(Minghui.org) One winter day in 1993, my father gave me a book titled Falun Gong. He told me that Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is an ancient self-cultivation practice, with the main principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. While I did not fully understand cultivation, the word “compassion” intrigued me. I felt that Falun Dafa must be good since it has taught people to be kind. I thus started practicing it.
In February 1994, Master Li, the founder of Falun Dafa, came to teach the practice in our town. The first time I saw Master, I felt warm and joyful like a lost child who had finally found his home.
My whole family was fortunate to have the chance to listen to Master’s lectures in person. After the lecture, many of my questions were answered. I understood that the purpose of life is to return to my original true self. I also understood that all of my misfortunes were a result of the karma I accumulated in previous lives. All of a sudden, I felt that I could let go of my attachments to fame and gains. I embarked on the cultivation journey and my life has changed since then.
Chronic Diseases Disappeared
I used to have multiple diseases, including back and leg pain, insomnia, migraines, gynecological diseases, hemorrhoids, cholecystitis, and others. After learning Falun Dafa, all of the diseases that had plagued me for decades disappeared. My eyesight improved and I no longer needed reading glasses. I hardly ever caught colds and coughs. I could eat any food without feeling sick, even food that was cold or greasy.
In the summer of 1994, one director and three teachers including me from my school were selected to attend a teaching seminar in Tai’an City, Shandong Province. When we took a train transfer in Beijing, I found a 50-yuan bill on the ground. In the past, I always kept the money found on the ground as my own, but now I realized that it’s wrong for a cultivator who follows Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to do so.
While riding a bus in Tai’an, I was so worried because I had had motion sickness since I was a child. Although my diseases were all gone after practicing Falun Dafa, I wondered if the stubborn motion sickness would remain. I decided to give it a try without taking medicine. To my surprise, nothing happened! The journey was safe and enjoyable. I am so grateful to Master!
It is very hot in the summer in Shandong. The other three teachers were all sick to some extent, and one person even came down with a fever. But I remained healthy and energetic.
I also didn’t feel tired when we climbed Mount Tai. We took the cable car up to Gate Zhongtian, and then walked up to the top of the mountain. On the way down, the other three teachers also took the cable car. I walked all the way without feeling tired. They all witnessed the extraordinariness of Falun Dafa.
Mind Nature Uplifted
I used to take it for granted to accept gifts from my students. After learning Falun Gong, I let go of my attachment of greed. One time, I helped a student living in another school district avoid paying unreasonable fees. When her parents came to thank me, I declined to take the gift from them.
On another occasion, I tutored a boy who didn’t do well in Chinese. When he got good scores in the high school entrance examination, his parents also thanked me with a gift. I told the parents that it was my responsibility and declined to take the gift.
The clients of the company that my husband worked for used to give us expensive gifts during the New Year and other holidays. We declined them as well.
When it came to pay raise, my school always allocated quotas for teachers in each grade and let each grade leader determine who would be eligible for it. Because the quota was limited, I, as a leader, removed myself for consideration and submitted the names of those who had lower pay and worked hard. When the result was out, I was the only grade leader in the entire school who did not get a raise. While I did not mind, my colleagues complained that it was unfair to me. The school principal said that I would have my turn next time, and he fulfilled his promise.
Before the end of the school year, the school principal assigned me and another teacher to teach all incoming seventh-graders in the fall semester. This teacher was very dominant and often in conflict with others over even trivial matters. Everyone at the school was afraid of her, and I had a deep grudge against her.
Being a cultivator, I should let go of past grievances, but she really made my blood boil. I was a little bit upset about the arrangement and wondered if I should ask to have my work reassigned. While on the fence, I listened to Master’s lectures again. I learned that a cultivator should take a step back in a conflict. So I decided to follow Master’s guidance and accepted the assignment with ease.
The school divided all the seventh-graders into different classes according to their academic grades. This teacher assigned to work with me used various reasons to move to her homeroom the better-performing students who had been assigned to my homeroom. This way, her students would outperform mine. I completely ignored her tricks and calmly taught my students.
My school evaluated teachers’ performance on the basis of their students’ final examination scores. Graders of the finals were not allowed to see the student names and their homeroom teachers’ names. This teacher assigned to work with me was discovered by other teachers to have deviously falsified her students’ grades, but my mood was not affected by this news at all.
When the final examination results were revealed, my students scored better than hers. However, I did not show any sign of happiness in order not to upset her. Surprisingly, the school principal changed the reward-for-good-performance program to avoid a conflict with her. I took personal gains lightly and did not complain about not receiving rewards for my excellent teaching performance.
I simply had no desire for the things that she wanted to achieve. Thus, our conflicts did not intensify and we partnered at work for three years. This surprised those who were expecting to see a blow-out fight between us. If it were not for Dafa, I would not have been able to remain calm. Falun Dafa has changed me, and I have deeply experienced the beauty of cultivation.
I have followed the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to guide and educate my students. As a result, the atmosphere in my class was very righteous, and the moral levels of my students have also improved significantly.
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Category: Improving Oneself
