(Minghui.org) I’ve practiced Falun Dafa for many years, and I was fortunate to witness how Dafa became popular in China before the persecution.
The assistant at our practice site attended Master’s lecture in Jinan City, Shandong Province in 1994. She initially practiced alone. Her family later began practicing, as well as two or three people from a school in Beijing.
I had many illnesses then, so I stayed at home. I also had family problems. A nurse who gave me injections told me about Falun Dafa in March 1995 and said, “Falun Dafa is a form of cultivation from the Buddhist school. It is based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. There are five sets of exercises that are simple and easy to learn. It has extraordinary health benefits.” I was disheartened with life and really wanted to practice cultivation. After hearing her words, I was keen to learn Falun Dafa. It was end of March, and she told me where I could go to listen to Master’s taped lectures and said the class had begun two days ago.
That night an elderly woman led me to a tiny meeting room at the school union. There were around twelve people there, and they were the first group of practitioners in the area. I felt an extremely strong energy field the first time I attended the class. I felt energy moving all over me. I was in poor health and felt cold qi coming out of my body. It was as if I had caught a heavy cold, just as described in the main book Zhuan Falun. Some attendees even had a fever.
Everyone felt great after we listened to all of Master’s nine lectures. The assistant showed us the exercises. The practice site was on a quiet road. Everyone had wonderful experiences and introduced Falun Dafa to their friends and family. Word spread, and every day more people came to the practice site. Entire families came. The road was very narrow and soon there was not enough space to fit everyone. We moved to a bigger place.
The assistant put a lot of emphasis on guiding everyone to study the Fa teachings. After we did the exercises, she played recordings of Master’s lectures. We also watched videos of his lectures. As people from surrounding areas came to practice, the numbers at the practice site increased rapidly. Later on, the original location could no longer accommodate so many people, and many practice sites were set up around the school.
Before and after 1999, we even joined in group exercises at the Summer Palace Park and the Yuanming Yuan Park. There were around 1,000 people doing the exercises at these parks. When the music began, everyone stood quietly in orderly rows and we did the exercises. It was tranquil, and the energy field was strong. It was a majestic sight. I felt light and did not have any stray thoughts. I only felt joyful and immersed in the Fa. Many people became practitioners after seeing so many people practicing Falun Dafa. Those years of peacefully and freely practicing Falun Dafa were truly blissful and amazing!
One couple got into a fight because the husband went out to do the exercises at night after dinner. He was afraid that his wife would stop him, so he did not tell her where he went. His wife was unhappy and picked a fight. Her husband told her he was practicing Falun Dafa, and how great it was. His wife said angrily: “Such a good thing, why didn’t you tell me? Aren’t you being selfish?” Her husband thought: “You’re always throwing tantrums, I didn’t think this was for you.” Thus, the wife followed the man to the practice site to learn the exercises and became a practitioner.
There was another couple. The husband practiced Tantric Buddhism originally, and the wife also followed another spiritual way. After hearing the assistant of the practice site say how great Falun Dafa is, the husband switched to practicing Dafa. After he started practicing, his wife fought with him every day. He conducted himself according to Falun Dafa’s principles and did not argue when she criticized him or retaliate when she hit him. He quietly did what he was supposed to do at home. He put Dafa books in places where his wife could not find them, and his wife read the books secretly. She thought it was indeed good and switched to practicing Dafa too.
Zhuan Falun was in short supply then. I did not have the book when I began to practice. I only listened to the recordings of Master’s 7 Day Lectures because I missed the first two days. One day, everyone shared cultivation experiences at the practice site after we did the exercises. This was the first time I heard of Zhuan Falun. I said, “I don’t have this book, where can I buy it?” A young man, a stranger, loaned me his. I was overjoyed and read the book that night. I hardly slept at all, yet I was alert and not tired. I wept as I read. I used to blame others for my misfortunes. After reading the book, I understood that all misfortunes are caused by my own karma. One’s purpose in life is to return to one’s origin. I was reluctant to return the book to the young man. I was very selfish then. I only wanted to keep reading the book. I did not think of him.
A few days later, the young man asked, “Have you finished reading the book?” I lied: “Not yet.” I dragged it out for two days before returning the book. Words cannot express how much I wanted to study the Fa. Here, I want to apologize to the practitioner whose name I don’t remember: “Thank you for your selfless help!” He was just like veteran practitioners who gave up their tickets to Master’s lectures so that new practitioners could attend, they did things for the sake of others.
I did not see the young man at the practice site again. I learned that he had come to Beijing from Xinjiang to attend a training. He returned home after learning the exercises. Indeed, predestined people came a long way to obtain the Fa and even helped me, a new practitioner. I will never forget how selfless he was. Later on, Zhuan Falun became widely available. I bought several copies and gave them to friends and family.
When we watched Master’s taped lectures together, many people saw Master’s law body, the image of a Buddha with bright blue hair, noble and sacred. People saw Falun at the practice site and group study. Some saw beings in other dimensions doing the exercises with us. These beings came and left quietly. I also saw Falun just as Master described in Zhuan Falun: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, spinning and changing colors constantly. It was very beautiful.
Everyone was very diligent in practicing cultivation then, doing the exercises in the morning and at night. After the exercises at night, we listened to Master’s lectures. On weekends, we studied the Fa together or went out to tell people about the practice. When we read the teachings together, practitioners whose third eye was open saw a stream of Falun coming out of the assistant’s mouth as she read the book. This practitioner also saw dragons and other beings cultivated by practitioners.
A female practitioner in her 60s practiced other forms of qigong in the past and was possessed by animal spirits. She had headaches and felt giddy all day. She came to learn Falun Dafa. Once, while sharing experiences, she said excitedly: “Falun Dafa is a righteous way. The first time I came to the practice site, the animal spirit fled, it was a giant snake. Since then, I have felt better.”
An elderly woman used to practice Pure Land Buddhism. She suffered from poor health for many years. There was a growth in her nose and she could not breathe properly. Her nose felt blocked all the time and she thought of going to the hospital for surgery. Her good friend suggested that she learn Falun Dafa. After she read the Falun Dafa books, she decided to practice. Soon after she begun to practice, one night, she coughed non-stop. Something dropped out of her nose. She caught it with a piece of tissue and it was a blood clot. It was the growth in her nose. Her whole family witnessed how extraordinary Dafa is.
The assistant at our practice site previously suffered from gynecological cysts and often had heavy bleeding. After practicing Dafa, the cysts disappeared.
The elderly woman who took me to the introductory class suffered from high blood pressure and heart disease when she was young. She soon recovered after practicing. She painstakingly copied Zhuan Falun by hand every day. She saw Master’s law body and Falun on every character in the book and it emitted a red light.
There was another elderly woman in her 60s. She suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure when she was in her 20's. She kept taking medication, yet her blood pressure continued to be high. She also saw Master’s law body the first time she watched Master’s taped lectures. After studying the Fa and doing the exercises earnestly for one month, she went for a physical examination, and results were normal.
Although I was young then, I was in poor health for a long time. I suffered from many illnesses. I took medication and injections all year round, but I did not get better. I stayed in the hospital for up to six months at a time. I did not want to live anymore. After I practiced Falun Dafa, my health rapidly improved. I was able to live and work normally. Thirty years have passed and I haven’t taken a single pill.
Once, at a large scale cultivation experience sharing conference, an elderly woman spoke of how she quit drinking, gambling and truly practiced cultivation. Later on, she had her period again.
There are many stories of how people regained their health through practicing Dafa, as well as too many extraordinary experiences. I won’t list all of them. Everything Master said in Zhuan Falun is true. The power of the Fa is boundless. As long as you study and practice, you will change physically and mentally.
Falun Dafa has very high character requirements, and practitioners quickly improve their morals after they begin practicing and become better people. The assistant at our practice site brought a tape recorder to the practice site every day and helped everyone voluntarily. She taught the exercises and used her own money to print Master’s new articles. Later on, when many people came to the practice site, everyone asked to split the cost, and she accepted money, once and in a token amount. Her house was only around 60 square meters, yet every week people went there to study the Fa and she hosted them warmly. She never thought it was inconvenient.
There was another male practitioner in his 50s. He had a mother in her 80s and a daughter who was ill. He had a huge family burden and had to work. This man bought Dafa books for everyone. There were constantly new practitioners then. When it was just a few books, he would ride his bicycle to the practice site to collect them. When there were many books, he would go and pick them up in a rickshaw. The books were sold at wholesale prices and it was very cheap. All those years, he helped everyone voluntarily and tirelessly. He always smiled. I heard that during the holidays he often took on other people’s shifts. He was truly one who only thought of others.
The woman I mentioned earlier who started to practice Dafa after a fight with her husband suffered from kidney disease before she became a practitioner. She often had back aches and blood in her urine. After practicing, she recovered. She had a bad temper in the past and was petty. She would fight with others if she thought she was treated unfairly. After practicing cultivation, she became kind and peaceful. She often had a smile on her face and spoke gently. It was as if she became a different person. She loved riding her bicycle and helped elderly people carry heavy things when she saw them on the street. She even offered to help them carry the things home.
There was a child at her granddaughter’s kindergarten. Her parents had no time to take her home. This practitioner would take her home and help look after her until the parent picked her up after work. Later on, when the child attended primary school, she went to her place to help her do her homework after school. The parents were very grateful and bought her presents during New Year. She refused to accept anything. This practitioner who worked at a canteen would offer to take on shifts for coworkers who lived in other areas during Chinese New Year so that they could go home. One New Year, she had a fever and felt terrible. She did not take time off work and made dumplings for everyone. Everyone at her workplace said she was a better person after practicing Dafa.
After the persecution began in 1999, she wanted to speak out for Dafa at the Appeals Office. She was arrested and taken back at Tiananmen Square. She reached retirement age, but her workplace fired her illegally. I heard her employers sent four people to monitor her after she was arrested and sent home. They took turns coercing and threatening her, trying to make her quit practicing. They also threatened to fire her family members.
She was suffering tremendously, but she was not resentful. Under such circumstances, she conducted herself according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and cooked for those who monitored her. No one could do this if they did not have great compassion and tolerance. Afterwards, these people said: “She is truly a good person!” This practitioner was illegally sent to labor camp and brainwashing centers afterwards for refusing to stop practicing and telling people the facts on Dafa.
There was another practitioner. One year, his workplace organized a mountain hiking trip. This practitioner used to suffer from heart problems and an irregular heartbeat. For many years, he was afraid to go on hikes at the mountain. After practicing Dafa, he felt he had recovered and should be fine, so he went along. When he climbed halfway up the mountain, he met a Japanese man who had fainted due to a heart attack. This practitioner saw the man was in a dangerous situation. Without thinking, he carried the man on his back down the mountain. He was extremely tired but he grit his teeth and persisted. The man escaped danger after doctors rushed to treat him. The Japanese man asked for the practitioner’s contact information and wanted to repay him.
He did not know that the man who saved him used to suffer from severe heart problems. If he had not practiced Dafa, it was unthinkable that he could carry such a heavy person down the mountain. This practitioner said to the Japanese man, “You don’t have to thank me. I practice Falun Dafa. My Master taught me to be a good person!” Because he ran too fast, this practitioner’s legs hurt for a long time, but his heart was fine.
This practitioner is a responsible worker and loves to help people. He takes fame and gain lightly. Every year, he came in first in performance evaluations, but he turned down the award every time and gave others the honor. Later on, his manager said, “Don’t turn down the award. Everyone thinks you deserve it, that you are the most appropriate person to receive the award.”
During a cultivation experience sharing conference a practitioner said, “In China, everyone takes things home from work.” After he began practicing Dafa, he returned everything he took. Some practitioners even returned money that did not belong to them. Falun Dafa practitioners are like pure lotus blooms in the muddy world.