(Minghui.org) Growing up in a family that specialized in making Buddha sculptures, Mr. Qiu Yutang was very familiar with their images, the smell of unprocessed wood, and the air of solemnity in their presence. He wasn't surprised when he experienced visions, and he often drew them on paper.
“With my eyes closed or open, sometimes I would see the blue sky and green grass. Golden and purple temples and pagodas hid in the clouds. Many gods and Buddhas in different costumes were there, too. Their colors were different, almost transparent. Their clothing and skin were as beautiful as ceramic glazes,” Mr. Qiu said, recalling the scenes he saw.
A recent picture of Mr. Qiu Yutang, an interior designer in Taiwan
Mr. Qiu's father, who had been making Buddha sculptures for over 10 years, had never seen the scenes the four-year-old boy put on paper. As he was drawing, the boy would say, “I want to go home.” His father didn't understand, “This is your home. Which home are you talking about?”
Youthful Resentment and Mature Realization
Mr. Qiu's parents filed for divorce when he entered the 7th grade. His peaceful life was torn apart, leaving a scar in his heart. He had relied on his happy family. He felt as if he had lost all his strength. The anxiety caused him to start smoking in middle school.
He resented his parents as he fumbled through his teenage years. When he joined the military at the age of 18, his mother travelled a long way to visit him. He was surprised to see her: “When did Mother become so old?”
He cried inside watching his mother's back as she left. The tears washed away his resentment. “I realized that my mother's love for me would never change, regardless of our family situation,” he recalled. He was able to take a new look at the world around him, with his newfound understanding and love for his parents.
Connecting with Falun Gong
After he returned home from his military service, Mr. Qiu went to a vocational school and later became an interior designer. Sometimes he had to stay up all night working on designs. He has a favorite noodles place near his home. He likes going there for great food and also lively discussions about life and philosophy with the owner.
The owner is a woman much older than he. He calls her Aunt. “I had dined at the noodle place for two years. Aunt and I share common life experiences and understand each other well. Once, she suddenly suggested that we should look for a cultivation method and try it together,” Mr. Qiu related.
Aunt's friend gave her two tickets to see Shen Yun Performing Arts. She went – and learned about traditional Chinese culture, cultivation, and the persecution of Falun Gong, which piqued her interest in the cultivation of Falun Gong. She then joined the group exercises in a nearby park.
“After she tried it for a week, Aunt told me that this practice was very good. However, I'm in the design business. Late nights are commonplace for me. It's really challenging for me to get up before dawn to do the exercises,” Mr. Qiu said.
However, Aunt didn't give up. She kept telling him how simple yet effective the five Falun Gong exercises were. Finally Mr. Qiu thought he would give it a try.
“I still remember. It was the end of April 2012. I spent a lot of time searching for the exercise site in the park. In the end, I saw the yellow banners. As I got closer, I saw that the banner said, 'Falun Dafa (another name for Falun Gong) Is Good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance Is Good, Free classes.'”
He copied the simple movements of the second exercise, the Falun Standing Stance. “Just as I raised my arms in front of my forehead, I experienced something I had never felt before. It was hot that morning. There was no wind. However, I felt a breeze circulating between my arms, an energy flowing between my meridian points, and as if someone was holding my arms up.”
He was surprised that just imitating one movement would give him so much. He started joining the exercises early every morning and enjoyed sharing his improvements with Aunt.
“A few days later, I attended a nine-day seminar and watched the video lectures of Master Li Hongzhi, founder of Falun Gong. His face seemed so familiar. And the practice! Tears rolled rolled my cheeks – the feeling of finding an oasis in a desert and the essence of my life was overwhelming,” he said as he described his first nine-day seminar experience.
Mr. Qiu realized that there were reasons for the beautiful heavenly scenes he saw when he was little and the ups and downs in his youth. They happened not just to convince him that gods and Buddhas do exist, but also to lay the foundation for his cultivation of Falun Gong!
Giving Up 18 Years of Smoking
An interesting thing happened during those nine days.
“After I finished watching Lecture Six, I shared my understanding with Aunt while smoking a cigarette.
“I couldn't find my pack of cigarettes when I got home. I phoned Aunt and asked her. She said she hadn't seen it. I was uncomfortable when the addiction hit me. I barely overcame it and decided to buy another pack the next day. But that night I had a dream.
“In my dream a person offered me a cigarette and helped me light it. I gladly took it and inhaled. All of a sudden, I remembered, 'Aren't I a Falun Gong practitioner?' I dropped the cigarette. When I looked up, the person became Master Li! Like a boy who has done something wrong, I lowered my head and kept apologizing for my mistake.
“Master in my dream appeared tall and handsome. Like a father, he touched my head. Even though it happened in a dream, his compassion felt real and the hint was clear. I was deeply touched. When I woke up, I said to myself, 'I swear that I will behave like a genuine cultivator, quit smoking, and assimilate to the Fa at all times!'”
The night, Mr. Qiu watched Lecture Seven, which talks about the issue of smoking. Tears welled up in his eyes, as he was overwhelmed by Master's compassion, the hints and arrangements. For the first time, it dawned on him that Master Li would be with him every step of the way on his future journey of cultivation.
Helping His Mother Regain Her Health
Mr. Qiu introduced Falun Gong to his mother. “Her heart problems and high blood pressure disappeared when she began to practice,” he said. He knew that she had come to cultivate Falun Gong as well, because her teachings had played such an important role in his upbringing.
As early as his kindergarten years, his mother taught him, “If others bully you or hit you, don't fight back. It must be that we have done something wrong, that's why this is happening.”
Even though he didn't quite understand what that meant, he remembered it. “Once, a classmate hit me and my nose bled. Even though I felt very bad, I remembered her words. I didn't even tell my teacher; I simply thought about what I had done wrong.”
Now Mr. Qiu is very appreciative of his mother's teaching that planted a seed of kindness in his heart, so he could understand better what Master said in Chapter Nine of Zhuan Falun:
“What is a 'heart of great forbearance?' As a practitioner, the first thing you should be able to do is to not fight back when you are beaten or sworn at—you must be tolerant.”
He came to realize that ordinary tolerance includes forbearing with anger and grievances and is based on calculating loss and gain and on emotions.
Master said in “What is Forbearance (Ren)?” in Essentials for Further Advancement:
“Forbearance is the key to improving one’s xinxing. To endure with anger, grievance, or tears is the forbearance of an everyday person who is attached to his concerns. To endure completely without anger or grievance is the forbearance of a cultivator.”
He realized that if one could truly achieve it, one could then transcend the superficial notions of right and wrong and reach benevolent solutions for past mistakes or hurts.
A Step Up in His Career
Mr. Qiu's changes startled his colleagues. “I had smoked for 18 years. A group of colleagues share the same habit, and we often smoked together. They thought I was joking when I told them that I had given up smoking. But when they saw it was true, they could barely believe it,” he chuckled.
Along with abandoning the addiction of smoking, he also relinquished a lot of notions and attachments. Yet his design profession requires that he have clear opinions and firm ideas of his own.
He has slowed down and learned to set aside his self-centered mentality and sense others' needs with kindness. “I used to design from my own perspective. Now I think of others. Have I considered their needs? Is this design posing any difficulties for them? Can they accept it?”
His goal used to be that his designs were edgy and trendsetting. He wanted his work to be different, cool, and eye-catching. Now he is cognizant of adhering to traditional Chinese culture.
When he focused on designing with the guidance of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and set aside his own notions and needs, he found that his customers were amazed and very appreciative of his work.
“Quality of life for my customers comes from whether I can truly think from their perspective. When I let go of my own notions and hear them, I can understand their needs. Then my work can truly fulfill their deeper needs.”
Having only practiced for two and a half years, Mr. Qiu already knows the beauty and seriousness of cultivation. He shared that now, every day is meaningful. He also knows that he needs to evaluate everything from the perspective of the Fa, look inward all the time, and truly elevate his xinxing.
He also hopes to share this great cultivation practice with everyone he encounters.
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