Experience Report (Germany)

I started practising "Falun Gong" with my wife Maria on 6 January 1997. Before I report my experiences with Falun Gong, I would like to say a little about my police- career.

I am a police officer in Rhine-Main in an area which has one of the highest levels of criminality in Hessen. I am responsible for a squad of 9 police officers. My duties include organization, duty roster planning and administration. I work a 48 hour week (excluding special operations) on shifts. We patrol an area which has 60,000 inhabitants, approximately 33% of whom are foreigners.

Due in part to the heavy workload, I asked myself some time ago whether my everyday life and life style is correct in this social system. Unease, illness, extreme tiredness and aggressiveness have increased over the years and have strongly affected my private life.

During the course of career, a police officer is particularly prone to have certain views and so-called prejudices. This regularly leads to the main problems which dog this career. Contact with members of different faiths has nearly always been difficult for me. Verbal clashes became more frequent.

The practice of "Falun Gong" changed my attitude towards many things, especially my daily duties. I allowed myself to be led more and more by Dafa when carrying out my tasks. I tried to improve my work and I found I was able to remain calm in precarious situations and when dealing with difficult people. Of course, this change did not come about immediately. A change in the structure of my thoughts was a long gradual process. I became more lenient when dealing with my colleagues. I tried to find other solutions for colleagues who rejected tasks which did not fall within the sphere of their everyday duties. After practising and cultivating for a period of time and slowly changing my behaviour, in August of 1999, a previously reliable employee went off the rails because of a minor detail. He suddenly insisted on changing squads which was eventually arranged in November 1999. I did not try to change his view, I just let it flow naturally.

Furthermore, I was given administrative duties or simply excluded from several special operations (in particular, two football matches) where there were violent clashes. This meant I did not run the risk of injury nor was it necessary for me to use force against other people. It became clear to me that I was protected by the master. When performing my daily duties, I also found I was no longer afraid in critical situations. The way in which I intervened and the manner I used were more moderate. Adopted views and prejudices disappeared. I began to look at people regardless of age, appearance, nationality, religious faith and appearance not as "the enemy" but as living in the "fog". I saw myself increasingly as a practitioner of Falun Gong and tried to behave as such. Even if it doesn't always work in some situations, I can at least recognize that an attachment still exists and cast this aside when the next test comes along. Naturally, it is not always easy to be aware of one's particular responsibility as a practitioner of Falun-Gong. After stumbling, it requires the necessary patience, the endurance and mental attitude to turn back to the cultivation. Sometimes, there seems to be a long period when there is no change, nevertheless changes are there. These can be recognized in "clear" situations. This provides the motivation to continue to cultivate the great cosmic law, to cultivate Falun Dafa further. I can only tell each practitioner to carry on cultivating themselves. A career is just a part of human society which one needs to earn the livelihood to support a family. I wish everyone success in practising and cultivating "Falun Gong".

Karsten Noell