(Minghui.org) My older brother was the black sheep of the family. He did so many bad things in his youth that he broke my parents' hearts over and over again.

My brother's story sounds like one from the movies or a soap opera. Only those who have experienced such family anguish firsthand know how destructive it is to all involved. 

There is a Chinese idiom, “To have such a son to clean up his act is more precious than gold.” This is the story of how my brother completely changed his ways after practicing Falun Dafa.

We truly appreciate the changes that Dafa has brought to my brother and our family.

The Black Sheep of the Family

Many of our relatives and friends know that when my brother was younger, he was a simple and mellow child, even a bit shy. However, when he failed the middle school entrance exam and started working for a construction company at age 13, his temperament changed dramatically.

He picked up on other construction workers' bad habits and became dishonest, hot tempered, and violent. He carried a dagger and a seven-sectional staff (a martial arts weapon) and was not shy about using them whenever he ran into conflicts or arguments with others.

Co-Worker Feared Revenge

My brother was known to be ruthless and many were afraid of him. One of his co-workers once got into an argument with him and got hot-headed. As my brother walked away after beating him up, the co-worker picked up a brick and hit my brother in the head. He was rushed to the hospital.

His co-worker realized what he had done and became very frightened. He brought expensive gifts to my parents and knelt before them to beg for their help. My parents and my brother's co-worker knew only too well that my brother would not let it go easily and would seek revenge when he recovered.

A Sad Chinese New Year

I remember my brother once got into a fight with a neighbor and stabbed him in the neck on the eve of Chinese New Year. The neighbor was hospitalized and later filed a criminal complaint against my brother. When the police showed up at my parents' house, my brother ran away.

The neighbor's family surrounded my parents' house and cursed loudly outside their front yard on New Year's day. My parents apologized over and over again and paid the expensive medical bills to finally settle it. What a New Year!

Domestic Violence Against His Girlfriend

My brother and his then girlfriend had a baby before they married. The three of them all lived with my parents and my parents had to take care the baby most of the time. My brother often beat up his girlfriend until she left him, leaving the baby crying for mommy.

I remember vividly that one time, they got into an argument in front of a lot of people. My brother kicked her in the back and she fell on her face.

With my brother and his girlfriend around, my parents never had a moment of peace.

My Brother Changed

I started practicing Falun Dafa in 1996 and found it very beneficial. I introduced the practice to my brother. After reading the book Zhuan Falun, he decided to give it a try.

Just a few months into practicing Falun Dafa, he got rid of all his bad habits. He lives by Dafa's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and is now able to “refrain from hitting back when attacked and refrain from swearing back when sworn at.” (“Teaching the Fa at the Founding Ceremony of the Singaporean Falun Dafa Association” from Teaching the Fa at the Conference I)

My brother used to steal things from his workplace out of habit. Now he knows that it is wrong and he returned what he had taken. He visited the neighbor that he injured before and sincerely apologized for what he had done. The neighbor happily accepted the apology.

My brother used to curse and beat his girlfriend. Now it's the other way around—his girlfriend curses and hits him at will. She once strangled him and hit him until he fell to the ground, something that she never dared to do before. He also ended his affair with another women and married his girlfriend.

My brother regrets it very much that he has caused so much heartache for my parents. He now treats them with respect and never talks back to them. My father once said to my mother, “Falun Dafa is such a good practice. It turned our son into such a good person.”

My Sister-in-law's Affair

My brother's wife was casually involved with other men but nobody dared to tell my brother. Although he had heard rumors he never took them to heart. When she started coming home late one summer, he started to sense that something was not right.

One night, he looked all over the village for her but couldn't find her. On his way back, he saw a man that she used to be close with heading home. When he got home, she just walked in. He knew right away what was going on.

My brother was very new to Dafa at the time and anger got the best of him. Feeling so humiliated, he picked up a cleaver and headed straight toward that man's house. I grabbed him and asked him to think of what Master told us to do when we encounter situations like this. I kept reminding him of the Fa and eventually he calmed down. If he had not practiced Falun Dafa, something terrible would have happened that night.

A Considerate and Kind Person

Shortly after the Chinese Communist Party launched the persecution against Falun Dafa in 1999, my brother appealed for his right to freedom of religion in Beijing and was arrested and detained for months.

He lost his job and was frequently harassed by the local police after he was released. He couldn't get a job and struggled to make the ends meet. However, he turned down my parents' offer to help because he knew they weren't doing well either.

My father had suffered from liver problems for decades, and it worsened when my brother was in detention. After our father passed away in January 2000, my brother handled the conflicts among us calmly. He offered to host the funeral reception although as the second son, he really didn't have to. Even our brother-in-law commented, “It’s a good thing your brother practices Falun Dafa, otherwise it would not have gone so smoothly.”

He was right, Dafa has made my brother a completely new person. The black sheep of the family has really turned around – and it truly is more precious than gold.