(Minghui.org) As a child, I heard the elderly people telling mythical stories, and my grandmother often said, “There are spiritual beings three feet above one’s head...” (Lecture Two, Zhuan Falun)
I always hoped to find a renowned master with whom I could cultivate. However, as I grew up and started to work, I no longer thought about it. After I got married and gave birth to my daughter, my health started to deteriorate. I had not yet recovered from giving birth, when I suffered complications from an intrauterine device (IUD), resulting in a miscarriage. At that time, my husband said, “If you could work for ten days a month, I would be extremely grateful.”
I was fortunate to obtain the Fa on June 22, 1998. Not long after I started practicing Falun Dafa, one night at around 10:00 p.m., as soon as I went to bed after returning from the Falun Dafa practice site, I couldn’t move my entire body, and my head started buzzing. I was frightened and shouted, “Master, what’s happening to me? Please help!” At that moment, a golden light descended from my head downwards and covered my entire body. I saw two or three beings working near my abdomen, and I heard one of them ask, “How should we do it?” Another one replied, “Like this.” Then a large hand reached under my lower back and lifted my body upward. I was lifted a little over a foot above the bed. After a moment, I heard someone say, “It’s done,” and my body returned to the bed. The golden light started to move upward, starting from my feet, and disappeared at my head. Suddenly, I could move again. I told my husband excitedly about the miraculous purification of my body by Master Li, the founder of Falun Dafa. My husband, lying next to me, didn’t feel or see anything.
That winter, Master again purified my body. My entire body, including my bones and flesh, ached to the point that I dared not move. My nose was congested, and I felt that my eyes, ears, and temples were swollen. Breathing through the one nostril that was open felt hot, and caused burning pain. I was dizzy and lay on the bed, which felt as if it was swaying and spinning like a ship in a storm. Yet I knew Master was purifying my body, so I wasn’t afraid.
While I was lying there, my husband came in and asked me for the third time to give him a hand building a grass curtain in the greenhouse. That day there were wind gusts of level six to eight, and a strong northeastern wind of level eight. He couldn’t put up the grass curtain by himself. Each time he came back home to ask for my help, I told him that I couldn’t go because my body was aching all over, and I felt so dizzy I couldn’t even sit up. He sighed and left. Helplessly watching him leave, I thought maybe I should recite the Fa. At that moment, Master’s “Cautionary Advice” came into my mind:
“If you do not want to change your human state and rationally rise to a true understanding of Dafa, you will miss the opportunity. If you do not change the human logic that you, as an ordinary human, have formed deep in your bones over thousands of years, you will be unable to break away from this superficial human shell and reach Consummation. You cannot always count on me to eliminate karma for you while you fail to truly progress in comprehending the Fa and rise above human understandings and notions.” (“Cautionary Advice,” Essentials for Further Advancement)
I was shocked, thinking, “What are human notions and human understanding? What is truly comprehending Dafa? In my situation, the human notions are that I have a headache, feel dizzy, and can’t work. Truly comprehending Dafa is that suffering is repaying karmic debts, it’s eliminating karma. Lying in bed, waiting for Master to eliminate karma for me is relying on external factors. Human notions include such ideas as ‘when I’m sick, I should rest.’ Truly comprehending the Fa is following what Master said, that Dafa practitioners don’t get sick. If I’m not sick, then what should I do? I should go to the greenhouse and give my husband a hand to put up the grass curtain! I can’t lie in bed waiting for Master to eliminate karma for me, I have to actively eliminate the karma myself, and I need to go to the greenhouse.”
With that thought, I started to rise. As soon as I got up, the house seemed to spin like an earthquake, and I almost vomited from the dizziness. I tried to lie back down on bed and thought, “This won’t work; if I can’t even sit up; how can I go?” I recalled Master’s teaching, “When it’s difficult to endure, you can endure it. When it’s impossible to do, you can do it.” (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun)
I kept repeating this in my mind and persevered. Slowly, I managed to move to the edge of the bed. It was a struggle to get down from the bed, put on my shoes, and wrap myself in a coat. When I stepped outside, the biting wind almost made me change my mind again. My comfort-seeking mentality arose, and I thought, “Forget it, don’t go. It’s so windy, and I’m eliminating karma. It’s acceptable not to go.” At that moment, Master’s Fa entered my mind again, and I summoned the courage to continue walking outside.
As I reached the village entrance, the strong wind made it difficult for me to stand, and the thought of going back home crossed my mind again. Once more, Master’s Fa entered my mind, and I had the firm conviction to continue. Because the wind was so strong, I turned around and walked backward. After a few steps, I suddenly laughed, asking myself, “Am I behaving like a true Dafa practitioner? Why am I afraid of a little wind?” I decided to turn around, and I put down my coat and faced the wind, saying, “Blow if you want! I’m a Dafa practitioner, what can you do to me?” At that moment, the piercing cold wind suddenly split and passed by me as warm wind. It was as if I had a wind-shielding cover on me, and I couldn’t feel the wind – only warmth.
When I arrived at the greenhouse, my husband had built the frame and was putting the first grass curtain back up. He hadn’t secured the second one yet, when the first curtain was blown off. The wind seemed to be subsiding as soon as I arrived at the greenhouse. In no time, I helped my husband secure all the grass curtains, and by then, my health was completely fine. Upon reflection, I realized that the dizziness and pain had disappeared as soon as I got out of bed and went out. What remained was the struggle between my Buddha-nature and demon-nature. Fortunately, with Master’s compassionate guidance and help, my thinking was transformed, and I improved.
Before the Chinese New Year, I had toothaches. I used to have toothaches at least once or twice a month before I began to cultivate in 1998. At that time, I took medicine when the pain was unbearable. When the medicine didn’t work, I resorted to injections. Eventually, I had to take injections for several days in a row to get any benefit. After I started practicing Falun Dafa, I understood that Master was purifying my body. This time, I just ignored it from the beginning, and the pain followed a pattern. It didn’t hurt when I ate, but it did hurt when I wasn’t eating. It didn’t hurt while sleeping, but upon waking, the pain returned. I knew it was due to the karma I accumulated for not cultivating my speech, and I believed that once the karma was repaid, the pain would go away.
However, the pain became more intense a few days later. I had pain even while eating, and my face swelled so much that my eyes were almost completely closed. My mother-in-law suggested I seek treatment, fearing it might turn into a pus-filled abscess if left untreated. I said I would be fine. But ten days later, I couldn’t even open my mouth to eat.
On the eve of Chinese New Year, delicious food was all over the table. However, I couldn’t even open my mouth due to the swelling. I thought, “I won’t eat, it’s a perfect opportunity to eliminate my attachment to good food.” After dinner, my family played cards together, and I sat on the side studying the Fa. After a short while, I thought, “Tomorrow is the first day of Chinese New Year, and everyone will be visiting each other. With my face so swollen, how can I clarify the truth to people? Master, I know you said karma is eliminated piece by piece, and if it all came out at once, a person wouldn’t be able to bear it. But it’s okay, Master, I can endure it. If you want to release it all at once, it’s fine.” However, I suddenly realized that I shouldn’t have made this request, Master knows what is best, and if Master wishes to release it bit by bit, then that’s what I should accept. I let go of my attachment and entrusted it to Master, and I began to study the Fa earnestly.
My body suddenly froze after I finished reading just one line, and a warm, large hand lifted and twisted the swollen and painful area of my jaw. I felt a sudden burst of pain, jumped up, and immediately, the toothache disappeared. My face was no longer swollen, and I could easily open my mouth. The next day, my face was completely normal, as if it had never been swollen. My family was amazed and praised how miraculous Falun Dafa is. The wonders of Dafa prompted my entire family to start listening to me read the Fa to them.
Before I started cultivation practice, I used to experience menstrual cramps every month. Since beginning cultivating, I knew it was eliminating karma, and I just tried to ignore the pain. However, after the pain continued for three days, I thought maybe I shouldn’t always attribute it to karma; perhaps I need to improve my xinxing. Just as I was thinking this, the pain in my lower abdomen suddenly felt like it was being pulled away like strands of thread, and the pain was completely gone.
One day in 2020, a friend came to my house, and we talked about using intrauterine devices (IUDs). She mentioned that she had to go to the hospital every ten years to have hers replaced, and that she has gone twice. I told her that I had mine for over 30 years and never replaced it. She warned me that it might not be good. Around 3:00 pm that afternoon, I started experiencing abdominal pain. At first, I didn’t pay much attention to it, but the pain intensified. I wondered if our morning conversation had triggered some improper thoughts. I did have improper thoughts briefly, but quickly negated them. I recalled a practitioner who had a metal plate in her body, which disappeared after she began practicing Falun Dafa. So I didn’t dwell on my situation; I thought it might be the old forces trying to exploit a vulnerability. I sat down to send righteous thoughts and refused to acknowledge any forced persecution. The pain subsided after a while.
However, when I went to bed after sending righteous thoughts at midnight, the abdominal pain suddenly returned and was even more severe, like a tumultuous storm inside me. I searched inward and sent righteous thoughts, but the pain persisted. I wondered why it was happening. What loopholes were the old forces exploiting, and why wasn’t my looking inside and sending righteous thoughts effective? Suddenly, I enlightened that my intentions behind these actions were not pure. I was trying to make the pain go away quickly, unconsciously resisting the suffering, so my starting point was wrong. I had treated it as something bad.
I understood from the Fa that pain signifies karmic debt, that there is a being in that area who comes to collect a debt. My thought about clearing it away with righteous thoughts didn’t feel quite right. I thought, “I should clarify the truth to that being and save it.”
So I said to the painful area in my lower abdomen, “I don’t even know your name, so for now, let’s call you ‘pain.’ I don’t know when in history I might have harmed you, at that time, I didn’t have the Fa, so it was in ignorance that I caused you significant suffering. I’ve now obtained the Fa, have realized my mistakes, and sincerely apologize to you. I will bear it all if this is only related to my personal cultivation. But now, I’m a Dafa practitioner of the Fa-rectification period, Master forgives all sentient beings’ past wrongdoings, and He only looks at their attitudes toward the Fa. I’m telling you the truth – the old forces are using you to persecute me, a Dafa practitioner at this time, which is interfering with the Fa. After they use you, they will destroy you given the pretext of your interference. Master does not acknowledge the old forces’ arrangements like this. I hope you choose Dafa and don’t allow yourself to be used by the old forces.”
I continued, “I will repay you with good fortune for what I owe you. As for what I can’t provide, my Master will give it to you. If you don’t believe me and continue to do what you are doing, I will only suffer some temporary pain, which will pass as I endure it, but what you risk is your eternal life. If you believe what I’m saying, let’s recite, ‘Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good’ together and assimilate to Dafa. Now, let’s recite.” After reciting it only three or four times, the excruciating pain disappeared completely. I knew that it had chosen Dafa and was saved.
I am eternally grateful for Master Li Hongzhi’s compassion.