By practitioners in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

(Clearwisdom.net) Fifteen years have passed since Falun Dafa was first introduced to the world. In Taiwan there are hundreds of thousands of practitioners that are students at all levels of education. Some students learned to practice Falun Gong from their parents or teachers, while others learned from the Internet, newspapers or Falun Gong books. Many of them have greatly benefited, both physically and mentally, from the practice. From their pure and kind natures, we see the hope and beautiful future of mankind. In honor of the 2007 World Falun Dafa Day, young practitioners in the Kaohsiung area want to wish Teacher a Happy Birthday. They also want to celebrate this great holiday with Dafa disciples and all people around the world through sharing their cultivation experiences on Clearwisdom.net. They wish to make known their promises to cultivate more diligently and to repay Teacher's benevolent salvation.

Practitioners from Sun Yat-Sen University wish Teacher a Happy Birthday

Practitioners from Sun Yat-Sen University study the Fa together

In May 2002, I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to begin cultivation in Falun Dafa. Every May, when Teacher's birthday arrives, I cannot help feeling an appreciation beyonds words.

Prior to cultivation, I witnessed the chaotic state of some of the religions in Taiwan. I no longer have any hope for religions or qigong! People in religions or qigong behave so differently from what Buddhas and Gods truly require of them. I was lucky that I had teachers and classmates who practiced Dafa and so I was able to learn about Dafa, genuine cultivation, and the purpose of life.

As soon as I made up my mind to truly cultivate Dafa, my physical health improved tremendously. My liver transaminase level dropped from 385 to 81 (normal level is below 40). Thereafter, my body became progressively healthier and and I never felt the need to go back to the hospital for liver tests. Falun Dafa cured my liver problem even when my grandfather, a prestigious doctor in the area of liver disease, could not. Actually, the health improvement is nothing compared to the moral elevation Falun Dafa brought to me.

Understanding the principles of Falun Dafa allows me to know how I should treat everything. Dafa teaches us to look inside during conflicts, always think of others first and treat everything with "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." When a conflict occurs, I should first determine whether I have done something to make others uncomfortable or whether there was anything I could have done to help but didn't. When I calmly face unexpected conflicts and unselfishly consider others first, the other parties in the conflict can feel my sincerity and change their attitudes naturally. Thus, I am able to handle conflicts much better than previously.

Through the cultivation of Dafa, we also obtain the compassion of selflessness and altruism. Practitioners in China are suffering from all kinds of persecution, including torture and even organ harvesting. We must do the three things better, let more people know the truth of the persecution, and do our best to stop the persecution.

Lastly, I will always remember how Teacher cherishes and cares for us while encouraging us to mature in cultivation. I will also cherish and help new students to become genuine, diligent Dafa disciples during the Fa-rectification period. Happy birthday, Teacher. I will do the three things better and won't let you down!

I came to know Falun Dafa in May of 2003. I have continued on the path of cultivation for four years. My health has improved a lot. I used to suffer from allergies, but I have not sneezed once since I started to practice Dafa. My xinxing has also improved quite a lot. I always thought I was a rather good person, but only after beginning cultivation did I realize that I had many hidden attachments and shortcomings to relinquish and change.

Recently, I came to understand very deeply that we cannot slack off in Fa study or in practicing the exercises, even if our environment seems to have improved a lot. Previously, since I was able to cultivate diligently, my environment became very good and even my parents started to practice Dafa. The cultivation path is always changing, and it is very easy to become slack. I understand that if we do not study the Fa, or even if we haven't studied well for only a few days, we can easily become disturbed by small things. Then we may become uneasy, frustrated, start to think like ordinary people, and become afraid of failures or being corrected by others.

As our cultivation comes closer to the end, I find that the requirements of the Fa become higher. I continue to discover more of my hidden human mentalities. Usually, only after I have already done something wrong or made the wrong choice, do I realize it and become very regretful. Sometimes, after reading Teacher's articles, I feel I am letting Teacher down. I even questioned whether I should write my experience sharing in celebration of Teacher's birthday! Eventually I decided to write down my sharing. I want to tell revered Teacher that I will try my best to fulfill my vows and that I won't fail his expectations and those of sentient beings, ever again. I also want to encourage young fellow practitioners to cherish this period of time and cultivate diligently.

As a result of my professor's insistence, in July 2004 I attended a Falun Dafa study camp for schoolteachers in Kaohsiung. After watching a truth-clarification movie, I was touched by mainland Chinese practitioners' bravery and courage! They faced the police with sincerity, kindness, and tolerance, and persisted in cultivation while being persecuted. What makes a person face death with no fear and treat the people who torture him with such kindness? I had one thought: I also want to become that kind of person!

I have now practiced Falun Dafa for almost three years. I know I am nowhere near to becoming as great as mainland Chinese practitioners. However, during more than two years of cultivation, with Teacher's kind care, my wisdom has been expanded and I am healthier both mentally and physically. All of this comes about through living the profound principles of Falun Dafa.

One of the major physical changes I experienced after practicing Falun Gong is that my need for sleep has been reduced from ten or eleven hours a day to only five or six hours. I am now more energetic and focused. Gradually, I have been able to identify my attachments, such as the mentality of showing off, jealousy, the competitive mentality, greed, desire, fear, preference, or disgust. I also pay attention to how these attachments and desires have affected my behavior and restrained me from stepping forward. Of course sometimes there are some imperceptible notions that I do not immediately realize. I believe I will become purer and purer as I strive forward and cultivate diligently.

May 13 is Teacher's birthday. Here I present to Teacher my sincerest appreciation and gratitude. I wish to cultivate more diligently, do the three things even better, assist Teacher, and never fail Teacher's expectations.

I started practicing Falun Dafa in 2002 and six years have passed since then. Before cultivation, my health was not very good. With my health issues and busy school work, I often felt miserable and very pessimistic about the future. When I was in junior high, I had the wish to cultivate. I thought I would no longer suffer if I could become a Buddha through cultivation. At that time, I thought cultivation meant reading some scriptures. My mother saw an introduction to Falun Gong in a magazine and felt that it was very special (she had been in many qigong schools before), so she took my little brother and me with her to learn.

After I started cultivation, not only did my health improve but also my xinxing. Previously, I could get angry over tiny things. Now I know I should conduct myself according to "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." Not very long after I started to cultivate, a classmate who used to argue with me a lot, told me that I had a good temper. I was very happy and knew it was Dafa that had changed me. After cultivation, I started to feel hope in life again. With Dafa in my heart, I feel very calm and peaceful.

After I attended college, I slacked off in studying the Fa and became very attached to emotion and envious of girls who had boyfriends. Eventually I met a boy who was the type I liked--talented, easy going, and good looking. Although he already had a girlfriend, we started a relationship. In that period of time, I was soaked in sentiment. Sometimes I thought to myself that I would wait for him for ten years. I was behaving just as Teacher said, "One who is for sentiment brings vexation on himself" ("Being a Human" from Hong Yin, translation version B). Life was unbearable while I was waiting for him. I could not eat or sleep well. Through studying the Fa, I deeply realized that only after getting rid of attachments could one have true peace and joy. Material profits do not come with birth, and neither will they go with us after death. Pursuing them with all one's might only brings pain and suffering. Even for those who eventually get what they are after, human lives only last dozens of years. How could I indulge in sentiments and emotions when I have come to assist Teacher in Fa-rectification and return home? After all kinds of tests and tribulations, I finally felt that I couldn't waste my time any more. I should step forward from humanness, do the three things well, and follow Teacher in returning to my true home.

Previous to cultivation practice, I was a rather pessimistic person with no self-confidence. Although I looked fine and happy, I was suffering on the inside. I often asked myself, "What is the purpose of my life? Why do I live in this world?" To find inner peace and true joy, I searched many spiritual books for truth, but found nothing.

During the second semester of my junior year in college, Professor Young talked about how Falun Gong practitioners in China still keep their faith while facing persecution and threats to their lives. It shocked me. I thought, "What kind of truth and power could make people persist in their faith while facing life threats? What is it about Falun Gong that makes people cherish it more than their own lives?"

Although I didn't start to practice right away, I recommended Falun Gong to my boyfriend. I witnessed the power of Falun Dafa from the changes I saw in him within only two weeks of reading Zhuan Falun. He used to have a quick temper, but after only two weeks he became calm and very thoughtful. I was very surprised and wanted to read Zhuan Falun myself. I didn't expect I would like the book so much that I couldn't put it down! I found the answers to the questions that had puzzled me for 20 years. I thought, "Finally, I found you!" Inside, I was crying with joy! Thank you, Teacher, for teaching me Falun Dafa.

My pessimistic personality has changed, too. Now I am always in a good mood. I became pretty healthy as well. The stomachaches, which had bothered me for ten years despite all kinds of treatment with medicine and nutrition, disappeared after I started to practice Falun Dafa. In the past, I felt tired very easily, but now I am always energetic.

I wish revered Teacher a happy birthday. I will do the three things well, clarify the truth to save people, and won't let Teacher down.

(To Be Continued)

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/5/15/154845.html