Falun Dafa Changed Me into a Better Person

(Minghui.org) Before I took up Falun Dafa in 1997, I was an atheist and was proud to be a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). I pursued material enjoyment, believing that was the purpose of life. I would do anything to maximize my personal interest. I was good at pleasing my supervisors, but looked down on people with lower social status than me. I thought I was living a full life. 

One of my biggest indulgences was drinking. I couldn’t live without alcohol. I drank every day and often got drunk, coming home late every night. My wife often complained to me, “Our home is becoming your hotel. You are not doing anything for the family!”

Practicing Falun Dafa completely changed me as a person. I no longer cursed. I stopped drinking and smoking. I quit playing mahjong. I came home early and took on many household chores. My wife was happy about my changes and no longer talked about divorcing me. She also became a Falun Dafa practitioner.

As I kept on studying Dafa, I understood the true meaning of life – it’s not for material enjoyment, but to achieve spiritual refinement and return to one’s original, true self. 

Standing Up for Dafa in the Face of Persecution

The CCP launched an all-around persecution of Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999. Practitioners risked their lives to speak up for Dafa and clarified the facts about it, only to be arrested, detained and tortured.

I was arrested and taken to a forced labor camp in 2001. The torture of Dafa practitioners there was horrifying. One day I was taken to the medical room and given a shot of unknown drugs. After that, my health declined quickly and I fell into a delirious state. The guards still forced me to do long hours of hard labor. One winter morning while working, I fainted. The guards took me to a hospital and I was diagnosed with leukemia. Fearing that I would die there, the guards ordered my family to take me home. 

I was emaciated and I was ill throughout my whole body. I could die at anytime. My family made preparations for my funeral. But I knew very clearly that I’m a Falun Dafa practitioner and Master Li, the founder of Falun Dafa, is watching over me. Everything is illusion and I cannot die.

As long as I was awake, I recited the Fa in my heart. My wife also stayed home to take care of me. I made quick improvement. In less than a month, I was able to go downstairs on my own. I believe that as long as we have the heart to follow Dafa, Master will take care of us.

Eliminating Attachment to Material Interest and Resolving Family Conflict

My mother passed away in January 2022. Her funeral was handled by my older brother, who was living with her. To show respect for my mother, donations were conferred to my brother and his wife. While the four siblings of the family were asked to share the cost of our mother’s funeral, my older sister-in-law held on to the donations they received and refused to include that into the final settlement. 

I felt it was unfair. But my wife comforted us, “For so many years, it was the older brother and his wife who took care of Mother. We didn’t contribute much. So we should cover our share of the funeral cost.” My brother-in-law praised her for being open and straightforward. I was also moved by my wife’s kindness.

My mother had a house in our hometown and she said that she would give it to me. Because of a tourist project in my hometown, the house value increased quite a lot in recent years. My older brother's wife eyed the house and asked for a share. I was angry about it. I wanted to argue with her, and perhaps cut her and my brother out of my life.

When I studied the Fa, I saw the following paragraph,

“What everyday people want is personal gain and how to live well and comfortably. Our practitioners are not this way, but exactly the opposite. We do not seek what everyday people want. Instead, what we get is something everyday people cannot obtain—even if they want to—except through cultivation.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)

I calmed down. As a cultivator, how can I fight with people over such things? Understanding this point, I suddenly felt relaxed. My resentment was gone. My wife and I stayed at my brother’s home for two more weeks after my mother’s funeral, and got along well with them. Before we left, my sister-in-law bought many local foods for us. It’s Dafa that helps me let go of my attachment to personal gain and dissolves family conflicts.