(Minghui.org) I am a retired school principal in a rural village in China. I’ve been practicing Falun Gong for more than 20 years. I’d like to share some tidbits of how Falun Gong returned me to health and gave me a happy and fulfilling life.
Encountering Falun Gong
I was at my lowest point in life when I encountered Falun Gong for the first time in February 1996.
I had lost hope in life at the time, due to the torment of numerous health symptoms. Even though I had a successful career as a school principal, my body was failing me and causing me excruciating pain.
My physical discomfort also affected my mental state. I often lashed out at my wife and children at home, and scolded my teachers and students at school.
Fortunately, I heeded the advice of the Falun Gong practitioners, who introduced me to the practice. I attended their experience sharing conference in March of that year.
I remember clearly the first thing I saw when I stepped into the auditorium – it was Master’s portrait and the Falun emblem. Practitioners filed into the room quietly, a scene very different from other conferences I had attended.
I was stunned by what I saw and felt a warm energy fill my body. That moment, I didn’t feel any of the pain I was experiencing on a daily basis.
It was a memorable experience. I kept shedding tears as I listened to practitioners read Zhuan Falun (the main teachings of Falun Gong) and share their experiences.
Without any hesitation, I attended the 9-day Falun Gong seminar held right after the conference.
We went to the local plaza to do the Falun Gong exercises every morning, before returning inside to watch Master’s Fa-teaching videos.
A scary accident I witnessed one morning cemented my determination to practice Falun Gong. I was getting close to the exercise site when I noticed two bikers swooshing by on their motorcycles. They clipped a bicycle, sending its older rider airborne.
The bicyclist landed about 15 meters away. I ran over to check on him and recognized him as a Falun Gong practitioner who was at the morning exercises.
He pulled himself up and found his shoes to put back on. I was stunned to see that he didn’t have a single scrape on him. In the meantime, the two bikers had blood on their faces and palms.
The old man said, “I’m fine. You can go now.” He walked slowly, and joined the practitioners’ morning exercises.
I know the two bikers from my job. They were teachers from another school. As they watched the old man walk away speechless, I said to them, “He practices Falun Gong, and he won’t go after you. Count yourself lucky!”
I was in awe of what I saw that morning and made up my mind to become a genuine practitioner too.
Joy of Being Illness-Free
All my illnesses, except for my retinitis, went away within a month after I began practicing Falun Gong.
I used to suffer from coronary heart problem, frozen shoulder, thrombophlebitis (blood clots in a vein that cause inflammation and pain), retinitis, and bone spurs. The more medicines I took, the worse I got, as my body couldn’t handle the side effects. I developed muscle lumps, blurred vision, stomach cramps, and body swelling.
About three months into my practice, my retinitis also disappeared, and I was again able to see with the eye that had lost vision for some time.
It was a wonderful feeling to be illness free, to say the least.
A More Fulfilling Life without Fight
A healthy body also lifted my spirits. Conflicts that used to bother me seemed so trivial, and I began to take personal interest and fame more lightly.
I remember that I was having a long-standing fight with another school principal when I started practicing Falun Gong. As I read more and more of Zhuan Falun, I realized that a competitive mentality and the attachment to fame were things I should eliminate. Before I knew it, I was on good terms with that principal again.
I also no longer nitpicked my teachers and students. I worked hard to improve the school’s academic performance. My school was named the best school in my county several years in a row. It also made the top-school list at the municipal and provincial levels.
One of the teachers, who used to be my student, reported me to the police after the persecution of Falun Gong began. I held no grudge against him, and even introduced his son to a woman who would later become the young man’s wife.
This former student of mine apologized to me, “Teacher, I am so sorry for what I did to you.” I felt happy that he finally understood that Falun Gong teaches people to be good.
Contagious Happiness
Many of my family members, including my parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews, also began practicing Falun Gong not long after I became a practitioner. They too experienced remarkable changes.
My younger brother quit smoking and drinking without any problems. His temper also improved greatly. My mother, an illiterate person who was 80 at the time, became able to fluently read Zhuan Falun in just one month.
As a school principal, I was well known among the locals. Stunned by my positive changes, many of them also joined me on the journey of cultivation.
Fellow practitioners in our village all strove to conduct themselves following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. A village official commented, “Falun Gong is really good! If everyone learns Falun Gong, society will become so much better!”
