(Minghui.org) My parents started practicing Falun Dafa when I was five years old, and I recited “On Dafa” from Zhuan Falun and poems from Hong Yin with my mom. Even though I was very young and didn’t understand cultivation, the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance were deeply rooted in my heart.
More than 20 years have passed, and I’m now a true Dafa practitioner who is rational and broadminded, indifferent to personal losses and gains, and always considerate of others. Thanks to the guidance of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance and Master’s compassionate protection, I was able to pull through various difficulties and embark on the path to return to my true self and a bright future.
The Beauty of Dafa Was Deeply Rooted in My Heart
My grandfather started showing signs of Alzheimer’s disease in 1996. He became forgetful and was confused about things. For example, when he played mahjong, he didn’t know what he was doing. Being a doctor, he knew that medicine could not cure his disease. As qigong became very popular in China at that time, he started learning various kinds of qigong in a park, hoping they could cure his illness, but none of them had much effect.
However, after he started practicing Falun Dafa (also called Falun Gong), a miracle happened. Very soon, his Alzheimer’s disease was gone, and our family witnessed his miraculous changes. One after another, everyone in our family began to practice Falun Dafa as well.
My mom used to have a very short temper, and my grandmother was known as someone who is “difficult to please.” She was very particular about certain things. She always complained: “You are using too much oil when cooking.” “You shouldn’t use so much water while washing up,” etc. She watched over everything in the household, and the relationship between my mom and my grandma (her mother-in-law) was very tense.
My mom changed a lot after she began practicing Falun Dafa. She always held herself to the standards of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, was kind to everyone, and showed filial piety to her parents. Her relationship with my grandmother, in particular, became harmonious, and they developed mutual respect.
When my grandmother became ill and could not take care of herself, my mom helped her use the toilet, bathed her, washed her clothes, and cooked delicious meals for her. She did everything from her heart without any complaints. Under her excellent care for six months, my grandma eventually recovered. Since then, she brags to everyone, “My daughter-in-law is dearer to me than my daughter.”
Every morning, our entire family did the exercises at a practice site, and when we came back, we studied the Fa together and shared our xinxing cultivation experiences. Every one of us was changing for the better, and my entire family enjoyed the happiness and harmony that Dafa brought.
Looking back, it was truly the most enjoyable time in my childhood. My mom often studied the Fa with me and helped me understand that we must uphold moral values in our conduct. Even though I didn’t understand much about cultivation, the seeds of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance were deeply rooted in my heart, and I learned to become a kind-hearted and honest person.
Master Helped Me Through Hardships
In July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started persecuting Falun Dafa, and our happy and fulfilling life came to an abrupt end. In the face of the overwhelming slander of Dafa and the fact that people were deceived and poisoned by the lies and rumors, my family, like many other practitioners, put their safety aside and stepped forward to clarify the facts to people about Falun Dafa.
When I was in my second year in junior middle school, my mom was sentenced to seven years in prison for telling people about Falun Dafa. My dad was tricked into going to the local police station and he was detained for over two months, which left my grandpa (he was in his 70s then) and me alone.
I didn’t know much about cultivation, and without my mom taking care of me, I was attracted to various temptations in society and gradually moved away from Dafa. However, I always knew in my heart that Dafa was good.
I still remember the first time I went to see my mom in prison. I cried a lot. Although I hoped that she would come home soon, I knew I should encourage her to stay strong and righteous. So I told her, “Mom, you must not transform (agree to stop practicing Falun Dafa), and you should work on getting out by holding strong righteous thoughts.” My mom, who was also crying, said, “Yes, I will.” I never expected that it would be six and a half years before I saw her again.
While in prison, my mom was severely tortured for holding fast to her faith. The prison guards instructed her cellmates to oversee my mom and deprive her of sleep each night. She was forced to stand naked in the winter until her feet turned dark purple. The perpetrators also poured cold water on her and hit her eyes with a plastic soda bottle filled with water until they were severely swollen. They knocked out two of her front teeth during the many beatings. For three years, my mom was locked in solitary confinement, had no contact with others, and was forced to do slave labor for twelve hours a day.
When she was on the brink of death from the cruel abuse, the prison granted her medical parole for fear that she might die in prison. After she returned home, her condition improved a little by doing the exercises and reading the Fa.
However, she suffered a relapse due to constant harassment and threats by the local police. Eventually, my mom passed away. I missed her a lot, especially at night when I was alone. My heart was filled with pain and misery.
Not long after my mom died, my dad was also arrested for upholding his faith. I felt extremely sad and angry and challenged the police who came to search our house: “My parents believe in Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. What’s wrong with being good people? Why do you keep persecuting us?”
The police tried to take advantage of my young age and fabricate some evidence against my dad. They interrogated me and threatened to make trouble at the company where I was an intern. I told them, “You want to kill me. My mom died as a result of your persecution, and you have arrested my dad. I’m on my own now, and it does not matter anymore if I live or die.”
Seeing that their tactics did not move me, the police gave up. However, they arranged for a group of hooligans to monitor my house hoping that they might catch more Dafa practitioners. I thought, “I must find a way to warn other practitioners so they won’t be harmed.”
I went out using the excuse of getting groceries. While I was trying to think of a way to contact other practitioners, I ran into a family of practitioners and told them what happened.
I felt extremely grateful to Master for arranging for us to meet, as it would prevent more losses. Later, the hooligans in my house received a phone call from overseas practitioners, who said: “Invading a citizen’s home violates the law. Your current behavior is illegal and you will be held accountable.” The call scared them, and they left soon afterward.
My grandpa and I were the only ones living at home at that time. Due to the constant threats and harassment, my grandpa redeveloped symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and became incontinent. When he went out, he could not find his way home. I took a leave of absence for a while to care for my grandpa. My uncle (my mom’s brother) also came to see us after work every day. Later, he hired a male caregiver to look after Grandpa.
Not long after, my uncle was also arrested for practicing Falun Dafa and was sentenced to prison. The only relative who could help me and my grandpa was thus taken away.
One night, I had a nightmare in which the male caregiver had evil intentions toward me. He broke into my room and lifted my quilt—I woke up in a cold sweat.
I didn’t dare go home after work the next day and stayed with an aunt for the night. When I went home the next morning, a kind neighbor was waiting for me in the cold wind. She said, “Don’t go home. The male caregiver is going to attack you.”
I was in shock and asked how she knew this. She told me that the man was, in fact, a rapist who had served six years in prison. When chatting with neighbors, he boasted about the number of times that he would attack me. The neighbor tried to scare him off by saying that there was a surveillance camera in my room and he must not do anything stupid. That day, the caregiver told my neighbor that the lock on the door to my room was broken, so he could easily enter it when he wanted to. My neighbor became very concerned and decided to wait for me and warn me.
I was so scared when I heard this, and at the same time, I felt grateful knowing that Master was watching over me and protecting me. The male caregiver was fired, and my grandpa and I started living together again. I took good care of him, fed him, and changed and washed his clothes and bedding.
I was still scared of sleeping alone at night even though I kept the light on. When I felt really scared, I recited “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance is good.” When I did that, I felt calmer and fell asleep.
With the help of fellow practitioners, I hired a lawyer for my dad and asked the lawyer to take all of Master’s new articles to him. I included a note telling him to stay firm and not to “transform.” I told him that I would take good care of my grandpa and he didn’t need to worry about anything at home.
Although I did not study the Fa at that time, I always firmly supported my family in their cultivation and I never blamed them for the hardships and harassment we suffered. I knew that Dafa is good and that my parents weren’t doing anything wrong by standing fast to their faith in Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance and being good people.
I’m glad that I could distinguish right from wrong and good from evil since childhood and that I never tried to interfere with my parents’ righteous faith out of selfish desires because of the persecution.
With the help of a fellow practitioner, I took part in suing Jiang Zemin. I wrote a heartfelt letter to the presiding judge, in which I said: “Soon after my mom died as a result of the persecution, my dad was arrested, leaving my 80-year-old grandpa unattended at home.”
My dad was sentenced to three years in prison and sent to a different city to serve the term. I went to see him every month and made many trips in those years.
It was very cold in the late autumn of 2014. One day, I realized that the heating bill was due. I searched everywhere in the house but couldn’t find the top-up card. I didn’t ask my grandpa about the card because he was confused most of the time, and I thought he couldn’t possibly know where the card was.
Just as I was in great despair and feeling very uptight and helpless, my grandpa suddenly became clear-headed. He asked if I was looking for the top-up card and showed me where it was. Thus, I managed to pay the heating bill before the deadline. Tears came to my eyes, and once again, I felt Master’s compassionate protection. I knew he is always by our side to help us get through difficult times.
One day in 2015, after suffering repeated mental and physical traumas, my dear grandpa passed away. I was the only family member there, and he never saw my father or uncle return home. My grandpa passed away peacefully, and he no longer had to worry about or endure any more persecution.
During those painful and difficult times, I often thought that other girls enjoyed candies, flowers, and happiness in their youthful years, but my best years were spent in the pain of separation from my loved ones.
If I did not have Dafa in my heart, I would never have made it through those difficult times. I always kept Master’s teachings in my heart. No matter how hard life was, I would never do anything that would make me feel guilty, and I would live a clean life with a conscience.
I want to thank fellow practitioners who helped me and my family during the hard times. They gave us a lot of selfless help, both materially and spiritually. Some came to see me often, some offered to pay living expenses, some helped me buy daily necessities, some helped me hire a lawyer for my dad, and others helped take care of my grandpa. I still don’t know their names, and I have never met some of those who helped me in those days.
Taking the Path of Cultivation
Having experienced my family’s suffering, the vicissitudes of life, and the complex relationships between people in society, for a long time, I believed that only by making a name for myself and becoming stronger could I hold my head high among my relatives and friends and be respected. So, I devoted myself to my work and tried very hard, hoping to achieve something that would impress others.
Thanks to my outstanding ability at work, I was quickly promoted to a leadership position and my performance achievements doubled within a year. I did not want to work for others anymore, so I started my own company, which was very profitable. I was completely obsessed with fame and gain, straying further and further from Dafa.
However, unexpected events occur in life, and people are subject to misfortunes at any time. Just when my business was flourishing, an unexpected disaster struck. A villain reported me, and what appeared to be a trivial matter was treated as a major case because the local police wanted to profit from it.
They planned to convict me and then sentence me to prison. A friend of mine asked his relative in the police department to help settle the matter, but he couldn’t do anything and said, “If someone picks up a piece of paper from the ground and puts it in your hand, claiming it is evidence of a crime, then it becomes evidence of a crime.”
Hearing this, I saw more clearly the evil nature of the CCP. I couldn’t accept what they were doing to me. I thought: “Even though I drifted away from Dafa for many years, I still kept a bottom line of being a decent human being, and I would never do anything illegal. I never stole anything or robbed anyone, and I worked hard for so many years. How could I end up like this? If I am indeed put in jail, how could I face my dad and all my relatives and friends?” I felt great pain and was very scared.
Just then, I thought of Master Li and said, “Master, if you help me resolve this issue, I will start to cultivate in Dafa firmly. If the tribulation is due to karma I owe, then I will bear the consequences in an open and aboveboard manner.”
Although some of my thinking was impure while making the wish, I still felt Master’s immense compassion. Just as Master said in Zhuan Falun:
“When one’s Buddha-nature emerges, it will shake the World of Ten Directions. Whoever sees it will come to give a hand and help this person out unconditionally.” (“Lecture One,” Zhuan Falun)
Perhaps Master saw that I still had the heart to return to cultivation in this chaotic world and he mercifully helped me out of the trouble I was in. The situation miraculously took a turn for the better. Due to the intervention of police from another place, the local police had to drop their plan to ruin me, and I was unharmed in the end.
Those who knew about the “case” couldn’t believe what happened. But I knew very well in my heart that it was our compassionate Master who protected me and helped me out of danger. As I promised, I began to practice Falun Dafa.
Because the CCP destroyed my family, I always felt very lonely and longed to find a partner I could trust and rely on in my life. I dated three males before I found the man I would marry. When I met my first boyfriend, my mom had already passed away, and my dad was in prison. When my boyfriend’s parents learned what happened to my family, they disapproved of our relationship, so we broke up.
When I was entangled in the lawsuit, my second boyfriend helped me a lot, and I felt that I found someone I could rely on. When I decided to start cultivating in Dafa, he couldn’t understand why I would do that, but he wasn’t against it, either. However, he disagreed with me going out to talk with people about Falun Dafa and the persecution.
“The CCP used the entire propaganda machine to spread rumors to slander Dafa and deprived us of all channels to redress our grievances,” I explained to him, “They used all the media outlets to deceive people with lies, especially the staged self-immolation on Tiananmen Square. We all benefited from practicing Falun Dafa; how can we keep silent in the face of such injustice? If people hate Falun Dafa because such lies deceived them and stand on the side of evil, their lives will be in extreme danger. The frequent natural and man-made disasters are warnings to the world. I believe in Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. How can I ignore the dangers people are facing just to protect myself? I must go out to clarify the truth and save people.” After I explained, my boyfriend accepted the things I was doing.
He said, “It’s very rare to find a pure girl like you in today’s society.” He also cherished my honesty and integrity. However, due to differences in world outlook and morality, the gap between us became larger, and it became harder for us to find common ground on many issues. We eventually split up mainly because I would not participate in premarital sex, which is against the moral standards of Falun Dafa. In the end, we decided to go our separate ways.
My third boyfriend was killed in a car accident due to drunk driving after a party, only two weeks after we got to know each other. I was really shaken by what happened because I planned to go to the party with him but changed my mind at the last minute as I felt too tired when I got home from work. I know in my heart that Master protected me once again.
The incident made me realize that things in the secular world are impermanent, and nothing is eternally beautiful as people wish it were. It’s very precious to reincarnate as a human, and the true purpose of us being human in this lifetime is for us to take the path of cultivation of the righteous Fa and return to our original selves and our true home, where we can find eternal beauty and happiness. Since then, I have been walking on the Dafa cultivation path more resolutely.
Finding a Like-minded Husband
By chance or destiny, I met my fourth boyfriend, who is now my husband and a fellow Dafa practitioner. We both feel that although we have not been together for long, we have been family for decades; just as Master said in a poem,
The Difficult Path to GodhoodPredestined ties of countless lifetimesEach had Dafa as its guiding thread ...(“The Difficult Path to Godhood,” Hong Yin II)
My husband has very good character. He is kind and honest and always upholds traditional moral values. After practicing Falun Dafa, he has been even stricter with himself. He is very tolerant and considerate of me, and we complement each other in every way. We have been getting along very well since we married, and the two of us have a tacit understanding of each other. We follow Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance and treat each other with respect. We often remind each other to cultivate diligently.
The feeling between us is solid and beautiful, because we both show unconditional consideration to each other, without any of the selfish desires of everyday people. In the eyes of people around us, my husband and I are like a fairy couple. My mother-in-law said, “I feel so happy and relieved to see you two like this.”
I am deeply grateful for the arrangements Master made for me. He rearranged my life path when he saw that I truly wanted to practice cultivation, making it possible for me to meet my partner in this lifetime so that we can cultivate together and help each other along the way.
My husband and I started genuine cultivation in Dafa in 2021. Although it has not been long, we always remember our mission and make good use of our precious time to clarify the truth and save people. We work as a team and distribute truth-clarification materials to households in every residential community in the surrounding area. We have climbed the stairs in buildings of 20-30 stories all night without feeling tired.
Once, we were reported by someone who was deceived by the lies of the CCP and were arrested by the police. We kept strong righteous thoughts and never gave in to the perpetrators. While in jail, we talked about Falun Dafa with many people, and in the end, we walked out of the prison in a dignified manner.
The unlawful detention further strengthened my will to practice Falun Dafa and reinforced my view that righteous faith cannot be crushed by persecution or coercion.
My family has been through all kinds of ups and downs, and my parents and countless Dafa practitioners have suffered cruel persecution. Many even lost their lives. However, we have no regrets, and our faith in Dafa is even firmer and more unwavering.
(Selected submission in celebration of World Falun Dafa Day on Minghui.org)
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