(Clearwisdom.net) Rongxing Park is the first European-style Park in Taipei. Over the past ten years, every morning before dawn, a special group of people comes together to practice exercises. They are cultivators of Falun Gong.

There are over one thousand group exercise sites like Rongxing Park in Taiwan. These cultivators, young and old, come from all walks of life, and include housewives, students, teachers, business owners and white-collar employees. Some have very successful careers, and yet still are full of questions about the meaning of life. Others were once plagued with terminal illnesses, but averted death after practicing Falun Gong. No matter what their background, these cultivators come together because they have all benefited from the practice of Falun Gong.

May 17, 2009: practicing the exercises to promote the Fa at Rongxing Park

Having found new direction in life, Mr. Zhuang is full of hope

Mr. Zhuang (wearing yellow shirt) has practiced Falun Gong since 2007

After a suggestion from a friend, Mr. Zhuang began to learn Falun Gong in 2007. The biggest change he experienced was coming to realize a new understanding of life and the universe. Mr. Zhuang now has a new direction for his life and he is full of hope. He has also found that the purpose of being a human being is to return to one's original self.

Mr. Zhuang's two brothers and their wives also practice Falun Gong. After witnessing improvement to her son's health and outlook on life, Mr. Zhuang's mother also began doing the practice. Mr. Zhuang stated, "Ever since we began cultivation, the conflicts at home have decreased significantly, and we are now more considerate of each other." He also hoped that he could overcome his shortcoming of oversleeping. He is very happy to be able to go to Rongxing Park to practice the exercises every day. Doing the exercises soothes his body and relaxes his mind. The experience sharing, after the exercises, is great at helping him improve his xinxing.

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Ms. Xu is 57 years old. However, judging from her delicate skin and fair complexion, one would think she is, at most, in her 30s or 40s. How is she able to maintain such elastic and smooth skin?

It all began on a day in August 1999. One of her friends just had an operation to treat her breast cancer. She couldn't fall asleep due to the pain. She wanted to find some form of Qigong to improve her health. While taking a walk in Daan Forest Park, she saw a group of people doing meditation. She was immediately drawn to the serene atmosphere. It turned out it was a Falun Gong exercise site. She talked to the practitioners and ordered two Falun Dafa books, Zhuan Falun and The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa. After returning home, she immediately called Ms. Xu and told her about Falun Gong. At that time, there was already a lot of media coverage on Falun Gong, so Ms. Xu was really impressed.

Not long afterward, Ms. Xu found the exercise site in Rongxing Park. The exercise site assistant, Mr. Zheng, suggested she attend the nine-day seminar. Ms. Xu then started to practice the exercises in the morning, and attended the seminar in the evening. Several days later she no longer felt any pain associated with her kidney stone. She gradually forgot about her illness. One day her son asked her, "Mom, have you recovered from your kidney stone?" Now that Ms. Xu has been practicing for nearly ten years, her kidney stone has never surfaced again.

On April 25th, 1999, over ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners held a peaceful appeal in Beijing. This news was widely reported by international media, and Falun Gong became known to the world. The Taiwan media was no exception. Many people in Taiwan were curious to find out what Falun Gong was all about. Before the "April 25" appeal, there were roughly ten thousand people practicing Falun Gong in Taiwan. After the appeal, the number of practitioners quickly increased to about 200-300 thousand. On May 1st, 1999, Ms. Peng, another practitioner at Rongxing Park, began to attend the nine-day seminar. She wanted to buy the book of Zhuan Falun, so she checked a couple of bookstores, and was told the book had been sold out everywhere. Many publishing houses didn't even have the chance to put the books on display, because they were all pre-ordered. Ms. Peng said it took her a month to finally get the book.

Letting go of jealousy

Huang Mingsheng is a bit shy, and feels like a typical "boy next door." He said, "Falun Gong enables me to think positively when encountering difficulties. My biggest challenge has been to relinquish my attachment to jealousy."

Huang Mingsheng (in grey shirt), has benefited greatly from Falun Gong practice

Mr. Huang works as a software engineer in the IT industry. Originally from Malaysia, he graduated from Taiwan University. He said, "I was a pessimistic person by nature. I tended to think very negatively and was a bit withdrawn." While in school, he worked part-time on a labor-intensive project that caused a severe injury to his back. Every morning it was a struggle for him to get out of bed, as the pain was unbearable. In 1997, a colleague introduced Falun Gong to him and he immediately took it up.

Master said, "...the entire cultivation process for a practitioner is one of constantly giving up human attachments." (Zhuan Falun)

Mr. Huang said his competitive mentality often drove him to feel jealous of people doing better than him. He said, "I felt very upset when seeing other people get more of a bonus than me. I complained because I felt I did more work. I was very capable with enough seniority, but I didn't receive a promotion." His jealousy also manifested in his encounters with fellow practitioners. He said, "I am an IT person, yet the coordinator of the Internet project is not me. Some practitioners not very familiar with computers were made coordinators, which really tempered my heart."

These past several years, he has had a lot of tests related to the issue of jealousy. As he improved his understanding of the Fa principles, he was able to make it through these tests more quickly. He could detect his jealousy and then relinquish it. Mr. Huang cannot say he has completely removed his jealousy, but he is able to take it lightly.

Severe illnesses gone; no more quarrels with her husband

Xiu Ying used to suffer from numerous illnesses, including heart problems, high blood pressure and migraine headaches. When she was filled with despair, an accidental encounter gave her a new lease on life.

In the past ten years, Xiu Ying had tried all kinds of qigong practices at Rongxing Park, but she wasn't able to improve her health. She once tried Falun Gong, but she was not able to attend the nine-day seminar because of her work schedule. Soon, four years passed.

In her mind, she thought more physical exercises could improve her health. Therefore she did gymnastics during the day and went swimming at night. One evening she went to a hair salon, and told her stylist to make a simple hairdo, as she needed to swim afterwards. The stylist noted that she liked exercise, and said, "I have practiced Falun Gong for just one month, but I feel it's really great." She took out a brochure to show Xiu Ying. Xiu Ying was very happy, once again, to hear about the practice. After her hair was done, she immediately went to a bookstore and got a copy of Zhuan Falun. After reading the book for three days, she went to find an exercise site. It was July 22nd, 2000, which she remembered clearly. She said, "Of course I remember this special day. That is the day when I gained a second life. It is the most important day in my life and I will never forget it."

Xiu Ying never skipped a day to go to the park to practice. In the first year of her practice, for a period of time, she had a headache every day, and couldn't fall asleep until 2:00 a.m.. But she still got up at 5:00 a.m. to attend the morning exercises. After one month, the migraine that bothered her for several decades disappeared. Then after some time, her thyroid problem also went away. Her high blood pressure went down, and her heartbeat returned to normal.

Being free of illness is so wonderful! Xiu Ying said she is very grateful to Falun Gong, not only for saving her life, but also for saving her marriage. Before her cultivation, despite her poor health, she had to babysit to help support her family. She often felt exhausted. She quarreled with her husband every day, complaining that she was so sick yet she had to work. She felt it was all her husband's fault that she had to live such a miserable life.

However, after she took up the practice of Falun Gong, the principles of Truth-Compassion-Forbearance gradually changed her. She said, at the beginning, she didn't have a deep understanding of the Fa and she lacked compassion. As a result, her husband complained that she was too devoted to Falun Gong, and was very against her cultivation. He made trouble every time she wanted to go out to attend Fa-promotion activities. She looked within and found she had a bad temper, and harbored hatred toward her husband. She was not compassionate enough. Therefore, she started to communicate more effectively with her husband. She found that when she really took the time to thank her husband, things changed. Her husband no longer has a bad temper, and he encourages her to attend Fa-promotion activities. He also often reminds her to study the Fa and practice the exercises. He shares housework with her. "I cook and he does dishes," she said with a smile.