(Clearwisdom.net) My name is Song Yijun. I am currently a sophomore at the National Hsinchu University of Education in Taiwan, majoring in English. I like my studies and I treasure my time. The beauty of my life today originates from changes during my last year in high school.
Teacher and students practice Falun Dafa together: Yijun, Ruming and their history teacher Ms. Wu
A teacher that follows Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance
When I entered my last year of high school, the previous history teacher had to take a long break and the school assigned Ms. Wu, who practices Falun Dafa, as the history substitute.
Ms. Wu had a far-reaching influence on many students. With regard to studying and work habits and how to live and treat others, she was our role model. She was a very good teacher, and our impression of her was someone who had a sweet smile and a frank and open voice, and she gave lively lectures.
In all the students' eyes, she was a great teacher. She was our friend, too. We could talk about almost anything with her, because everyone knew the type of person she was. There was this simple yet profound trust between her and us.
Ms. Wu never sacrificed the quality of her lectures for her own things. She kept the same standard from the first lecture to the last lecture. She always patiently answered our questions after class. She was never late, she never left class early, and she never gave us tests to reduce the lecture time. She always tried to find the best and cheapest textbooks for us and she gave us supplemental materials that did not come with the textbooks. Every student remembers her kindness.
One day we learned that Ms. Wu practices Falun Dafa. Falun Dafa requires people to follow the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. We indeed had seen this in Ms. Wu in her everyday life. Ms. Wu was not the type of teacher who used grades to control students. Whenever we had a disagreement with her teaching style, we could openly let her know. She respected students' opinions and humbly accepted students' suggestions.
She likes for students to be honest. She would rather see us get a 59 percent based our own ability than a 100 percent by cheating. For the students who really could not get better grades, instead of berating them, she tried to help them with a compassionate mind. She would try to discover their shortcomings and then help them accordingly. She was more patient with students than other teachers and was well respected among students.
Ms. Wu had set such a good example for us that after she gave a short introduction of Falun Dafa to us, we asked to learn Falun Dafa without any hesitation. At first we used only our lunchtime to do the exercises and read the books. Although we sacrificed some sleeping time, we did not feel any more tired, nor did it affect our studies. Instead, it was helping us in many ways.
Cultivation helped us improve our characters
By practicing Falun Dafa, we gained better control of our tempers. Our grades improved, too. Our views on many things changed. For instance, in the last year of high school, everyday we had to confront many exams, a mountainous pile of books to read, and a great deal of pressure from the outside. It was hard for us to keep up. Many of the students often lost control of their emotions and started to care too much about each others' grades and competing with each other. Some of them even cheated just to score a few points higher than others. However, students that practiced Falun Dafa rarely did that kind of thing.
Because we practiced Dafa, we tried to be truthful in what we said and did and also tried to be compassionate toward others. When we encountered setbacks we tried to be calm. In the Falun Dafa book Essentials for Further Advancement, the article "What is Forbearance" tells us that
"Forbearance is the key to improving one's xinxing. To endure with anger, grievance, or tears is the forbearance of an everyday person who is attached to his concerns. To endure completely without anger or grievance is the forbearance of a cultivator."
Whenever I read this, things that would have frustrated me before do not burden my mind as much as they used to.
From bottom to top
Before practicing Falun Dafa, my health was not very good and I didn't know how to study. The big exam was coming up, but I was horrible in math and English. My grades in other subjects were around the borderline between passing and failing. My mentor back then was very worried and none of my classmates thought that I would do well on the exam. They all thought that I would bring down the class average. Luckily, I met Ms. Wu when I was at Grade 12 and got to know Falun Dafa. This changed my entire life.
After I started cultivation, my health and my grades got better and better. I had no particular intention to improve them, but it was just like what is say in Zhuan Falun about natural attainment without pursuit. My mentor did not have to worry about me anymore, and I was getting better and better grades on the practice exams. In the end I ranked second in my class. My classmates had to look at me with new eyes.
Dafa gave me wisdom and I got into a national public university
I had never before imagined that I would go to a national public university. I did not even dare to think about getting into a good private university. However, after exams were over, I discovered that besides my English score, which was average, all my other scores were top in the ratings. These scores allowed me to put several great private universities and national universities on my application.
Besides practicing Dafa, I could not think of anything else that could have helped me improve this quickly. After I began practicing Falun Dafa, I spent as much time reading Dafa books as my school books, and I did not stay up late every night to study. I was basically just improving naturally. If they hadn't seen my improvement with their own eyes, my classmates would not have been able to believe my grades. I remember that in my first year in high school, a girl in my class that had good grades said to me, "Could you try a little harder? You are going be in the bottom three again." But today, no one is going to a school as good as the one I am attending.
Ways of seeing things changed and relationships with others improved
Besides improving my ability to study, Falun Dafa has also changed the way I view things. Before, I always thought that people who did not treat me well were "not good," so whenever someone was harsh with me, I was equally harsh with him or her. The result was that both sides became unhappy.
After I began cultivation, I understood that everything has a predestined reason. Besides, we should be compassionate regardless. So when we encounter problems we should think of what it is like to be in the other person's shoes instead of thinking how to fight with him. This has changed my relationships with others and has also shown people how Falun Dafa can improve one's temperament.
I have only talked about a few of the benefits I have experienced since I have been a practitioner. For the rest, perhaps only after starting cultivating oneself can one appreciate the miracle of Dafa. I have benefited so much from Dafa and I just want to share it with everybody, so that more people will understand the joy and hope I have experienced in my life!
