(Clearwisdom.net) In Chinese society, it's quite common for siblings who used to be very close when they were young, to grow apart once they become adults and have their own families. Due to the pressure of raising families and pursuing a better life, they are too busy and don't have time to get together with each other. Over time their relationships deteriorate -- sisters-in-laws would compete with each other, saying and thinking things like "My children are more intelligent and will have a brighter future; His house is bigger than mine, and he earns more money than me; His living condition is better than mine; I have devoted more time to taking care of our parents; They are lazy and always take things from other siblings; Our parents always favor them, that's not fair." The list goes on and on.
However, Mr. Peng Qingyi's family has eight siblings, and they don't have this issue, even though they each have their own families. This was especially true after they started to practice Falun Gong. They are one big happy family. Peng Qingyi said: "My mother had been bedridden for over twenty years. Each sibling took turns caring for her. Since everyone was so busy, sometimes, we would try to push each other to do more. But after we started to practice Falun Gong, none of us would haggle over who did more and who did less. Everyone tried to arrange their schedules so they could take care of Mom. The best part is that, since we became practitioners, we maintain a close relationship with each other. Brothers' wives treat each other like real sisters. Now both my parents have passed away, but we still meet with each other every two weeks. We study the Fa together and exchange our cultivation experiences. As the oldest son of the family, I really appreciate this."
Retiring Early Due to Illness
Peng Qingyi used to be a senior manager at a government agency. He was active and used to play tennis, golf, and other sports. He was relatively healthy in his 40's. Occasionally he had minor injuries from sports activities. He had a hereditary skin disease and serious asthma. He got sick more frequently in the winter, but nothing really serious. However, in his early 50's, he had random rheumatoid arthritis (the kind in which symptoms can appear "wandering" about the whole body) and degenerative arthritis as well. Qingyi said: "Our apartment was on the third floor. It was very difficult for me to go up and down the stairs. Doctors told me that the best they could do is to maintain my current condition with medication. There was no possibility that my condition would improve." On one occasion, when he went to France to visit his second younger brother, he could hardly walk several steps in a row. Friends and family members felt that he was in a pretty bad shape. After struggling with the illness for about 6 years, he retired early in March, 2003.
Qingyi's wife, Zhang Huamei, used to work at a bank. She had a high salary without a very heavy work load. However, she had a sleep disorder and couldn't fall asleep, even with the help of sleeping pills. She had to take off from work frequently. Additionally, she suffered from hemorrhoids, which had bothered her for almost 30 years. When her hemorrhoids were really bad, they would bleed. She often felt cold throughout the year. Medicines couldn't help her. So she tried various sports: playing ball, hiking, swimming, but she didn't get better. Reluctantly, she retired at the age of 55, half a year after Qingyi retired from his job.
Eager to Learn Dafa
In early July, 2000, Peng Qingyi and Zhang Huamei went to see an oil painting exhibition outside of China. The artist was Qingyi's cousin's wife. At the exhibition, Qingyi's cousin and his wife introduced Dafa to them. It turned out Qingyi's cousin and his wife had just attended a nine-day class to learn Falun Gong in late June. Qingyi and Huamei were immediately very interested in learning more about Falun Gong. They went to the website to look for information. The earliest class in their residential area was in August. They didn't want to wait that long and joined a nine-day class far from their home. Without any preset notions and expectations, they started to study the Falun Gong lectures and practice the exercises. Several months later, they were asked about their old illnesses and realized that the illnesses that used to bother them were gone.
Huamei remembered when she listened to Teacher's teaching during the nine-day class, she felt as if Teacher was teaching her alone. There was something rotating above her head, and she felt warm and comfortable in her heart. Her hemorrhoids significantly improved within a week, and the rest of her ailments were healed in half a year. In over nine years, for the first time, she felt warm and energetic. Qingyi's condition also improved significantly. He said: "I often felt quite light. I went overseas several times to participate in truth-clarification and spreading Dafa. While I was there, I also visited relatives and friends. They were all amazed by the changes they saw in me. I could walk very fast, and my skin became delicate. I obtained a new life by practicing Falun Gong."
Family Members Start to Practice Too
We should share good things with good friends, and especially our family members. When getting together with relatives, Qingyi and Huamei would tell them how they benefited physically and spiritually from Falun Gong. Gradually, over 10 family members became practitioners. Their son, Peng Kanglun, was studying at Cambridge University in London. Out of curiosity and respect for his parents, he started to read Zhuan Falun, which his parents sent to him. After reading just a few pages, he couldn't put it down. He went to the website and learned to do the exercises . On several occasions, he also felt Teacher purifying his body during the exercises.
Their daughter, Yuxin, also practices Falun Gong. As a result, her two pregnancies and deliveries went very smoothly. She asked her parents to help take care of her children during the daytime since she needed to go to work. So Qingyi and Huamei changed their truth-clarification method. They used to go overseas to participate in truth-clarification activities. Now that they needed to stay at home, they bought 7 computers and use them to communicate with people in China so those people are not misled by the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) lies against Falun Gong.
Qingyi's daughter-in-law was from northeastern China. She started to practice Falun Gong in 1996. After the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners started in 1999 in China, she went to Beijing several times to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. Her parents are not practitioners and were very fearful of the persecution. They sent her to England, where she met Peng Kanglun. They got married in 2005 and later moved to Boston. Though busy with their work, they use their spare time to work at a radio station which broadcasts to Chinese people to let them know the benefits of Falun Gong, and exposes the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
Going to the Nine-Day Class on Six Separate Occasions
Qingyi said that since January, 2002, one after the other, his third younger brother and his wife, his second younger sister and her husband, his first younger sister and her husband, and his fourth younger brother and his wife all started to practice Falun Gong within a five-month period. Overall, more than twenty family members are practitioners.
Qingyi's third younger brother, Peng Qinglian and his wife, Peiling, started to practice Falun Gong on January 1, 2002. They went to the nine-day class six times in half a year and were never late, never left early or were absent. Each time they learned new things in the class. The practitioners supporting the nine-day class were very moved and asked them to help support the nine-day class. They've been doing it for almost seven years now.
Peiling said: "Even nowadays, when I listen to Teacher's lectures during each month's class, I still have new understandings and enlightenment." Qinglian said: "After every class, I could see new practitioners' changes. Listening to their experience sharing on the last day, I'm always very moved. I treasure this precious opportunity to cultivate in Falun Gong and encourage myself to be diligent."
Qinglian was a diligent and frugal person since he very young. He used to think that he just needed to take care of himself. After he started to practice Falun Gong, he learned to think of others first. He would let others make selections before him, even if that meant he got a really bad deal. He would accept them with a happy heart. His co-workers, friends and family members all think that he is easy to get along with and praise him.
Feeling Fortunate and Treasuring Dafa
Qingyi's fourth younger brother, Peng Qingmeng and his wife, He Yuee, started to practice Falun Gong in May, 2002. Shortly afterwards, they took over the responsibility of providing the CD player for the practice site every day. They had to overcome the difficulty of getting to work on time in the morning. Yuee said: "The practitioner who used to be responsible for providing the CD player is an elderly person. We live close to the practice site, so it's more convenient for us to do it. We thank our fellow practitioners for placing their trust in us, and giving us this responsibility. In fact, we have benefited the most from this responsibility, since this forces us to do the exercises every day."
The Peng family's bi-weekly Fa study is at Qingmeng's home. The periodic studying and experience sharing helps everyone compare how they have studied and cultivated, and encourages everyone to be diligent. Yuee and her two sisters-in-laws all said that they felt blessed to be members of a big family of practitioners.
Yuee said: "My brothers and sisters-in-law give me a lot of encouragement and strength. I feel so fortunate that I can practice Falun Dafa. Moreover, I feel so fortunate to be a member of a big family, full of practitioners. We follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and are strict with ourselves. We don't have conflicts between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, nor do we have disputes and jealousy among sisters-in-law. We get along and are happy with each other. It's hard to describe this kind of good feeling."
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