(Minghui.org) I was born into a large family with many Falun Dafa practitioners. Even though I knew about the practice, I didn’t begin to genuinely cultivate until late 2024. Thanks to Master’s compassionate salvation and protection, my life has since been completely transformed. I would like to share my story to encourage other practitioners.
When I was little, I often dreamed of Master, who compassionately smiled at me. In these dreams I played with Master and he removed my karma. I saw through my celestial eye rotating Falun (Law Wheels) and many other wonderful things. In one dream, a few deities came and wanted to teach me their cultivation ways. I refused, and told them, “I practice Falun Dafa.” They smiled and said I was “teachable.”
Dafa’s extraordinary powers kept me out of dangerous situations. I was once rushed to the county hospital for acute appendicitis. The doctors told my parents to take me to the city hospital for proper care. The entire way there, I recited “Falun Dafa is good.” When we arrived, the doctor didn’t do anything. Instead, they had me stay the night to be monitored. By the next morning, I felt fine and was told I could go home. I did not need surgery or medication.
My happy childhood came to an abrupt end when my father became ill and passed away. I left home shortly after and attended college in a different city. I didn’t know any Dafa practitioners there so I didn’t have a cultivation environment.
This was the first time I was on my own and away from home. I was swept along by the money-driven culture in China, and I gradually embraced a lifestyle that conformed to the deteriorated morals and values of today’s society. I chased after the things everyone else did, and strayed farther and farther away from Falun Dafa’s principles: Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. I no longer believed in the goodness of people, and I didn’t trust anyone. I judged a person by how much money they made instead of their character. I wanted to make a fortune without having to put in the hard work.
I was confused, and felt anxious. Why was it that those who lacked moral principles seemed to get whatever they wanted yet good people suffered? What on earth was the right thing to do? I was at a loss and wondered what the true meaning of life was. I decided I wanted to practice Falun Dafa and return to my true self. I asked Master for help and hoped to truly obtain the Fa and embark on the journey of cultivation and return to my heavenly home.
Master never gave up on me. I met a Falun Dafa practitioner one day on the street, and I started going to group Fa study regularly. The practitioners encouraged me to establish a routine for Fa study, and they taught me the five exercises. By observing them I saw what it meant to cultivate diligently and how to truly cultivate myself. They also taught me how to log on to the Minghui website to download Falun Dafa books. Thanks to Master’s arrangement, I finally started to truly cultivate.
Through studying the Fa, I slowly came to understand the mistakes I had made in the past. I learned that all suffering in life was caused by my karma. I subsequently no longer judged people or things by their monetary worth, and I started to look within when I encountered conflicts. When my workplace assigned dorm rooms, I took the smallest one so others could have a more comfortable living arrangement. At work, my co-workers left all the tasks for me to handle while they played games or chatted over tea. They then claimed they did the work and badmouthed me in front of the boss.
I held myself to the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and I tried to do a good job with each task I was assigned. I didn’t fight for personal gain or feel bitter toward others. Even so, my co-workers ganged up to give me the lowest score for the end of year evaluation. After the results were published, the entire company treated me like I was lazy and inferior. Even co-workers from other departments talked about me behind my back. I was not moved, and I continued to work hard.
Then one day, I was let go. For the rest of the day, my co-workers bombarded me with questions about the project we were working on. When I didn’t get back to them right away, they criticized and insulted me. I reminded myself that I was a cultivator, and I looked inward to identify my attachments. I worked hard until the very last minute and did my best to bring the person replacing me up to speed, knowing all the while that he got the position because of nepotism.
My long time boyfriend also broke up with me. I had just loaned him my entire savings to help with his business. It was truly like Master said:
“A hundred hardships falling all at once”(“Tempering One’s Heart and Will,” Hong Yin)
I knew it was a test. It took me so long to finally obtain the Fa, so however difficult and painful the journey was, I knew I must persevere.
I went back to my hometown and spent more than two months focusing on Fa study and cultivating myself. I knew that as a new practitioner, I needed to be diligent and study the Fa more. I read one lecture of Zhuan Falun each day, hand-copied the Fa, and read Master’s new lectures. I read all of Master’s teachings and articles in those two months.
Having just lost my job, having a long-term relationship end, and losing all my savings, I often found myself in a downward spiral of self-doubt and anxious thoughts. I felt depressed and utterly hopeless about the future. I also suffered from severe joint pain and had difficulty raising my arms and walking. Doing the standing exercises was challenging.
To further assimilate to the Fa, I stopped watching TV shows and removed all social media apps from my phone. When I had free time, I listened to Dafa music or Minghui Radio. I reminded myself not to get distracted and lost among ordinary people. I sent righteous thoughts every day to eliminate bad thoughts and dismantle the old forces’ arrangements and interference.
I dreamed one night that I was walking on a tight path. It was so narrow that I had to put one foot in front of the other. But I kept going and eventually reached an area where many practitioners were waiting to get on the Fa ship. I knew Master was encouraging me.
Heavily influenced by society’s declined morals and degenerated lifestyle, I used to think premarital sex was normal, thus I made a lot of mistakes in this regard. After I began to genuinely practice Falun Dafa, I recognized these mistakes and made up my mind to never do it again.
I had a lot of interference at first in the form of lustful thoughts. I tried to suppress, reject, and eliminate them. Later, I was tested repeatedly in my dreams. Sometimes I was able to restrain myself but other times I failed. To address this issue, I started memorizing and reciting the Fa. I also listened to stories of traditional and divine culture on Minghui Radio, and I read many sharing articles written by other practitioners about removing the attachment to lust.
These thoughts began surfacing less frequently, but I experienced some interference in my dreams. I sometimes felt I was being inappropriately touched and groped, and my main consciousness became alert right away. I wanted to wake up but found myself pinned down by a powerful force. I was stuck and couldn’t wake up. I recited the words for righteous thoughts, and asked Master for help. In that instant, a ray of golden light appeared and obliterated all the evil elements, and I woke up. Thank you, Master, for compassionately watching over me.
After I returned to my hometown, I began to clarify the truth to my mother. She worked for the government and was heavily indoctrinated with communist and atheist ideology. She didn’t believe me at first and didn’t want to hear any of it.
I talked to her about Dafa one time while she was cooking. When I mentioned the persecution and how it had no legal basis, my mother, who was usually a very gentle person, flew into a rage. She screamed at me while waving a big cleaver. It was very intense. But I didn’t get discouraged and I didn’t give up. I knew that I had to let go of sentimentality toward her in order to save her.
I started sending righteous thoughts to specifically target the evil forces behind her that kept her from learning the truth. I looked inward to examine myself and found that I harbored resentment toward the communist regime. I was contentious, didn’t like being criticized, and I always wanted to prove that I was right. I also had fear.
The moment I recognized my fear, I realized that this was what prevented my mother from learning the truth—she was afraid that I would be targeted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and persecuted for practicing Falun Dafa. The next time I tried to talk to her she listened. After an hour-long conversation, she agreed to quit the CCP and its youth organizations.
Before our breakup, my ex-boyfriend Bao cheated on me and beat me when I confronted him—I was covered in bruises. When he needed help with his business, I loaned him my entire savings, which he never paid back. After I lost my job and my assigned dorm, I left some of my belongings at his place and I temporarily stayed with a practitioner.
After I became serious about cultivation and started to measure everything with the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, I realized I had made many mistakes in my relationship with Bao—the biggest was moving in with him. I wanted to clarify the truth to him, but reminded myself that I must conduct myself properly so as to not tarnish Dafa’s reputation.
The first time I tried talking to him about Dafa and suggesting that he do good deeds, he yelled insults and kicked me out. He said he only believed in money, not karma or the consequences for one’s actions.
I felt wronged. I was kind to him, yet he treated me so badly. I felt he was money-driven, stubborn, lacked integrity, and had tremendous karmic debts. I decided that he was hopeless and not worth saving. But as my understanding of the Fa principles deepened, I realized that I had handled some issues poorly in the past and I probably hurt him. I apologized to him for what I did, and I no longer felt wronged or angry when he criticized me.
Little by little, I started to see where Bao was coming from and the difficulties he faced in life. I believed he was a good person by nature, but he had been conditioned to worship money and place personal gain above all else, as the entire Chinese society has been intentionally misguided by the communist regime.
I turned to the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party for ideas and facts that could help me clarify the truth. I bypassed the Internet firewall and visited websites censored by the CCP. By comparing the information from these websites to the narratives given by the Party’s state-run media, I gained a more objective understanding of how the CCP has systemically lied to and brainwashed the Chinese people. I sent righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil elements behind Bao.
When he was sick, I bought groceries and cooked for him. I took care of him, helped him with chores, and prepared meals for him, while keeping a friendly distance. My goal was to create opportunities to clarify the truth to him. I told him how wonderful Dafa is, and showed him truth-clarification videos. I also played Master’s Fa teachings for him.
I told Bao, “I believe that you’re in a difficult situation and that’s why you haven’t paid back the money you borrowed from me. I hope you hold on to the goodness in you, earn money honestly, and be a good person. But there’s no rush. Just take it easy and focus on your health first.” He slowly accepted the truth and quit the CCP’s organizations using his real name.
One time, Bao suddenly grabbed and hugged me forcefully, trying to kiss me. I pushed him away and told him I was a cultivator and would not do such a thing. I told him I needed to be responsible for both myself and him. I asked Master to strengthen me, and the next moment Bao was completely calm—as if he was a different person. I shared my understanding of the Fa principles with him and convinced him to help a deceased immediate family member quit the CCP. Since then, he’s never said or done anything inappropriate.
In the months following my breakup and losing my job, I faced a lot of scrutiny and criticisms from family, friends, and acquaintances. I was often stuck in negative thinking, which led to self-doubt, depression, and despair. But I knew practitioners were sentient beings’ only hope of being saved, therefore I needed to pull myself out of it. I knew that only by studying the Fa well could I help Master save people.
Whenever I caught myself thinking negative thoughts, I wrote them down and went over them one by one. I changed my perspective and looked at them as good things. Pain and suffering were opportunities to eliminate karma and improve myself. Whenever I felt sad and hopeless, I listened to Dafa music or I meditated. I looked at all external interference as illusions, and detached myself from them.
Whenever I was able to calm my mind, I studied the Fa. I slowly rediscovered a deep sense of inner peace and joy. I was no longer anxious or afraid, and was no longer so susceptible to external interference and influence. I no longer fell into depression that I couldn’t pull out of. I knew that each time I went through such tribulations, Master was enduring even more for me. Master cherishes me more than I could ever imagine and he looks forward to me getting back on my feet and cultivating diligently.
The local practitioners also helped me tremendously. A practitioner offered for me to stay with her family when I didn’t have a place to go. We got up at 3 a.m. each morning to do the exercises, study the Fa, and send righteous thoughts. Other practitioners shared their experiences of getting through tribulations, and encouraged me. Their selflessness deeply touched me.
These practitioners looked inward to examine and cultivate themselves regardless of what they encountered in life. They were always kind and considerate. They were unwavering in the face of adversity and stayed resolute in their faith despite the persecution. They placed complete faith in Master and the Fa. They selflessly helped and encouraged new practitioners and those that had just returned to the practice. They unconditionally cooperated with one another and improved as one body. They had great compassion for people when they clarified the truth. I was inspired by every one of them and my resolve to cultivate in Dafa was fortified.
When I drafted this sharing article, I had a fever that lasted for a week. I knew it was interference, and I was determined to write it. I hope my experience will serve as a testimony to how wonderful Dafa is. Dafa is so precious—how fortunate we are to have obtained the Fa. I know there will be more tests and tribulations in the future, but I will hold myself to the high standards of the Fa, continue to look inward to cultivate myself, and do the three things diligently.
I thank Master for compassionately saving me.
These are my experiences and what I learned in cultivation. I ask fellow practitioners to kindly point out anything that is not in line with the Fa.