Cultivating in Falun Dafa: Gaining a New Life

(Minghui.org) I’m an elderly woman and one of the millions of Falun Dafa practitioners in China. I have practiced Dafa for 24 years. Coming this far, the journey may seem ordinary, but I know that it has only been possible because of the immeasurable dedication of my Master to his disciples. I’d like to share the great changes my family and I have gone through after I began practicing Dafa as a way to express our immense gratitude for our benevolent and compassionate Master!

Losing Hope Because of Serious Illness

I grew up in a poor rural family on the edge of the county. Since our family couldn’t afford for me to attend school, I had to stay home and help with household chores since childhood. This experience shaped me into someone who was hardworking and could take on hardship.

After I got married, gave birth to two children, and toiled through years of hard work, my health deteriorated. In addition to rheumatoid arthritis, which caused constant leg pain, I also had a headache, heart disease, and severe stomach problems. Thus, I couldn’t eat cold or hard food and only ate congee and other easy-to-digest food. I often felt dizzy and fainted in the restroom a few times without knowing why. Sometimes I couldn’t get out of bed to eat for a few days.

I could do only a few household chores, and my health kept me from doing manual labor to earn money. Thus, the burden fell on my husband. Gradually his temper worsened. He often insulted me for no reason, cursed me viciously, and said I was disabled and a burden for him. He repeatedly tried to kick me out of the house.

Given the mental and physical torment, I thought about suicide a few times. Strangely enough, every time I wanted to end my life, I could always hear a voice whispering, “Don’t die, you’ll get better later on!” I felt very strange, as I didn’t know who it was.

I didn’t know my fate was so bad, so I bought incense and went to temples on the 1st and 15th on the lunar calendar every month to burn them in temples, asking gods to give me good health. However, although I burned many incense sticks, my health deteriorated.

Experiencing the Power of Dafa

I finally gained a new life in 1997 after I took up Falun Dafa cultivation. On that day, a practitioner came to my home, asking me to go with her to practice Dafa. I said, “I’m about to die. What’s the point of my learning it?” She said, “My sister, this is not a common exercise. In our local area, many people who had worse health recovered from practicing Dafa. Now, more and more people are learning the exercises. If you practice it, you’ll know what I’m saying.” Hearing that, I wanted to give it a try, so I went with her to the practice site.

I first learned the five sets of the exercises. At night, I listened to people reading Zhuan Falun or listened to Master Li’s lecture recordings, as I was illiterate. Then, amazingly, I recovered from all my illnesses–my body felt very light. I also gained weight, going from 85 lbs to 110 lbs.

I suddenly understood: When I was about to end my life, the person who told me not to die was Master! It was also Master who told me things would change for the better. That’s how I survived. I made up my mind to firmly cultivate in Dafa.

One must study the Fa in order to cultivate in Dafa. But, I was illiterate. What could I do? I held Zhuan Falun in my hands. Every word in the book appeared to shine, but I still couldn’t read it. I felt so anxious that I wanted to cry. I talked to Master about it over and over again.

Soon enough, a fellow practitioner said she could study the Fa with me and teach me how to read. When she read, I pointed at the words in Zhuan Falun. As soon as I had questions, I would ask her.

When I studied the Fa with her, Master often encouraged me. I could see big shiny words on the wall, the same as what was in the book. This made me more confident. Soon enough, I could read Zhuan Falun and even write it. How amazing!

After that, I found a job as a cook in a privately owned company. I ended up staying in this job for 11 years. My boss worked hard and often went on business trips for two weeks at a time. As a practitioner, I held myself to the principles set by Master and tried to be a good person. At work, I was never afraid of hardship and didn’t care about how much I was paid. I took the initiative to take on more work and never touched my boss’s personal belongings.

Gradually my boss came to have a lot of trust in me. When he was away, he asked me to take care of his elderly mother and children. His mother was in her 80s, and his children still went to school. I treated them like my own family and took good care of them. His mother often praised me, saying, “How can there be such a great person in the world? You take better care of me than my own children! I have never seen such a wonderful person like you!”

My boss was very happy with that. He knew I was a practitioner and was supportive of Dafa. In my spare time, I also shared Dafa with others. For instance, at night, I played Master’s lecture video recordings to the employees in the factory.

With the great changes I have gone through after practicing, my family relationships and financial situation have also changed for the better.

Dafa Eliminates Resentment Among Family Members

The former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Jiang Zemin launched the persecution of Dafa on July 20, 1999. Since I had voluntarily provided a place for playing Master Li’s lectures, I was targeted as a “key person” by our local 610 Office. They broke into my home then said they would take me to the village office to answer some questions. As soon as I got in their car, they took me to the local brainwashing center instead, where I was illegally held for more than 20 days.

They tried to make me write a so-called “guarantee statement” to renounce Dafa. I refused and said, “There is nothing wrong with Falun Dafa. I will never write it.”

Because Jiang’s regime framed Dafa and incited people to hate it, many of them developed misunderstandings about Dafa, incurring a tremendous amount of karma. Therefore, Master has us clarify the truth to people to help them understand that Falun Dafa is a Buddha School cultivation practice. Master came to save sentient beings, and whoever harbors hatred for Dafa will incur dreadful consequences. I soon joined other practitioners in awakening people’s consciences.

Because of that, I was followed by CCP members. My home was ransacked, and I was illegally sentenced and had money extorted from me.

Due to the persecution, my family had misunderstandings of Dafa. My husband and daughter-in-law were afraid of the persecution impacting our grandson and her child, so they abused me verbally. Even my child’s in-laws came to swear at me. They united and were ready to kick me out of the house. I understood them and didn’t want to blame them. However, I couldn’t leave home and wander around. I had to safeguard Dafa and maintain my basic cultivation environment. I talked to them and sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil factors controlling them. I also quietly begged for Master’s help.

One day, I said to both my husband and daughter-in-law, “I paid for building this house through my hard-earned income. I have the right to live here. If you are afraid of being impacted by me because of my cultivation, we can live separately. I’ll only take one room. Whoever asks you, you can tell them I have separated from you and we have nothing to do with each other.” We separated so we could live in peace. I continued to do the three things practitioners should do, as usual.

When my husband got older, he had to be hospitalized three times in three years. After I learned that, I didn’t take to heart how he used to treat me. When he was hospitalized, I cooked his favorite food and made different meals for him every day. Then, I had my son deliver the food to him. Out of concern that his father would refuse to eat, my son lied to him, saying it was cooked by his wife. My husband recovered quickly, and after he found out that it was I who had prepared those meals, he continued to eat the food I cooked. One day, he had my son deliver a big bag of rice to me. I knew he was moved by my kind actions and was able to let go of his resentment towards me and Dafa.

In the following few years, my son and daughter-in-law wanted to do some home renovations, but they were short on funds. After I learned that, I called my daughter-in-law over and gave her all my savings–200,000 yuan in total. I said, “If it’s still not enough, then I’ll take you to see my relatives to borrow some more.” I also promised them to pay back the debt together with them. My daughter-in-law couldn’t believe it. During the home renovation, my daughter-in-law and I did grocery shopping, cooked for those workers, and cleaned the house together.

My daughter-in-law was so excited, she said to me sincerely, “Mother, you are so nice! You didn’t care about how we used to treat you but still helped us financially and cooked for us. I know this is because you practice Dafa. We’ll support you!”

I said, “My child, this is what my Master taught me to do. Master gave me a new life. After I started practicing, I’ve been in good health and haven’t needed to take any medication. That’s how I saved money. Otherwise, my income wouldn’t be enough to cover my medical expenses. We are so blessed by Dafa!”

My daughter-in-law agreed with me, Her parents also changed their attitude later on. They apologized to me and acknowledged that Dafa is good. Now, our family lives in harmony.

Since then, the authorities have come to my home a few times to harass me. My daughter-in-law spoke up for me: “What’s the matter with my mother practicing Dafa? She recovered from her illnesses and is in good health. She didn’t use our money or become a burden for us or the state. What’s wrong with that?!” The people had nothing to say and left.

I’m 70 years old this year, and both my hearing and eyesight are still good. I also have a rosy complexion. People think I’m only in my 40s.

My family appreciates Master for all the blessings we’ve had from my practicing Dafa! I have nothing to give back to Master. I only can cultivate diligently and seize the time to save sentient beings.