(Clearwisdom.net) I am a military officer. I started to practice Falun Gong around June of last year, exactly one year from today.
I learned Falun Gong unexpectedly. I still remember when telling my mother that, "Since I do not have much to do, I would really like to learn something." And she told me, "Then why don't you go practice Falun Gong?" A few days later she gave me an experience-sharing article written by a Falun Gong practitioner, and I then bought a book called Zhuan Falun out of my curiosity.
After reading it, I felt that this was what I had been looking for, and it solved many of the questions that I'd been pondering over many years, such as, what mankind lives for, and why are there different paths of life for each and every person. After reading Zhuan Falun I went to a practice site and learned the five sets of exercises. Two months later, I suddenly discovered that the internal pain that I suffered from an old car accident had disappeared. In the past I had tried both western and Chinese medicine but none of them healed it completely. Right now I'm very healthy.
My greatest change did not come to my body, though, but rather to my mindset and actions. In the past I was very attached to computer games. I often could not leave the computer, coming home late at night, and then going to work late the next day. Sometimes I wondered whether I was playing the games or the games were playing me? Though at the time I knew it was a bad habit, I could not stop myself. Only after I finished reading Zhuan Falun did I realize that I had a life in the past, what I really need, and what is my true self. From then on I stopped playing the computer games, and slowly I was able to control my mind. I no longer worried about the conflicts in my everyday life. I started to be able to follow the Falun Gong principles in the book Zhuan Falun, such as, "consider others first when taking any action." I could have never imagined making these changes before cultivation, though maybe this is just as what Teacher said, "attaining naturally without pursuit." [Falun Buddha Fa, Lecture at the First Conference in North America, 1998]
When I was in the military, I told my colleagues and officers about Falun Gong. I let them know that Falun Gong follows the principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance," that it is a kind of qigong cultivation that has spread to over 60 countries, and that it has given health benefits to over a hundred million people all over the world. I also told them that Falun Gong is free of charge, it does not concern itself with religion or politics, it is to allow practitioners to raise their moral character, and become better persons. The five sets of exercises are easy to learn, and their benefit on one's health is tremendous.
My colleagues all understood that Falun Gong is a cultivation practice for mind and body, and it benefits your health. It is just because of the large number of people practicing it in China that it was targeted for persecution by Jiang's regime. Jiang and his followers, out of their jealousy that they could not directly control Falun Gong, fabricated the staged "self-immolation" incident, and stories of murders to incite fear and hatred for Falun Gong among Chinese citizens. The methods of their persecution are very cruel, and they even tortured an eight month old baby to death. As military officers they should protect the country, though Jiang is using the military police to persecute these compassionate and innocent Falun Gong practitioners.
There are many people in the military that do not know my name, but know that I practice Falun Gong, and so when they see me they just call me Falun Gong, and when they greet me they will say, "Falun Gong is good." Falun Gong in Taiwan is continuously becoming more and more welcome; many people have benefited just as I have. In China, though, those who hold on to their belief in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" are still being persecuted, and many citizens are still being told lies by the media; this has made me very worried. I hope that more righteous people will work with us to stop this cruel persecution.
