Regaining Sight after Thirty-one Years of Blindness in My Left Eye

May 13, 2012 was the twentieth anniversary of the introduction of Falun Dafa to the world; it was also World Falun Dafa Day. I have practiced Falun Dafa for sixteen years, and cannot repay Teacher's merciful salvation. I would like to share my personal experience to tell readers how fortunate I am to practice cultivation in Falun Dafa.

I am sixty-two years old, physically healthy, even-tempered, optimistic, cheerful and kind to other people. Prior to cultivation practice, I wasn't like this. I suffered from Meniere's syndrome (progressive deafness, ringing in the ears and dizziness), anemia, stomach problems, severe inflammation of the urinary bladder, collagen proliferation in four or five lumbar vertebrae, and a pinched sciatic nerve. I was partially paralyzed, couldn’t stand, sit, sleep or walk. I cried every day and was close to a mental breakdown. I was bedridden and unable to work for six months. I sought cures everywhere, but with little result. I developed a quick temper due to the illnesses. Moreover, I lost eyesight in my left eye. I then lost all hope in life. Only because I couldn’t leave my beloved daughter, I endured the suffering and hoped that someone would save me and change my life.

Finally, on January 8, 1996, I came upon the lifesaving opportunity that I'd waited for my whole life. With help of a family member, I read Teacher Li Hongzhi’s book Zhuan Falun. I understood that all suffering and happiness are the result of karma retribution; that “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” is the characteristic of universe and is the only criteria to discern good and bad people.

Teacher said,

“As a human being, you are a good person only if you can follow this universe’s characteristic of Zhen-Shan-Ren. A person who deviates from this characteristic is truly a bad person.” (Zhuan Falun)

I wanted to be a good person, a true cultivator. From that moment, I started practising Falun Dafa and started a new life. Soon after, I started going to the practice site, and the pain from my illnesses were relieved, then disappeared. I have enjoyed a healthy body and mind since then. I tell everyone I meet, “Falun Dafa saved me, Teacher Li Hongzhi saved me.” Miraculously, my blind eye of thirty-one years regained sight two years and three months after I started practicing.

This story goes back to when I was seventeen. At around 3:00 in the afternoon of September 30, 1967, my mother was about to sew several knitted pieces of a sweater together with a big needle. Out of curiosity, I sat next to her and wanted to learn how to sew. The moment my mother pulled the needle, I was also bending over to see. The needle went into my left eye. I cried out in pain, and tears flowed from that eye. My mother was scared to death; my father said, “Hurry - let's go to the hospital.” However, it was the time of the Cultural Revolution and people throughout China were involved. No one worked in the hospitals, and all the doctors were in hiding, so we couldn’t find one. My mother and I went back home disheartened. Tears kept coming out of my left eye until the next morning. We went that morning to the only hospital in operation - Xinan Hospital of Chongqing. After examining my eye, the doctor said, “An eyeball is a bag of water. When the water is gone, it loses sight.” Basically he told us that there was no way to heal the eye.

That was a heavy blow to my mother, and she broke down in tears. There was nothing she could do but accept it. Then, she told me about a prediction from a Taoist monk. “When I was two or three years old, a passer by Taoist monk said to me, 'Madam, how about drawing a fortune stick for your daughter!'” My mother replied, “For a little girl, why?” Under repeated urging from the monk, mother told me to pick a stick. I shook the bamboo container, and a fortune stick came out. The monk read it and explained to my mother, “No matter how old your daughter becomes, she must be disfigured, or else she won’t get married.” Since then, my mother was very careful and afraid that something would happen to me. She never thought that the prediction would come true, as I was about to turn seventeen. After my mother told me this story, she looked at me helplessly, “My daughter, it seems that you have to suffer this tribulation in your life.” Indeed! If a tribulation is meant to be, who can escape it? Since my left eye lost sight, I had to use my right eye for everything. I therefore ended up with this handicap at that young age; it's not hard to imagine that I had more sorrow than happiness in life. It wasn’t until 1996 when I started practising Falun Dafa, that everything changed completely.

On April 22, 1998, my husband was so upset at the dinner table that he could barely eat. I was concerned and asked him what had happened. He said, “The director at work asked a few people - right in front of me to go out and eat with him (paid by the workplace), but didn’t ask me. It was obvious that he wanted to embarrass me. Perhaps he's bearing a grudge for not being invited to our daughter’s wedding.” I said, “Your stomach is not good. If you go, you'll drink and eat unhealthy food, so it's not good for you. Why bother? Moreover, when the workers know that your group uses their money to eat and drink, they would be resentful too. Isn’t it good that he didn’t ask you to go?” However, my words weren’t effective. Instead, he punched me in my blind left eye.

My husband knows martial arts, and he hit me quite hard. He took all the resentment he had for his director out on me. My left eye swelled immediately, then developed a purple circle like a panda. I thought, “He doesn’t cultivate, he is just a non-practitioner. This is really hard for him, so how could he tolerate this?” I didn’t resent him. I stood in front Teacher's picture and said, “Teacher, I am your disciple. I am following Data’s standard - do not fight back when you’re beaten or sworn at. I will follow the requirements for a cultivator.” I didn’t believe that there would be any problem. I calmly went back to the dinner table and said to my husband, “Don’t feel too bad. I don’t hate you. Let’s eat!” If this had happened before I started cultivation, I couldn’t have kept calm and been tolerant. I kindly advised him, but was punched the eye in return. I would have fought back or divorced him. However, since I started practising Falun Dafa, I knew that a cultivator can't treat people with their typical reasoning – an eye for an eye, and evil against evil; we need to use “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” as our guidance, acting virtuously when faced with hatred and resolving resentment with kindness. We can truly be calm and forbearing, even when we are hurt. I treated him as usual. When we had dinner together, I took the initiative to chat with him, even though I was the one facing the tribulation. I still cared about him and comforted him. The strange thing was that I had tears like I did thirty years ago. I knew that Teacher was testing me to see if I could truly let go when I was being hurt and mistreated.

The tolerance shown with no discontentment or hatred after this incident was in clear contrast to what I was like before, which was impatient and never letting others off easy. My husband was deeply moved and felt guilty. During the night four days later, he woke me up and asked, “What were you thinking these last few days?” I said, “I didn’t think about anything.” He asked again, “You didn’t think of divorcing me?” (In the past when he offended me, I would use divorce to threaten him) I replied, “No”. “Why not?” - he was confused.

I recited Teacher's Falun Dafa teaching:

“A benevolent person always has a heart of compassion.
With no discontentment or hatred, he takes hardship as joy.” (“Realms” from Essentials for Further Advancement)

He sat quietly by the bed and listened. I could see that he was moved by Teacher's Fa. His eyes were red and he tried hard to hold back tears. He said, “Recite it again.” I recited it again. He said, “I don’t know how to make it up to you. I will buy a medical treatment for you. I comforted him, “No need, I will be fine soon.”

The sixth night after the incident, I was on my way to a practice site. I unconsciously covered my right eye, then suddenly realized that my left eye could see – a house, then a tree. I took out the book Zhuan Falun, and the three characters of the title shown clearly in front of me. I thought, “Teacher! My eye can see now, after losing sight for thirty-one years! Simply because my xinxing improved a little and I followed your requirements, you removed this tribulation and changed my life; how can I ever repay your kindness?” I express my deepest gratitude to Teacher. Thank you Teacher for your merciful salvation!

Just then, I had a deeper understanding of the Fa:

“Therefore, when some people have some tribulations or misfortune, they are repaying their karma in accordance with the retribution of their karma.”

“...you should pay attention to xinxing cultivation and practice cultivation according to the characteristic of the universe, Zhen-Shan-Ren. You must completely dispose of the desires of ordinary people, immoral thoughts, and the intention of wrongdoing. With every bit of improvement in your state of mind, some bad things will be eliminated from your body.”

“Cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one’s master.” (from Zhuan Falun)

I marvelled at the miracle of Dafa. Restoration of eyesight after thirty-one years of blindness is impossible with modern medicine, but it happened to me because I followed the requirements of a cultivator.

Teacher also said,

“As a practitioner, your course of life can be altered. Only through cultivation practice can your life be altered.” (from Zhuan Falun)

I couldn’t contain my excitement. I hurried to the practice site to share my joy of regaining eyesight with fellow practitioners. We all recognized that the Fa is absolutely true.

Teacher said:

“‘The Buddha Fa’ is most profound; among all the theories in the world, it is the most intricate and extraordinary science.” (“Lunyu” from Zhuan Falun)

Today, Falun Dafa has spread to over one hundred countries and regions. There are many thousands of practitioners who've benefited from Dafa and improved their moral character. We use the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to guide us and to be good people. We contribute greatly to society and to our families. We do not pursue money or power; we only want to help more people to benefit from Dafa, just like we have. We wish to tell more people about this true Fa.

From the Call for Submissions to Commemorate the Twentieth Anniversary of Falun Dafa's Introduction