[Celebrating World Falun Dafa Day] My Mother Learned to Read from Master Li

(Minghui.org) My mother started practicing Falun Dafa when she was in her eighties. Before cultivating, she suffered many illnesses, including serious heart disease. Her liver was in poor condition, and she had hemorrhoids and gynecological diseases. In 1996, a lump was discovered in my mother’s intestines. Our local hospital could not confirm a diagnosis, so she visited an epidemic prevention station in a prefecture-level city for further examination. My mother met three out of the five criteria necessary to confirm a diagnosis of intestinal cancer and started taking the necessary medication regularly. She even kept an emergency medicine box on standby, under her pillow. Whenever her condition deteriorated, her face would swell, and she would have an unhealthy flush. At this point, I advised my mother, “Mom, you should try practicing Falun Gong!” My mother agreed and began cultivation practice.

How an Illiterate 80-Year-Old Started Reading Zhuan Falun

Not long after starting cultivation practice, my mother discovered blood in her stools. Assuming these were from hemorrhoids, she paid little attention to this new symptom. Yet the bleeding continued over the week and increased over time. On the 17th day, I started to feel scared. Although my mother remained unconcerned, the bleeding showed no sign of stopping. I asked my mother to take some medicine to stop the bleeding.

Although I was also cultivating then, my understanding was poor. I did not realize this was a sign of Master eliminating my mother’s karma and purifying her body. I should have expressed my gratitude to Master for his compassionate care. Fortunately, my mother remained unmoved by my appeals, and her bleeding stopped on the 18th day. I felt relieved and indescribably happy after hearing the news.

After that, we discovered my mother’s serious heart disease and hemorrhoids were cured. Soon after practicing the exercises, the hard lumps in my mother’s intestines vanished. My mother’s body began to improve, and she started looking younger. She even told us, “Master is taking care of me and has changed all the blood in my body.”

Master has extended my mother’s lifespan. One day, my mother told me that her period had resumed, although she was nearly 90 years old at the time. Despite her age, my mother faces each day cheerfully, planting crops, doing housework, knitting sweaters, buying groceries, and cooking meals. Our envious neighbors, who are all aware that my mother practices Falun Gong, have told me, “You are so lucky.” 

Having never been to school, my mother’s illiteracy was a big impediment when it came to studying the Fa. Yet my mother overcame this hurdle with extraordinary determination. She would open the book and study the Fa with us, listening and memorizing each word we recited. One day, she started reading Zhuan Falun on her own. Shocked, I asked her, “You can recognize all of the characters?” My mother happily replied, “Master taught me how to read! Each night, Master visits my dreams and teaches me the characters I cannot comprehend during our daytime reading sessions.”

My mother started studying the Fa on her own. I arrive home from work each day to see my mother sitting in bed, devoutly reading from a Dafa book. She said, “Whenever I read Zhuan Falun, Master magnifies the characters for me. I don’t need to wear spectacles. Moreover, the characters all shine in gold.” Besides reading the books, my mother also often watches Master’s lecture videos.

Once, my mother told me, “The sky above our practice site is all red.” Her white hair also gradually turned black. These miracles have encouraged us to be diligent and have allowed everyday people to witness the incomparable power of Dafa.

Becoming a Diligent Cultivator

Mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law usually have very acrimonious relationships. My family used to be poor, and financial problems caused many conflicts between my mother and her daughters-in-law, resulting in deep grudges. My sisters-in-law would feel aggrieved whenever my mother was mentioned, and my mother would lament whenever her daughters-in-law were brought up.

Concepts that are formed over the course of a lifetime are difficult to change unless one practices Dafa. My mother held herself to very strict standards, often pelting me and my husband with questions while studying the Fa. She prioritizes our Fa study sessions, practices the exercises conscientiously, and has never wavered in her faith in Dafa. After cultivating, my mother’s mentality gradually broadened, and she started visiting my sisters-in-law on her own initiative, helping them out and treating them with consideration. Her actions greatly improved their relationships. 

We live near a vegetable market, and my mother started clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings from that market. Despite lacking eloquence, my mother uses her age to her advantage. People are usually shocked to learn she is over 90 years of age because my mother’s external appearance is that of a 60 or 70-year-old. She tells them how Dafa cured her of her many illnesses and advises them to recite “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” Due to her advanced age, her cultivation in Dafa has greatly influenced the people around her.

My mother often says, “It is not easy for vegetable farmers to grow their crops. Buying their vegetables can help pave the way for truth clarification.” Whenever my mother patronizes one vegetable stall, the vegetable seller will voluntarily tell other customers who are browsing his produce, “Can you guess how old this lady is? She is a Falun Gong practitioner.” A fellow practitioner often accompanies my mother during her grocery runs. One time, a man greeted them from a distance and walked up to them. He then happily told them, “My gastritis was cured after reciting “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!” To save more sentient beings we buy more vegetables than we can eat and occasionally pass on the excess to our neighbors.

After clarifying the truth to the whole vegetable market, my mother decided to clarify the truth at another vegetable market to save more people. A fellow practitioner thus ferried my mother on his electric bike, accompanying her to a more distant market so she could clarify the truth. My mother spends her days clarifying the truth outside each morning and studying the Fa at home every afternoon. She has maintained this schedule through freezing cold and scorching heat year after year. On winter days, my mother still ventures out despite the severe chill. Despite the layers she wears, her hands will still be numb by the time she gets home. We live on the upper levels of our housing complex, and my mother climbs up and down the stairs by herself. Sometimes, after a hard day of truth-clarification work, she will tiredly hold the handrails for support and drag herself upstairs, step by step, without complaint.

One year, I was illegally sentenced by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities and detained in a detention center. While visiting me in the detention center, my mother fearlessly told the detention center director the truth behind the persecution of Falun Gong. She told him “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” and how she has benefited from practicing Dafa. Extremely respectful toward my mother, the director even personally escorted her to the detention center gate when it was time for her to leave. The truth my mother told him later paved the way for me to convince him to withdraw from the CCP.

My mother’s kindness has allowed her to develop good relationships with her neighbors. We have an elderly female neighbor who lives just downstairs. She spends her days alone and has a very difficult life. My mother always asks after her when they meet and sometimes sends me to deliver some delicious food for her to eat. When my husband and I were illegally detained, my mother and our young child worked together to maintain our family and home until our release.

The local 610 Office tried to arrest me and send me to a brainwashing center once. To ensure my safety, our family, including my mother, escaped to a remote place overnight. Living conditions in our temporary accommodation were poor and inconvenient, but my mother refused to leave us.

Once, my mother’s heart rate suddenly increased until she was in severe discomfort. Yet she remained unmoved by the illusion and immediately thought of asking Master to save her. Her ordeal was soon resolved with righteous thoughts. Afterward, my mother learned to look within and get rid of her human attachments according to the requirements of the Fa.

My mother is Master’s true disciple and an example of one who walks a true cultivation path in validating Dafa.

(Selected submission in celebration of World Falun Dafa Day on Minghui.org)