The Benefits of Falun Gong: Teachers (Part 3)

(Minghui.org) Part 2: The Benefits of Falun Gong: Teachers (Part 2)

In China, even some schoolteachers have fallen prey to the decline in moral values. Many have collected money from and harassed their students.

However, teachers who practice Falun Gong follow the practice's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in their daily lives. This article highlights two such teachers and how they have held to their faith during the 19-year persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese communist regime.

One of Top Ten Teachers in Changchun

Ms. Li Yan, a recipient of the Top Ten Physics Teachers in Changchun City, Jilin Province, has a lot to share about the benefits she received from Falun Gong.

Arthritis Recovered

Ms. Li after graduating from a normal college in Changchun in 1991, was appointed as a teacher in its affiliated high school. One day in October 1996, a colleague recommended the book Zhuan Falun, a top seller according to Beijing Youth Daily. Ms. Li learned from the book how to become a good person. She began to join nearly 100 practitioners for exercises at Changchun Cultural Activities Center every morning and group reading in the evening.

Ms. Li had suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis since childhood, and it got worse after she started to work. Every morning when she woke up, her entire body ached, especially her shoulder and fingers. The morning stiffness caused so much pain that she often thought about ending her life.

Shortly after beginning to practice Falun Gong, her fingers weren't stiff in the morning. Soon after, she realized the rest of her body did not ache anymore, either. “I know all these changes resulted from Falun Gong,” she recalled.

A Teacher with Principles

The physical improvement impressed Ms. Li and she began to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance on a daily basis. The high school she taught at was an elite school and many of the students' parents were high-ranking officials. While it was normal for other teachers to accept monetary gifts and to even ask those parents for favors, Ms. Li always turned down such gifts.

One boy in her class received a very good grade and his parents thanked her with a luxury handbag. Ms. Li returned it to the store and placed the 900 yuan in an envelope for the student to bring to his parents.

When SARS was rampant in 2003, one parent visited her at school to give her some imported, expensive vaccines. “My son had low-esteem, and you always encouraged him for any little progress. We are grateful for that and have always remembered you,” said the mother. Ms. Li at that time had been removed from her teaching position for her belief and she was touched by the kindness. After Ms. Li explained that she would not accept the gift and talked about Falun Gong, the mother was impressed and wished her well.

Steadfast in Her Belief

After the persecution started, school officials assigned Ms. Li to a supporting role and cut her salary by half. But this did not change her determination in living by the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

At that time she was responsible for textbooks with an annual budget of 700,000 yuan. Because her predecessors accepted kickbacks and used the school property for personal use, the school had to replace people three times in three years for that position. After Ms. Li was put in charge of that role, she stopped kickback payments, even if the requests were from school officials.

The textbook supplier provided gift cards and other monetary presents to each textbook liaison in private each year. Ms. Li never accepted them during those six years when working at this position, and she was the only one doing so from nearly 200 schools citywide. The textbook supplier was curious why she did not accept them and was respectful after learning why. She was elected as a model employee that year despite the mistreatment she received for her belief.

When Ms. Li was in prison for practicing Falun Gong, her family visited her and noticed that she only had slippers to wear despite the freezing winter. They tried many times and were finally able to send her a pair of cotton-padded shoes. Ms. Li did not keep them. She gave them to a criminal convicted of homicide who had no winter shoes. Other detainees saw this and were moved by her kindness.

Exemplary Teacher in Guangdong Province

Ms. Zhong Yanhong graduated from Xi'an Conservatory of Music and she was a First Rank teacher at Danzao High School in Foshan City, Guangdong Province.

An Honest Student

When Ms. Zhong was a college sophomore, she noticed another student changing from sloppiness to being tidy, and from having poor grades to going to an excellent performance. Curious about what happened, she asked and learned it was because that student had recently learned Falun Gong. That intrigued Ms. Zhong to find out more and led to her cultivation practice.

She has since disciplined herself according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. One day she could only do eight sit-ups in gym class and failed the test. To help her, a classmate who oversaw the test reported that she had done 28. Ms. Zhong later explained this to the teacher and asked for a make-up test. The teacher was surprised: “Usually students come to me to pass the test. Now, three of you who passed the test requested a make-up test. What is going on?” Interestingly, the teacher then discovered that those three students were Falun Gong practitioners.

Ms. Zhong became healthier and more open-minded because of practicing Falun Gong. People around her liked her and supported her practice.

Well-respected Exemplary Teacher

With the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance guiding her work, Ms. Zhong kept improving her teaching method and conscientiously prepared each class. Her colleagues said each of her classes could be considered as exemplary. In addition, she was able to adjust her teaching based on students' situation and readiness. Because her class motivated students' creativity and imagination, her article that summarized her teaching methods won the second prize.

At a teacher speech contest in May 2003, Ms. Zhong won the grand prize, although this was the first time she had participated. The title of her speech was “Becoming a Better Person.” In it, she described how to be a better person and a better teacher by following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. When speaking of forbearance, she provided an example: One student in her class was a headache for teachers and the school for messing up in the classroom. Ms. Zhong told him stories and talked with him from time to time on how to be responsible for oneself. Moved by her forgiveness, patience, and compassion, this student began to obey the class rules and started to participate productively. Teachers who heard Ms. Zhong's speech were touched and she was selected as an exemplary teacher in 2005.

Ms. Zhong was also the only teacher in the school who refused to accept gifts from students' parents. When parents paid her phone bill, she paid it back; when parents gave her cash, she returned all of it. Impressed by her excellent performance and work ethics, the principal promoted her a number of times in a short period.

Epilogue

Above are just a couple examples of teachers who practice Falun Gong, a self-improvement system introduced to the public in 1992. By the time it was suppressed by the communist party in 1999, the number of practitioners reached to about 100 million in 7 years.

Just like other practitioners, these teachers were severely persecuted for their belief in Falun Gong. Ms. Li mentioned above that she was removed from teaching for more than 10 years. She was also detained numerous times while suffering from torture and brainwashing. Because of all these misfortunes, her father faced enormous pressure and later developed a mental disorder. Similarly, Ms. Zhong was forced to resign, followed by frequent arrests and detention, including being kept at a labor camp three times.