(Minghui.org) Ever since Mr. Kyeongchan Lee was young, he has had a strong interest in religion, philosophy, and studies of the world beyond our material one.
At 40, he finally found the spiritual theory that resonated the most with his own beliefs: Falun Gong. Now 64 and a retired media veteran, Mr. Lee has gotten up in the morning to do the Falun Gong exercises every day for the past 24 years.
Let us take a look at his journey.
Mr. Kyeongchan Lee works on his independent news channel after retirement.
Exploring the Essence of Life at Young Age
During his adolescence, Mr. Lee kept asking himself many questions about the nature of life, such as “Who am I?” “Where does life come from?” and “Where will I go after death?” He read many books to find the answers, but nothing seemed to answer these questions for him.
In order to satisfy his interests and curiosity, Mr. Lee often participated in activities related to Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, and Catholicism when he was young. He spent all his high school summers reading religious books at Hongryudong Homestay in Haeinsa Valley, trying to figure out why he was on earth.
Mr. Lee is a skilled writer. After graduating from college, he decided to work in the media. Though the workload was very heavy, it was not enough to drown out those questions in his mind—questions about the core of his existence. He’d often try out different spiritual practices in his spare time with friends who also had similar inclinations.
Again and again, Mr. Lee came up empty. It seemed like the answers he sought were always just a little bit outside his reach.
Encountering Falun Gong
Mr. Lee first learned about Falun Gong in early 1999. At that time, Falun Gong was a major focus in China, and was even turned into a documentary that reached Mr. Lee in Korea. When he saw how thousands of practitioners did the exercises in an orderly manner, he felt that there was something special about this practice.
One day in 1999, he visited a famous qigong master with a friend. This qigong master introduced his practice to the two of them, and then asked for a large sum of money. The two felt that something was off and left immediately.
On the way back, while they were waiting for a traffic light, Mr. Lee noticed a small sign that read “Free Classes for Falun Gong.” He felt his pulse quicken with excitement, and made a deal with his friend right then and there to visit the Falun Gong exercise site a few days later.
Mr. Lee recalled: “As I got closer to the practice site, I heard beautiful exercise music. There were a couple of people meditating in a room, and the site was mellow and pleasant. Because it was the first time I saw the exercise movements, I felt like they were very mysterious, and also captivating—I watched the exercises all the way to the end. When I told the practitioners there that I wanted to learn Falun Gong, they were very happy and taught me the movements right away. I kept doing the exercises over and over after I got home. This was how I started my cultivation.”
A Real Cultivation Book
After learning the exercises, Mr. Lee began to read Zhuan Falun, the main book of Falun Gong. There was no Korean version available at the time, so he read the version printed in North Korean language, which was a dialect in northeastern China. He read the whole book cover-to-cover the same day he got it, and proceeded to read it several more times.
Talking about the book, Mr. Lee said, “Zhuan Falun is a book for real cultivation! I have read many books on cultivation, qigong, and meditation, and no book can compare to this one. The contents of this book are high-level and profound. I understood back then that I was very fortunate to have obtained this book, and I felt that my life would reach a new turning point.”
While reading Zhuan Falun, Mr. Lee would often think to himself: “Ah, so this is what it actually means to cultivate!”
Mr. Lee practicing the fifth exercise of Falun Gong
Now clear about his cultivation path, Mr. Lee chose to do all he can to live according to the guidance in Zhuan Falun. Not only did he practice the exercises every day, he also followed the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in his daily life. He let go of the attachments he found within himself. Whenever a conflict arose, he would look inward to see what issues he had that caused the conflict.
Mr. Lee said, “In daily life, I would often be very competitive, and always try to see if I can best other people. I also chased after fame and personal gain. Whenever these thoughts arose, I would read Zhuan Falun and try to achieve a pure state of mind. When I really tried to assimilate myself to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, I found that my mind became calmer and my bad thoughts disappeared before I even realized it was happening. It was truly magical.”
Clarifying the Truth to Media Professionals
Not long after Mr. Lee started the practice, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to persecute Falun Gong in 1999. Using his connections in the media, Mr. Lee was determined to find out the facts of the situation. He started to investigate for himself, and soon discovered that the CCP had created false news reports to frame Falun Gong.
Since it was introduced to people in China in 1992, Falun Gong has improved the morality and health in a short period of time. Due to these benefits, the number of people practicing Falun Gong in China had grown exponentially, reaching 70 to 100 millions in just a few years. This figure far exceeded the number of CCP members at that time. Disregarding the popularity of Falun Gong among the public and the opposition of all six other Politburo Standing Committee members, former dictator Jiang Zemin launched the persecution on July 20, 1999.
However, the media in Korea were barred from entering China to verify the facts. They could only rely upon the CCP’s newspapers or media to report the events. In order to inform more people of the facts, Mr. Lee began to visit various Korean media outlets and told his media colleagues about the brutal persecution.
He said, “Falun Gong practitioners have followed the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to become kind and considerate. They have been persecuted in China just for their practice. We should not turn a blind eye. When we reveal the facts that were covered up by the CCP, we can disabuse people of their misunderstandings.”
After he retired in 2019, Mr. Lee set up his own news channel on YouTube, Gan Jing World, and other social media platforms. He made videos which included his experience with cultivation and the facts about Falun Gong in hopes that more people would come to understand the facts of the situation.
Realizing the True Values of Life
Mr. Lee has experienced great physical and spiritual changes after he took up Falun Gong. “People are pursuing health and a peaceful state of mind, but for Falun Gong practitioners, these come with the practice by default,” he said. “Self-cultivation can bring you a higher standard of living, and add more value to your life.”
“This kind of value is something that people spend their entire lives searching for, and this search leads them to religion, to diligently praying every day for the answer,” Mr. Lee continued. “I have gotten these answers from Falun Gong. Of course, cultivation is a process, and there’s no such thing as overnight success. It has been a process that requires continued improvement, which eventually leads to new understandings.”
Mr. Lee also said that throughout the 24 years of his practice and striving to live according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, he has improved his character greatly. He feels very fortunate that he was able to find the true meaning of his life.
“I would like to advise those who have not learned Falun Gong to start the practice as soon as possible,” he said. “By practicing, not only can you obtain good health and a peaceful mind, but you can also receive endless other benefits. With Master Li’s teachings, I feel that everyone will be able to find true happiness and understand the mysteries of life.”
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