(Clearwisdom.net) I am a farmer in China. In the past, poverty and the hard labor on the rice paddies all year around took a severe toll on my health. Because of my bronchitis, I had to stop farming every autumn and limit myself to strictly indoor activities. Nevertheless, I would still suffer from shortness of breath and feel extremely frail every autumn, and I would become bed-ridden.
There is an old Chinese saying that, "Misfortune never comes alone." After a pesticide contamination accident, I started to suffer from a rare skin disease that no medical doctor was able to identify. I frequently suffered from high fevers and swelling. My skin would frequently become so dry that it cracked, bled and oozed fluids. Some areas of my skin would look like layers of dark brown, hard fish scales. They would itch so badly that I could not sleep or rest at all. It was not only physical but mental suffering.
For five years, I kept seeking medical help and offering incense in the Buddhist temples, but my skin disease had never improved. In the summer of 2004, my skin disease suddenly deteriorated further, to an extent that my severely swollen eyelids obscured my vision. As a result, I had difficulty moving about by myself. My children were overcome with worry and took me to the city for medical treatment.
The doctors had a joint diagnosis on my skin disease. They agreed that it was such a rare problem that it was beyond the help of medicine. They also discovered that the severity of my skin disease would vary for unknown reasons. Because the doctors could not identify the skin disease after their joint diagnosis, the hospital made it a case study. They also saw a shadow in my chest X-ray, and did a lung biopsy. While I was staying in the hospital, friends and relatives came to visit me at the hospital ward. When they saw the way I suffered, they turned their faces away to hide and wipe their tears to avoid upsetting me. However, their facial expressions told me plainly the severity of my illnesses.
Then a kindhearted person offered me a piece of advice. He said, "Why don't you try to believe in Falun Gong? Repeat to yourself in the heart, 'Falun Dafa (or Falun Gong) is good. Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance are good!'" "I will believe in Falun Gong," I replied. Then I started to repeat to myself, "Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance are good." On the day of the scheduled surgery, my physician did the pre-surgery physical examination four times, but each time he found my physical condition unsuitable for surgery. Next he and several of his colleagues had another examination. They came to a conclusion that there was a good chance that I might die on the surgery table in my current condition, especially when my body was so swollen that they could hardly find a vein for injections. So they decided to call off the surgery. My physician told my children, "Your father is too ill for surgery. He might not survive or recover from the surgery. However, the medical expenses would be substantial if we continue to give him treatment as an in-patient. Why don't I prescribe some medicine and in-home medical shots so that he can go home and rest? I want you to buy your father whatever food he wishes to have." So I returned home without having the surgery.
After I returned home, my children followed the doctor's instructions and gave me medication and injections. I forgot about reciting, "Falun Dafa is good" or "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance is good." Another half a month had passed, but my illnesses did not improve at all. Finally I told my children, "I want to stop the injections. It is obvious that they failed to do anything, so why should I continue the injections? All it does is cost us money. I have decided to believe in Falun Gong and I will leave my fate to Falun Gong!"
Since then, I have persevered in reciting, "Falun Dafa is good" or "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance is good." At first, I was bed-ridden and did not have the strength to read Falun Gong's main text, Zhuan Falun, so my children read the book to me. The more I heard the content of Zhuan Falun, the better I felt. I asked my children, "Could you ask the man who lent us a copy of Zhuan Falun if we could keep it?" I was so ecstatic when I learned that the man had graciously given us the book, that I could not sleep! Then a miracle happened! I was very happy that day. During that day, I felt my chest was suddenly cleansed. On the next day, I could sit up on the bed! The fever was gone and my body stopped swelling! On the third day, I could get off the bed and moved about on my own! Then I discovered that my skin had discharged fluids that wet the bed and comforter.
Since then I have watched my health improve each day. One day my primary physician came to visit me at home and was astonished to see my improvement! He exclaimed, "Oh, my goodness! How you have improved! What type of medication did you take? It is incredible!" My family was overcome with joy when they saw the doctor's reaction. As for me, I kept repeating, "Thank you! Teacher Li Hongzhi! From now on, I will not believe in anyone but you! I will follow you to the completion of my cultivation practice! Thank you!" Words cannot describe my immense gratitude towards Teacher. I became all the more determined in my faith in Teacher and Falun Gong, and I became all the more determined in cultivating myself under the tutelage of Teacher Li.
Since then, I have been studying Teacher's books and practicing Falun Gong's five exercises. Although I have a very limited vocabulary, I have been very diligent in studying Teacher's books and would ask others when I come across words and phrases I don't understand. I am increasingly interested in studying Teacher's books each day. I feel I learn something new each time I finish studying one book. In addition to studying Teacher's books, I have also been listening to Teacher's lecture on audiocassettes repeatedly. I have learned from studying Teacher's books that my illnesses in this life was a karmic result of my wrongdoings in many of my previous lives and that the only way to become permanently free of sickness karma is to become a cultivator and complete my cultivation.
Within just a month, my health was miraculously restored. Those who had not seen me while I was suffering from the rare skin disease and bronchitis might have a difficult time believing the miraculous power of Falun Gong. But I am most certainly convinced of Falun Gong's mighty power. It is as miraculous as I have described, although it might seem incredible to some people. Falun Dafa saved my life! Teacher Li Hongzhi pulled me from the death's door. He gave me a second life and an opportunity to start my cultivation practice! I will always be thankful to Teacher and I shall cultivate until I complete my journey.