(Minghui.org) I started to practice Falun Gong in 1996. The practice helped me regain my health, and several chronic ailments were purged from my body.
However, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to persecute the practice in July 1999, I was misled by the nationwide smear campaign against Falun Gong. I stopped my practice and turned to food therapy and various holistic health regimens. Yet, my health only deteriorated.
Fortunately, Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, didn’t give up on me. With the help of fellow Falun Gong practitioners, I managed break free of my fear and resumed my practice. I hope that fellow practitioners can learn from my experiences and progress steadily on the path of cultivation.
When I was 38 years old, I was transferred from the military to a department in the city government. Two years later, I began to develop a host of health issues. I had back pain so severe that I couldn’t stand up straight (I had an old back injury from the military). The doctors said it was a herniated disc. After two months of hospitalization and treatment, the pain was relieved, but not fully cured.
And I developed a heart problem two years later, when I was 42. I regularly experienced tightness in my chest and shortness of breath. I was exhausted every day, but I couldn’t fall asleep even though I was sleepy.
A colleague recommended that I practice qigong. I almost fainted on the second day at the practice site. My blood pressure had reached dangerous levels (280/170 mmHg) and I was hospitalized immediately. It took a month for my blood pressure to return to normal.
When I was discharged, my doctor repeatedly warned me to be careful. “When you feel unwell, you need to go to the hospital immediately. And don’t forget to take your meds four times a day!”
Yet my worries were far from over. After my blood pressure stabilized, I started to have stomach pains. A series of tests told me that I had superficial atrophic gastritis. My stomach lining was severely inflamed.
It was back to the hospital for me, this time for two months. Before I was discharged, the doctor told me that the medication to cure my heart disease would damage my stomach, liver, and kidneys. But without the medication, my heart disease would worsen. It seemed there was no solution for my dilemma.
I learned about Falun Gong from a friend in the fall of 1996. I followed Master’s teaching in my daily life and always tried to act according to the standards of a practitioner. All of my ailments soon vanished. It was magical—I no longer struggled up the stairs. When I walked, it felt like someone was pushing me along. I was finally able to experience the feeling of being illness-free.
In the following years, I also did labor-intensive work around the house in the time outside of my regular job. I could ride my bicycle for dozens of kilometers a day between work, home, my mother-in-law’s house, and my daughter’s school. I had enough energy to care for my mother-in-law, who had suffered from a blood clot in her brain. She lived alone and was dependent on my care.
Blessed by Falun Gong, I was always energetic and happy. I also won awards for being an excellent employee at my workplace, including at the regional level, for several years. I not only regained my health but also improved my character.
A colleague once came to my office and I introduced our new driver to her. However, after the colleague left, the driver started to yell at me until he was red in the face. I immediately realized that this did not happen by accident and must be related to my cultivation practice. “Take it easy,” I said, calmly. “I apologize. Please tell me what I did wrong and I will fix it.”
Just like that, his anger subsided. He told me that he could help us with other tasks at work, instead of being just a driver. I apologized to him again and promised to look for things for him to do.
The CCP launched the persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, and with it an intensive smear campaign designed to incite animosity against the practice. The CCP’s state-run media apparatus disseminated disinformation throughout the entire nation.
Everything I read about Falun Gong was negative. Because I didn’t have a solid understanding of the practice’s teachings, I was frightened and confused by the propaganda. All my connections with fellow practitioners were cut off as well. I gradually deviated from the practice, and at the same time my heath deteriorated.
I suffered a massive heart attack in 2010. At the age of 60, I had a cardiac stent put in. The doctor told me I would have to take medication for the rest of my life. The medication triggered my old stomach problem once again, and again, I was put in the awkward position where my heart felt terrible from the medication for my upset stomach, and my stomach felt terrible from the medication for my heart.
I started to try out some health practices based in science, as well as Chinese food therapy. I bought nutritional supplements at high prices that were recommended by nutrition experts. My stomach pains were relieved a little, but my heart problems got worse.
One evening in the winter of 2013, right after I stepped out of my apartment for a walk, I felt like my heart was acting up again. I was very uncomfortable. I returned home right away, took my medicine, and lay down in bed. I lived alone at the time, since my wife was visiting our daughter overseas to help take care of the grandchildren. News reports of old people dying alone in their homes flashed through my mind. I worried about whether I might suffer the same fate one day.
My life of fear ended on June 4, 2014. My phone rang out of the blue. The called ID showed that it was my mother’s home phone number. When I picked up, I heard a familiar voice from the other side––it was a fellow practitioner whom I hadn’t heard from for a long time.
I felt that the air had frozen. I had a thousand words in my mind but I didn’t know where to start. “I’ll come back...,” I stammered, but I couldn’t get further than that. Kneeling in front of Master’s picture, I couldn’t stop my tears. I was penitent, but yet joyful. I had finally found the way back home again! This day now lives in my memories as the day I returned to Dafa, my day of rebirth.
After I resolved to resume my practice of Falun Gong, I felt like my main consciousness was back in charge of my body and mind again. I submitted a solemn statement to the Minghui website declaring that all my words and actions which did not meet the requirements of Dafa were null and void.
I was determined to start fresh, to practice more diligently, and to do the three things well to make up for the damage caused by my mistakes. I wanted to reject the arrangements of the old forces and return home with Master.
I got up every day at 3:50 a.m. to do the five exercises. I sent forth righteous thoughts four times a day. I devoted more time to studying the Fa and memorizing the Fa. I also worked with fellow practitioners to produce and distribute Falun Dafa informational materials to help more people be aware of the persecution.
During a group Fa study session, a practitioner shared her experience of fulfilling her personal commitments. I suddenly remembered the promise I made to my mother several years ago, that I would share my compensation from the demolition of my old house with my four sisters. I totally forgot about it. How could a practitioner break his promise?
I talked to my mother, who is also a practitioner, and divided my share of 33,000 yuan equally among the five of us. In return, my sisters offered to share the responsibility for taking care of our mother. My family became more harmonious.
A week later, I developed many symptoms of serious illness, including severe pain in the right side of my brain, a sore throat, nasal congestion, coughing, and thick nasal emissions. It became worse and worse, just like the pneumonia I had many years prior. However, when I studied the Fa and did the exercises, I did not cough or have nasal congestion. My mother told me with a smile, “Master is so kind to you. Seeing that you are diligent, Master arranged for your karma to be eliminated.”
The fourth night, I heard a man’s voice while I was sleeping. “No one will know if you died at home,” it said. I woke up, but I was not scared at all. I sat straight up in bed.
“I am Master Li’s disciple, and I will only listen to my Master!” I yelled. I suddenly felt a warm stream of energy come down from my head and flow down to my feet. The symptoms that had been with me for the past four days disappeared immediately.
I burst into tears. I couldn’t appreciate Master more. I washed my face and hands and bowed three times to Master’s picture. “I owe my life to you, Master!” I said. “I will repay you by practicing diligently, doing the three things well, and saving more people. I will be a qualified disciple of Dafa during the Fa rectification period.”