(Clearwisdom.net) Cultivation seems to rarely have anything to do with the youth. Those who practice qigong seem to do it for personal health reasons. Yet young people represent a large percentage of Falun Gong practitioners. In fact, there are many college students in Taiwan that practice Falun Gong. Let's share the story of one of many such college students.
Chiang Wan-Yun with a radiant smile
There are many colleges in Taiwan, and many students, faculty and college staff that practice Falun Gong. Some colleges have regular Falun Gong group practice sites. National Chung Hsing University, Tunghai University and Feng Chia University are the three most prestigious universities in central Taiwan, each with a large student enrollment. There are many Falun Gong practitioners in these three universities alone.
Not every young woman is in good health. Ms. Chiang Yun-Wan is a good example. She was in miserable health when she was 17. "If living must be accompanied with so much pain, I could not find a reason to live," she said.
In the first year of junior high, she fell down backwards when a classmate played a joke and pulled a chair away as she was sitting down. The fall injured her lower back and hip bones. Since then she had been overwhelmed with pain and illnesses. However, she could not pinpoint the exact location of pain, nor could she find any way to reduce the pain.
Eventually she succumbed to the pain and had to leave her prestigous high school in favor of another school nearer her home. Her life took a turn for the worse. She recalled, "When my friends went to group tutors or joined different student organizations, I went to hospitals." In the end she could not go to school. Her parents and schoolteachers were overcome with worry and fear. Her parents took her to many major hospitals, western clinics and traditional Chinese doctors, but no doctor could cure her. They tried home therapy and other remedies, but nothing helped. "When my classmates focused on academic performances and passing the college entrance examination with flying colors, I could only watch. I didn't have the strength to even cross the street, let alone pursue personal goals."
Finally she quit school for health reasons in her third year of high school. She wanted to concentrate on healing. She tried aggressive medical treatments. She sought help in religion in hope of spiritual support. After spending lots of time and money, she failed to reap any reward at the spiritual or physical level. Almost a year passed, and Chiang felt increasingly anxious and helpless.
One evening after dinner, a local man dropped by and invited her and her family to attend free local Falun Gong classes. Chiang did not have any idea what Falun Gong meant. The only things that caught her attention were the words "health" and "free of charge". She became quite curious about the Falun Gong and started reading the flyer the man left with her.
When her parents returned home, she passed the flyer to them and expressed her interest, but her mother questioned, "Falun Gong. Isn't it banned in China?" Her father argued that Communist regimes cannot be reasoned with. He heard Falun Gong was very good and encouraged her to attend the classes.
Thus Chiang and her sisters attended the nine-day classes together. The first day she watched Mr. Li Hongzhi's Falun Gong lectures she thought, "How can there be something so wonderful? I must practice Falun Gong!” She was convinced that Falun Gong was good. “I just believed that Falun Gong would be able to save me!”
On the very first day of the class, the older man gave her a copy of Zhuan Falun. She started studying it the second day. After reading less than one lecture of Zhuan Falun, she started to feel an increasing level of pain. It was an unprecedented level of pain! By then she had experienced pain and illness for many years. Therefore, she had a higher level of threshold for pain. But it was still unbearable. She repeatedly rolled around in bed in agony. In the end, she did not even have the strength to moan or roll around. She felt she had died many times. When her mother saw her condition upon returning home, she was shocked and took her to the emergency room.
It was a miracle. After that day, the majority of her pain disappeared. In the next few days she learned from the Fa lectures that Teacher Li Hongzhi had been cleansing her body and removing her illness. This was 2004, when Chiang turned 18.
Now Chiang is a college student at Tunghai University with a double major of law and finance. One day she recalled that it had been quite some time since she was last in physical pain. “I am a very healthy person. Nowadays I have no concept of pain.” Her family, relatives, friends and schoolteachers all witnessed her physical transformation.
Before she quit high school, Chiang took flute lessons for many years. Her flute instructor was astonished when she saw how much Chiang had changed. Chiang's college friends commented that she is becoming increasingly youthful and strong. Chiang used to suffer from endocrine disorder when she was in high school, resulting in frequent breakouts on her face. Nowadays people often praise her for her beautiful skin. Sometimes students from different departments would approach her and ask for her beauty secret or the skin care products she uses. She would say, “It is because I practice Falun Gong!” When her father runs into people with poor health, he tells them his daughter's story and advises them to practice Falun Gong.
Chiang commented, “Thanks to fate! I not only got my health back, but also learned the meaning of life.” “Falun Gong has taught me the most incredible things about life and living, things I hadn't learned anywhere else!” Although she had to go through much pain before she was introduced to Falun Gong, she feels lucky to have found a path in life.
“I firmly believe that the incomparably lofty cultivation practice that is Falun Gong will help me prevail over all obstacles in life.”
Chiang has regained her health and now enjoys a wonderful life as she practices Falun Gong, cultivating herself according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
