(Minghui.org) I am overwhelmed with fond memories upon the Twentieth Anniversary of Falun Gong's introduction to the world. I was fortunate to have been near Teacher repeatedly and to listen to His lectures in person. Under Teacher's compassionate protection, I have been practicing Falun Gong for 20 extraordinary years. Teacher's Falun Gong has restored my health and purified my mind, which was once poisoned by the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) propaganda. I would like to share my stories with fellow practitioners.
Teacher Cured My Illness Before I Started Practicing Falun Gong
On the morning of September 17, 1992, I saw a colleague practicing a type of qigong in the woods near the auditorium of Jilin University. She told me that a qigong master was currently treating the illnesses of the university's faculty and staff. I hurried there to find some thirty people already waiting in line. I joined the line and soon I saw Teacher. He looked like he was in his twenties. He was tall, handsome, and affable, yet he carried a presence that commanded respect. There was an enormous energy field that drew me to him.
When it was my turn, Teacher said, "Tell me only one illness you would like to have cured." I immediately wondered if he said that because people before me were greedy and asked to be cured of multiple illnesses. Later I found out that Teacher had promised to cure only one illness per person. I pointed at my head since I suffered from headaches. Instantly I felt as though a strip of my head was pulled out. Teacher patted me on the shoulder and said, "Done!" I rotated my head to verify. The pain was really gone. I asked a professor named Wang about Teacher and found out Teacher's name and that the type of qigong was Falun Gong. I have never forgotten this fortuitous encounter. It was such a precious opportunity for me. I must have a remarkable predestined relationship with Teacher and Falun Gong! Thus, I became a Falun Gong practitioner and gave up all other qigong practices.
Photograph with Teacher
On the morning of June 25, 1993, after we concluded a Falun Gong group exercise practice at the technology building of Jilin University, many of us were in a hurry to get back home to have breakfast and to go to work. After a fellow Falun Gong practitioner and I put away a Falun Gong banner and introduction materials, a volunteer Falun Gong assistant asked us to stay and have photographs taken with Teacher. I was delightfully surprised! I had no idea that Teacher had arrived in Jilin. Those practitioners that had not left yet were already forming a line in a corridor of the building. I stood at the end of the line and watched Teacher standing tall with his hands folded before his abdomen. With a serene look on his face, he posed for photographs with us. Afterward, he shook hands with us and exchanged pleasantries. Words fail to describe how excited I was. I too, wanted to shake hands with Teacher, but I did not want to keep Him. I stood to the side, watching fellow practitioners while they were enjoying this joyous moment.
Later, I learned from the volunteer assistant that Teacher had arrived at the group practice site a long time prior, but had asked not to disturb our group practice. He quietly corrected the exercise movements of individual practitioners, yet most practitioners were completely unaware. Teacher had personally selected this group practice site and cleansed it for us. Those practitioners with celestial vision could see that there was a giant Falun sheltering the site, and Teacher's fashen was protecting us from above. The site was surrounded with red light. It was not an ordinary group practice site; it was a site for cultivation. Over the next seven years, five additional group practice sites were created by practitioners from this site.
Teacher Joins a Panel Discussion at Jilin University
After a morning group practice on April 28, 1994, two fellow practitioners invited me to join a panel discussion held by the Human Science Research Group at Jilin University at 8:30 a.m. Teacher was also invited to join the panel discussion. At 8:30, the leader of the research group and Falun Gong assistants at Jilin University entered the room with Teacher. The audience of 20 some people stood up and welcomed them with applause. Researchers and scholars raised some academic questions, but I did not understand what they were talking about.
I watched Teacher paying attention to each speaker. Sometimes He nodded, and sometimes He just listened. He answered all of the questions sincerely and humbly. Teacher spoke to them as equals, never interrupted anyone, and never forced His opinion on anyone. Teacher was extremely polite. To this day, I still remember Teacher's image, being handsome, graceful, and generous. Teacher is a role model for everyone.
Listening to Teacher's Lectures
I had just returned from a business trip one day, when a fellow practitioner told me that Teacher was teaching at the Jilin Province Committee auditorium. It was the fourth time that Teacher had taught in Changchun, Jilin Province. I begged a fellow practitioner, Yingzi, to find me a ticket. Thus, I joined the class that very same day. I joined the class halfway in, so I did not have a good understanding of the Buddha Fa. Nonetheless, I felt that Teacher was warm, affectionate, and considerate. Teacher carried a powerful energy that appealed to me, and He used simple speech that made it easy for me to understand His lecture. I was all ears, and I heard many things that I had never heard before about cultivation, attachments, xinxing, searching inward, enlightenment quality, etc. I could not absorb all of it right away, and I had to skip the last day because I had to go on another business trip.
Although I did not yet have a deep understanding of the meanings, I found what Teacher said in class to be true during this business trip. In the past, I was unable to sit in one position for more than ten minutes, lest my shoulders become sore and numb from the hyperostosis in my cervical spine pressing on my nerves. This time, I had no shoulder pain during the train ride. Instead, I felt very energetic. I also used to smoke a pack of cigarettes every day, but I found myself unable to smoke. I coughed violently when I tried. Thus, I quit smoking after 30 years of cigarette addiction.
I also quit drinking. When I reunited with former classmates in Tianjin, I felt my mouth burning when I drank. When I tried to swallow the drink, I ended up vomiting. I had no choice but to drink soft drinks. They asked, "You used to drink a lot. What happened to you today?" I told them that I had attended eight days of Falun Gong classes, and that Teacher told us to quit smoking and drinking if we decided to cultivate. I had once tried to quit smoking and drinking before, but I failed. I was surprised that I could easily quit smoking and drinking now that I had started practicing Falun Gong. My classmates were quite impressed as well.
I did not have an intellectual response to Teacher's lectures, but the miracles I experienced sparked in me a strong interest in Falun Gong. Soon, I had attended Teacher's Falun Gong classes twice. I listened intently to Teacher's lectures, which were profound. I attained a different understanding at each level of cultivation. I was particularly touched by the aspect of becoming a better person. I was reminded of the days in the 60s when the CCP had instilled its poisonous values in me. For 43 years I had been a follower of the CCP, and participated in all of its political movements. I once labeled a classmate as being right-wing and caused him to lose his childhood sweetheart. After he graduated from school, he was exiled to a desert region where he remains to this day. In contrast, I became a CCP member, and built my happiness at the cost of his misery. I could not ease my conscience. I could not continue my life like that any longer.
For 43 years I was an atheist. I did not believe in or fear retribution. I had once been responsible for butchering chickens and fish for food. I also butchered cows and pigs at work. In anatomy classes, I killed many frogs, mice, and rabbits. I used to be quite proud of my butchering work. I felt it was a sign of my physical strength and ability, and I felt powerful and strong in taking these lives.
Retribution came swiftly however, and I began to suffer from lower back pain. I could not move while laying in bed, and I was sleepless at night. Sometimes I was given shots to numb the pain. I had been transferred to different hospitals multiple times. I had surgeries that required local and general anesthesia. At one point, I was bed-ridden for three years. I had suffered from a myriad of illnesses before I retired.
It was not until I started practicing Falun Gong that I knew I had been suffering due to retribution. Teacher said,
"Due to karma resulting from past wrongdoing, one has illnesses or tribulations; suffering is repaying a karmic debt, and thus nobody can casually change this." (Zhuan Falun)
How could I possibly have had a peaceful life after all my wrongdoings? Aren't the myriad of illnesses used to validate the heavenly law? To stop wrongdoings, I must study Teacher's books well. Teacher said,
"For self-interest, they commit various wrong deeds and will acquire this black substance, karma. This directly involves our own minds. In order to eliminate this negative thing, you must first change your mind." (Zhuan Falun)
To become a physically and mentally healthy person, I must enhance my xinxing and stop my wrongdoings. A perfectly healthy person has to be a good person who abides by a high moral standard. To be a good person, I must follow all aspects of Teacher's teachings.
On May 13, 1992, Teacher began imparting the law of the universe and changed our lives. I have gained not only my physical health but also my spiritual health. No matter what happens, I will follow Falun Gong's requirements. I will never change my conviction.
From the Call for Submissions to Commemorate the Twentieth Anniversary of Falun Dafa’s Introduction
