(Minghui.org) Dongning Park is located in the eastern part of Tainan City, Taiwan, and contains a dense tree line which completely surrounds a large, grassy area. If you're an early morning park-goer, you'll likely hear the gentle, soothing exercise music of Falun Dafa emanating from the center lawn. This, the second oldest Falun Dafa practice site in Tainan City, has been active for the past 15 years.

Since this practice site was established in 1999, nearly two dozen practitioners routinely go there at 4:45 am to do the Falun Dafa exercises. They then study the teachings of Falun Dafa until 8:30 am. This routine has been maintained for 15 years without interruption, making it possible for many practitioners to introduce it to their relatives and friends. It has also provided an excellent environment for practitioners to progress on their cultivation paths.

Practitioners doing the exercises and studying

Falun Dafa originated in China. Since it was brought to the public, millions of people have joined the practice because of its emphasis on moral character and virtue and its amazing health benefits.

Through the Dongning practice site, several hundred people from all walks of life have learned the exercises, and some of them later established two other practice sites in neighboring communities. Among the people who came to learn about Falun Dafa, some were looking for a righteous cultivation way that they had been unable to find in other spiritual paths, and some were simply searching for a method to heal their illnesses.

After learning Falun Dafa, however, they experienced a fundamental change in their lives. Many felt more youthful and energetic, and a few illiterate people even miraculously were able to read after doing the exercises for a while.

A Pure and Persistent Heart

Practitioner Ms. Guiying

Ms. Guiying is responsible for bringing a portable stereo to play the exercise music for the group. She has not missed a single day in ten years! Her story starts a day in December of 2000 when she was walking in the park and heard the peaceful music. She was immediately drawn to it, which led her to the practice site. An instructor then taught her the five exercises of Falun Dafa and told her to bring a cushion if she were to decide to join the group the next day. She became a practitioner that day.

Ms. Guiying could sit in the full lotus position (both legs crossed) from the very beginning. She felt wonderful, and the exercises filled her with energy. Sometimes she slept little during the night, but would still be lively and spirited the next day.

She felt serene and peaceful while doing the exercises. Gradually, she became stronger and could walk faster. Some illnesses also disappeared without her realizing it. She had suffered severe motion sickness, which often caused her to vomit before the bus even moved. After she began to practice Falun Dafa, her motion sickness eventually disappeared completely.

Falun Dafa Cured Chronic Insomnia

Practitioner Mr. Lin Jinjiang

Insomnia had troubled Mr. Lin Jinjiang for nearly 20 years. He used to be a deacon in a temple and owned a construction materials factory. A nightly dosage of sleeping pills resulted in only limited relief, making his life miserable.

One night, half-asleep, he heard a voice say in his mind, “Reading the book can make you sleep well.” He immediately woke up and thought, “It would be so wonderful if there were indeed a book that I could read every day to help me sleep!” Another time, he dreamed that a divine being saved him.

Not long after these two dreams, he was eating breakfast in a restaurant and skimming the morning newspaper. A short ad caught his attention. It read: “Falun Dafa exercises can improve the quality of your sleep. If you are interested in learning it, please come to Dongning Park.” In his excitement, he spilled his milk, but he didn't bother to order another one. Instead, he stopped eating and immediately went to Dongning Park to look for “Falun Dafa.”

He found a group of people sitting there in a circle on the lawn with their eyes closed and quite motionless. Thinking they were sleeping, Lin thought, “This must be the exercise I am looking for! If it can make people sleep sitting up, it will surely cure my insomnia!”

An instructor then taught him the Falun Dafa exercises and explained the benefits and principles of the practice. Since then, he's practiced the five sets of exercises daily—once in the morning and again in the evening. He realized that the sitting meditation was not sleeping at all, but his chronic insomnia did indeed disappear after only three months of practicing Falun Dafa.

Ou Suzhen's Special Connection to Falun Dafa

When her nephew and niece started practicing Falun Dafa, they felt the practice was so good that they wanted their aunt, Ou Suzhen, to also benefit from it.

They gave her a few books about Falun Dafa. But when she heard that it was best to only practice one cultivation way, she hesitated. She had been in a religion since she was quite young. Also, the nearest place to learn the practice was in Kaohsiung City, so Ms. Ou decided to wait. She knew, however, that the Falun Dafa books were divine, so she kept them safe for the next five years.

She didn't realize at that time that she had a very special predestined relationship with Falun Dafa.

One morning five years later, Ms. Ou met a few practitioners having breakfast in a restaurant near Dongning Park. They had just completed the morning exercises. She told them that she had a few Falun Dafa books and wanted to give them back so that the books could be put to good use.

Mr. Wang, an instructor at the practice site, had a long talk with her and told her that she could learn the exercises in Dongning Park the next morning without having to travel to Kaohsiung City. Ms. Ou was very happy to accept the invitation.

The next morning when she arrived at the park, she saw many practitioners sitting with their eyes closed as they meditated. Not wanting to interrupt, she quietly waited to the side. She only learned the first two exercise movements that morning, but she was determined to learn them all. She went to another Falun Dafa practice site at Dongguang Elementary School that afternoon and learned exercise three and four. That evening, she went to a third practice site to learn exercise five.

Looking back, Ms. Ou said she was regretful that she had wasted five years in hesitation, and began Falun Dafa cultivation practice so late. In order to make up for the lost years, she was very diligent in studying the teachings and doing the exercises. After doing all five exercises in the morning, she would often share her new understandings of Falun Dafa and her recent tests of improving her moral character with other practitioners.

The practitioners openly shared their experiences and understandings. The sharing and discussion encouraged each other to advance on the path of cultivation and everyone benefited from it.

“Falun Dafa Gave Me a New Life”

Ms. Caifang and her mother

Ms. Caifang has not missed a meeting at the Dongning Park practice site in 10 years. Just looking at this happy and healthy woman, you might not be able to imagine that just 10 years ago, she was diagnosed with cancer and lost all hope of living.

Ms. Caifang is a single mother with a son and daughter. During a check-up, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was very sad for her children, and also worried about who would raise them after she died. For some time, she was often in tears at home and at work.

Ms. Shuzhen, her boss's daughter, was a Falun Dafa practitioner. Feeling sympathy for Ms. Caifang and hoping she could benefit from the exercises, Shuzhen introduced Falun Dafa to her; she later learned the exercises at Dongning Park.

Instructor Mr. Wang told her to forget about her illness, not to worry about anything, and just do the exercises and read Zhuan Falun every day. She followed his advice and the breast cancer disappeared without her realizing it. Ms. Caifang was very surprised to experience the healing power of Falun Dafa and regained her confidence in life.

Her family relations also changed. She often had a short temper and was harsh with her children, perhaps exacerbated by her poor health. A small thing such as her son dropping rice on the floor would cause her to be upset and curse the child.

“If mom had not practiced Falun Dafa, I would have already run away from home, because I couldn't take it anymore,” said her son.

Ms. Caifang followed the principles of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance” and studied the teachings of Falun Dafa every day. It gave her back her good health, as well as a good temperament. Now if she sees spilled rice on the floor, she will just pick it up naturally without thinking any further. She doesn't get upset anymore and she has a close relationship with her children.

Her daughter often says that she received a blessing in disguise, “Mother started to practice Falun Dafa because of breast cancer. Since then, she has become healthier day after day and always has a smile on her face. More then 10 years have passed, yet she now looks younger than before. When we go out together, many people think she is my elder sister! No one believes she is 60 years old.”

Falun Dafa showed Ms. Caifang another miracle regarding her mother. It was about seven years ago, Ms. Caifang's mother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Doctors said that her mother would forget family members, would eventually be unable to walk, and be incapable of caring for herself in about two years.

Ms. Caifang took her mother to live with her, so that she could take care of her and read “Zhuan Falun” to her. Seven years have passed, but her mother is still capable of caring for herself and can still move around. She occasionally does forget things, but most of the time she's fine. Ms. Caifang believes this is the benefit of Falun Dafa's positive energy field and the power of Falun Dafa. During a checkup, even the doctor said it was a miracle!

You can't find any hopelessness or depression in Ms. Caifang at all these days. All you can see is energy, happiness, and health. “The happiest thing for me is studying Falun Dafa and doing the exercises!” says, Ms. Caifang.