(Minghui.org) Chen Guo-feng, 56, is a dentist in Taiwan. He grew up in Yilan, Taiwan. While he was studying at Taipei Medical School in 1979 he joined a Buddhist club, and for the next 20 years he read many Buddhist scriptures, but the depression and insomnia that had plagued him for many years persisted.
On September 21, 1999, an earthquake in Taiwan killed nearly 2,500 people. Chen suddenly felt that life is so short and that he should not waste any more time. That was when he discovered Falun Gong and read Zhuan Falun, the main book of the practice. His lifelong questions were answered, and he knew that Falun Gong was what he had been searching for.
Depression and Insomnia Disappear
As Chen watched the videos of Master Li Hongzhi's nine-day lecture series, he saw a golden halo around Master Li.
Although Chen used to go to bed late and get up only after his 8 a.m. alarm woke him, he then committed to participating in the early morning group exercises and started waking up without his alarm at 3:50 a.m. This lasted a whole week. He knew Master Li was watching over him, and he gained more confidence.
Chen said he used to have a bad temper that easily led to conflicts, but he became open-minded after he started practicing Falun Gong. He also started to think of others first. His chronic depression and insomnia disappeared. He became healthy, even though he had been sickly from the time he was young. For 18 years, he has not needed to visit a doctor or take any medicine.
Raising Awareness to Help Stop the Persecution of Falun Gong in China
Chen's father tried many qigong schools after retiring from being a timber entrepreneur. Witnessing the marvelous changes in both Chen and Chen's wife after they began practicing Falun Gong, Chen's father also took up the practice. Chen's father no longer suffers from heart disease.
Chen has often been invited to give talks in schools, government agencies, and companies. He generally starts his presentations by speaking from the perspective of medical science. He then introduces Falun Gong to the audience through his own experiences of its marvelous health benefits.
Chen learned about the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong not long after he started practicing it. He knew that the CCP had initiated the persecution simply because the number of practitioners outnumbered the number of CCP members. The CCP then spread lies to defame Falun Gong with the staged self-immolation incident on Tiananmen Square. Seeing this, Chen and fellow practitioners started raising awareness about the persecution.
Chen Guo-feng doing the Falun Gong exercises in New York
Besides being invited to give presentations and submitting essays for publication, Chen often participates in local and overseas events to introduce Falun Gong and expose the persecution. He has been to Europe, America, and Australia to raise awareness of the CCP's persecution.
Someone asked him once, “As a dentist, doesn't your frequent overseas travel take a big bite out of your time and income?” But Chen believes he is doing what he should do, based on the general principle of being grateful to those who help you. At the same time, Chen follows Master Li's teaching to be a good person. He works overtime to take care of his patients and to minimize the effect of his overseas travel on patient care.
Looking Within When Facing Conflicts
Falun Gong practitioners believe the source of illness is karma. Practitioners do not have illnesses but occasionally may experience the symptoms of karma dissolving. Chen has experienced such symptoms twice.
When he first began to practice, his neck suddenly became stiff and would not move. He lay in bed and couldn't move. It was tremendous agony to move even a little. As a new practitioner, he didn't first think, “I am a practitioner. I am all right.” He also didn't know to look within. He recovered in two days.
Chen experienced another bout of karma dissolving in April 2015. He suddenly had an excruciating stomachache and could not stand or sit. He lay in bed and kept rolling over every few minutes. Otherwise, the pain was even worse.
The agony did not stop for 24 hours. He recited “Falun Dafa is good,” and his wife encouraged him to keep righteous thoughts. A miracle occurred the following day.
Chen remembered that the critical point for his karma dissolving was looking within. He realized that he had evaded conflicts with his parents for many years. In extreme agony, he told himself he had to face that conflict and not avoid it anymore.
As soon as he had this thought, all the pain and symptoms disappeared. He visited his parents the next day and sincerely apologized to them for his behavior in the past. Their relationship has been good since then.
Thinking of Others and Letting Go of Self
Chen has taken part in many truth-clarification projects and done coordination work. He said he felt the improvement in his heart nature or xinxing was limited, despite doing a lot of work. He said the main reason for this was that he did not look within completely.
He often stressed his own opinions and did not like to listen to other practitioners' views. This meant he did not accept their suggestions and maintained an official attitude. He felt happy when the method he proposed worked, and this enhanced his attachment.
For one project, Chen had to cooperate with an overbearing fellow practitioner. Chen thought it would be hard to cooperate with him, so he tried his best to avoid meeting with him. When they worked together in December 2016, there was more friction, because they lost patience with each other.
Chen apologized to the other practitioner, even though he felt he was not at fault. He later noted that his concern not to offend the other practitioner had made things worse. He said he enlightened that apologizing was not the point; rather, as a practitioner he should let go of self.
In a group study and experience sharing event attended by more than 100 people, Chen sincerely spoke out about his attachment and looked within for his attachments of competition, a need to win, a desire to gain, and pursuit. He apologized to the other practitioner in front of all those people, not to seek forgiveness but out of consideration for the one body and to move the project forward. As a result, the project moved forward smoothly and both of them looked within further.
Moving Forward Diligently and Appreciating Master
It is the 25th anniversary of Falun Dafa's public introduction and the 20th anniversary of Master Li's lecture in Taiwan. Chen especially expressed his appreciation for Master Li. From being a depressed and introverted everyday person, Chen is now a healthy and active Falun Dafa practitioner.
Chen stressed that he would pay more attention to improving his heart nature and would strive to move forward diligently. He wished more people would practice Falun Gong and help to end the persecution as soon as possible.
