(Minghui.org) I’m a schoolteacher. When I was young, doing anything strenuous exhausted me. When I was in junior high school, I developed pharyngitis, allergic purpura, and thrombocytopenia [low blood platelet count], and I often went to doctors. I took a lot of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, but the effect was minimal. My family was not rich, but my parents did not hesitate to spend money hoping to cure my illnesses. This made me very sad.
July 1998 was a turning point in my life. My mother said my uncle practiced Falun Dafa and suggested that I check it out. She told me about Falun Dafa in 1997 and said it could resolve my illnesses. I didn’t believe her because I was influenced by atheism. As soon as I stepped into my uncle’s house I relaxed and felt comfortable—a feeling I hadn’t had for a long time. So before my uncle even introduced Dafa I felt it must be good.
My uncle lent me Zhuan Falun and said, “This is an amazing book. Millions of people practice Falun Dafa. Please treat it with respect and wash your hands before you handle it.” He also said that the first time I read Zhuan Falun I should read the entire book. I thought it was incredible: how can reading a book resolve people’s diseases? Although I had doubts I listened to him.
I brought Zhuan Falun home. The first time I read it I understood that my illnesses were not just due to my physical condition in this lifetime but were related to my xinxing (moral character) and the behavior of my ancestors. Looking back over the years I realized that many things I experienced were wrong if they were measured by Dafa’s standards.
I always thought I was a good person. My grades in school were excellent. My teachers and classmates liked me very much, and everyone praised me. However, if someone treated me badly I held a grudge. I had no kindness or compassion. My behavior was far from Dafa’s standards. The principles of Dafa made my heart bright and changed the way I looked at problems. When I encountered something that didn’t go well, my first reaction was not to have negative thoughts but to have a kind heart.
After I read Zhuan Falun I hesitated about taking medicine, so I asked my uncle, “Do I still take medicine?” He said, “It’s up to you.” I was tired of taking medicine, so when my uncle said this, I didn’t want to take medicine anymore. I was worried about my illnesses so I felt a little nervous. I already believed in Dafa so I read what Master said in Zhuan Falun to strengthen my thoughts. I understood that Master removes the illnesses from those who really want to practice so I decided not to take medicine.
Amazingly my illnesses disappeared! My body is now very strong. When I occasionally had symptoms of a cold my wife advised me to get an injection and take medicine. I knew I was not sick so I told her I was fine. As a result, I really recovered in a few days. My wife witnessed the power of Dafa and told her parents.
Even though she did not practice my mother encouraged me to practice Falun Dafa with my uncle and she was very supportive. After the persecution began on July 20, 1999, my father urged me to stop practicing because he was afraid I would be arrested, but my mother told him, “Can’t you see our son’s health improved because he practices Dafa!” I was able to peacefully practice at home. I later went to Beijing to validate Dafa and was illegally imprisoned in a labor camp. My mother took all my Dafa books to a neighbor’s house.
When my mother went to visit me in the labor camp, I told her, “Tell the people you know that Dafa is good, and it is being slandered.” When she did as I asked the police came and said, “You tell everyone that Dafa is good. Do you also practice? If you do we’ll arrest you too.” My mother was not afraid.
The labor camp attempted to forcibly transform practitioners and used torture to extract confessions. Because my mother often visited me the labor camp did not dare to persecute me excessively. The labor camp unscrupulously persecuted practitioners whose families did not visit them.
Before I was released I asked my mother to pass out the truth-clarification materials. One night she wanted to go to the village across the river to pass out materials. When she heard the sound of running water under the bridge she was scared, and she didn’t walk to walk across it. She climbed from the bridge to the opposite.
What my mother did benefited she. She’s 70 years old, but she’s very strong, and she looks much younger than her peers.
In today’s society people chase fame and fortune. Dafa practitioners look down on material interests and prioritize morality.
Because I practice Falun Dafa, I do not make money against my conscience. I worked as a teacher. After a few years I started a family. Since my wife didn’t have a job, my mother-in-law suggested that I apply to the school and open a store inside the school, selling snacks and drinks. She said that it was very profitable. Few people here are wealthy and these snacks are very bad for children’s health. So I decided not to apply to open a store.
I was placed in charge of the school cafeteria and developed a good relationship with the school leaders. A colleague said to me, “Why don’t you sell water and drinks in the school cafeteria, and the students will buy them. With your relationship with the school leaders you’ll definitely be able to do it.” I said, “Students can bring their own water I don’t want to tempt them. The children will want to buy them but that will increase the financial burden on their parents.” I was also concerned about food safety problems especially because there are so many additives and various pigments in drinks. If the students buy it themselves we can’t stop it, but I will never sell them these things. As a teacher, not selling them junk food is also being responsible for the children’s health. A colleague said, “If you don’t do it, others will.” I said, “Whoever wants to do it, they can do. I can’t make that kind of money.”
It’s common for teachers to tutor students to make money, and some pressure children to take their tutorial classes. These large-scale tutorial classes are not effective and wastes parents’ money. Many parents are helpless about this: if they don’t send their kids to the classes they’re afraid that the teacher will cause trouble for their children; if they send their kids to the classes they know the children won’t learn much. But everyone goes, so they have to follow.
I practice Falun Dafa so I do what’s right. I’ve never used tutorial classes to make money. My colleagues gave me chances to participate but I refused. I think that if the child really needs it parents can find other teachers. I won’t use students to make money. I am blessed to practice Dafa and my own salary can support my family.
The only tutorial lesson I gave was for my neighbor’s child. At the beginning, the child was doing homework at the home of an old teacher who had been retired for many years. The parents felt his teaching method was not suitable for the current curriculum, so they asked me to help. Because I was their neighbor it wasn’t easy to refuse, so I said I would just help and not take their money.
The neighbor bought a set of clothes for my child when I wasn’t home. My mother accepted them. When I got home, I sent 50 yuan to my neighbor to cover the cost.
My colleagues do not hesitate to use various means including fraud to get promoted. According to my length of service and job performance I could have been promoted but I lacked a certain certificate. In fact, this kind of certificate is not useful it is only stipulated by the higher authorities. My colleagues advised me to buy a fake certificate. They said they all did this. The fake certificate looks the same as the real one. Falun Dafa practitioners are guided by Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I understood that what is obtained through improper means will not last long because it’s against the principles of heaven. So I didn’t pay for a fake certificate and I didn’t get promoted. But later I obtained a real one and successfully advanced. Although I made less money I felt at ease and wasn’t concerned about gains and losses.
Falun Dafa only brings good things. If I hadn’t practiced Dafa I might have used my position to make money from students, but practicing Dafa showed me that I can’t seek ill-gotten gains. Instead I should be an honest and good person.