(Clearwisdom.net)
Minghui schools blossom everywhere
Falun Dafa has been spread to over 60 countries around the world, and more than 100 million people have benefited both physically and mentally from practicing Falun Dafa. At present, Minghui schools, which take "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" as guiding principles for teaching, have been established around the world. Since the first Minghui school was established by Falun Gong practitioners on January 6, 2001 in Washington DC, Minghui schools were successively established in many cities, including Sydney and Melbourne, Australia; Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa in Canada; Taipei, Taozumiao, Tainan, Kaoshiong and other cities in Taiwan; Thailand; Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, Korea; and many locations across the U.S. including New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Columbus, Atlanta, Seattle, Minnesota, Boston, San Diego, and Los Angeles. Several places in the UK have also established Minghui schools. In the past three years, Minghui schools have blossomed everywhere around the world.
Children's education and cultivation is a common concern. The Minghui School provides a good environment for young Falun Dafa practitioners to study, cultivate, and improve themselves. The Minghui School's teaching is based on Falun Dafa, and educates children to conduct themselves according to "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." The Minghui School spreads and promotes Chinese traditional culture, and it pays attention to students' physical and mental health, especially the improvement of their characters. It lays a good foundation and sets a good example for the future.
Houston Minghui School Established
Inspired by the growth of Minghui schools in other areas and with the concerted effort of local practitioners, the Houston Minghui School was established in September 2003. In the past six months, the school has created an environment for young Dafa practitioners to study the Fa and do the exercises, and it encourages more children to study the Fa and do the exercises together. Through studying the basic Chinese, children are able to read Zhuan Falun and other Falun Dafa books in Chinese.
According Ms. Wei, a volunteer teacher of the school, many Dafa practitioners in the Houston area have children, and taking care of the children had to be considered when holding Fa-study, experience sharing, sending forth righteous thoughts and other group activities each week. Actually, children are a large group of young Dafa practitioners, and they need a proper cultivation environment suitable for their characteristics.
Another volunteer teacher Ms. Lin expressed that sometimes when adults are busy, they are likely to overlook their children's education. Children are like adults--they also need an environment to cultivate together and enable them to melt into the Fa. They need to cooperate with each other easily. When adult practitioners do truth clarification work, they can participate, too.
When talking about the curriculum, Ms. Wei expressed that Minghui School is based on Falun Dafa, and guides students to merge "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" into their daily activities, and melt into everything that they do. At present, major activities include reciting Hong Yin, reading Zhuan Falun, practicing the five sets of exercises, learning to sing songs composed by Dafa practitioners, watching truth-clarifying movies, and basic culture and Chinese reading and writing.
Ms. Wei said that the establishment of the school received help, support and encouragement from non-practitioners. A kind Chinese person offers the classroom free of charge.
Young Dafa practitioners grow in Minghui schools
Since the school opened, young practitioners have melted into Falun Dafa, and made progress in studying the Fa and practicing the exercises, and elevating their characters.
According to parents' feedback, young practitioners have become kinder, more patient and more considerate. They know more clearly how to be a good child. They also learned to get along well with others and help other.
Ms. Chen talked about her daughter's positive changes after attending Minghui School. She knows how to read and does the exercises, and she can calm down and do better in her study. As she is the only child in the family, family members all pampered her before, so she was somewhat unruly and self-centered. After attending Minghui School, she has begun to learn to be considerate and put others before herself. She used to be upset when other children played with her toys, but now she takes initiative to share her things with others. When she does something wrong, she realizes it right away. She is much stronger in mind and body. Once, she fell over herself, and her nose became swollen and bruised. After returning home, she said to her grandparents, "I'm a young practitioner, so I'm not afraid of the pain. I cried a bit and then stopped."
Another four-year-old practitioner likes reading Falun Dafa books very much. He can read Zhuan Falun and recite Hong Yin. He often studies the Fa and does the exercises on his own initiative. Before learning Falun Dafa, his mother said that he could not read Chinese, but now he can write some Chinese characters. When reading Zhuan Falun, he could read most of the Chinese characters on his own after his mother taught him just the first couple of pages. His family members witnessed the miraculous effect of Dafa. After cultivation, his bad habits began to disappear. When he did something wrong, he could realize it himself and apologize.
Ms. Lin talked about how her daughter once studied Chinese for one or two years at a Chinese school. Her daughter didn't like to go and stopped going there later. After attending Minghui school, she can recite the Chinese words after reading a few times. When she was at the other Chinese school, she was not attentive in class, often came late, and did not do her homework. Now, she can finish her homework each time before class and is no longer late for classes, and she is very active in class. When returning home, she said to her mother, "Why didn't I do homework before?"
Mr. Li talked about his two children. He said that his children and other young practitioners benefit from Dafa, and they encourage each other. When he did Fa-promoting and truth-clarifying work, he would bring his two children. Now, they have participated in many Dafa activities, such as handing out flyers and participating in parades.
Seeds of Hope Sown Everywhere
Young Dafa practitioners in the Houston Minghui School can be seen in nearly every group activity held by Houston Falun Dafa practitioners.
Ms. Wei said, "All this has just begun. We still have a long way to go. We hope young practitioners can sow seeds of 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance' to different schools and different environments to bring kindness and wonderfulness to more people."
Ms. Wei also expressed that the school also hoped that they would have more contact with Minghui schools in other areas, so they can share experiences and take establishing and managing Minghui schools as part of our cultivation.
When Ms. Lin talked about their future plans, she expressed that they would do better and better. The students at the Houston Minghui School are all Falun Dafa practitioners' children. In the future, they plan to recruit students from other segments of society, and bring the wonderfulness of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" to more people.
Category: April 25 Events
