(Minghui.org)
1. A New Discovery
I had only practiced Falun Dafa for a few months when I saw something astonishing. It was on September 20, 1997, during the afternoon recess, when a girl in the Grade 3 class I was teaching placed a mat on the floor, sat down in the full lotus position and put her palms together. Incredulous, I asked her, "How did you manage to sit in this position so easily?" The other students piped up, "I can do that too." One by one, they all sat down in the full lotus position.
Even though I had practiced Dafa for a few months, I could still only manage the half lotus position. It seemed like these students had a good foundation for cultivation. But as I was still somewhat unconvinced, I went to the nursery class and asked 20 to 30 of the toddlers there to try sitting in the full lotus position. I found that only 3 of them could.
From there I realized that these 22 students had a predestined relationship with Dafa. Master had arranged for me long ago to be these students' teacher, so that we could all become Dafa practitioners. I made a silent vow to help my students in practicing Falun Gong. I stopped the assigned moral education classes, and used any available extracurricular time to read Zhuan Falun with them.
2. Becoming Dafa Practitioners
When we studied Zhuan Falun, my third grade students could understand the content and its basic meaning instantly. To my utter surprise, whenever we finished one lecture, the students would immediately ask to start on the next one. They were completely absorbed in the Fa.
During their physical education lessons, I would teach them to do the exercises. We spent so much time together that the principal and other teachers thought we were rehearsing for a creative performance. At night, the students would come to my home for Fa study sessions, as well as learning to memorize and recite Lunyu and the poems in Hong Yin. Because my home was also a practice site, in the early morning they would do the standing exercises in neat rows in my yard, or sit on the grass to do the meditation exercise.
After more than a month of studying the Fa and doing the exercises, miracles started to happen. In particular, the entire spirit and atmosphere of the class took an unprecedented change for the better. Foul or harsh words were no longer used, and the usual quarrels and fights stopped. Both my students and I were immersed in an environment of peace, humility, and tolerance for days on end.
My bad habit of frequently losing my temper disappeared, and I treated my students with kindness and respect. It was really as Master said, "The Buddha-light illuminates everywhere and rectifies all abnormalities." (Lecture Three in Zhuan Falun) Never in my long career of teaching had I ever experienced such a wonderful time.
Whenever I recall that amazing period of time, I feel that only during that time was I truly a teacher. I found my work becoming easy, and my heart was always light. I did not compete for reputation or profit, and I let the other teachers take the benefits. I just focused on doing my job well and working hard, without thinking about anything else.
3. Changes in Mindset
After practicing Falun Gong, my students' attachments to material things became less and less. Their habit of spending money on trivial things was gone, and they began picking up and returning lost money more often. They would return the money to the owner or pass it to me.
During the 1998 flood in Jiangnan, the school collected donations from the staff and students. Our class didn't require any of its students to donate their own money; instead, we donated the money from our lost money fund, which we had accumulated penny by penny over the year. The fund amounted to 97 yuan.
After the students began practicing Dafa, the response from their parents was huge. When the students went home, they would talk to their parents about how to conduct oneself and other profound principles – things that the parents themselves found difficult to understand. The parents were all baffled, so I conducted a special meet-the-parents session to explain that their children were learning Falun Gong. I introduced Falun Gong to the parents and explained what it was about – how it teaches people to be compassionate and to elevate one's virtue, and also teaches one to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to become an even better person.
The parents were all very supportive of their children learning Falun Gong. They no longer needed to worry about their childrens' homework, and their children no longer got into fights with their neighbors' children.
One parent said, “After learning Falun Gong, my child has become a completely different person.” Another parent said, “I like to play mahjong in my free time. But my child recently said to me, 'Mum, don't play mahjong anymore. Even if we win money, it wouldn't be money that we earned through our own effort. How can we pocket such money? This is money that we shouldn't have, and if we gain things that we are not supposed to gain, then we will have to give up our de (virtue) in exchange. If you lose money, no matter how large or small the amount is, would you ever feel content? In your daily life, you're so thrifty and unwilling to spend any more than you have to, even on things like soya sauce.' Since when had my child become so mature? I was so ashamed of myself that I had nothing to say.”
Another parent told everyone, “Once, I was working in my field when my son brought home some friends to play at the hill near our home. Shortly after, I saw my son distributing eggs to his friends. It turned out that my son had found a nest of 27 chicken eggs on the hill, and so he had shared it evenly with his friends. This child has become even more magnanimous than I; he really knows how to be unselfish.”
One parent said to me, “As their teacher, you have taught them well.” I replied, “These students changed not because I taught them well, but because they have come to understand the profound Fa principles after practicing Falun Dafa.”
4. Changes to Health
After practicing Dafa, my entire class of 22 students never fell sick with colds again.
One of my students had been having chronic middle ear infections since he was born. Since the first day of Grade 1, he was always wiping pus from his ear in class. His parents were very troubled by their son's condition, and during the winter and summer vacations they would take him to various hospitals across the country. Despite spending a lot of money and giving him all sorts of prescriptions, his condition did not improve. But less than a month after practicing Falun Gong, this student's ear infection cleared up completely. His parents were so moved with gratitude that they were at a loss for words.
Another boy in my class was given the nickname “Asthma” by his classmates, because since he was very young, he could not participate in physical education classes, and would get breathless after walking short distances. His condition was just as bad as an old man with bronchitis. But after less than a week of practicing Falun Gong, a miracle occurred. He coughed up black pieces of sputum, which looked like small pieces of coal, and a few months later he was no longer wheezing. That period coincided with the village-wide annual sports meet, and he represented our class in the 400-meter sprint event, achieving second place in the entire village.
5. Astonishing Changes in Learning: From Last Class to First Class
I had been teaching this particular class of students since Grade 1, when there were initially 25 students in the class. There were 14 Grade 1 classes throughout the entire township, and for the village-wide Grade 1 end-of-year exam, my class came in last in the entire village. Faced with such an academic performance, I told my principal that these students were very weak academically, and I couldn't help them do any better. The principal then chose three of the weakest and youngest students to be retained. But for the Grade 2 end-of-year exam, the class' exam performance was no better, and we were still last in the entire village.
This time I got really worried, but I had no idea how to improve their grades. I was so ashamed that I could hardly show my face in school. My class' academic performance was dragging the school's reputation down, and the whole class was just too “dumb.” Didn't this also prove that my teaching abilities were very poor? Because of this incident, I had a very bad bout of flu and toothache. After that, I took my frustration out on my students by increasing their workload and pressure. But because I was acting on my attachments to reputation and personal gain, their grades did not improve at all.
In the winter of 1996, I was fortunate enough to learn about Falun Dafa. Dafa shattered all the illusions I had lived with for my entire life. Earlier, I had been living without understanding, and found life exhausting. Now, I had found my true purpose in life, and embarked on my path of cultivation.
When the new school term began, my students were now in Grade 3. I began to lead my students in practicing Falun Gong. My students were completely absorbed in studying Zhuan Falun, and in a few days we had already studied half of Zhuan Falun. From there, miracles began to happen in their studies:
1. My students were suddenly able to focus completely during lessons.2. My students' memory improved, and were able to memorize things very quickly.3. Even the most academically weak students suddenly became very smart. They no longer missed homework deadlines, and their attitude changed from one of being forced to study, to one of willingly wanting to learn more. It was just extraordinary.
The class attitude changed markedly for the better, and the change was so incredible that they were much talked about by the other teachers and the principal. At the end of the year, for the village-wide exams, my class' performance improved by seven places, and they came in seventh in the entire village. The next year, they came in second place for the Grade 4 end-of-year exams, and I was recommended as Model Teacher of the Year. They subsequently came in first place for the Grade 5 and 6 end-of-year exams.
6. Undergoing Persecution
On October 15, 1999, when my class was in the later half of Grade 6, I was illegally arrested by the local 610 Office. The members of the 610 Office and the replacement teacher then proceeded to persecute these 22 young Dafa practitioners. They had to endure all sorts of trials and were subjected to varying degrees of verbal and physical abuse.
Under the terror of the CCP's persecution, many of them dropped out of school after entering junior high school, and entered society at a premature age. But under Master's care, they were all eventually blessed with good fortune. Those who joined the army went on to military school, and later graduated from university. Now, they have become leaders of their unit. Those who were odd-job laborers eventually became bosses of their own, and accumulated sizable assets.
Those who were working in enterprises went to a university, under the full financial support of their companies. And those who continued with their studies eventually graduated with university degrees. Every single one of these 22 young practitioners had a few or a dozen miraculous experiences from practicing Dafa. To date, there are still 3 students who are diligently cultivating and doing the three things, and the other students still remember the Fa's principles, and continue to conduct themselves according to the Fa's principles to be good people in society.
7. My Understanding
A child's mind is like a blank piece of paper, ready to absorb whatever is written on it. When a person has a deep understanding of the importance of being virtuous from a young age, when he knows the divine principle of karmic retribution, and when he knows about the Falun Buddha Law, how can this person still bring himself to do evil? When his conscience is able to restrain him from doing bad deeds, would there even be a need for societal laws? When there are no more conflicts in society, wouldn't society be harmonious?
A class of students and their teacher learned to practice Falun Gong, and because of that both teacher and students had a harmonious relationship and experienced great improvements. But to date, the CCP is not just persecuting Falun Dafa and its disciples; it is destroying people's true nature and attacking the moral baseline of human beings.
No matter how rich or strong a country is, it cannot buy human conscience, and without a conscience the people will be no better than wild animals. No matter how comprehensive a country's laws are, they can only restrain a person's behavior, and cannot change a person's heart. Only the Falun Buddha Law can fundamentally change a person's heart for the better.
