(Minghui.org) I started cultivating Dafa in 1997. I knew that Dafa is good and wanted to memorize Zhuan Falun, Falun Dafa’s main book. However, due to the interference by my ordinary thoughts, I only recited Zhuan Falun five times intermittently from 2010 to now. Each time I completed reciting Zhuan Falun, I paused before reciting it again and turned to read Master Li’s (Dafa’s founder) other Fa lectures, or recited Hong Yin. I thought that memorizing Zhuan Falun took a very long time and reading it was much faster. Furthermore, since I often forgot the paragraphs I had just memorized, I got frustrated and thought, “I am over 70 years old, so I should just do what I can and memorize as much as I can, instead of more diligently reciting Zhuan Falun.” Using ordinary thinking, I made an excuse for my not being diligent.
I read articles by fellow practitioners on the Minghui website in 2020. These practitioners shared their experiences of memorizing the Fa. I was greatly moved by them and decided to memorize Zhuan Falun again, as well as the six volumes of Hong Yin. I want to share with fellow practitioners what I learned from memorizing the Fa in recent years.
Before I started practicing Dafa, I suffered from heart disease. I had a medical exam at Beijing 301 Hospital in 1997. The results showed that my heart had mitral atresia and posterior leaflet prolapse. These caused severe regurgitation, myocardial ischemia, and heart failure. I was told I needed immediate surgery to replace my heart valve to save my life. I then prepared for the recommended surgery.
I learned about Falun Dafa before the surgery, and I watched the video of Master’s nine-day Fa lectures. Miracles occurred before I started learning the exercises; my heart stopped feeling uncomfortable, and I forgot to take my medicine. From then on, I ate well slept well, and walked energetically. In the past, I had to rest three times before I could climb to the fourth floor. After watching Master’s Fa lectures, I could carry a 50-pound bag of rice up to the fourth floor without stopping.
The professor at the hospital urged me to have the surgery. I told him I was cured and did not need the surgery. He asked me how I could make this statement. I told him I recovered from practicing Falun Dafa. He did not believe me and told me not to miss the opportunity for treatment. His words inflated my ordinary notions, and I started focusing on my physical changes while doing the exercises. I thought, “I should prepare to take the surgery immediately if my heart problem recurs. And I will keep practicing Falun Dafa.” Driven by this human mentality, I didn’t dare to cross my legs into the lotus position when meditating; it took me two years to be able to sit in the double lotus position.
The exercise music for the one-hour version of the Falun Standing Stance was published in 2018. I tried to do the exercise for one hour, but could not do it. When I did the exercise for over 30 minutes, I felt that my head was swelling, I was confused and I could not stand steadily. My child said that my blood pressure was high. A measurement showed that my systolic was 180 mmHg. I then stopped trying to do the second exercise for one hour and resumed doing the 30-minute version. I still could not discard my attachment to illness.
Master said:
“As a cultivator, your path of life will be changed from now on. My fashen will rearrange it for you. How will it be rearranged? How many years does a person still have in life? One will not know it oneself. Some people may be due for a serious illness after a year or half a year, and once they fall ill, it could be for several years. Some people may suffer a stroke or other illnesses and won’t be able to move at all. How will you be able to cultivate in the remaining course of your life? We must clean all of them out for you and prevent these things from occurring. We must, however, make it clear ahead of time that we can only do these things for true cultivators. They cannot be done casually for an everyday person. Otherwise, it would be the same as doing a bad deed. For everyday people, things like birth, old age, illness, and death all have karmic relationships, and they cannot be casually undermined.” (Lecture Three, Zhuan Falun)
I felt a shock from deep inside and my body moved outward. I felt as if my body was expanding until I felt as high and huge as if I were above the clouds. I wanted to shout in the street, “Practitioners should not be sick.”
At that moment, I truly realized deep in my heart that I was not sick. Doing the second exercise for one hour also became no problem. I thought, “People’s illnesses are from karma. If one had no karma, he would have no illness. Master removed the root of any illness from true practitioners and bore a significant portion of the karma for us, allowing us to reach a disease-free state and be able to cultivate. Master watches over us and protects us from danger until we can protect ourselves. If everyone believed in Falun Dafa and followed Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to be a good person, there wouldn’t be any illness!
Before practicing Falun Dafa, I worked in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) system for 30 years. I had always praised the Party, and my thinking was deeply poisoned by the indoctrination of the Party. Some practitioners said that even my walk conveyed that I was an evil Party cadre. I came to understand that as a Dafa practitioner, I must get rid of any poisoning influence from the Party. I read the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and Disintegrating Communist Party Culture over and over again. Gradually, I became less afraid and dared to distribute materials that clarify the truth about Falun Dafa and the persecution, and I dared to tell people that heaven is eliminating the CCP.
However, I still did not completely eliminate the influence of the Party indoctrination. I tended to look at others’ shortcomings because of my jealousy, and I tended to argue with my husband -- a non-practitioner -- because of my competitive mentality. Negative thoughts often popped up in my mind about what I should do if something happened to me. I knew it was wrong for a practitioner to think this way, so I sent righteous thoughts to eliminate the negative thoughts after they popped up and asked Master to strengthen me. However, I knew I must eliminate the source of the negative thoughts so they would not pop up again.
Through reciting the Fa, I realized that I must have a righteous mind. I sent righteous thoughts to disintegrate the evil that caused my negative thoughts, to clear the matter formed by the negative thoughts, and to disintegrate the false self that gave off the negative thoughts. I wanted to follow the path Master arranged for me, and asked Master to please strengthen me.
I rarely have negative thoughts now. When they occur, I immediately deny them and disintegrate the demon that caused me to have such thoughts. The negative thoughts then disappear.
I started cultivating Dafa to cure my illnesses. During my cultivation, I gradually came to understand that returning to my true origin is the purpose of my life. However, I did not persist in maintaining righteous thoughts, and was not strict with myself; I sometimes diligently cultivated and sometimes was lazy. I did the three things as if I was completing a task.
One day, when I recited a paragraph of Master’s Fa that included:
“One should return to one’s original, true self; this is the real purpose of being human.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
I felt suddenly awakened. I realized that returning to my true self is the purpose of my being human. I also realized that as a Dafa practitioner, I have the responsibility of assisting Master in the Fa-rectification period to save sentient beings. Realizing this heavy responsibility, I made up my mind to persist at being diligent. I set tasks for myself, such as: completing the five exercises early every morning, making it up if I miss doing them, reciting the Fa for half an hour after sending righteous thoughts at 6 a.m., go out to tell people about Falun Dafa and the persecution after breakfast; read one lecture of Zhuan Falun and recite the Fa in the afternoon, and read Minghui articles, listen to Minghui broadcasts, and memorize Hong Yin VI in the evening.
One morning while walking by the hospital entrance, I saw a middle-aged woman supporting an elderly lady with effort, walking towards the road from the hospital. They looked like mother and daughter. I hurriedly stepped forward to help support the elderly lady, and I chatted with her while walking. I asked, “Madam, how old are you?” She said, “I am 73. I have a heart problem.” I said, “I am 74, one year older than you. I hope you get well soon.” I then told them, “I used to have a severe, life-threatening heart problem until practicing Falun Dafa cured me. I have not taken any medicine for 25 years. If you sincerely recite, ‘Falun Dafa is good; Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good, you will heal quickly.” She nodded.
I then asked, “Did you join the Young Pioneers when you were in elementary school?” She nodded. I asked again, “Did you join the Communist Party or the Youth League?” She shook her head. I said, “When you joined the Young Pioneers, you swore to fight for and devote the rest of your life to Communism. Your forehead and your palms were then printed with the mark of the beast. These marks will bring you trouble when heaven destroys the CCP. At our age we all know that the CCP did nothing good; they did everything bad to harm people. It struggles against heaven and earth, and it persecutes cultivators. Heaven is destroying it. If you can sincerely say that you surrender your life to God and heaven, void your past devotion to communism, and ask God for help, hell will no longer take you.” She smiled and said, “Okay.” I said, “Then I will use the nickname ‘Predestined’ for you to quit the Young Pioneers.” She said, “Okay.”
I then asked her daughter, “Did you ever join the evil Party or its organizations?” She said, “I am a Party member.” I said, “Then you have to quit.” She said, “The policy is pretty good now. Ah, the taxi is coming! Let’s go quickly.” I anxiously blurted out, “This is God’s will!” We looked at each other and she said, “Then we have to follow God’s will, I agree to quit!” I said, “Then I will use the nickname ‘Tianbao’ (Blessed by heaven) for you to quit the evil Party.” She said, “Thank you!” The two lives were saved, and I felt relieved.
Afterward, I wondered how I came up with the phrase, “This is God’s will!” I then realized that, through persistently reciting the Fa, I came to understand the meaning of life, and Master sent me that phrase at a critical moment. No wonder fellow practitioners often said, “Master is the one who saves people. We are just running around and telling people that Dafa is saving lives. Master has already paved the way.”
I still have not been able to memorize the entirety of Zhuan Falun, and I still often forget what I had just memorized. But, I am determined to memorize Zhuan Falun and I want to absorb myself in the Fa, do the three things well, and follow Master home.