[Celebrating World Falun Dafa Day] I Began Practicing Falun Dafa When I Attended College

(Minghui.org) I attended college in Beijing in early 1990, and my life was similar to most young men’s. I drank and smoked a pack of cigarettes every day. Because I smoked so much my index and middle fingers turned yellow, and I reeked of cigarettes. I hung out every weekend with some friends from my hometown, who studied in a nearby college. I did not study very hard, but I didn’t skip classes either, so my grades were slightly above average.

My Health Deteriorates

I gradually developed some illnesses. Because the dorm room was damp, my joints hurt, and I needed to take ibuprofen to stop the pain. The pain was annoying but I ignored it thinking I was still young.

My health had deteriorated further by the spring of 1992. My dorm was in a five-story building and I lived on the third floor. I was exhausted by the time I got to my room. After I walked up the stairs one day I experienced chest pain and lost consciousness. I was sweating when I woke up, and I didn’t know what happened.

I went to the school clinic the following day for an ECG test, and was diagnosed with a relatively serious atrial premature beat. The doctor prescribed some western medicines and told me to avoid intense physical activities. I took the medicine but it did not help. I used to run every evening, but I stopped. When I hung out with my friends on weekends, I drank less and checked my pulse to see if my heart beat was irregular. I continued smoking because I didn’t realize how harmful it was.

I took the medicine to avoid having a heart attack but the random heart beat was still bothersome. I was filled with stress and anxiety, and I had trouble sleeping. For the first time in my life, I truly felt that although I was young, death was very close and could happen at any time. It felt like every cell in my body was afraid. I wondered: where did I come from? Why did I suffer so much? Why did I have such a serious illness at a young age? If I had a heart attack and died, where would I go?

Looking for answers, I went to the Wangfujing Xinhua Bookstore in Beijing and bought Buddhist scriptures. I also bought the Taoist scripture Tao Te Ching and the Bible. Reading these books gave me some temporary calm, but I did not find what I was looking for.

Out of despair, I tried many things to cure my illnesses. In addition to taking medicine I also received acupuncture treatment at a Chinese medicine clinic. I practiced Tai Chi with a classmate and read Buddhist scriptures. After experiencing some phenomena that I could not explain, however, I stopped. I practiced a popular qigong, but I didn’t know that it wasn’t good. Instead of curing my irregular heart beat it gave me more problems.

My friend who studied at another college liked philosophy and he often read I Ching. I asked him to tell my fortune and one of the results was “dilemma.” This did not help me.

Finding Falun Dafa

I knew Lin (pseudonym), who was an acupuncture therapist in the school clinic. When I received acupuncture treatment from him in late 1992, he said that medicines and acupuncture might not help me. He gave me an admission ticket to the Oriental Health Expo and said there might be good qigong systems there that I could try. I did not know this was a ticket to my new life.

I went to the health expo that Lin recommended. It was similar to exhibitions we see nowadays with all kinds of qigong systems. Each one had a booth with a qigong master or staff members and brief descriptions.

Some “qigong masters” looked old, some seemed to be in poor health, and some did not look kind. I noticed the Falun Dafa booth, which was twice the size of the other booths. There was a Falun emblem and a poster with an illustration of Master Li (Falun Gong’s founder) doing the exercise movements. Two young people wearing white coats (for a doctor or nurse) were standing there. I looked at the poster and felt the movements were a little complicated. I later realized that the various scriptures I read and the qigong systems I practiced were stopping me, so I just took a flyer and left.

I went to the Chinese Medicine Research Institute in Beijing and sought medical treatment. A doctor prescribed several herbal medicines.

I contacted the Falun Dafa Assistants Center in Beijing on February 23, 1993, using the phone number from the flyer. Tang, a coordinator, said a lecture series would start that evening, and he offered to give me a ride. He picked me up in his minivan and I attended Master’s 7th Nine-Day Lecture Series.

I understood everything after listening to the first lecture. Since childhood, I had been searching everywhere to find answers to many questions, such as where do we come from? What is the purpose of life? Why do we get sick? What is our future? I was also curious about the universe and life. After listening to the first lecture I found answers to all these questions. I was filled with joy, as if every cell was dancing and singing with happiness. The stress and anxiety that once almost overwhelmed me were completely gone.

Master Li gave lectures for about two hours every day. He also taught us the five sets of exercises at the end of each class. While I listened to the lectures, I realized that my way of life and human notions were all based on society’s degenerated values. They were very different from the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, the selfless requirement for practitioners, and being considerate of others. From then on, I followed Falun Dafa’s teachings to be a good person and a better person. I changed, starting with small things.

Before I began practicing Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) I constantly drank and smoked. When the urge hit me and I had no cigarettes I even looked on the ground for discarded cigarette butts. I drank every weekend. After I began practicing Falun Gong, my anxiety, depression, and insomnia disappeared. The joint pain, irregular heartbeat, and other health issues were gone. I was like a person who nearly drowned, but was saved by a warm, big hand and moved to a place that was safe and wonderful.

My classmates were surprised by my positive changes, and said, “You’re like a different person now.”

“Falun Dafa Does Not Accept Money”

After graduating from college in July 1993, a classmate and I found jobs in a coastal city. It was a very good workplace and we liked it.

The dorm was next to a river surrounded by factories. The area was noisy. Nonetheless, I did the Falun Gong exercises, and I only had a copy of Falun Gong that was published in summer 1993.

Looking back, I realized that I had begun practicing due to my health issues. Master Li’s lectures taught me that illness is caused by karma. So I paid special attention to not killing. I regretfully remembered that I killed a sparrow and other creatures when I was a child.

When I was doing the exercises on the balcony one morning, I accidentally stepped on a gecko and it died. I was worried, and since there was no one I could discuss it with, I wrote a letter to Falun Dafa Research Society. About one week later, I received a reply quoting what Master said:

“As human beings, we have the right to maintain the human way of life. Therefore, our living environment should meet human living needs. We cannot intentionally harm or take lives, but we should not be overly concerned with these trifles. For instance, the vegetables and grains that we grow are all lives. We cannot stop eating or drinking something because it has life, for how can we then cultivate? One should look beyond that. For example, while you are walking, some ants or insects may run under your feet and get killed. Perhaps they were supposed to die since you did not kill them intentionally. In the world of organisms and microorganisms, there is also the issue of ecological balance—too many of any species will be problematic. We should thus cultivate in a dignified and upright manner.” (Lecture Seven, Zhuan Falun)

I was relieved and thankful when I read this. Falun Dafa is so precious, so I thought I needed to let more people know. I decided to send a thank you letter to the Falun Dafa Research Society together with 2,000 yuan. About one week later, I received a letter from them with the 2,000 yuan. The practitioner reminded me to pay attention to xinxing improvement and added, “Falun Dafa does not accept money!” I was very touched.

In December 1994, I learned from the practitioner that Master would give another lecture series in Guangzhou on December 21-29, 1994. So I attended it.

Even though this happened over 30 years ago, as I write this article, I remember everything very clearly. I am always grateful to Master Li and Falun Dafa. I also want to tell people based on my own experience, that Falun Dafa does not accept money.

Note: I was once arrested by police after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started to persecute Falun Dafa in July 1999. On the night before the arrest, I destroyed all the letters mentioned in this article and contact information for other practitioners.

(Selected submission in celebration of 2025 World Falun Dafa Day on Minghui.org)