(Minghui.org) There are many words which can be used to describe Falun Dafa. The word which comes to my mind is “Grateful.” My first amazing experience was the morning I was scheduled for surgery.
My abdomen began to cramp one night in 1998. The pain was so bad that I collapsed on my way to the bathroom. My family rushed me to the hospital. The night shift nurse believed I had appendicitis, but there was no surgeon on duty. Therefore, I had to wait until the next morning for surgery.
When my sister arrived early the next morning she said, “I know that many people have recovered from their illnesses after they began practicing Falun Dafa. Someone in almost every family practices, or knows someone who practices Falun Dafa.” It took three years before my sister encouraged me to give Falun Dafa a try.
I thought, “She’s right. I’m only 32 years old. Surgery can fix the issues I have now, but what about next time? Another surgery? Another treatment? Okay, I will practice Falun Dafa!”
The doctor and nurses came to prepare me for the surgery. When our righteous thoughts arise, we become stronger. I got out of bed and said I opted out of surgery. I discharged myself from the hospital. However, they prescribed a lot of medication, and I still had to receive treatment.
The persecution hadn’t begun yet, and many people practiced Falun Dafa in the public parks. In northeast China, no matter what time of day it was, people could be seen doing the Falun Dafa exercises in every park or public square. Falun Dafa was part of people’s lives and daily routines. After going home, I joined others to practice the exercises in a nearby park. At night, however, I went to the hospital for intravenous infusion and took medication.
As a new practitioner, I did not know the importance of Fa study. My upstairs neighbor hosted a study group and invited me to join. Through reading the teachings, I learned that cultivation means we should look inward and change ourselves from within, instead of trying to change others. When we improve, Master Li (Falun Dafa’s founder) eliminates the bad elements including illnesses for us. Modern medicine can only temporarily suppress and delay the progression of illness. I thought, “Why would I protect such a dirty body? I will do my best to cultivate and eliminate my notions and attachments!” Such a simple thought was probably similar to “letting go of life and death” that Master mentioned. I threw away all the medications.
Three weeks later, the pain in my abdomen was gone. All of my chronic gastrointestinal inflammation and joint problems disappeared. Without spending a penny, or having surgery, my life changed just because of the choice I made.
Soon afterward I met and married my husband. He is Japanese. He returned to Japan to work while I waited for my visa. This type of visa usually only takes a month to obtain. Mine took almost six months.
For me, these few months were the most precious time. Every morning I did the exercises with other practitioners in the park. During the day, those of us who had free time volunteered to help more people learn about Falun Dafa. In the evenings we studied the Fa and discussed our cultivation experiences.
Those few months were the most important and happy time in my life. I was living in an environment filled with friendliness and compassion. Many people wore the pin which had the Falun symbol. With a Falun pin on my chest, I walked with confidence and a smile on my face.
Six months later, I moved to Japan. Three months after I got my driver’s license, I encountered my first snowstorm.
The streets in Japan are narrow and I wasn’t yet used to driving with so much snow on the roads. One morning as I drove to work I saw someone shoveling snow. I quickly stepped on the brakes to avoid hitting him. I swerved to the other side of the road and had a head-on collision with an oncoming car.
My driver’s side door was caved in. I don’t remember how I got out of the car. I was not afraid, however. The other driver was an elderly man. His car was also badly damaged. Neither of us was hurt. I knew Master protected us.
The snow in northern Japan can accumulate up to two meters deep. One time I was helping my husband clean up the snow by dumping it into the drain by the side of the road. The light reflected from the snow was blinding me so I put on my husband’s ski goggles and continued working. As I was dumping snow with the wheelbarrow, it suddenly fell forward and the metal handlebar hit me in the eyes. Fortunately I had just put on the goggles. They were sturdy but when the handle struck them they broke. Master protected me again!
Dafa’s power helped me learn a new language. I never learned Japanese when I lived in China. Because of the language barrier, my first job in Japan was at a clothing factory. Six months later, I quit that job and began studying Japanese at home.
In high school, I studied day and night, but I still could not pass the college entrance exam. Dafa bestowed wisdom on me. In my 30s, I was able to memorize more than 50 words a day. In less than a year, I passed the first-level Japanese language exam.
Ten years later I applied for a Chinese-Japanese interpreter job at a Japanese IT company that has collaborated work with a company in China. During the interview, I lost confidence when I listened to an interpretation sample. I did not know any of the needed technical vocabularies in the fields of computer, physics and manufacturing. When I told the interviewer that I was not qualified for the job, he lent me a dictionary and encouraged me to give it a try.
With the thick dictionary in hand, I asked Master for help. In less than a week, I memorized most of the frequently used terms. As a middle-aged person, this was something I could have never achieved without Dafa’s wisdom. I got the job and I am well trusted and respected among my peers.
Master said, “...with one person practicing, the whole family benefits...” (Teachings at the Conference in Australia)
My husband told me he suffered from hemorrhoids for many years, but they were gone after I came to Japan. Ten years ago he began doing the exercises with me and he read Zhuan Falun in Japanese once. Even though he does not have a deep understanding of cultivation, his health has been good. I taught him how to say, “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” in Chinese. He sometimes puts fruit in front of Master’s portrait to show his respect.
Practicing Falun Dafa is the most fortunate and correct choice I made in my life. There is a saying, “One cannot change one’s fate if one doesn’t change oneself.” However, so many people still believe in the lies they were fed by the Chinese Communist Party. Sadly, the Chinese refuse to believe what they see, the miracle of Dafa in plain sight. They refuse to listen to Falun Dafa practitioners’ cultivation stories. Many Chinese complain about the unfairness of life and want to make a change. Yet, they believe the lies, and let the happiness Dafa can bring them slip past.
I sincerely hope that people can see how wonderful Falun Dafa is and experience the true meaning of “grateful.”