(Minghui.org) I was born in the 1980s and now work at a college. During the 1990s when I was ten years old, my sister, who was studying medicine, had to take a one-year break because of her health. She tried many things but didn’t improve much. Then a relative introduced her to Falun Dafa. After she began practicing it, her health recovered and she went back to school and never had to take any more breaks.
After witnessing her changes, both my mother and I started to practice Falun Dafa as well. Although my father didn’t practice it, he approved and gave us his support.
A few years later, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ordered the nationwide persecution. Because my sister went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa and raised awareness about the persecution, she was arrested and sentenced many times over more than ten years. In fact, she is still incarcerated. That was really hard on my mother. She was scared and often cried. My father also opposed my continuing to practice. Without a cultivation environment, I gradually drifted away from Dafa.
After I went to college, I often wondered what we were living for. One day I suddenly remembered Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Dafa. I was so young when I read it, I couldn't remember how it explained the purpose of life.
I asked my mother for a copy of Zhuan Falun. I wanted to know why my sister wouldn’t give up practicing Dafa even after being persecuted so terribly. After reading the book for a few days, I was surprised to realize that my sleep improved, my mind was clear and calm, my body felt light, and I could easily understand and remember what the teacher taught us. I was surprised at how much I changed after just reading the book for a few days. I wondered how a book could have such power.
As I kept reading Zhuan Falun and Master Li’s other lectures, I understood that Falun Dafa is a spiritual cultivation practice and that it transcends science and any other human theory in the world. Master teaches us to be a better person by following the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. By improving our character, our spiritual realm elevates and we become detached from the material world. Many questions I had about life were answered. I finally understood why so many practitioners risk their lives to uphold their faith.
It might seem like a random chance that I returned to cultivation. But I now realize that Master had never given up on me and that he was waiting for me and all those other former little Dafa practitioners to come back.
During my final year in college, we all began hunting for jobs and submitting our resumes to different companies. I interviewed for a job that required a graduate degree and certain work experience. I was least qualified of the six candidates. But to my surprise, I was offered the position six months before I graduated. I took the job and I managed to work while going to graduate school.
With the wisdom Dafa gave me, I won a college-wide teaching innovation award, beating out many professors and PhD students. My supervisors and coworkers were impressed with my ability. I later won several more awards and was promoted at work.
Despite my progress and the compliments I received, I remained humble. I know I owe everything to Dafa. My success validates the magnificence of Dafa. If I didn’t practice Dafa, I would not have achieved what I have today.
I often thought to myself, “If I didn’t practice Dafa, I would still be a self-centered, worldly and competitive person, lowering my moral standards in the big dye-vat of today’s society. But Dafa teaches me what a truly good person is and how to be more considerate of others. With Dafa’s guidance, I handle my relationships with my husband and in-laws very well and enjoy a happy family life.”
In addition to the benefits I’ve received, my family members are also protected and saved by Dafa in times of danger.
In my senior year in college, my uncle developed depression. He couldn’t fall asleep and lost hope. While I was on spring break, I went to visit him. His face was pale and he didn’t respond when I spoke to him. I told him that I’d started to practice Falun Dafa, about its health benefits, and why it’s persecuted by the CCP. He became interested and agreed to quit the CCP. I also read Zhuan Falun and did the Falun Dafa exercises with him.
That night, he slept very well. My aunt told me that it had been a long time since my uncle had such a good sleep.
My mother came the next day. When my uncle saw his sister (my mother), he burst into tears and told us about the miraculous experience that had happened to him.
Actually, just the morning before, my uncle almost jumped off the roof of his apartment building because he couldn’t stand the depression anymore. But after talking to me, he gave up the idea. That evening, he felt a force push something out of his forehead. Then he felt his mind return to normal and he slept soundly that night. We were all happy for him. My aunt was also convinced of Dafa’s healing power.
A few years ago, my brother was hospitalized for pancreatitis. He had intense pain and other complications. After a few days of treatment, his condition just got worse.
While I was caring for him in the hospital, I sat next to him and read Zhuan Falun. After my sister was arrested, my brother was against me and my mother practicing. But when I was reading the book, he didn’t ask me to stop.
Around 10 p.m., he suddenly began to complain about extreme pain. He felt he was being stabbed in the abdomen and that he was dying. I told him that Dafa could help him as long as he was willing to give it a try. He nodded.
As soon as I began to read Zhuan Falun out loud, he stopped groaning. After a while, as he didn’t make a sound, so I thought he’d fallen asleep and stopped reading. But he quickly asked me to keep reading. I read the book to him the entire evening.
At dawn, he had a slight fever and began to pass gas. When the doctor came to examine him, he said passing gas was a good sign, as it indicated that he was recovering quickly. In just two days, my brother was discharged. When he was hospitalized for the same condition in the past, he was there for over a month. He was not only blessed with good health, but he also made several million yuan in his business over the next few months. Master’s compassion is boundless. Such a simple change in my brother resulted in such a big blessing.
Grateful for the blessings my family members and I have received from Dafa, I always had a strong desire to do something to repay Master. I sometimes clarified the facts to my friends and coworkers, but I didn't think that was enough. So I bought a printer and began to print flyers that I could distribute.
On July 20, the anniversary of the beginning the persecution began, I told myself that I had go out and distribute the materials and tell people the facts. But a colleague reported me and five plainclothes officers arrested me. They searched my place and confiscated my computer, printer, and all my Dafa materials.
After being interrogated for the entire day, I innocently thought they would release me. But then, in the middle of the night, they took me to a detention center. When the iron gate of the center closed behind me, I looked into the dark sky and thought fear might overwhelm me. But at that moment, I felt incredibly calm and peaceful. I only had one thought: “Let go of the fear of death.”
For someone like me who had never experienced any kind of political campaign or persecution, I didn’t know what would happen next. But I knew that tyranny and violence couldn’t shake my faith. Maybe because of that thought, Master protected me and resolved the danger for me. I was released a month later and went back to work as usual. The colleague who reported me apologized.
I used to worry about how to best clarify the facts to my supervisors and coworkers. It turned out to be the best entry point for me to start that conversation. This experience turned out to be a good thing, as I also had the chance to clarify the facts to a few people in the detention center and those who accepted what I said were all soon released.
(Selected submission in celebration of World Falun Dafa Day on Minghui.org)