(Minghui.org) It made Ms. Lin Liching unhappy to look at her reflection in the mirror. She had delicate features, but the skin around her lips was spotted with acne. She tried many acne treatment products, but nothing cured it. She sighed at her own reflection.
Ms. Lin came from an average family. Education was smooth sailing for her. After she graduated from a short-term college, she began working at a scientific equipment company. She got along very well with her boss and her colleagues, but she felt bored and unhappy.
Ms. Lin often had debilitating abdominal pain. She became panic-stricken when she was finally diagnosed with endometriosis. She had to have a surgery right away. When she was feeling physically and mentally exhausted in the hospital bed, she thought, "I hope I never wake up. I don't want to think about it any longer." She didn't have any spiritual belief at the time. The thought of death frightened her. She often wondered, "If there is no next life, one will lay underground after death! Oh, my goodness. Will I go to hell when I die?" Her thoughts ran wild with imagination.
All the troubling thoughts dissipated after she found Falun Gong's website and started practicing. Her acne quickly disappeared. She now has smooth, flawless skin. These days Ms. Lin spends her weekends at Shilin Official Residence, which used to be former President Chiang Kai-Shek's residence in Shilin, Taipei, and is now a renowned tourist spot. She demonstrates the Falun Gong exercises along with fellow practitioners so that tourists from China can see with their own eyes what Falun Gong really is. She appears peaceful, serene, and solemn when she practices Falun Gong. Ms. Lin said, "I hope that everyone gets a chance to see Falun Gong is beautiful."
Ms. Lin Liching (first on the right) spends her weekends doing the Falun Gong exercises at Shilin Official Residence
The Unbearable Burden of an Abusive Father
Many people use alcohol to drown their sorrows, but the results are often dismal. Ms. Lin's father drank to relieve pressure from work, but he became a different person under the influence. A nice guy when sober, he would get angry when he drank. He was never violent, but he would get verbally abusive under the influence. He would bicker with his wife when he was drunk. Ms. Lin grew up fearing her father and feeling insecure. It was not until she grew up that she was able to escape this environment. Yet she was still unhappy. When she had fun, the feeling of happiness would be followed by insecurity, nervousness, and melancholy.
At work Ms. Lin is responsible for taking orders, an exacting job that requires concentration: the consequences are considerable if she makes a mistake. However, she has to joggle multiple tasks at the same time while constantly being interrupted. She felt really pressured. Sometimes when business was good, the orders kept coming in, so there were more incoming phone calls. Ms. Lin was more comfortable doing one thing at a time. Eventually she developed work-related obsessive compulsive disorder. She found herself compelled to find things to do after work. She could not stop thinking about work. Finally she decided to quit when she felt she couldn't take the pressure any longer—but her boss insisted that she stay.
In addition to nervousness, melancholy, and stress, Ms. Lin was tormented by her poor health. She had troublesome menstrual periods. Sometimes she had to take a whole week off to roll around in pain. When she was diagnosed with endometriosis, the doctor told her that there was no cure except to have the cysts surgically removed every time they grew back. She feared the prospect of spending her life repeatedly under the knife. Finally she concluded that life was nothing but pain and that life was meaningless. All the while, she was searching for an alternative.
Nearly Missing Falun Gong
In the spring of 2008, Ms. Lin read a news article that said a lady's cyst shrank when she started practicing Falun Gong. She immediately searched the Internet about Falun Gong, which she could learn for free. She had heard about Falun Gong being banned in China, but she did not know the reason. She had thought it might have something to do with politics because of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) many “political” movements in the past few decades, which were excuses to violently repress different sectors of Chinese society.
Ms. Lin decided to seek out Falun Gong by calling a practice volunteer listed on the Falun Gong website. Ms. Lin said, "The practitioner that answered the phone told me many things. The most important thing I took away from that phone conversation was that Mr. Li Hongzhi (the founder of Falun Gong) was a selfless man. I was very touched. She added that I would be underestimating Falun Gong if I regarded it as an ordinary qigong. She said that Falun Gong practitioners are required to follow Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. She also shared with me her personal understanding about Falun Gong. I was deeply moved. I felt it was exactly what I was looking for. I was determined to practice Falun Gong."
A Lone Boat Coming Ashore
Ms. Lin attended the free nine-day Falun Gong class in August 2008. For several days before the class started, Ms. Lin followed a Falun Gong practitioner's advice to study Falun Gong's main study text, Zhuan Falun.
Ms. Lin said, "Falun Gong is truly miraculous. It showed me things I didn't know before. Before I finished reading one third of Zhuan Falun, I realized I threw temper tantrums a lot. Now I am no longer temperamental because I know I am hurting myself by throwing temper tantrums.
"When I first started practicing Falun Gong, I would cry whenever I read each Falun Gong book because I was very moved and blown away. Each Falun Gong book touched me. I often had to wipe my tears away while I studied them.
"Reading had been a habit of mine for more than 10 years, but I could never find the answer I was looking for. I came across the word 'truth' in many books, but what does 'truth' really mean? No one could give me a definitive answer. Teacher rarely uses the word 'truth,' but his words are the truth. When I read in Zhuan Falun, 'Zhen-Shan-Ren (Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance) is the sole criterion to discern good and bad people,' I was completely blown away. That was when I learned how to tell right from wrong and the way to conduct myself. Before I started practicing Falun Gong, I felt like a lone boat adrift. Now I feel I have finally come ashore. I feel very grounded."
Becoming Pretty
A few days after Ms. Lin started practicing Falun Gong, she had a follow-up appointment with her doctor, who informed her that she still had some cysts. Ms. Lin recalled, "I might have only started practicing Falun Gong a few days before, but I was no longer worried about the cysts. I had no fear. I stopped worrying about my illness all together, and I was perfectly fine."
She had two incidents with abdominal pain within the first six months. She recalled, "The pain was a lot milder than before. I was not afraid or worried at all. I knew both Teacher and the Fa were with me. I knew that the root cause of illness is karma. I felt very calm. The pain lasted three days the first time. It lasted only a day the second time. I didn't even have to take any time off because I felt perfectly fine the next day. I have never had any abdominal pain since."
Ms. Lin's colleagues and family were amazed at her transformation. They kept telling her that she had a softer expression and that her skin looked better. They told her that she had become happy, cheerful, thoughtful, and prettier.
Ms. Lin said, "When I had my first surgery, I told myself that I would be kinder to people because I didn't want to have any regrets when I died. But I didn't know how to change myself. When I started practicing Falun Gong, I had Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to follow, so I now know how to treat others with kindness. My colleagues have been very nice to me, so we rarely have any conflicts. If we should have a conflict, I know how to end it benevolently because I follow Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance."
There is a Chinese saying: "You should get up when you fall." Ms. Lin once wanted to resign when she felt overwhelmed, yet now she has adjusted to work well. It is no longer a burden for her to juggle multiple tasks. She is happy at work.
Telling Her Family and Chinese Tourists about Falun Gong
Ms. Lin's cultivation has had a positive effect on her family. Apparently, her calm has affected the atmosphere in her family. Her younger brother told her, "I am glad that you told me about xinxing so that I know how to treat others better." She was once described as "speaking without thinking, willful, and controlling,” but she has changed. She has forsaken melancholy and embraced happiness. Her family has observed that even children will improve when they practice Falun Gong, so they support her belief in Falun Gong wholeheartedly.
Ms. Lin spends her holidays and weekends demonstrating the Falun Gong exercises at Shilin Official Residence. She also attends parades to spread the truth about Falun Gong. "Every year Falun Gong practitioners gather for Chinese-character formations to celebrate Teacher's birthday. I make sure I am part of the formation. Before I started practicing Falun Gong, I read in a magazine that thousands of Falun Gong practitioners gathered to form the three Chinese characters, 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.' I was very touched. I was touched by the solemn and sacred atmosphere. It was one of the reasons why I decided to practice Falun Gong. I hope that people might understand Falun Gong and even start practicing Falun Gong because they see the formation, like I did."
About Falun Gong
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a high-level Buddha school cultivation practice introduced by Mr. Li Hongzhi in 1992. It follows the fundamental principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Millions of people that practice Falun Gong are evidence that Falun Gong is good for health and morality.
The Chinese Communist Party banned Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. Millions of Falun Gong practitioners have faced suppression, torture, and death. The ban has caused practitioners worldwide to disseminate the truth about Falun Gong and to work to end the suppression.
