(Minghui.org) Since Falun Dafa was introduced to the public 28 years ago, the mind and body practice has spread to many parts of the world. As people in Asia prepare to celebrate the coming Lunar New Year, Falun Dafa practitioners from German-speaking countries took the opportunity to express their gratitude to the founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi. They talked about how they apply the guiding principles of the practice – Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance – in their daily lives and show the people around them how wonderful Falun Dafa is.
Lorenz has worked in the aircraft electronics industry for 13 years. He frequently argued with his supervisor and their relationship was strained. He felt that his supervisor often had mood swings.
His perception changed after he began to practice Falun Dafa three and a half years ago. “I used to think the other party's behavior was caused by his mood swings and had nothing to do with me. I now realize that everything happens for a reason. When I'm upset, want to argue or don't want to listen, the situation becomes very intense. When I'm calm, he's nice,” Lorenz explained.
By studying the main book of the teachings Zhuan Falun, Lorenz's attitude changed, “Master teaches us to be considerate and think of others. I often remind myself to see things from the other person's perspective. When I change my way of thinking, the problems are resolved.”
He also observed that others felt he was incapable, “I realized that defending myself caused disputes with others. It's not important to gain the upper hand. I no longer strive to maintain a good image in front of others. Practicing Falun Dafa has taught me to find my true self and this has made me feel relaxed and at peace.”
His employer has commended him on many occasions for being kind to his co-workers and is grateful that Lorenz now helps make the work environment better.
Ralf is now 61 years old and has practiced Falun Dafa since 2001. He worked in a mid-sized company for more than 30 years as senior management. He worked hard and was an outstanding employee. He always put the company's interests before his own. For example as a manager handling major clients, he could have driven an expensive car just like other co-workers, but he chose not to. While others flew business class, he usually chose to fly economy. Yet he was suddenly asked to leave the company just before Christmas in 2019.
Understandably, he was quite upset. But then he remembered that he's a Falun Dafa practitioner and should take losses lightly. He controlled his feelings of humiliation. Other practitioners suggested that he look at the incident as a cultivation opportunity. “In fact, I actually planned to retire within two years to have more time to raise awareness of the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners in China. Now I have time to do this.”
Ralf said that his optimistic and positive attitude did not come about overnight. It came through years of reading Zhuan Falun, as well as constantly reminding himself to follow the teachings.
He gave another example. Not long after he started to practice Falun Dafa, a co-worker suddenly got upset and kept scolding Ralf. Since they were the only two people in the office, he could neither avoid nor ignore him. He was very agitated and could not understand why his co-worker was angry since they usually got along well.
“I recalled an example Master gave in Zhuan Falun about how practitioners should handle conflicts at work. I reflected on myself to see if I had done anything wrong. Even if I wasn't at fault, I should be calm and not resent my co-worker,” he said. After four weeks of treating him badly, his co-worker suddenly became friendly again. It was as if nothing had happened during the past four weeks. “If I weren't a practitioner, I would have lodged a complaint with my supervisor or resented him.”
Uwe is nearly 50 years old. His job is to help physically or mentally handicapped people learn to take care of themselves. He often has to help them turn or assist them in doing exercises. Sometimes he even has to pick them up. This puts enormous strain on his back. “I learned how to avoid hurting my back, but most of the time those methods are not effective. My back hurt all the time. I tried many forms of exercises as well as meditation. Only the Falun Dafa exercises truly helped. When I do the second set of exercises I can feel the areas of my body that used to be in pain, such as the muscles in my arms, gradually relax and the pain goes away.”
“In the past, I tried physical exercises, including martial arts, thinking these would make me fit, but they often had side effects. When I do the Falun Dafa exercises, I can feel areas where I previously experienced discomfort start to heat up. A warm current flows to these areas and the aches disappear. Falun Dafa is truly effective. The exercises I did in the past only gave me temporary results. The exercises of Falun Dafa target the root cause of my pain and solve the problem permanently.”
Uwe shared another incident. “One time I had an accident at work. It was so painful that for several days I could not stand up. I began to do the exercises as soon as I could move my body. I felt a strong energy helping me get through the ordeal. I studied Zhuan Falun every day and tried my best to do the exercises. I recovered so rapidly that even my physiotherapist was astonished. Whenever something bothers me, I calm down and start reading Zhuan Falun. I always find guidance from the book. I see that the problem lies in myself. But changing myself is easier said than done. Through practicing Falun Dafa, I have learned that this is possible.”