China Fahui | Dafa Taught Me to Be a Selfless Person

(Minghui.org) Practicing cultivation for 28 years made an earthshaking change in my life. I went from being a selfish, pitiful and overbearing person with low self esteem, to someone who is kind, confident and considerate of others. This is the power and virtue of Dafa.

A Miserable Life

I developed skin problems when I was 8 months old. I had sores all over my head which were so itchy that I constantly scratched. Whenever I scratched myself, blood and pus oozed out. Sometimes the sores became infected, and scabs formed when the pus did not seep out. This stubborn ailment plagued me for 30 years. I took medication, but nothing worked.

I was 3 years old, but I still didn’t know how to walk, and I was bald. When I attended school, it was as if a cover over my head stopped knowledge from entering my brain. I struggled in my studies. I was unpopular with classmates and disliked by my teachers.

I had meningitis when I was 11. My mother had to stay by my side for several days and nights. Afterwards, I survived, but struggled even more in my studies. By the time I was 12 and 13 years old, the sores stopped appearing on my head and moved to my hands, and pus oozed out. We traveled over the mountains in search of an elderly, reputable doctor, and tried all kinds of treatments but nothing helped. My eyes teared up when the winds blew. I also suffered from various illnesses including hepatitis, arthritis, and severe anemia. I had low self esteem.

When I became an adult, I found work in a factory. Other women had fair, delicate hands, but mine were covered in sores. Afraid of being disliked, I applied medicine secretly every day. After I got married, I continued to apply medicine behind my husband’s back. Long years of suffering from ill health made me lose confidence, and I became introverted and belittled myself.

My husband was an educated person who grew up in a village. He was smart and knew more than I did. He often received gifts. I thought I had found someone I could depend on, but when our son was only 3 and a half years old my husband died in a car accident when I was 28. My husband’s workplace tried their best to negotiate with the party responsible for the accident, and they paid for all medical as well as funeral expenses.

I asked my husband’s workplace to let me live in the compound for employees, but they refused, even though they had empty units. I broke into unoccupied units at my husband’s workplace, took my son and mother-in-law, and lived there without consent. This made everyone in the workplace upset. I was ignored and no one helped us. I became angry and resentful. I often wept bitterly alone at night.

This was me before I began practicing Falun Dafa. My world was dark. I saw no hope for living, and I did not know how to conduct myself. I was unreasonable and did everything without thinking of others. I was not grateful to those who helped me. I even thought, “I shouldn’t be so honest. I suffer from so many illnesses and I’m bullied by others. I must be more wicked! My son is so young and I have no one to depend on. I cannot let others bully my child, and I should teach him to protect himself!” Once, I had a fight with my mother-in-law. I ran to my brother-in-law’s workplace to scold him and vent my anger.

When I look back, if I had not become a Dafa practitioner and if things continued that way, I would turn into a lunatic. My son would also be destroyed by me. If I hadn’t begun practicing cultivation, I would not have cut off my relationship with my family and husband’s family. All I could think of was how pitiful I was, yet they did not give me the help that I felt I was entitled to. The thought of treating others well never came up in my mind. How terrifying it is to think of my life back then.

Master Pulled Me Out of the Dirty, Deep Abyss

In early 1996, my cousin kept mentioning Falun Dafa to me and gave me the book “Falun Gong.” I sat on the bed every night and read it. The more I read, the more I understood and the more my heart lightened. The questions I had about life, my illness, and suffering—I suddenly understood what they were for! Falun Dafa is so amazing! Anyone can practice cultivation regardless of their education, rich or poor. As long as one truly cultivates, Master will take care of them. No matter what happens, I must practice cultivation!

All my illnesses disappeared after I began practicing Falun Dafa, including the skin problem that had tormented me for 30 years. My skin became smooth and delicate. I was reborn. I conducted myself according to the standards of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. I became cheerful and optimistic.

My mother-in-law insisted that I had taken her shoes and thrown them away. I didn’t argue with her. Instead, I bought her a new pair of shoes. Her daughter later told me, “Her shoes were under the sofa!” I smiled and said, “If I did not practice Falun Dafa, I would not have handled it this way!”

I realized that I was wrong in living in the compound owned by my husband’s workplace. I moved out and lived with my family.

When my husband passed away, his workplace applied for two lots of pension in my mother-in-law’s and grandmother-in-law’s name. The money was given to me and my mother-in-law every month. After my mother-in-law passed away, I approached my husband’s workplace and asked them to stop the pension. I told them: “As both my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law have passed away, please stop giving the pension money!” They suggested that I accept it that year and stop taking it after that. I turned down their offer. News spread in the workplace: “Falun Dafa practitioners don’t take money that doesn’t belong to them!”

I have 3 brothers who are rich and powerful. I am the only one who is poor and has no one to rely on. After living with my family for a year, my brothers looked down on me because I was poor. My father kept pressuring me to remarry. When I refused, he threw my son and me out of the house. As my family had many houses, I asked if I could pay rent and live in one of them. My father refused. I conducted myself according to the teachings of Dafa and didn’t argue with him. I lived in a dormitory provided by my workplace. I was not allowed to bring along any furniture.

After I went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa, my workplace fired me and I lost my job. I took on various jobs such as nanny, nurse and cook. With Master’s protection, although life was hard, I was never short of money. Wherever I worked, I conducted myself as a cultivator. I was not afraid of suffering losses. I did my best in everything and no one could find fault with me. Before quitting, I tried my best to finish my work to the highest standards, unlike others who would either shirk responsibility or cut corners as they knew they were quitting the job. I constantly reminded myself to show people that Falun Dafa is good. Hence my employers were reluctant to see me quit.

While cooking meals for businesses, employees threw away leftover food. I often told them not to waste food and how to be a good person. The female boss next door simply let the grain flow away with the water while she washed it, and I kindly reminded her that one should cherish their blessings. As time went by, those around me changed their ways and thanked me sincerely, “You are such a good person!”

I accepted a job as a caregiver for the wife of my husband’s former coworker, who was paralyzed. Thus, I moved back into the compound for employees' family provided by my husband’s previous workplace. I worked hard, treated others kindly and was strict with myself. At that time, mobile phones were considered expensive and most people avoided making phone calls with them. However, I often made phone calls using my own phone whenever necessary. I did not use my employer’s phone. In my spare time, I cleaned the floors of the entire compound. My husband’s coworker told me, “People say how bad you are, yet you seem to be a good person!”

After working as a caregiver for a period of time, my husband’s former coworkers changed their impression of me and realized that it was because I practice Dafa. I used my actions to show them that Falun Dafa is great! I also reversed the bad influence caused by my unreasonable ways before I began practicing cultivation. Six years after I left this job, this family asked if I would consider coming back to work for them.

After living in the dormitory provided by my workplace for a year, a practitioner let me stay at her house when she had to move to another place to work. At last, my son and I had our own space. Through a female coworker, I bought an old property. It was hard for a woman raising a child alone, and people frequently bullied us. As I was now a Dafa practitioner, I no longer felt lonely or scared. I was often jovial and treated others sincerely, not harboring resentment when treated badly.

When I first moved into the old house that I bought, there was a male teacher among my neighbors. He came to my house several times and said disrespectful things. He even asked me to go out with him alone at night. I told him how humans should conduct themselves and he stopped harassing me. He later swore at me, but I didn’t retaliate. Afterwards, I went to visit his wife and asked her, “Did I do anything wrong to upset your husband? Why did he come to my house to humiliate me?” His wife was surprised and kept saying, “How can that be? He often praises you and he says you are a good person!” I realized that as long as I held myself to the principles taught by Dafa, even a bad person would respect me.

I renovated my house while my son was studying in university. There was a neighbor Mr. Zheng who lived on my right. He kept making trouble while I was renovating my house. I did not make a fuss and told myself that I should let things go. After my house was rebuilt, I continued to treat Mr. Zheng with kindness. I did things that benefited his family. He felt embarrassed about the way he had treated me.

Since I started cultivation 28 years ago, no matter how I was humiliated or treated unfairly, I never told my son anything. I avoided spreading hatred and planting the seed of evil in him, instead choosing to educate him using the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.

The upright behavior of Falun Dafa practitioners has a positive influence on sentient beings as well. My husband’s sister was deeply resentful of her mother-in-law because the family treated her badly. I often told her how to be a good person and I explained karmic relationships. She changed her attitude towards her mother-in-law. One day, she said, “Sister-in-law, you saved me!” I replied, “It is my Master who saved you.”

My husband’s brother also praised me for doing better than them, even though I raised my child alone. I told him, “It’s because I practice Falun Dafa and I’ve received blessings!” I tried my best to help their family. When the couple worked in another city, they sent their child to me and I looked after him for more than a year. I used my own money to pay for all the child’s needs. I refused to take money from my brother-in-law when he offered it. He left his bank card with me, but I never used it—I returned it to him untouched when they returned home. Master gave me and my son such great health for 28 years, and we never took a pill or injection. When I was doing all right financially, I would help friends and relatives.

Being a Good Daughter

My parents were unable to take care of themselves after they turned 80. My 3 brothers moved out and built their own houses, but no one offered to take care of the elderly. As I was retired, I moved back into my parents' home and took on the heavy responsibility of taking care of them. For over a year, I fed them, cleaned up their urine and feces, and looked after them carefully and tirelessly. Some nights I had no sleep.

When my mother was admitted into the hospital for a severe illness, the doctor said that she could only live for two or three months. However, with Dafa’s blessing and under my meticulous care, she passed away after over a year. My relatives witnessed how extraordinary Dafa is and everything I did to keep my parents clean and the house tidy. They were convinced that Dafa is good. My mother passed away first. At my father’s funeral, my cousin asked my brothers to propose a toast, praising me for how well I looked after my parents. With great respect, my oldest brother said I was a person with belief!

I would not have taken care of my parents like that if I did not practice Falun Dafa. My father always favored sons over daughters and treated me unkindly. Although my brothers were financially well off, my father said: “Any grandchild who went to university, I will pay for all their tuition fees.” When two grandsons and a granddaughter attended university, my father gave them money in handfuls every year. When my son went to university, he only gave him a small gift. Even my brothers and sisters-in-law suggested that he give me more instead of them, but he ignored them. He kept an eye on my mother for fear that she would give me money. When my child was in high school, I enrolled him in a private school. My father asked my brother to stop me—he was afraid that I would ask him for money. However, I never thought of asking for anyone’s help. At my parents' house, I was asked to work and ate only leftovers. I was not allowed to touch any money. I never made a fuss over the ill treatment. I simply reminded myself to act according to the requirements of Dafa.

Being a good daughter in the human world is part of validating Dafa. Clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings is my mission as a Dafa disciple and even more important. I established a Fa study group in my parents' house and moved my materials production site there. I made a lot of materials and supplied them to practitioners so that they could tell people the facts about the persecution. I also spoke to people face to face about Dafa whenever there was an opportunity.

Although my father treated me badly, he did not oppose me starting a Fa study group at his place. The more people came, the happier he was. He told others sincerely, “Thank goodness I have this daughter!” Two days before his death, in the hospital, my father shouted, ‘Falun Dafa is great! Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance is great!” The doctor asked, “What are you shouting about? What happened?” He answered: “I shouted Falun Dafa is great! Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance is great!” Everyone laughed.

Repaying Master with Righteous Thought and Actions

I had a good reputation in my family’s village. People praised me and said, “Widowed at the age of 28, raising a child alone, bringing him up into a fine man, even building a new house, it’s truly not easy!” They knew it was because I practice Falun Dafa.

In July 1999, Dafa was suppressed and Master was vilified in China. At the end of 2000, I went to Beijing with another practitioner to appeal for Dafa. I was detained for more than three months when I returned home, and I was fined more than 3,000 yuan before I was released from prison. My monthly salary was less than 500 yuan then. In those early years, when I was most severely persecuted, police officers frequently broke into my home. I never slacked off in clarifying the facts, handing out materials, hanging up banners and so on. Dafa projects were started to save people, and as long as I am able to, I try my best to do it well.

I was printing materials at home in 2001. When a practitioner came to get some, she was followed by a Party secretary from her workplace. The official called the police and I was dragged out of my house. Two sacks of materials and banners were confiscated. I was interrogated and not allowed to sleep for five days and nights. Whenever I shut my eyes, someone hit me with a stick and threatened me: “We will beat you to death! Burn you with petroleum and then bury you! We found so many things in your possession! So and so was sentenced to three years for possessing one flier! We won’t allow your son to go to school!” I thought in my heart: “What you say doesn’t count!”

While I was illegally detained, I taught the convicts to recite Master’s poems. Guards threw stones at me when I did the exercises, but I was not moved at all. A month after I was detained, I wrote a letter to the guards to explain the facts and went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. When I did not eat or drink for five days and nights, seven or eight people forced-fed me brutally, stomped on my feet and stomach, pried my teeth apart and so on. The inmates in my cell helped me and asked the guards to release me. I was allowed to return home when they saw that I was going to die.

A month later, I discovered that the police were monitoring me while I was taking my son to put up messages about Dafa in public areas. My son held onto my leg and shouted, “You are not permitted to arrest my mother!” Still, I was taken away. My child returned home alone. I was detained in the same prison. The prisoners told me, “You were released the last time because you went on a hunger strike. It won’t work this time.” I said in my heart, “What you say doesn’t count!” I continued to let go of the attachment to life and death and went on a hunger strike. I was released 13 days later. Food splashed on my clothes when I was forced fed. When I left the prison, white mold had grown on the food.

On January 15, 2003, while handing out materials at the train station with other practitioners, I was the only one arrested. Around 20 people from the train station detained and interrogated me for the entire night. I refused to cooperate when they wanted to take photos. A few people grabbed my hair to take a photo of me. I said to them, “Go ahead and take it, this will be evidence of your crime!” They were scared and stopped taking photos. Master gave me wisdom and I was able to explain the facts to them. Nearly 20 of the employees in the train station could not outwit me. At the end, they asked, “Are you a teacher?”

At dawn, I was locked up at the police station in the train station. Prisoners locked up in the same cell were terrified when they learned that I was a Falun Dafa practitioner: “We heard that those who practice Falun Dafa kill people and commit suicide!” At midnight, new prisoners came in. I gave them the seat I had warmed up and moved to a cold spot. I kept explaining what is Falun Gong to them. In the morning, I found an opportunity to clarify the facts to the police officers. A few days later, I was transferred to the detention center in the city. I continued to go on hunger strike.

On the four occasions where I was arrested, I was released due to my firm conviction in Dafa and because I let go of life and death. I’m grateful to Master and thank practitioners for supporting me with righteous thoughts.

As I mature in cultivation, the path becomes wider and smoother. Master has given me so much in these 28 years, that words cannot express my gratitude. I will follow Master to the end!

Thank you Master and fellow practitioners!