“In the past, I only wished for peace and quiet from others; I didn’t like people and only liked myself. Now, I embrace everyone with an open heart. I can talk to them, try to help them, I simply love them. This isn’t a technical change, but a change from the heart.”
December 16, 2010 — Five years ago, Dejan from Serbia never imagined that he would one day become a happy innkeeper. Back then, he didn’t like to be around other people, he just wanted to be quiet and alone, so he couldn’t stand working in a hotel where he had to deal with people all day.
At that time, he was indeed looking for happiness, and he had pinned his hopes on political change, but the change of the ruling party did not bring him happiness. He also wanted to find happiness by changing his living environment and moving out of his country to live in the Czech Republic, but his short life in the Czech Republic did not make him happy, and he did not find a suitable job there. However, the leaflet he brought back during a chance encounter in the Czech Republic opened the door for him to have a happy life.
It was in 2002, when the NATO summit was held in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, Falun Gong practitioners set up information booths on the streets to display the exercises, so that more people could understand Falun Gong and the persecution of Falun Gong that was taking place in China. Dejan had never accepted a flyer on the street before, but the peaceful demonstration of the exercises drew him to take one.
Actually, Dejan had never been interested in Eastern practices like yoga or Tantrism, because he believed they were all fake and designed to scam people. “But when I saw someone meditating on the bridge, I felt the tranquility between him and the environment, which piqued my interest. I took the flyer. I used to be very arrogant and never took flyers, but this time I accepted it.” From the flyer, he learned about the persecution of Falun Gong in China, which puzzled him, but he set the flyer aside.
Until day, more than two years later, his wife was informed that she had a serious illness, which reminded Dejan of the flyer he had received. He told his wife, “This can make people healthy. Let’s start practicing together.” “Surprisingly, over two years had passed, but the flyer was still in the drawer. I found it and began practicing. At that time, there The exercises and books are available for free online, and English is no problem for me. “
A month later, his wife was suddenly told that she was not sick, so she stopped practicing. However, Dejan persisted and experienced unexpected physical and mental benefits.
When he first started practicing, Dejan was already 43 years old. Although he didn’t have any obvious ailments, he was no longer young. “When winter came, I used to feel pain in my back, headaches, and like everyone else, I felt stress and tension. After I started practicing, I hardly felt any pain anymore. In these past five or six years, I haven’t been sick a single day.”
He believes that the change that cultivation has brought to him is not that he can control himself, but that he no longer wants to fight: “People can only control themselves to a certain extent, beyond this range, you can’t control yourself, the only way is to change your own inner character, stop fighting and arguing with others, this is the point. Changing from the inside rather than from the outside is an amazing part of Falun Dafa. I’ve changed a lot.”
More importantly, he found inner peace and harmony in his family: “My wife and I have been married for twenty-two years, and we used to argue a lot because we were both very emotional people, but since I started cultivating, our lives have become peaceful. It’s not necessary for both of us to practice; just one person is enough to bring harmony to the family. I don’t need to consciously control myself. Through persistent practice and studying Falun Dafa, I have become calm. If I didn’t adhere to studying the teachings and practicing the exercises, sometimes I would still have moments of unrest, and I can’t even control myself.”
He believes that the changes brought by the practice are not merely self-control, but that he no longer wants to fight: “People can only control themselves to a certain extent. Beyond that, you can’t control yourself. The only way is to change your inner character in order to stop fighting and arguing with others. This is the key. Changing from within rather than from external means is the astonishing aspect of Falun Dafa. I have changed a lot.”
He had always hoped to find happiness through change in the outside world: “I used to be dissatisfied with my government. I thought if this group of people, this party, were ousted, I would be happy. During this time, there were changes in the government, but my friends and I were not any happier. So, you cannot find happiness through politics. Some people believe that relocating to different countries, changing partners, or jobs will bring them happiness, but usually such happiness is elusive and ultimately unattainable. And in the end, they will not be happy even after they die. “
However, practicing Falun Gong made him change from his heart, and he also got the happiness he dreamed of: “Yet, when I began practicing Falun Dafa, I found this kind of happiness. Since I started practicing, everything has become orderly, whether at home, in the workplace, or in the country I live in. I feel peace, I feel happiness. And I know that as long as I practice Falun Dafa, I will have such happiness. “
Practicing Falun Gong also transformed his attitude towards others from exclusion to loving everyone. As a result, he opened a hotel and welcomed visitors from all over the world. To him, the guests of the inn are like the guests of his own home; he respects and loves them and provides them with all kinds of conveniences.
“In the past, I only wished for peace and quiet from others; I didn’t like people and only liked myself. Now, I embrace everyone with an open heart. I can talk to them, try to help them, I simply love them. This isn’t a technical change, but a change from the heart.”
Many tourists were amazed by Dejan’s kindness and peaceful demeanor, and they often asked him how he achieves it. “I told them how I had gained peace through practicing Falun Dafa, and they were very grateful. Some immediately asked how to learn the exercises, while others inquired about the websites and books. Most people felt they have found something they will need in the future.”
After experiencing the profound inner changes brought by practicing Falun Dafa, Dejan hoped that more people could learn about Falun Gong. As someone who had previously worked as a translator, he translated the book “Zhuan Falun” into Serbian, hoping that more people who do not know English will also be able to understand Falun Gong. However, unexpectedly, he encountered interference from the Chinese Communist Party during the publication process.
At the time, the book was published by an independent publishing house and was exhibited at the largest book fair. However, on the first day of the book fair, officials from the Chinese Embassy approached the manager of the book fair and demanded the book be withdrawn.
“Serbia is a former communist country. But even under the rule of the evil communist party, the government had never banned books or movies, and we could see all the books and movies we want. Fortunately, the manager of the book fair said we do not ban books; we are a democratic country, and anyone can publish what they want. Thus, the book was not withdrawn.”
Dejan couldn’t understand why the Chinese Communist Party persecutes Falun Gong: “Falun Gong has nothing to do with politics, it is not a movement, it has nothing to do with changing society, it’s only about improving ourselves. I don’t know why the CCP feels threatened by it. They have made a huge mistake. They thought they could quickly eradicate Falun Dafa, but that’s impossible, because for Falun Dafa practitioners, the meaning of cultivation is so profound that we will not give up, and we will not give up, no matter what conditions they offer us. I don’t want to go back to the old days, a very difficult life, a life full of stress and not worth going through. As a practitioner, I feel what a human being should feel. I believe many people in China feel similarly. That’s why the persecution has persisted for eleven years, yet people continue to practice Falun Gong. I believe this persecution will come to an end.”
In order to stop the persecution, he hopes that more people can understand and pay attention to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, so like many Falun Gong practitioners around the world, he participates in various activities to raise awareness: “We don’t seek to change any government; we simply want everyone in the world to know about such things. We just hope they understand, so we organize various activities such as parades.” Many people in Serbia were shocked upon learning about the crimes committed by the Chinese Communist Party, such as forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners, and they also signed the petition to stop the persecution.
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Translated from: https://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/12/16/233695.html
Editor’s Note: Dear readers, do you know that Falun Dafa, originally from China, is currently practiced by people in over 100 countries? But in China, since Jul. 20, 1999, Falun Gong is defamed, slandered and persecuted due to the Chinese Communist Party’s fear of Falun Gong’s rapidly growing popularity. Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology.
To learn more about the persecution Falun Gong practitioners are subjected to in China, visit http://faluninfo.net/.
For more information about the practice or to download Zhuan Falun, visit: www.falundafa.org. All books, exercise music, resources, and instructions are available completely free of charge.
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