(Minghui.org) As a student, I started to practice Falun Dafa after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched its persecution of this cultivation practice.
I grew up a tomboy with a bad temper and caused my parents a lot of anxiety. I was extremely impetuous and couldn't stay in one place long, and therefore, changed schools a lot. My parents spent a lot of money on different schools, but I failed in all of them and dropped out completely.
I began smoking and drinking and made friends with street people who often took me to bars and Internet cafes for an entire night. It was a seemingly bustling life, but I didn't like it. I had an unspeakable sadness in my heart that accompanied me all my life, and made me act up and smash things for no reason.
To me, life was meaningless and boring, and I hated myself for not having the courage to kill myself. I often wished there was a way to vanish without pain. When I was bored, I even hurt myself with a knife to seek stimulation.
There was nothing my parents could do to change me. They kept providing new learning environments so I could have some skills for a career and life. With the money they gave me, I attended an out of town school to learn some basic computer information.
Without my parents watching me, I could do whatever I wanted with no restraint. I lived off-campus, rented an apartment, and made it the partying place with my so-called friends.
Coming Across Falun Dafa
Luckily, it was at this time that I came across Falun Dafa.
I had been curious about it. The more the CCP denounced it, the more curious I became. I read every truth-clarification brochure I could find, and looked for a Falun Dafa book. Several years later, when I was most helpless, puzzled, and confused, I finally obtained a copy of Zhuan Falun the main book of Dafa.
I read the book and didn't find anything that would justify the self-immolation reported on television by the CCP many years ago. In addition, the allegations I had seen on TV, such as not allowing practitioners to take medicine and causing many deaths, was contradicted by the contents of the book.
The teachings in Zhuan Falun clearly stated that practitioners must not try to heal others using qigong methods. The book also said practitioners must not kill. How would anyone who genuinely conducts him or herself following Dafa's standards light him/herself on fire? I have come to understand that the “self-immolation” was a big lie planned and executed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to make Falun Dafa adherents look bad.
I realized that Zhuan Falun was a book telling one how to be a good a person, and from the book I found the answers to all of my questions. From then on, I stopped hanging out with my usual friends—I found their behaviors repulsive. Moreover, I lost interest in all the things I used to enjoy doing.
On the contrary, I felt extremely good when I was with Falun Dafa practitioners, and really admired them for conducting themselves properly under every circumstance and at every moment.
When I started conducting myself following the standards of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, the unspeakable sadness in my heart left and was replaced by joy.
I learned that a person must be good in every aspect, including when doing one's job. A student's job is learning, but I had finished school so I canceled my student apartment and found myself a job.
Through Fa study and cultivation practice, I quit smoking, drinking, and going to Internet cafes. I have changed my extravagant spending habits and become frugal. I have never upset my parents again.
Seeing the huge changes in me, my parents felt very grateful and often say “Falun Dafa is Good.” They too have benefited from it. For example, my mother's long term stomach pain is completely gone.
Category: Improving Oneself
