(Minghui.org) I’m 61 years old. I began to practice Falun Dafa in 2014. During my cultivation, Master has saved my life time after time, even though I hadn’t managed to cultivate myself solidly based on the requirements of the Fa. I looked outward when I ran into difficulties, as opposed to looking inward to cultivate myself. As a result, I recently faced a large trial. 

I’d like to share my experience with this trial and some of what led up to it, so as to showcase the miraculous nature of Dafa and Master’s compassion. 

Truly Beginning to Practice Falun Dafa

Prior to my obtaining the Fa, I always had severe urticaria (a severe, itchy rash with small pimples and weals). The worst bout of it put me in a very dangerous situation. I had mild symptoms at around 3 a.m. that day. I started to have diarrhea, and then my ears began to itch. When I scratched them, more and more lumps appeared, including on my head. After a while, my head became numb, and I started to feel confused. With that, my blood pressure dropped to zero, my throat closed up, and I couldn’t breathe. 

The doctor arrived and took my blood pressure. There was no reading for the upper number and the reading for the lower number was 35. I was in a very dangerous situation. Within a few minutes, my heart stopped beating and my pulse was gone. My wife kept begging for Master’s help to save me and recited, “Falun Dafa is wonderful! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is wonderful!” Later, I regained consciousness. 

My wife told me that only Dafa could save my life, and that it was Master who saved me when my life was in such great danger. Then she asked me to cultivate. I knew Dafa is good; that’s how my wife recovered from all her illnesses. I also knew that Dafa is miraculous, yet I couldn’t quit smoking and drinking, nor was I willing to do all that was expected of me if I practiced Dafa. 

Then I had this thought: “Master, if my illnesses are healed, I’ll put my heart into practicing Falun Dafa. I am a man of my word.” After that thought, I no longer had any relapse of urticaria. In thinking back about this now, I realize that Master is so compassionate, as I was bargaining with Master. I feel so ashamed of my attitude.

Another Falun Dafa practitioner, Ms. Jiang, suggested that I practice Dafa in 2014. She also asked me to listen to a podcast from the Pureinsight website. In the podcast, there was a story about a practitioner who didn’t do well, and as a result, the sentient beings in her world were destroyed. Hearing that, I was shocked. I said to Ms. Jiang, “I’ll practice right away!” 

She said, “If you do, you’ll have to quit smoking and drinking.” 

I replied, “Sure. If I don’t quit, wouldn’t the sentient beings in my world be destroyed as well?” However, I only quit drinking hard liquor, and still drank beer. 

Once after getting off work, I bought two cans of beer. When I got home, I found that both aluminum beer cans had holes in them, and the beer was leaking out. Both cans were only half full by then. The holes were not caused by sand. I understood that it was Master who gave me a hint to quit drinking and smoking. 

After that incident, I completely quit smoking and drinking and truly became a Dafa practitioner. 

Under Master’s Protection I Escaped Life-threatening Danger

We had to fix a broken speed reducer in 2015. The speed reducer first had to be lifted by a three-ton disc crane, and then placed on the ground. After that, the disc crane was lifted two or three meters high, and was hanging above our heads. None of us remembered to move the disc crane out of the way. A few of us gathered around the reducer. We first unscrewed the big screws that were densely packed together, and then started to overhaul the reducer. The disk crane was still hanging over our heads.

I suddenly felt someone slap my hand. Reflexively, I quickly retracted my hand and scurried to the factory’s large iron gate. At that moment, I heard a loud “clang.” The large iron hook on the disk crane had dropped and landed on the spot where I had just been standing. It had slammed into the cover of the speed reducer. Everyone was shocked: How could that large iron hook fall? They quickly looked for me and saw that I was standing at the gate and was fine!

A worker standing two or three meters away had witnessed everything. He was so scared he could hardly talk. Later he said, “Wow, Li (my surname), I thought you were done for! That hook was so heavy. I was so frightened when it fell that I couldn’t speak. When I tried to shout, I had no voice.” When my colleagues came to their senses, they began to look for tools to remove the big iron hook. It took half a day just to pry off the metal cable with a crowbar, which had been impacted from the tremendous weight of the hook falling down. 

Everyone wondered: Why did this iron hook drop? The metal cable was tightly bound, how could it fall? That was really a life-saving move for me! If that iron hook, which weighed over 50 lbs., had fallen on me, the consequences would have been disastrous! After the electrician reinstalled the hook, the disc crane worked fine.

I told my coworker that I was saved because I started practicing Dafa. Otherwise, I am sure I would have been done for. 

Clarifying the Facts and Witnessing Miracles

Since I began practicing Dafa, I have gone out onto the streets with fellow practitioners to talk to people about Falun Dafa and the persecution. We hang banners and put up sticky notes. Sometimes my wife and I have ridden a tricycle for miles to pass out truth-clarification materials to people. We often place the brochures and amulets in a circle, for the mine workers to choose from. 

Master often displayed miracles to encourage us. One time, a practitioner and I went out to hang banners on a large bridge at the entrance of a village at night. I couldn’t take my eyes off the large fireball that appeared on the side of the mountain. I also saw a big bright fireball hanging in the sky. That same night, my wife went out with another practitioner to distribute brochures. Wherever they went, bright lights like fireworks followed them, which she said was quite magical!

I had a coworker, who was an electrician and was called by everyone as Xiaocheng. He didn’t understand the truth about Dafa for a long time. So I continued talking to him about Dafa until he agreed to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. 

Xiaocheng worked in a coal mine. The bottom of the mine was about 200 meters (650 feet) below the cave entrance, at a slope of 70 degrees, which was very steep. He was once working halfway down the mine when an oxygen cylinder at the wellhead began to roll down rapidly. He thought the sound was the mine car coming down, but then realized it was the oxygen cylinder. The mine tunnel was very narrow and there was nowhere for him to move aside. He stood there dumbfounded. Unexpectedly, the oxygen cylinder stopped several feet away from him!

When he shared this incident with me, he said, “After this, I do believe that Dafa is truly amazing! I had the amulet with me. How did the oxygen cylinder stop? Rolling down with such speed, it couldn’t stop. Falun Dafa is truly miraculous! It can save people at the critical moment!” 

Without Cultivating My Xinxing, My Tribulations Built Up

Prior to starting cultivation in Falun Dafa, I was very loyal to my friends. I always stood by them and helped them if they needed help. I usually loved to fight when I saw injustice, and I could never allow others to denigrate what I thought was right. At that time, I knew that Dafa was good. When other people discredited Dafa, I was not afraid to speak out. 

When I first began practicing, I thought of the crucifixion of Jesus, and I had this thought: If anything happens to Master, I have to stand in front of Master. I would die for Master!

Since cultivating, I paid a lot of attention to studying the Fa and doing the exercises. I realized that cultivation isn’t simply about being loyal to friends, but rather, one needs to follow the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance to solidly cultivate oneself. One needs to improve one’s xinxing in order to perform solid cultivation. At that time, I didn’t realize how serious cultivation was, nor did I pay attention to cultivating xinxing in the small things in my day-to-day life. At home or work, I looked outward when I encountered conflicts. I kept failing to maintain my xinxing and didn’t pass the tests well. Like snowballs rolling down a hill, those tests became larger. They eventually triggered a huge tribulation. 

Besides failing my xinxing tests, I also became addicted to my cellphone, chatting with my childhood friends on WeChat and watching short videos. In July 2023, I experienced a major health crisis. My heart started to hurt and I beat my chest to try to relieve the pain. When my wife asked me what was wrong, I didn’t tell her.

At times, I also didn’t behave like a practitioner in my interaction with people. When others created opportunities to improve my xinxing, I just let them go. For example, one time I was loading a truck with my colleagues Jiang, Wang, and Xiaochengzi. One of them asked me whether I and another colleague practiced the same cultivation. Xiaochengzi commented that our Master had escaped to the U.S. When I heard this, I was furious. I said, “Xiaochengzi, you know the truth. Why would you say that? If it were some time ago I would have given you a hard time!” We were lifting aluminum alloy square tubes at that time, and I threw a tube at them in anger. The square tube hit Wang’s foot. While he was rubbing his foot, I was still upset.

Another time, I went out with a few colleagues. In the car, one colleague said that he didn’t know who had stuck a card on the car. Xiaochengzi said, “Wasn’t this done by Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa)?!” Upon hearing that, I couldn’t maintain my xinxing, I said, “Xiaochengzi, what’s wrong with you? Are you really tired of living?” As I said that, I leaned towards the back seat and wanted to take action. Jiang quickly tried to pull us apart and said to me, “Laoli! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance!” I then realized that I’m a practitioner, so I moved back. Then Wang scolded Xiaochengzi for talking nonsense.

These were only two cases where I failed xinxing tests with people. At home and work, I also failed to maintain my xinxing. But I didn’t enlighten. These trials were taken advantage of by the evil time after time. The evil put them together and attacked me in December 2023

Master Helped Me Through a Life-and-death Trial

I started to feel unwell at work on December 16, 2023. When I went upstairs to work, my legs felt as if they were tied up, and my heart ached. As I was carrying coal, I almost fainted twice. I thought, I can’t let my colleagues see me. They’d wonder how a Dafa practitioner could be like this. I pretended to be fine, as I couldn’t let them see it.

After I got home, I also didn’t tell my wife about my problem. I didn’t want to talk, nor did I have the energy to talk. The next morning I got up some time past seven a.m. I was sweating all over, and my bedding was soaked. I hadn’t slept through the night and didn’t eat that day. My colleagues also noticed my condition. They saw that I looked bad and had lost a lot of weight. 

I really couldn’t hold on any longer on the evening of December 20. So I asked Mr. Yang, who is also a fellow practitioner, if he could fill in for me for a day. I was very embarrassed about needing him to fill in. Mr. Yang often helps me. So the next day, he came to replace me. 

I rode my e-bike to the apartment to pick up something on the morning of December 21. Unexpectedly, I heard someone talking to me. When I listened closely, it was Master! I quickly parked my e-bike. Master enlightened me about my cultivation issues. It was clear: although I’ve studied a lot of Fa, I failed to behave according to the Fa’s requirements. Upon thinking about it, I began to cry. 

Master helped me understand that everything within the three realms, every human factor, and every attachment needs to be let go of. One cannot take any of it along. Even having just a little bit, one can’t reach consummation. I started my e-bike and moved on, tears covering my face. 

In dealing with other practitioners, no matter what kind of conflicts we run into, no matter how well or not other practitioners have cultivated, we must look inward. I had to look back at my cultivation and see where I fell short. I found all kinds of attachments. I understood that when dealing with regular people, I must speak in a gentle tone. 

After I returned home and was doing the sitting meditation, I recalled what Master said. I still couldn’t hold back my tears. I truly felt that I hadn’t cultivated well. I’ve studied a lot of Fa, but failed to pass my xinxing tests most of the time. Firstly, when a regular person said unpleasant words about Dafa, I began to argue with them. Secondly, I was attached to my cell phone. The evil factors saw this and made note of all this. This time they wanted to take my life! 

The most serious illusions of illness appeared on December 22 and 23. My wife said that my voice had changed. There was a deep pit in my back and ribs. When I couldn’t sleep well, I vaguely saw a spirit from the underworld, which looked like a skeleton without a lower body, holding a pipa (a stringed, lute-like musical instrument) in its arms, floating in the air near me and circling around me. 

I couldn’t even do the Falun Standing Stance exercise for just five minutes. My feet felt as if I’d stepped onto a hot iron plate, so hot that I couldn’t bear it. The insides of my thighs were extremely itchy. When I couldn’t bear it any longer, I scratched them to the point that they bled. When I used alcohol to relieve the itching, I didn’t even feel the sting of the alcohol, and it was still itchy.

I also couldn’t eat. The evil factors completely disrupted my body, and they kept projecting negative thoughts into my mind. When I studied the Fa, I felt more tired than ever before. I couldn’t read a complete sentence out loud; the words just popped out one by one. The words I saw were all correct, but when I read them out loud they were all wrong. I read “more” as “less” and “fast” as “slow.”

In these most serious several days, my weight dropped by over 20 lbs. 

Later, I shared about this with my wife. She told me that when I was going through this trial, she was also going through a trial. Both her selfishness and fear came out. She thought: “His state is so off this time, can he pass this trial? If he fails, what should I do?” But she quickly seized upon this thought and sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate any bad thoughts. Suddenly, she changed her mind, thinking, “He’ll be fine. He is a practitioner. He has Master to take care of him!” 

A few times when I felt I couldn’t bear it any more, and I began to recall Master’s words, “Having heard the Dao in the morning, one can die in the evening.” (“Melt Into the Fa,” Essentials for Further Advancement)

I thought: “I am a practitioner, so I have no illness. Regardless of whether I did right or wrong, I have Master to take care of me. Even though I didn’t cultivate well, I have Master in charge of me.” I just kept negating the evil, and never thought about going to the hospital. 

I also recalled from Master’s lectures, that when going through a trial, no matter how big one’s tribulation is, the key is for one to have righteous thoughts. Without that, Master can’t do anything for us. I then strengthened my righteous thoughts. “I practice Dafa,” I said. “Master, please help your disciple. I didn’t do well. Master, please help your disciple.” 

Master is truly extremely compassionate! After a while I could eat some congee, and I gradually started to recover on December 23 and 24. My body felt extremely relaxed after recovering.

I went back to work on the evening of December 24. After I loaded up the mine, it was past midnight, and I couldn’t fall asleep. My body felt very light. So I got up to do the sitting meditation. At first, I sat in the half-lotus position and felt very relaxed. Then, I tried sitting in the full-lotus position. By the time I finished, when I checked the clock, I had sat in that position for 35 minutes. I had osteomalacia since I was a child, and I couldn’t walk until I was nine years old, as my legs were deformed. For the past ten years of cultivation, I was never able to sit in the full-lotus position. I always sat in the half-lotus position. As soon as I would sit in the full-lotus position, I felt as if my legs were torn apart. However, after this tribulation, I can easily sit in the full lotus position. I also realized that Master helped me eliminate the bad element that caused the itchiness in my legs! I finally passed this trial on December 24, 2023. 

With a New Lease on Life, I Pay Attention to Solidly Cultivating Myself

After breaking through this trial, I realized that I must cultivate myself solidly in my day-to-day life, as well as in my every thought and action. 

When I looked for Mr. Yang to take my shift, he initially refused, saying he had something else to do. I was upset when I heard that. I thought, “I’ve helped you a lot when you had conflicts with work. You simply asked, and I came right away. I’m in such a difficult situation; why can’t you come and take my place? Instead, you asked me to find someone else. If I could call someone else, would I have called you?” My unbalanced heart and resentment showed up immediately. 

Now, reflecting on what Master said, no matter how other people treat me, I should just ignore it, and only examine my own heart. When he refused to take my shift, it wasn’t his problem, but mine. It’s because of something I did wrong that he didn’t want to give me a hand. 

My wife and I often ended up in an argument over something petty. Now she says I’ve changed, and so has she. A fellow practitioner is like a mirror, reflecting my own attachments for me to see. 

I came to understand the meaning of looking inward, and I truly learned how to look inward. After this trial, practitioners shared with me that I seemed much calmer than before, with the ferocious and complaining expression that was on my face getting less. With my xinxing improvement, my expression improved accordingly. Through this tribulation, when I couldn’t maintain my xinxing, I could reflect on myself immediately and realize where I was off. 

A practitioner bought popcorn for us a few days ago, and my wife put it in a basket outside the window. Unexpectedly, a strong wind came up and blew the popcorn away. This time, I didn’t maintain my xinxing and scolded my wife harshly: “How come you didn’t realize that the popcorn could be blown away by the wind? Could you not think about that?! “

Immediately after I went on and on, I realized that my resentment had flared up again. I apologized to my wife. She didn’t want the popcorn to be blown away either, so why should I get upset at her? Every little thing in our day-to-day life comes down to our own cultivation. 

This experience was truly soul-stirring. Thinking back about the entire process of my getting over this trial, I cannot repay Master’s compassion! What I can do is cultivate myself well and perform solid cultivation.