law. Through studying Falun Gong, I realized that I was very wrong to act that way. I apologized to her for my bad manners in the past. Now I am very respectful of her. I take good care of her and pay her medical expenses when she is sick. She can sense how I have changed and tells everyone how nice I am. Everyone in the family praises Falun Gong because of how I have changed.
My husband is very aggressive with other people, but he used to be henpecked and never dared to contradict me. I would badmouth him and even hit him if he came home later than the time I’d set. Now, I do whatever I can, day in and day out, to look after him. Seeing how I’ve changed, he is very supportive of my cultivation.