(Clearwisdom.net) During the early morning hours, children are doing the sitting meditation while listening to the Falun Gong melodious exercise music. Their small faces are alight with peace and serenity, which makes one feel so happy for them.
This is a primary school in Tainan, a south Taiwan suburb. There are approximately 600 students and teachers. In mid-April 2003, Falun Gong practitioners came to our school to introduce Falun Gong. They voluntarily taught the five sets of exercises. Because the exercises are easy to learn, and the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" directly target one's mind, many teachers have joined the practice.
A lot of teachers and staff have benefited after beginning to practice Falun Gong. We established a practice site at the school. From 7:00 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., we practice the exercises, and introduce Falun Gong to the students and their parents, in hopes of bringing the beauty of Falun Gong to the entire society. Although we began only two months ago, many people have experienced both physical and spiritual benefits.
The following are examples:
There are a grandmother and granddaughter who usually arrive early at the practice site. The grandmother told us that the little granddaughter likes to practice. She sleeps with the grandmother on the days when they will go to the practice site, so that she won't sleep in and be late. After she finishes her homework at night, she also reads Falun Gong teachings with her grandmother. The grandmother previously had many chronic illnesses, but since beginning Falun Gong practice, her gout index has dropped drastically. Each time she returns home after the practice, her high blood pressure has decreased at least by 20 points, which even surprised her doctor.
Mrs. Lin experienced similar benefits. She had suffered from foot and shoulder injuries for many years. Now she has been cured without medicine. Her blood cholesterol levels also became normal, although she had taken medicine for this affliction for many years. She feels that the principles of Falun Gong are easy to understand and profound, and she found the answers to her questions that she could not find previously.
A fourth grade student who had complained of extreme headaches to the teachers also learned Falun Gong. Before that, he often did not do his homework. If he did the homework, it was incomplete, and his handwriting was quite illegible. He was not only careless during class, but also noisy, and he disturbed others. He has improved since practicing Falun Gong, and his handwriting is much tidier now. Even other teachers noticed the changes and are happy for him.
The following are experiences by some teachers:
Teacher Lin: I have been practicing Falun Gong for one year. In the beginning, I came to learn because I saw practitioners demonstrating the first set of the exercises. The stretching and relaxing movements really attracted me. My instincts told me that this was a great exercise to keep fit, so I also learned. I still remember the wonderful feeling I had on the first day of the practice. That night, I felt especially peaceful and joyful. I was not tired or sleepy during the entire evening, and I was very energetic.
After I learned the five sets of exercises, the veteran practitioners introduced me to the book Zhuan Falun. I was always interested in Buddhist literature, but after reading the Buddha Fa and the principles of returning to your true self in Zhuan Falun, I felt as if I had found a treasure, and I read the book non-stop. One will not get bored with reading Zhuan Falun, even if one has read it one hundred times. This book teaches a great law that imparts high virtue, and helps people to cultivate the mind and body. Falun Dafa, as taught in Zhuan Falun, is a cultivation way in the Buddha School that teaches people to look inwards at all times, and directly targets one's mind. I have different understandings every time I read Zhuan Falun. It really touches people's hearts.
The proverb "the landscape is easy to change, but nature is hard to shift," is not true for Falun Gong practitioners. Many people will let go of unhealthy habits after starting Falun Gong practice. I am no exception. After I became a practitioner, I realized I had many unhealthy concepts and habits. I was unable to see this in the past. I no longer blame others, because conflicts are related to something within me. My husband and I always fought with each other. Many indignities and unjust feelings caused a danger signal for me in my body and marriage. On the first day of practicing the exercises, the tension in my heart seemed suddenly to unwind. I felt so peaceful. Through reading the Fa, I enlightened that if a husband and wife's relationship isn't based on compassion and kindness, then a minor matter could create a conflict. Hence I started to cherish the predestined relationship with my husband, and stopped talking incessantly. My children were the first to notice the changes within me. They said, "Mom, it seems you and dad became closer." One day my husband said to me, "You do not scold me that much since you began practicing Falun Gong, and you look as young as when I met you."
What is more amazing is the change in my child. My child's trachea was problematic since an early age. He coughed as soon as he caught a cold. He had to take medicine and visit the doctor every year. Since I started practicing Falun Gong, sometimes he copies me. He has not been practicing very seriously, but his health has also improved. He has not taken even one pill this year.
Teacher Jiang: My health was not good since childhood. I suffered from pain due to illness and always felt tired. When I was young, I wondered, "Why is there 'me?' Why was I born into this world? Why is it so painful to be human? Can I commit suicide to end all my troubles?" Where will I go after death?" My husband took very good care of me after we got married, and he does nearly all the housework. I suffered from puerperal infection of the birth canal after I gave birth to my child, and the child inherited my state of mind, which was hard for me to accept. The child often cried out in the middle of the night, "Why do I always cough and I can't sleep?" I could only hold him and cry also, until we both fell asleep in the sitting position. I burst into tears and blamed myself. I resented heaven for treating me unfairly!
My unhealthy body and the pressure of teaching had caused my temper to become worse and worse. I easily got angry at school, and even brought the unhappiness back home. Day after day, my body was getting worse. I had to take more medicine, although the pills did not work for me. The idea of suicide often arose in my mind. When I was in extreme despair is when Falun Gong practitioners taught me the exercises, and helped me overcome the barrier to read through Zhuan Falun the first time. Zhuan Falun is written in simple words, but its connotations are very deep. The more I read, the more I like reading it.
I understand the principles, so I no longer resent the heavens for unfair treatment. I no longer haggle over everything with other people, and no longer lose my temper at every provocation, and my health has improved. I do not need to take medicine now. I no longer fear insomnia and headaches, and I don't need to worry that coughing will affect my teaching. My children and husband practice together with me, and my daughter's nose no longer becomes dry because of sinusitis; my son no longer has asthma, and my husband treats me even better. We don't need to worry about a shortage of medicine during the new year, don't need to remember the time for the child to take medicine, don't need to wait in the long queue to see the famous doctor, and don't need to worry which foods we can't eat, etc. All of this is because of Teacher's great mercy. We thank him for teaching us such a good practice.
I used to require of my students what I required of myself. Although the students achieved good results and complied with my requests, they always maintained a distance from me. Now I no longer base my behavior on the teacher's authority, but adhere to the standards of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." I more or less melt the principles into the teaching. When I walk into the schoolyard, the students now greet me loudly. One can only understand such wonderful feelings through one's personal experience!
Teacher Chen: I am fond of sports, so I thought that any kind of exercise could help me attain a healthy body. But minor sicknesses never stopped. I caught a cold every one to two months. Sports injuries slowly affected my body and daily life. My lower back frequently started to hurt within ten minutes of standing, so I had to teach while sitting. My shoulder and back injuries also made it painful to write on the blackboard. My joint pain could forecast a change in the weather. I spent a lot of money seeking Chinese and western treatments, without positive results.
After I learned Falun Gong, I gradually found the answers regarding the doubts I harbored, through reading Zhuan Falun. I understood the significance of being human to "return to one's original, true self." I began to understand the principle of "no loss, no gain. To gain, one must lose." I know how to let go of everything in the human society. My hard-headed personality also is changing and beginning to be "gentle, slow, curved" [like the exercise movements]. I always blamed others during conflicts, and cursed when the school assigned extra work. In class, I used to punish the naughty students as a warning to others. Now I have learned how to look inwards, and no longer blame others; I can be tolerant with the students and begin to see their excellence. My health has improved a lot since practicing Falun Gong. The sports injuries have disappeared. I can gradually experience what is meant by the saying "the entire body is light without illness."
Teacher Guo: I first heard about Falun Gong at school. The colleagues who practice Falun Gong are all earnest and responsible in their work, glad to help others, friendly, and outgoing, so I had a good feeling about Falun Gong. Several colleagues with chronic diseases have improved a lot since starting the practice. At that time my younger sister was not healthy. She has a young child at home and it was a bit difficult for her to find an activity which allowed her to look after the child at the same time. I thought: Why not recommend this practice to her so she can practice at home, and not need a special place?
I began to learn the exercises from my colleagues. I suffered from a disease of the female organs and received continuous treatments from an herbalist doctor for over a year, but did not find a fundamentall cure. Unexpectedly, before I introduced Falun Gong to my sister, I had already benefited. The diseases I suffered from for so long just disappeared. At first, I did not know why I got better. After I read Zhuan Falun, I slowly began to understand the cause of the changes.
I now look at other people, matter, and substances from many angles and more broadly. I have become calm and rational, and I am not influenced by the outside environment. This is the spiritual realm that I continuously looked for in the past. Now I have obtained it, and I really cherish this good fortune.
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