(Minghui.org) I am a 61-year-old teacher at a village primary school. Before I started to practice Falun Dafa, I was competitive and wanted to be in charge at all times. When I had conflicts with others, I never thought I was wrong. I was arrogant, self-centered, and intolerant. My health deteriorated, and I was in agony. I was on medication all the time.
I started to practice Falun Dafa in 1998 for the purpose of treating illnesses. On the third day of my practice, I began to read Zhuan Falun and finished it within two days – during a weekend. Zhuan Falun taught me that I should look within when experiencing conflicts, become a good person, and how to cultivate.
The people around me, and I have benefited tremendously from my practicing Falun Dafa.
I taught Grade 1, and had 44 students in 1994. Dameng was one of the students who took Grade 1 for the fourth time. He was still unable to write his own name or count, and didn’t know how to spend money. He didn’t manage to learn addition by the time he turned 10. His normal score in the tests was two or three. Because of him, I was unable to complete the goals set for my class, thus I didn’t get any bonus or award.
I treated Dameng badly. I pushed him to the corner, and beat or kicked him. Other students then followed suit. They bullied him, hit him and called him “idiot.” They made fun of him. Dameng was tall and strong. He hit back.
He caused too much trouble for me. I felt that I was unlucky to have him in my class.
Three years later my husband had to go into bankruptcy, and had a debt of 160,000 yuan. I had surgery on my neck, heart problems and suffered migraines. I didn’t have any money to see any doctor. So I picked up Falun Dafa. As I studied the Fa and practiced the exercises more, I started to follow the Dafa principles of “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. My health improved quickly, and I no longer took any medication.
Master said:
“Zhen-Shan-Ren is the Sole Criterion to Discern Good and Bad People”, (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
“As a human being, you are a good person only if you can follow this universe’s characteristic of Zhen-Shan-Ren. A person who deviates from this characteristic is truly a bad person.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
I felt ashamed when measuring my past behavior against the Fa principles. I was unkind and was far away from the universal characteristics of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I worked hard not for the benefit of the students, but for pursuing my personal reputation and interest. I fought for fame, and schemed against other people.
I didn’t take pride as being a village, county and city “Model Teacher,” and I felt sorry for my students, especially for Dameng.
One day a student told me that Dameng beat other students again. I stayed calm this time, and said to the class: “Everyone, it is my fault. I looked down upon Dameng. We are destined to be in the same class, and we should treasure this relationship. We should have compassion for him. He is not able to live a normal life as we do. We should treat him well, and look after him.”
One student raised his hand and said: “Teacher, it is my fault. I always called him an idiot. He then hit me.”
Another said: “I always make fun of him. He then hit me. We should not always blame him for the fighting and cursing. It is us that looked down upon him.”
I told the students stories about retribution, and how to become a good person. Some students apologized to Dameng. I didn’t expect it, and was very touched. Since then we treated Dameng nicely. The students didn’t call him an “idiot” anymore. They knew that I practiced Falun Dafa. The students, their parents, and other teachers said that I had changed since I started to practice Falun Dafa.
As I studied the Fa more, I took fame lightly, and no longer accepted money or goods from the parents. I taught students to behave according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and treat other people sincerely, kindly and with tolerance. Conflicts among the students became less, and their academic scores improved. I was amazed by the power of Falun Dafa.
The Jiang Zemin regime started to persecute Falun Dafa practitioners on July 20, 1999. I was targeted by the village, county and city government, and taken to a detention center, forced labor camp, and a brainwashing center many times. I was firm in my belief, so I was transferred five times from one school to another. Finally, I was transferred to a remote village school in 2011, and assigned to work in the kitchen.
The teacher of Grade 1 was on maternity leave the following year. The principal asked me to take over her class. The students at Grade 1 liked to report to me on who bullied them or swore at them. If I didn’t deal with the incidents quickly, the parents would come to me the next day. Some parents even urged their children to hit back if they were hit, because they thought their children would not be able to make it when they grew up.
After I began to practice Falun Dafa, I understood that the parents were actually harming their children.
Master said:
“One will compete and fight for personal gain among everyday people. Isn’t this going against the characteristic of the universe? Thus, what people consider correct might not necessarily be correct. In educating a child, an adult often teaches him, "You should learn to be smart," so that in the future he will get a foothold in ordinary human society. From the perspective of our universe, "to be smart" is already wrong, for we require following the course of nature and caring little for personal gain. Being so smart, he intends to pursue self-interest. "Whoever bullies you, go to his teacher and find his parents." "Pick up money if you see it on the ground." The child is taught this way. From childhood to adulthood, as he receives more things, he will gradually become increasingly selfish in ordinary human society. He will take advantage of others and lose de.” (Lecture Two, Zhuan Falun)
So I told traditional stories I read from the Falun Dafa websites to my students. I told them the story about Han Xin who bore the humiliation of crawling between a thug’s legs. I told them that Han Xin became a great general after he grew up because he had such great forbearance.
I told them the story about Emperor Shun. His stepmother and brother tried to murder him many times. His father made him leave home. He thought he didn’t do well, and never thought of other people’s faults. He didn’t hate them. He accumulated a lot of virtue, and was blessed. He became wealthy after he grew up. He sent food and clothes to his stepmother, father, brother and sister. He became an emperor eventually.
One day I talked about “virtue” in class. I said: “When you swear at someone, you will give your most precious thing to the other party. You will get angry when you think it’s other people’s fault. When you get angry, your heart, liver and lungs get angry as well. Black cells will develop. When you have lots of black cells, you will get sick. Those who like to get angry grow up slowly and become ugly.
When in conflicts, please look within. For example, you should think this way: if I didn’t swear at him, he would not have hit back – it was my fault. You will not get angry when you realize that it is your fault, and you will put up with other people. You will gain virtue then. Your health will become good, you will excel in your studies, and other people will like you. If you have a lot of virtue, you will have good fortune. So, please try to look within.”
When the students had conflicts, I asked them to look within to find their own problems. I asked them not to think of other people’s faults but only think of theirs. And I asked them to apologize to the other person, and shake hands with each other and say, “I am sorry”. Gradually they learned how to look within. I encouraged them to write articles about this. Two weeks later, fighting and cursing became rare in class. Some students talked to their parents, and their parents changed as well.
When the students got along well, their physical health improved. The students in my class rarely got infectious diseases. They worked hard, and their parents didn’t need to worry about them. They tried to maintain a high moral standard. I told them to be honest in the coming exam. They won the first place among the seven classes in the county. The principal and teachers were very happy because they hadn't gotten first place in so many years. They said that it was Falun Dafa that brought fortune to the students, and gained a reputation for the school.
I told my 75-year-old mother-in-law that Falun Dafa is good after I had practiced it for several months. She started to practice Falun Dafa, and often stayed at my home.
She loves to stay with us. I look after her with kindness and sincerity, and I study the Fa and practice the exercises with her. She felt guilty because she gave the land and the house to my brother-in-law, and didn’t look after us or my son.
I said to her: “Our Master said: ‘Material wealth does not come with birth, and neither will it go with you after death—they are very hollow.’ (Lecture Nine, Zhuan Falun).
Practitioners know why they live and will not fight for those material things. We practice Falun Dafa, and follow the principles of Dafa. We think of others first and let go of selfishness.”
I prepare meals according to her taste because we practitioners think of others first. I look within when I have conflicts with her. Often I apologized to her first. She sometimes has said that she is sorry to me. Our conflicts were dissolved quickly.
My mother-in-law has lived with us for 12 years now. We bought a new apartment 6 years ago. We invite our entire family of over 30 members to our apartment for Chinese New Year dinner every year. My neighbors admire our family.
One day my sister-in-law thanked me for saving her because she said that she and our mother-in-law would have suffered a lot and had bad health by having conflicts with each other all the time. She said that I had taken good care of my mother-in-law.
I downloaded from the Minghui Radio website stories about traditional culture. She loved to listen to them. She didn’t find fault with our mother-in-law anymore and bought food and clothes for her. Our mother-in-law goes to live with her for over 20 days each year.
My mother-in-law has been practicing Falun Dafa for 21 years and has been healthy. She listens to Master’s lectures, and practices the 5 sets of exercises every day. She is 96 years old and walks up 4 levels to our apartment every day, and tells people that Falun Dafa is good whenever she has the chance.
My husband practices Falun Dafa and has given up smoking, alcohol, and gambling. I have practiced Falun Dafa for 21 years, and have benefited a lot. Our entire family benefits from Falun Dafa.
I sincerely hope that people come to learn the facts about Falun Dafa and no longer listen to the Communist government’s lies and propaganda. I hope that they will be blessed by Falun Dafa, and live their life as happily as I do.