Dafa Changed My Life

(Minghui.org) In 1993, I was ten years old when my great grandmother told me, “There is a living Buddha, who is currently teaching the Dharma in Dalian.” She told me to tell my parents, so they would take me there. As expected, my parents refused to take the words of a child to heart. Additionally, my great grandmother tried convincing the rest of the family to practice Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa. However, everyone was busy earning money to support the family, and nobody heeded her advice.

Finding a Connection with Dafa

My grandmother cared for me after my great grandmother passed away. One day while playing at my grandmother’s house, I was rummaging through her boxes and cabinets when I found my great grandmother’s copy of Falun Gong.

On opening the book, the picture of a man dressed in a yellow robe while sitting on a stone caught my eye. Intrigued, I continued to read till my grandmother found me, reprimanded me and refused to let me continue reading the book. She maintained that, “Children should concentrate on their studies, not spend their time reading qigong books.” However, I remained undeterred and began reading it in secret, resulting in frequent scoldings whenever I was caught.

Although I failed to recognize many difficult words, the phrases “inner eye” and “immortal infant” remained deeply ingrained in my memory.

Obtaining Dafa, Eliminating Chronic Illnesses

By the age of thirteen, I had acquired a whole host of illnesses, including gastritis, back pain, chronic constipation, and severe rhinitis. I had suffered from constipation since birth, and it remained a problem throughout my childhood. I relied on enemas, but whenever I failed to defecate for more than ten days, I would end up crying due to the pain. My mother tried many methods to help me, but nothing worked.

I also suffered from a persistent runny nose, which ran every day throughout the year. My parents asked my uncle, an experienced traditional Chinese medicine doctor, for medication to treat my condition. The small round pills were mailed to my home, as his clinic was thousands of miles away. Initially, my mucus ran clear. Over time my condition worsened, and my nasal discharge began to acquire a foul smell. Its color also changed from clear to green, then yellow and finally red, the exact color of blood. My sense of smell deteriorated till I could not taste or smell anything. As the pain worsened, my nose became completely blocked till I could only breathe through my mouth.

My mother told my father to take me to the hospital. After examining me, the doctor asked me to leave the room while he talked to my father. I secretly eavesdropped and heard the doctor state my symptoms were the initial signs of nasal cancer. Despite my fear of death, I wiped away my tears so as not to worry my father. My father exited the consultation room with a pale complexion but forced himself to smile. He reassured me that everything was fine, and even bought me a ham bun on our way home.

Innately, I knew my time in this world was coming to an end. I wrote my will one night, while my parents were asleep, and put it under my pillow, fearing I would pass away in my sleep one day. While undergoing treatment, my parents and I found Falun Gong by chance.

I was 13 years old when a neighbor introduced Falun Gong to us in the autumn of 1996. The ability of the practice to cure illnesses and sustain health coincided with our family’s needs, as my grandmother, father, mother and aunt were also grappling with various ailments. That same afternoon, our entire family started learning the exercise movement from our neighbor.

I still remember feeling a burst of heat all over my body that made me feel warm and comfortable. The second set of exercises, comprising four wheel-holding positions, required some endurance. I persevered in holding the positions for the entire duration. While my arms were sore, my body became warm and comfortable. I also felt a whirling sensation at the center of my palms, which I later learned was the manifestation of Falun.

Not long after starting the practice, I returned home from school one day to find my mother frying pork with garlic sprouts for lunch. While eating I commented, “These garlic sprouts smell fantastic.” My mother turned to me in surprise, “What did you just say?” I repeated, “These garlic sprouts taste fantastic.” Only after uttering those words, did I realize that my sense of smell and taste had been restored.

My mother told me, “Master must have healed you.” Overwhelmed with happiness, I stood before the photo of Master, crying and kowtowing in thanks. Having been deprived for years, I started testing my new sense of smell everywhere, including the other dishes my mother had cooked. My other illnesses were also cured. I was able to defecate normally, while my back pain and gastritis vanished.

I have been practicing Falun Dafa for the past 26 years. I remain youthful and my face wrinkle-free, despite the fact I have never used any facial cream. My skin remains firm, smooth, and glowing. Most people think I was born in the 1990s, but I was actually born in the 1980s. Even my friends are envious of my youthful looks and ask if I have taken the “elixir of life.”

Cultivating Kindness and Compassion

I had been a jealous, hot-tempered, and self-righteous person since my youth. My lack of ladylike gentleness or maturity meant that I would not admit to my mistakes, even if I did something wrong. No matter how well people treated me, if things did not go my way, I would immediately cut off all contact with the person. My parents and elders tried to make me see reason, but I refused to change my ways. Fights with my elder sister, younger sister, and younger brother would often break out, because of my unreasonable, greedy behavior.

I suffered multiple beatings from the adults in my family because of my behavior. However, their efforts to change my character were in vain. My mother once said, “Raising you took more effort than raising the rest of your three siblings combined. With your personality and temper, how can you maintain a relationship in the future?” I was the cause of many headaches at that time.

After cultivating, my temper became milder. Now, when it comes to work and dealing with others, I can remain tolerant and accommodating of others. I no longer hate those who hurt me, nor do I flare up in anger when I hear others badmouthing me. I know these are tests to help me eliminate my human attachments and elevate. Master and Dafa changed my heart for the better and helped me become a kinder, more compassionate person.

Eliminate Human Emotions, Accomplish Your Task

My mother, a fellow Dafa practitioner, suddenly died in her sleep one day in 2017. A diligent practitioner who did the three things very well, I knew my mother had achieved consummation despite having some lingering human attachments. Perhaps the old forces had also played a role in her early demise. Although I clearly understood the principles of the Fa, I still harbored doubts in my heart. After all, my mother had left without saying a word, dealing a sudden blow to my life.

A few days later, my mother appeared in my dreams, advising me to cultivate diligently and care for my father, aunt and fellow practitioners. My mother also told me her demise had been prearranged. I woke up with my doubts eliminated. Later, I learned my mother’s sudden death had shocked some practitioners into leaving the practice. Fortunately, these fellow practitioners did not fall for the evil’s tricks and resumed cultivating again after some time. My mother’s absence forced my father and me to mature faster. Despite constant stumbles along the way, we managed to remain steadfast in doing well the three things.

As a family, we had been close. The loss of my mother was unbearable, as though a layer of my skin had been peeled off. With encouragement and comfort from fellow practitioners, as well as care and support from my elder and younger aunts, I started to stand again on my own. Most importantly, my unwavering faith in Master and the Fa allowed me to face my loss rationally. Although I had lost my mother, Master was still at my side.

I was able to overcome my grief within a short period of time. However, my father continued to struggle. My parents shared a loving relationship, a model couple admired among neighbors and relatives. Steadfast practitioners, they encouraged and learned from each other, working together on truth clarification projects in order to save more people. My father could hardly accept my mother’s sudden passing. He became dispirited and depressed, unable to move on with his life or continue cultivating. Many practitioners came to counsel my father, hoping to help him overcome the pain of losing his wife. However, my father’s mental state remained unstable. I too counseled him on numerous occasions. Yet my father just could not let go of his affections, continuing to write many love poems to my mother.

For cultivators, we know this is an attachment that must be eliminated. All attachments require a period for elimination, but my father held onto his attachment for four years. The old forces quickly exploited this gap, and my father’s back and leg began to hurt soon after my mother’s death. Last year, my father was suddenly seized with severe pain. We put in extra efforts to send forth righteous thoughts, study the Fa and do the exercises. Yet my father’s condition refused to improve.

I became anxious upon seeing his deterioration, subconsciously afraid that I would lose him too. Whenever I sent forth righteous thoughts or dreamed at night, the evil factors would create illusions of my father’s death. I did my best to reject and deny this, knowing my fear and human emotions were the trigger for these illusions, and that this was also a test I had to overcome. I knew my father’s problems were the result of his human feelings of attachment towards my mother. Yet whenever I counseled him, he refused to heed my advice or let go of his emotions. My anxiety caused me to adopt a harsher, unkind tone whenever I talked to my father.

One day, while visiting another practitioner’s home, a practitioner earnestly and sincerely shared her understandings with me. We talked for a long time and her words made me realize the error in my ways. I quickly adjusted my mentality and that night, made sure to muster the greatest level of compassion and kindness I had when approaching my father. Master must have blessed us that day, for my words touched my father’s heart. My father finally opened up and poured out the thoughts he had been keeping locked in his heart. For many years, I had ignored or forced him to shut up whenever he tried talking to me about my mother. I had thought this approach would encourage him to get rid of his attachment faster. Yet without an outlet to express his feelings, my father began writing love poetry to my mother.

As I listened to my father, I realized he had also been suffering from doubt and anxiety. Originally, he believed he had overcome his attachment towards his wife. Yet his worsening pain showed otherwise. This major blow to his confidence caused him to give up on himself. At this time, I said to my father, “You must continue to have faith. Every attachment must be eliminated, including love. Your destined time together in the human world has ended. Mother has already consummated and is watching over us quietly from above. Yet you are still using human thoughts to think of her. Remember how King Zhou [the last king of the Shang Dynasty of ancient China] offended the Goddess Nuwa with his lustful comments about her beauty? Your human love towards Mother is similar and would be considered a crime.” On hearing this, my father nodded in agreement.

“Father, we don’t crave a comfortable life, nor do we want anything from this world. But we must cultivate diligently, otherwise we will be letting ourselves and Master down. Many sentient beings have also pinned their hopes on us, so let’s work hard.” My father smiled as his confidence was restored.

I continued, “In “Wake Up,” Master said, “You have made it through scores of difficulties on your journey, and shouldn’t be tripping and falling at the end.” Master is anxiously waiting for us to fix our cultivation path. You must regain the energy to stand up again.”

My father replied, “Okay, I will give up my attachment towards your mother tonight. After tonight, I will stop thinking about it.” My father let go of his attachment that night and his leg and back stopped hurting. He even wrote an article to share his experiences.

Falun Dafa has changed my life for the better, and I wish to express my gratitude to Master!