[Celebrating World Falun Dafa Day] An Extraordinary Opportunity (Part I)

(Minghui.org) It has been 30 years since Falun Dafa was introduced to the world, and it has been 28 years since I started practicing Dafa.　

Twenty-eight years ago, I attended three Fa lecture series and two introductory seminars held by Master in China. It was so fortunate for me to have the opportunity to listen to Master’s lectures in person.

Despite the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of Falun Gong, I have never wavered in my faith over the years. Dafa is deeply rooted in my heart and nothing can change that.

Some Peculiar Experiences Before Obtaining the Fa

I was born in the 1960s. My childhood was filled with misery. Many of the elderly in my family were targeted by the communist regime and some committed suicide during the Cultural Revolution. My parents were forced to go to the countryside. Due to the turmoil of life, I grew up physically weak, mentally depressed, and became quite introverted.

Near-Death

When I was 14 years old, I got very sick. I was living with my mother in the rural area where I went to school. There was a so-called “work-study” program, in which students were required to participate in field labor.

Sometimes the work was to cut grass and transport soil; sometimes we were asked to pull water plants out of the pond for fodder. At the time I had just hit puberty, but I was still required to enter the pond to pull water plants during my menstrual period. Later, whenever I had my period, it would last over a month. And eventually, it wouldn’t stop. No medication or injection helped. I was bleeding nonstop, and I had to take medical leave.

I was very weak. My face was so pale that I often scared others. My mother was anxiously looking for people that could help me. One day she learned that an elderly Chinese medicine doctor could treat me, so she asked someone to take me there with a tricycle. But when we got there, he was not there. My mother collapsed on the ground and began crying hysterically. I never saw my mother crying like that. It was scary. Others came to console her. She replied: “My child is dying. What should I do?”

When we left the clinic that day, my mother asked if I would like something, anything. She was in tears and promised that whatever I wanted, she would buy it for me. We were very poor back then. When I heard my mother say that, I was sure that I would die soon. So I said that I wanted a book.

We went to the only bookstore in town. There were only a few books there. I looked up at a book with three characters and wanted that. The store clerk said it was a book of philosophy and wondered if I’d be able to understand it. I told her I didn’t know exactly what I wanted, but I knew it should be something with profound meaning. We got the book and went home.

I laid down on the bed quietly, looking at the book. It was not what I wanted. I closed it and waited for my death. I did not feel scared, but I wasn’t ready to go. I felt sorry for my mother, who worked so hard for me and I had not repaid her yet. Suddenly I felt something was different and a thought came to me that I was well.

I slowly got up and went to the bathroom. I found myself no longer bleeding. I told my mother: “Mom, I am well.”

“Really? But you have not taken the medicine yet. What happened?”

I did not know how to answer her. How did I get well? Who saved me?

Strange Encounter

Another time, I took a long bus ride to visit my grandmother. It was in the 1970s. There were more people than buses, and people did not line up orderly. They swarmed in as soon as the bus arrived. It was summer and the weather was very hot. I was pushed from place to place and eventually, I was pushed to a window and there was someone who happened to get off the bus. I sat down with much relief.

Shortly after that, I noticed a thin, elderly woman standing near me. She had small bounded feet. I planned to give up my seat, but when I looked up at the crowded bus, I did not move and turned my face toward the window.

She mumbled, “The temple might be ruined, but the Buddha remains.” She mumbled some more. I suddenly felt uneasy and stood up, but she was nowhere to be found. The bus did not stop, where could she have gone? How strange was that? Even though I did not understand what she meant by, “The temple might be ruined, but the Buddha remains,” it stuck with me for a long time.

Growing up, life was full of ups and downs. I felt very tired and bitter inside as I competed with others for personal gain. I often looked at the sky and asked myself: Why do I live? Who is in charge out there? I looked for answers in books, but I couldn’t find anything.

First Encounter with Falun Gong

One day in 1993, my mother, who liked to practice qigong for fitness, told me about Falun Gong and its book. After reading the book, I was touched. At that time, materialism was prevalent in society. Everyone was pursuing money and people schemed against each other. But this book was about how to cultivate one’s mind and be a good person!

I was instilled with the theory of atheism by the Chinese Communist Party. When I read in a book that people can cultivate to the realm of God and Buddha, it was so surprising to me. It was like a bright light piercing through the darkness and reaching the bottom of my heart: It turned out that human beings can become such noble lives!

That day, when I saw my mother practicing Falun Gong, her movements were so graceful. A sense of joy welled up from the bottom of my heart. When I tried the exercises, I felt that something was spinning.

After that, I felt as if I was being led by something, and I began to pay attention to Falun Gong. I heard that Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, had taught classes all over the country. He had already taught thirteen classes in Beijing. Many people were expecting Mr. Li to return to Beijing.

At the end of 1993, I finally heard that Mr. Li had come to Beijing and was treating people at the Oriental Health Expo with his disciples, and the results were particularly miraculous. One person who was paralyzed stood up from his wheelchair on the spot, and another woman with a ninety-degree hunchback was straightened!

After much trouble, my mother bought a ticket for the third presentation that Mr. Li just added to the Health Expo, which specially invited Master for the event. Master’s presentation was so refreshing that one session could not satisfy the demand, so the organizers decided to add more sessions, including one on the closing day. It was at the last session that I saw Master Li for the first time, and he was greatly respected in Beijing at that time.

It was in the morning and we went directly to the auditorium. The venue was already full of people. I took my mother and walked to the front row. There were several seats in the fourth and fifth rows by the door covered with articles of clothing. I walked over, took off the clothes, and sat down with my mother.

I thought that might be the staff members who occupied the seats for their relatives. Who cared! I sat down. After a while two women came over, looking for their clothes. I told them that it was not appropriate for them to occupy the seats. They did not argue with me and left. Later, I learned that they were volunteers working for the event.

Later, when I heard the applause from the noisy auditorium, I looked up and saw that Master was standing at the entrance of the auditorium, looking at us. I was startled for a moment: This person is so majestic and righteous!

Master looked younger than the photos in the book. He was tall and upright. He dressed in simple clothes but was very neat and clean. His face was kind and powerful. The sight of him made people stand in awe. Many people around me reached out to shake hands with Master, and I stood there stunned and did not move at all. Master smiled and shook hands with everyone as he walked to the podium.

As soon as Master started to give the lecture, the auditorium was instantly quiet. Master said that most of us came here to cure diseases. I thought that I just wanted to hear some theories. Then Master looked at us and said that there were still people who wanted to come and hear theories. I was stunned: “Master knows what people are thinking!”

Later, I was drawn to what Master said. Many puzzling questions in my life were explained by Master one by one, including what prehistoric culture was about and that human beings didn’t evolve from apes! I had never attended any qigong classes before, and I was impressed with the profound principles in qigong. Just as I was thinking to attend other qigong classes, Master said the following:

“I would say that you definitely should not go there. If you listen to them, bad things will enter your ears. It is very difficult both to save a person and to change his or her thinking. To purify a person’s body is also very difficult. There are way too many phony qigong masters. As to even a genuine qigong master from an upright practice, is he really clean? Some animals are very vicious. Although those things cannot attach to his body, neither can he drive them away. This person does not have the ability to challenge these things on a large scale, let alone his students. When he gives off gong, there are all kinds of messy things interfused with it. Though he may be quite decent himself, his students are not righteous and have possession by different spirits or animals—all kinds of them.” (Lecture Six, Zhuan Falun)

I understood all at once and decided to learn Falun Gong from Master Li.

At the end of the presentation, Master asked everyone in the auditorium to stand up. He said he would ask us to either stomp our left foot or right foot.

As Master said “stomp,” his hand waved across the entire auditorium. It seemed to me that Master’s waving arm was very long and his movement was swift and powerful. After waving his hand, he walked behind the stage as if he had grasped something. He walked to the back of the podium, bent over, opened his hand as if he put something down and then waved his arm in the air.

The two-hour presentation that day felt like it was over very quickly. I didn’t hear enough, and I was a little reluctant to leave, wondering when Master would speak again. When I was hesitating, Master came back to the microphone and said that he would hold a class in Tianjin and that those from Beijing could go, and where we could buy tickets. I immediately decided to go, no matter how far it was. I was able to get a ticket for the class in Tianjin that day.

When I walked out of the auditorium that day, I was so relaxed and light that I was going to fly. I realized later that it was because of Master’s compassionate blessing!

Attending the First Fa Teaching Class in Tianjin

1. Extraordinary Qigong School

To a person like me, who had never practiced qigong or traditional culture, it was a process of transforming my body and mind.

On the first day of the class, Master Li, the founder of Falun Dafa, purified my body. I felt very relaxed and comfortable. On the next day when Master spoke about celestial vision, I felt a small spinning turbine at the site of my forehead spinning inward every day. Days later, I suddenly found Master’s body was emitting endless light and the light went through the roof. I asked myself: “Isn’t this ‘Buddha?’”

Master told us the next day:

“From today on, some people will feel chilly all over their bodies as though they’ve caught a heavy cold, and their bones may ache as well. Most of you will feel uncomfortable somewhere. Your legs may ache and your head may feel dizzy. The parts of your body where you had sickness before, which you thought had been healed before through qigong exercises or by a qigong master, will act up again. This is because that qigong master did not cure the illness for you—he only postponed it. It was still there in that spot, so it would recur later if not at that time. We must dig it out and eliminate it completely from its root.” (Lecture Two, Zhuan Falun)

Everything Master mentioned occurred to me at that time, such as leg pains, headaches, and chills of a bad cold. At the time I no longer had hemorrhages during my period, but my periods had been irregular, often once every two or three months. Master adjusted my body in the class. My periods have been very regular since. Even now, when I’m almost 60, I am still having my period.

Like last time, Master knew everything I was thinking. When Master talked about the “law body,” I childishly wondered if it would follow me like a shadow and how inconvenient it would be if I had to go to the toilet. Then Master said that the law body would not follow a person that way. When Master was talking about the exercises, I thought: Should I wear tights when doing the exercises? Then Master said: We should wear loose clothes when doing the exercises.

At that time, when I referred to Master, I liked to say Teacher Li, because I didn’t know there was such an honorary title as “Master.” When I heard a student call Master, I thought it was the same as the “master” as in “master-apprentices.” [In Chinese, master as in “master-apprentices” sounds the same as master as in “master-disciples”.] I thought “teacher Li” was more civilized and courteous.

One day before the class started, the students were chatting outside the auditorium. As I didn’t know anyone, I stood at the entrance by myself, waiting for the class to start.

Suddenly I noticed Master coming from outside, and as he passed by me, I called out softly, “Teacher Li!” I saw Master stopped and slowly turned around to look at me. Master didn’t talk, but had one hand erect in front of his chest. His expression was solemn. I was a little nervous at the time, thinking about returning the salute. But I didn’t know what to do with it, so I just imitated Master and raised my hand. Master did not speak, but turned around and entered the auditorium.

During the class, Master said to us: Heshi is a Buddhist etiquette. While I can erect my palm with a single hand, you cannot.

People burst into laughter. I felt my face burning and wanted to burrow into a crack. How much trouble Master had to go through when he was dealing with students like me, who had no foundation in cultivation!

Next, Master told us a Taoist cultivation story before starting the class. At that time, I was still thinking about my embarrassing encounter with Master and I didn’t listen very carefully to the story.

More than twenty years later, when I was frustrated one day because I felt that I was not doing well, I remembered this story. I suddenly understood its meaning and my confidence was strengthened.

In the class, I also became particularly weepy. Several times when I returned to my residence after the class, I was so excited that I cried so much that my heart was about to fall out. “I have searched so long and hard for you!” I didn’t know why at that time. I am usually a person who does not shed tears easily, and my parents have said that I am hardhearted, but when I saw Master, I could not help but shed tears.

Sometimes I looked at Master in class and searched my memory to find out where I had seen Master before. I couldn’t remember anything, but I did feel that I have been searching for Master for a long time and I finally found him today.

I had just obtained the Fa at that time, so naturally, I could not have imagined that Dafa had already been protecting me from many strange encounters. I could not imagine that the very deep and profound book I was looking for when I was dying in my teens was Zhuan Falun.

2. A Pure Land

When Master held a nine-day class, the tuition fee for a new student was only 50 yuan, while the ticket for a concert in Beijing that year cost several hundred yuan. It is difficult to describe the greatness of everything Master had given us!

Attending Master’s class was like walking into a pure land, away from all the chaos of the world. Listening to Master’s teachings was like drinking sweet dew and my heart was purified.

If one has hatred and resentment in the world, after listening to Master’s Fa, you will no longer hold grudges; if one feels that life and society is unfair to you, after listening to Master’s teaching, you will no longer feel that way.

It is just like what Master said:

“How many chaotic affairs in the human worldGratitude and resentment experienced over and overWicked hearts with massive karma are doomedDafa settles everything from the origin”(“Settling the Great Havoc,” Hong Yin II)

Master is responsible for people and society. In the class, there were always good people doing good deeds, such as returning things to their rightful owners, silently helping to clean the toilets and maintain sanitation and taking the initiative to help new students in need, etc. The whole study class was full of peace.

I often felt in my heart at the time: “No matter how cold and hard a human heart is, the Buddha’s teachings will melt and soften it.” From that day on, my drifting heart has a dock and my confused life has a direction.

On the last day of the class, Master answered the questions raised by the students. I didn’t remember anything at the time. But I heard the content of one of the questions was the same as what I wanted to ask: Is the love for my mother an attachment?

Because I had a strong affection for my mother, who had been so caring to me, I always felt an obligation to repay her. So I also wanted to know if I was too attached to my mother.

Master’s answer was something like this: As cultivators, our love should be broader, and you should love the world with the heart of loving your mother. My tears ran down my face when I heard the answer. Master’s words echoed in my heart for a long time. How could I be so lucky to meet such a great Master!

The class series was over and my life was purified by Dafa. From that day on, I learned how to be a good person. At the workplace, I forgave the person who was often at odds with me, and stopped fighting for personal interests; in society, I let go of revenge on those who harmed me, and no longer pursued personal gain; at home, I fixed my relationship with my father, and introduced Dafa to my relatives and friends.

When I had conflicts, when I felt hurt, and when my personal benefits were usurped, I would ask myself, “What should I do if the other person was my mother?” I didn’t know how to look within at that time, but I understood that the heart of loving my mother was the purest heart I had at that time and that I should treat others with the purest heart and be selflessly good to all beings.

When I saw the ancient words, “Worry before the rest of the world worrying about it, and enjoy happiness after the rest of the world having enjoyed happiness.” “Honor the elderly and the young in other families as we honor those in our own.” I thought that was the ancient literati’s good wish, and it would be difficult to put it into practice. But after attending Master’s lectures, I found that these are all noble virtues that can be achieved by practicing Falun Dafa. And a practitioner should do even better than that. Master is teaching us to be good people, and Falun Dafa creates miracles.

(To be continued.)