Coming Ashore (Photo)

(Clearwisdom.net) Abandoning the life of a professional gambler and drug addict and embracing a new life as a cultivator is something a new Falun Gong practitioner, Mr. Kuo Ching-Feng, had never thought possible. "In the past, I had absolutely no concept of cultivation."

Mr. Kuo Ching-Feng attended his daughter's college graduation ceremony

Addicted to Gambling at 18

After graduating from junior high school, Kuo Ching-Feng began a carpenter apprenticeship with his brother-in-law. Eight months later, he became a master carpenter. At 19, he became the head of a carpentry factory. However, Kuo decided that he was not interested in the slow money in carpentry, so he spent time in his room at night, learning tricks to win at gambling. At the age of 18, Kuo found himself winning almost every bet.

"At the time, I had a group of about six friends. We were practically con artists. I had a lot of money and I became a big spender. Every day I indulged myself in a wanton life. I stayed up every night and slept during the day. I was used to the night life," Kuo recalled.

Becoming a Drug Addict 20 Years Ago

A crisis befell Kuo in 1988. He was but 27 years old when he touched drugs for the first time. After over a year on drugs, Kuo's friends also became drug addicts. That was when Kuo realized the severity of his addiction, but it was too late.

Kuo lifted his shirt to reveal two very visible scars on his abdomen. Kuo explained that he cut into his own belly twice when he felt extremely desolate. Kuo said, "I started doing drugs in 1988. Drugs destroyed my liver, kidneys, stomach, and small intestine. I had deadly thoughts at the time. I felt life was dark and all I ever thought about was how to end my life."

In retrospect, Kuo said 1992 was the worst year of his life. That year his wife divorced him--his marriage was destroyed. Eventually he sold his home in Taipei and brought his two children back to his parents' home in a rural area. By then he had been on drugs for over four years. He knew drugs were ruining his health and he had gone to public and private hospitals for treatment, but his addiction got the better of him every time he saw drugs.

"It is easy to rehabilitate from the drug physically, but it's not easy to rehabilitate mentally," Kuo said. "In the hospital, I secretly put drugs in the I.V. fluid bag. I didn't know how long I slept, but the nurses could not wake me up. In seven months, I spent the last 25 million NTD of my savings, but I felt happy and relieved."

Sent to Prison Four Times in Ten Years

In 1993, Kuo went to Taipei for fun and carried eight packs of heroin with him. The police found the heroin in his possession and Kuo was sentenced to three years in prison. Kuo said he was quite prepared for prison and hoped this would be an opportunity for him to quit his drug addiction. In 1994, Kuo entered prison for the first time in his life, but he didn't know he would end up spending ten years there. Kuo said he was confident that he would quit drugs after the first prison term, but he gave up on himself after the second and third time in prison for drug possession.

On April 17, 2003, Kuo arranged to meet with a drug dealer at a rest area off a highway to pick up heroin. Anxious for drugs, Kuo gave himself a shot of heroin in the car and was caught in the act by a local policeman. It was this last prison term that truly transformed his life. Kuo was very excited when he told the story. "Pre-destiny arrived. Zhuan Falun saved me."

Zhuan Falun Transformed Kuo's Life

It was during this prison term that Kuo found Zhuan Falun.

"It was most curious. During a class, I looked up and immediately noticed a golden-covered book in the bookshelf behind the podium. I turned my head this way and that way and I kept noticing that book. For three days in a row, I noticed the book. During the lunch break on the fourth day, I finally picked up the book and saw the title, Zhuan Falun. I opened the book and noticed a line, 'The Buddha Fa is most profound.' I thought it was a Buddhist scripture at first. When I asked inmates what this book was about, I was told it was a Falun Gong book."

Kuo said he remembers it like it was yesterday. He started to study Zhuan Falun on September 2, 2003. He spent his evenings from Friday to Sunday studying Zhuan Falun. He was shocked when he progressed to Lecture Two because he felt as though he had been scolded by its content. After having studied Zhuan Falun from cover to cover for the first time, Kuo wondered if he ought to believe in its content. Over nine straight days, Kuo studied Zhuan Falun three times. "I was completely clearheaded. When I was studying Zhuan Falun for the third time, I felt faluns rotating all over my body. When I was sleeping at night, faluns woke me up," Kuo recalled.

That night he had a dream.

"I remember the dream very clearly," Kuo recalled. "In hindsight, it was exactly like the dance,

'Creation,' performed by Divine Performing Arts that I saw after I was released from prison. That was what I dreamed of. I felt that was how I descended from a heavenly paradise. That was where I came from. I am now suffering here. For ten years I lived like this. I have been immersed in sins."

The next day Kuo remembered that, a year before, Falun Gong practitioners had come to the prison to teach the Falun Gong exercises. He managed to pass a note to the inmate that had learned the exercises to contact the practitioners that had spread Falun Gong in the prison and ask them to bring all the Falun Gong books to him. A practitioner brought Kuo seven Falun Gong books. Kuo said, "In two months and two days, I studied the seven Falun Gong books seven times. Then the warden told me I could go home for a vacation."

Kuo was given 12 days of vacation. He went back to his hometown where he learned the five Falun Gong exercises.

Memorizing Zhuan Falun and Practicing the Falun Gong Exercises Despite the Pain

After 12 days of vacation, Kuo had to return to prison to complete his term. Kuo decided to start over in a prison where nobody knew him. He told his daughter who was studying in college, "Daddy is determined to practice Falun Gong. During the remainder of my prison term, I have an important job to do--memorize Zhuan Falun."

Kuo packed 24 Falun Gong books and chose to serve his prison term in Yilan, a northeastern city in Taiwan.

In prison in Yilan, there were meditation classes in the morning and afternoon every day. Kuo took the opportunity to practice the Falun Gong sitting meditation.

"At first I was unable to sit cross-legged," Kuo recalled. "It gave me a lot of pain to practice the sitting meditation. But I was determined to do the sitting meditation in the Full Lotus position, even if it caused fractures. It was summer. I was dripping with sweat. My legs hurt really badly. I felt as though something was swimming in my body. When fellow inmates saw me trembling in agony, they made fun of me and told me to give up. I knew very well the cause of my pain was that I had a lot of karma and drugs had ruined my health."

On the 30th day, Kuo managed to do the sitting meditation for 30 minutes. He was ecstatic when he put his legs down.

"That day I felt something for the first time. I felt faluns rotating in my legs and I heard the loud sound from the rotating faluns. I felt faluns leaving my body from the tip of my toes and returning to my dantian."

Spreading the Fa in Prison

From then on, Kuo Ching-Feng was rehabilitated mentally from drugs. He overcame his drug addiction and began to practice Falun Gong in serenity. His body, which had been under the influence of drugs, was repeatedly cleansed by Falun Gong. Kuo became increasingly energetic and refreshed. He declared to his fellow inmates that he had completely quit drugs.

"Even if I live to be 100 years old, I will never be sentenced to prison again. But everyone jeered and told me it would be impossible to overcome a drug addiction and they would see me in prison again in no time."

Kuo began to share the benefits of practicing Falun Gong with the friends he had made in prison.

Kuo said, "There was an inmate that had been in prison for over a decade. I often saw him with a Bible in his hands. I have read the Bible before. I told him, 'Why don't you read Zhuan Falun first? I will teach you the Falun Gong exercises. Try practicing Falun Gong for six months."

Six months later, that inmate asked to buy all the Falun Gong books available.

Another inmate had practiced Tai chi for a decade. The man slept on the bunk above Kuo and saw Kuo reading Zhuan Falun every day. Having heard miraculous stories of Falun Gong, the man expressed his interest in reading his books.

Kuo said, "I asked him what he felt when he practiced Tai chi. He told me he felt a strong presence of qi. I told him that Tai chi is a form of qigong, but that he only had qi and didn't have any gong after practicing Tai chi for ten years. I explained to him that Master teaches us that genuine gong comes from cultivating one's heart and will not come from practicing physical movements. I told him that he didn't have the Fa to guide him and that he would not feel any qi when he has gong."

Kuo Ching-Feng and the man took turns studying the 24 Falun Gong books. Every morning and evening they practiced the five Falun Gong exercises together. In the eighth month of his prison term, Kuo had finished studying these books for the eighth time.

Kuo said, "He told me that practicing Tai chi for 20 years was not equal to practicing Falun Gong for eight months. He had done drugs since age 19 and spent nearly 30 years in prison. I asked him if he would start doing drugs again when he was released. He said it would be impossible for him to touch drugs again. He was right. When your heart is transformed, you will never touch drugs again."

When Kuo completed his prison term, his cell mates asked to borrow his collection of Falun Gong books. Kuo told them to keep them in pristine condition. "When you are released, these books must be passed onto the next inmates. You must keep passing them on."

Benefiting from Falun Gong Physically and Spiritually, Kuo Led Predestined People to Falun Gong

Because of Kuo's transformation, his family and people around him started to transform as well.

"I don't have to advertise for Falun Gong, but the village policemen, local elected officials, and everyone who knows me know that Falun Gong is great because they have witnessed my transformation. I met a villager yesterday. I gave him a copy of Zhuan Falun and told him that he must read it. I offered to teach him the Falun Gong exercises if he felt the book was good. He told me that he knew this must be a good book because he saw what it did for me. He promised to read the book."

Kuo's older sister is 60 years old and has been practicing Falun Gong for over two years.

"My sister practices Falun Gong in the morning and afternoon. She didn't receive any education, so she cannot read. She has had Zhuan Falun for nearly three years, but she still cannot read it. But she is now attending night school to learn to read. She refused to accept the fact that she can't read Zhuan Falun. She told me that she decided to practice Falun Gong after she witnessed the changes in me."

Kuo Ching-Feng spent the first half of his life astray. When he entered prison for the first time in 1994, his daughter was attending the third grade in elementary school and his son was in the first grade. When he was released from prison in 2004, it was just in time to attend his daughter's college graduation ceremony. His son was in his second year of high school. Looking back on his life before Falun Gong, Kuo Ching-Feng has a lot of regrets. He is thankful to Falun Gong for giving him a new life.