(Minghui.org) I am 82 years old. My wife is 80. We began learning Falun Dafa on May 13, 1997 at a Falun Dafa experience-sharing conference where local practitioners were celebrating the practice and the 46th birthday of the founder, Master Li Hongzhi.

It’s Master who granted us our second chance and extended our lives for another 17 years, and counting. Master’s monumental grace is something we’ll never ever forget.

It was on this May 13 holy day in 1997 that our bygone lives were extended and our new lives began. For the past 17 years, my wife and I have been a thousand times, nay, ten thousand times healthier than we had ever been. So, on this most glorious of days when all Dafa disciples the world over are wholeheartedly wishing a most happy birthday to Master and celebrating World Falun Dafa Day, we want to write down the account of Master’s compassion toward us as a meager way to express our most profound gratitude.

1. Saved When All Hope Was Lost

Before we obtained the Fa, my wife and I had poor health. We were both medicine receptacles. Our home was chock full of medicine-making equipment as well as of a whole variety of Chinese herbs and Western prescription drugs. We were consuming tons and tons of medicine, yet there was no improvement and we still had to go to the hospital several times a year.

My wife had gastritis, ptosis, and cerebral arteriosclerosis embolism. She was reduced to only a little over 70 lbs. She walked with difficulty and had to take early retirement.

As for myself, I had it worse. I was afflicted with cervical spine bone hyperplasia, arterial sclerosis, severe benign prostatic hypertrophy, cataract, vitreous opacities, central retinitis, thoracic vertebral compression fractures, and several other ailments.

In the summer of 1996, I came down with serious heart disease, atrophic erosive gastritis, renal cysts, and ulcerative colitis. None of the provincial and municipal hospitals could offer me any cure or any hope.

Our son works far away, but he came home twice and both times he encouraged us to learn Falun Gong. Unfortunately, we were indoctrinated by the Communist Party and believed in atheism so much that we not only rejected our son’s suggestion, but also criticized him.

It was 1997 when I turned 64 that my physical health got so much worse that I felt I might be coming to the end of my life. I was beginning to feel extreme despair. Another family member visited several times and also urged my wife and I to learn Falun Gong. We finally decided to give Falun Gong a try.

On May 13, my family member took us to a local Falun Dafa experience-sharing conference where everybody was joyfully celebrating Master’s 46th birthday. We saw practitioners’ greetings to Master. We heard practitioners’ cultivation experience sharing. We watched a video of Master’s Fa lectures in Jinan. We were amazed. The more we watched, the more we wanted to watch.

After that, we borrowed and listened to an audiotape of Master’s Fa lectures. From then on, our worldview dramatically changed. We understood that illnesses are caused by karma, that ordinary people can’t escape the cycle of birth, age, sickness, and death, that the only way to change one’s destiny is through cultivation practice. My wife and I made a decision to enter into Dafa practice, to return to our original true selves, and to strive to be better people in accordance with the requirements of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and to stay faithful to the end.

And so, my wife and I started joining fellow practitioners in Fa study and doing the exercises every day and every night. Not a month passed and we discovered that all of our various illnesses were gone without a trace, and without a single drug or herb. We became energized and full of vitality as if we are walking on air. It’s truly the feeling of lightness void of the burden of any physical ailment.

In the past, sometimes, our children couldn’t even have a moment of peace, what with needing to help with hospital care or running around in search of reputable doctors, and they still had to go to work. It must have been very exhausting. When we became healthy, our children were so overjoyed. They bought us a VCR (at the time there was no VCD, DVD, or CD) so that we could watch the lectures on video. They supported us and encouraged us to do well in our cultivation practice.

2. Living Longer, Living Healthier

I took a look back over 17 years of cultivation practice. Before I obtained the Fa, I was once near death. I had reached the end of life, yet Master and Dafa have made me not only live on, but also in health so that I am living a full life with health that surpasses even that of some young folks. For 17 years, my incurable diseases never recurred. I don’t even catch cold. People who know me remark that I am a completely different person.

Before, I was a frequent resident of hospitals and required constant care from other people. Now, I am full of spirit and energy, so much so that I can ride my bicycle even with a passenger. My physical changes give proof to the fact that Falun Dafa is a mind and body cultivation practice. For elderly people, it’s like what Master says: “When you continually practice cultivation, you will constantly prolong your life.” (Zhuan Falun)

Both my wife and I understand it was Master who has cleansed our bodies. Like dead trees blooming in the spring, our lives were renewed. In 17 years, our health not only didn't deteriorate, but improved.

Elderly people usually have high blood pressure so they have to measure their blood pressure daily and take medication to keep their blood pressure in check. Because I don’t take medication, there were two people who didn’t believe my blood pressure could be normal so they insisted on checking my blood pressure. It turned out to be 80/120.

Elderly people generally also have to wear reading glasses. In 1976, when I was just 40 years old, after I developed three eye problems, which I mentioned above, I had to start wearing two pairs of glasses alternately, one for long distance, one for short. For 40 years, I had to depend on them.

When I was 80 years old, one day I was riding my bicycle in the rain and accidentally dropped my glasses onto the muddy field. That’s when I discovered to my surprise that I could see things more clearly without my glasses, and that I could read without my glasses. I thanked Master in my heart.

Before I obtained the Fa, I suffered from heart problems. Doctors had advised me not to go out by myself because somebody had to keep an eye on me. Now, I can ride my motorized bike as fast as young people ride their motorcycles.

People all remark that I don’t look or act as someone over 80, and, although I am actually 82, I do not see myself as a person of such advanced age.

I am fully aware that our merciful Master is instrumental in my wife and I living in health for 17 years and counting. Whenever I think about this, tears gush out and I get all choked up…

In these 17 years, whenever May 13th comes around, my wife and I will pay homage to Master with grateful tears staining our faces!

May 13th, 2014 is upon us. We can only attempt to repay Master’s weighty salvation with a uniform action: our entire family kneels down in front of a picture of Master to show our deep gratitude and respect. Thank you Master!

3. Stack of Medical Records Prove the Healing Power of Dafa

When my wife and I were each suffering from a variety of chronic illnesses, we have outpatient medical records and inpatient medical records from major hospitals, plus consultation reports and diagnostic reports from reputable doctors. We have also a whole stack of files with medical treatment options and treatment records.

We are retirees whose medical bills were supposed to be paid by the government. However, we had to pay upfront and then would get partially reimbursed. Because of our multiple illnesses, our expenses were high and our medical debts were high, yet our medical condition remained the same or worse.

One time, my unit leader saw how hard up I was so he wrote a special report to the government regarding resolving my medical bills. Even though the report made no impact, it still serves as proof of my miserable physical state 17 years ago, before I entered into Falun Gong practice

At the moment when my chronic illnesses were ready to push me to the grave, merciful Master pulled me up. I went from a depressed person who needed medication every single day and a hospital stay every year of his life to a joyful individual who does not take a single pill or see a single doctor.

My wife’s and my physical well-being is testimony that Falun Dafa is good, Falun Dafa saves.

On this most sacred World Falun Dafa Day, my wife and I would like to take up a little space on the Minghui website to send our heartfelt greetings to Master Li and to shout out to the world: “Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!”