To understand the backgrounds of this story, I first have to tell a few things about myself. My interest in gigong [ a form of traditional Chinese exercise which cultivates qi or “vital energy.”] started about seven years ago when I received a flyer at a fair about a course to become a gigong teacher. A year later I wanted to follow the course, but then it turned out this school didn’t exist anymore.

In the meantime I started a study Traditional Chinese Medicine because I was very interested in the teachings of energy channels. From two young teachers, who were a great source of information to me, I received great lessons about Chinese philosophy and the traditional Chinese approach to life and the human body. There I ran into qigong again.

To improve my physical condition, I decided to practice qigong and looked for a good teacher. At a certain moment I stumbled on an advertisement in which lessons were offered in my neighbourhood. I liked these exercises very much and it went very well. I showed more interest and I got an address in Germany where I could register for extra lessons to become a qigong teacher. The lesson period for the basic education was four weeks, spread over a year with one week per season. My teachers were a married couple from China who had a high level in qigong education and were very friendly people with a high esteem in China. During one of the lessons in 2003 our teacher said he just had a telephone conversation with the Chinese minister of Health and that the minister asked his opinion on the new SARS virus. Though he already lived in the West for ten years, my teacher still had a firm Taoist [ Also known as “Dao,” a Taoist term for “the Way of nature and the universe”; 2. enlightened being who has achieved this Tao] view of life, and he said that natural, biological selection does not bow to modern science. This was his answer which also made it clear to all thirty of us in his class.

After ending the winter course, I would have to apply for the last course and also do an exam. After arriving home, I already started to make flyers and brochures and went looking for a room where I could offer my practice later on. I already made some appointments in my neighbourhood with the neighbourhood coordinator for teaching the exercises, but at the last minute the whole project was cancelled. I tried another neighbourhood that is close to me, but this didn’t work out either. At the third appointment I was supposed to teach a group of senior citizens, but when I arrived, the door was closed. I couldn’t get any further with this. All roads were blocked for me and all doors were closed. It seemed I was not supposed to bring these qigong exercises into practice.

Shortly after that I received an e-mail from a colleague about an international qigong website. There I found Falun Dafa. I surfed through the site and opened “Essentials for Further Advancement”. I started to read and I was literally glued to the screen. So many wise words, such a noble spirit! You don’t run into this every day. My actions were automatic and I thirsted for more. As I was afraid of loosing the website or that my computer would fail, I immediately printed all forty six pages. The next day I had the book bound and continued to read. Fascinated, I visited the Falun Dafa website a few days later. There I found addresses of exercise locations. This spring month flew by while learning the exercises and reading the Falun Gong books. A month after that I started to read the main book of Falun Gong teachings, Zhuan Falun [Turning the Law Wheel]. After a week of reading I felt a Falun [Law Wheel] turning in my body. In order not the damage the Falun I dropped the other qigong as it was already clear to me that when one practises cultivation, one should follow only one way and that it’s not good to mix everything. With that I said goodbye to all other qigong and the money that I put into it. Returning was not possible anymore. Miraculously it was not hard for me. It was as if the Falun had blurred all the feelings of the previous qigong. With one and a half year of practice it felt as if was a long time ago and as if it was erased from my memory.

In discussing with other practitioners I suggested that we demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises at the “International Therapist” fair. Other practitioners saw my enthusiasm and comforted me that this eagerness was normal for new practitioners. Besides there were no financial means to attend the fair. However, the idea that we had to be there didn’t leave me. I had put some money aside for taking the exam of the previous qigong, and I wanted to use part of this money to attend the fair. I began to propose this more and more until I got a phone call from another practitioner who told me there were a few other practitioners who could help out financially and I got green light to start preparations.

The fair lasted for two days. The interest for Falun Gong was so high, that we could hardly take a break. In the short break, I quickly passed by the other stands with a fellow practitioner. In the evening when I got home, I unpacked my bag with all the information I received at the fair and then a paper fell on the floor. I picked it up. And then I almost fell from amazement. It was information about qigong demonstrations by my previous teachers. They were at the fair as well. This fair is not very well known outside of Holland. They gave lessons abroad, how did they get here? I searched the fair plan, their stand was at the first floor, diagonally across from ours.

The next morning a fellow practitioner came to pick me up to go to the fair together. I told him about the presence of my previous teacher, and as a veteran practitioner he cited from “Essentials for Further Improvement” and said that there where there are pearls, there are also fish eyes. When I put on my shoes I was very uneasy, my whole body trembled and revoked. I didn’t understand it at all. In my mind I reviewed what happened the day before, I concluded that everything went fine, no reason for distress. Because we were early I wanted to take a look around the other stands. Walking through the building I looked up and saw my previous teacher leaning on the banister, looking down motionless at our Falun Gong introduction video. So he had an interest in Falun Gong as well. He had been watching for at least fifteen minutes. In the meantime the fair opened to the public and I went back to our stand. Arriving there a big surprise awaited me. My former teacher was standing there. In my cancellation letter I sent him, I didn’t say that I left his school because I started practising Falun Gong. Now the ‘moment of truth’ had arrived. In “Essentials for Further Advancement”, in the article “Digging out the roots”, Master says: “During your cultivation practice, I will use every means to expose all of your attachments and dig them out at their roots.”

I walked up to him, greeted him, but his whole attention went out to the pictures of Master Li on the walls, pictures of rewards and the masses of people practising Falun Gong in China, America, Spain etc. He always had a smiling, friendly expression on his face, but at this moment his face was marked with non-belief, hurt and anger. I found it pitiful, I only said to him that he only taught Taoist exercises and that Falun Gong has a more Buddhist character. But he didn’t listen even once, he was fixed on the pictures. I left him alone and started practising with the others. He walked a few steps further to the TV-set and watched the introduction video again. One of my fellow practitioner wanted to give him a flyer and started a conversation with him in English. He said he didn’t speak English, only German. When he was addressed in German, he only said he didn’t believe any of this, such a large mass of people practising voluntarily and that all over the world!? He received a reply that it was indeed so. No, he didn’t believe that, that this would run so well without any money, there had to be a lot of money involved. He said, “I am a business man myself and I know that without money nothing goes.”. That everything was really on a voluntary basis, he could not be convinced about that. Because he gave demonstrations himself, he hurried back.

The same morning I got intense, piercing pains in my chest. If I were not a practitioner, I would have certainly panicked. My whole life I didn’t experience pains like this and there has never been anything wrong with my heart. I started to practice, hoping that the exercises would relieve my pain. In the middle of the exercises my name was called. It was one of my colleagues from my previous qigong class. I gave her information about Falun Gong, she left and slowly the pain also disappeared from my chest. At noon the pain returned. I began to become uneasy, because I had been practising for only five months and didn’t know how to deal with this. Then another colleague of mine came by, I greeted her and I could tell her a few things about Falun Gong as well. She left and my pain also left. Now I understood that my body was not pure and that the previously practised qigong had nestled deep in my body. The piercing pain just meant that all the beings that had entered my body through the other qigong had to be driven out with the beautiful and pure Falun Gong exercises.

A few days afterwards I understood we hadn’t been at the fair for no particular reason. My former teacher has good relations with important people from the Chinese community. He was able to personally convince himself of how Falun Gong had spread throughout the world. At this moment there was no better advertisement than him.

This event was for me a practical example of an arrangement. For this wonderful teaching I give my deepest thanks to our Master, and my gratitude especially that I am allowed to be one of his disciples.