(Minghui.org) I am 69 years old. Before cultivating Falun Dafa, I was hot-tempered with a sharp tongue and would get easily agitated. I always had to have the final say in everything, and my classmates nicknamed me “Little Pepper.”
I suffered from many illnesses, particularly rheumatism. I was extremely sensitive to the cold, and my legs often ached and my fingers had become deformed. I relied on medications every day to relieve the pain. I had heard people describe rheumatism as “a cancer that doesn’t kill you.” At that time, I was not even 40 years old. Thinking that I might have to live with such suffering for the rest of my life left me extremely irritable and distressed. I felt as though my life was already ruined.
A classmate of mine introduced me to Falun Dafa in 1996. After I began practicing Dafa, all of my illnesses disappeared and I was free of all ailments. My body became light, I was more energetic, and I felt as if I was floating on air while walking. I would constantly correct myself to align with the standards of a Falun Dafa practitioner. I also focused more on the positive side of others, was tolerant of their shortcomings, and looked within myself when I encountered an issue.
Being a Good Employee in a Preschool
I was a preschool teacher in a company-run preschool. There were more than 30 staff members in our preschool setting. One day, my colleague said, “You’ve changed so much since you began cultivating Falun Dafa!” I told her about how the precious book Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Dafa, teaches people to be compassionate and is a higher moral level practice, which benefits one’s mind and body.
She said, “That is great! I want to practice Falun Dafa too! Can I have a copy of Zhuan Falun?” I told her, “This book has to be cherished more than anything else and you have to wash your hands before reading the book.”
Another colleague asked for a copy of Zhuan Falun two days later. Over time, more than a dozen of my colleagues read Zhuan Falun. The profound principles of Falun Dafa have benefited them both physically and mentally, and each of them has experienced a drastic change in their perspective on life.
The staff at the preschool were unprofessional and it was hard for the director to manage the preschool. The teachers were all graduates of preschool education programs, while many of the support staff had obtained their positions through personal connections, making it difficult to manage, assign, and coordinate their work. At meal times, staff would save the best foods for themselves. Kitchen workers who raised pigs at home would often dump unfinished children’s meals into slop buckets. Staff also frequently withheld children’s meal tickets in exchange for money. When it snowed, no one would plow or shovel the snow even after being told by the director to do so. Staff would play mahjong, do their laundry, and knit sweaters during their lunch breaks. Corporal punishment of the children was also common.
Everyone started to do their job well after practicing Falun Dafa. They would feed children who ate more slowly, making sure each child was well fed. In order to prevent food from going to waste, they served small portions, offering more as needed, so that food was no longer wasted. They treated every child with kindness and care, earning high praise from parents.
Falun Dafa practitioners would also voluntarily shovel the snow. Management praised practitioners, “Look at how high Falun Dafa practitioners’ moral standards are! Falun Dafa is great!” The director of the preschool also started to read Zhuan Falun. The entire preschool took on a whole new atmosphere. Some staff members even returned the money they got from selling the meal tickets.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a nationwide persecution of Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999. We wanted to speak up for Falun Dafa, so we went to Beijing. We were forced to attend brainwashing sessions, and our salary decreased by two tiers when we came back from Beijing.
The director of the preschool told the upper-level officials, “These Falun Dafa practitioners are good employees. Wouldn’t it be good if everyone practiced Falun Dafa?” When I went to collect my paycheck, the director said that I had not been absent from work without notice, and instead, I had taken my annual leave. I ended up getting the pay I deserved. The director did a very good deed by protecting Falun Dafa practitioners to the best of his ability.
“Look at Falun Dafa Practitioners’ Daycare! Children Never Get Sick!”
The company went bankrupt, and the preschool had to close in 2002. All the staff members were out of jobs. I opened my own daycare and taught children using the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. I taught them to recite “Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” and read poems from Hong Yin and Master’s lectures. Immersed in Buddha’s grace, the children were all bright and well-behaved.
My daycare started out small and soon expanded to a larger center known by everyone. Parents knew that I practiced Falun Dafa. I would tell the parents about Falun Dafa whenever a child enrolled in my daycare and help them withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
I cannot remember how many parents withdrew from the CCP and its affiliated organizations over the course of more than 10 years. Numerous young children learned the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and many extraordinary things happened.
Children would catch illnesses such as hand, foot, and mouth disease, influenza, and chickenpox in the springtime. If a child came down with a certain illness, the whole daycare would have to close down temporarily. During the course of 10 years, only a few children at my daycare came down with those illnesses and my preschool never had to close. Parents were amazed, and many said, “Look at Falun Dafa practitioners’ daycare! Children never get sick!” Parents were all eager to send their children to my daycare.
When I decided to close my daycare, a parent told me, “Ms. Zhang (pseudonym), look at how well-behaved the children at your daycare are. They never swear or hit each other. It is a pity you are closing down.”
My husband said, “Look at how our daycare operated over these years. It’s not unusual for things to happen at a daycare and having such a good safety record for all those years is truly remarkable.”
From “Little Pepper” to Being A Good Classmate
My classmates and I had been in the same class from elementary school through junior high school, so we knew each other very well. I am outgoing and cheerful but had also been strong-willed.
I followed the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance after practicing Dafa and never quarreled with anyone. I treated others with compassion and got along quite well with my classmates. Everyone saw that I had changed into a completely different person, and they knew that Falun Dafa is good. I told them about Falun Dafa and helped them withdraw from the CCP and its affiliated youth organizations.
Our entire class held a grand reunion to mark 40 years since we were classmates. The reunion committee had planned an activity in which everyone would wear the Communist Young Pioneers’ red scarf. I told the reunion committee, “It is inauspicious to wear the red scarf. Moreover, you have all quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations.” The class head was in a difficult position because he was worried that others may not agree. To my surprise, when the reunion took place, the activity was canceled, and none of my classmates wore a red scarf.
The photographer asked, “Why aren’t you guys wearing the red scarf? Students from the other classes all wore red scarves at their reunions.”
One of my classmates said, “Our class need not wear it. Falun Dafa is good!” Everyone looked at me and we all laughed. We captured a photo filled with innocence and sincerity.
