(Minghui.org) For over two decades, Falun Dafa practitioners in Ukraine—like their counterparts in over 100 other countries and regions—have cultivated steadily and improved themselves guided by the teachings in Zhuan Falun.
On the 30th anniversary of the book’s publication in China, they want to share their stories of how Zhuan Falun has become a crucial part of their lives.
Zhuan Falun Always Accompanies Her
Olga is from eastern Ukraine. Her father started practicing Falun Dafa in 2000. He told Olga a lot about the benefits of the practice, but she did not take his words seriously.
A few years later the young woman’s life changed dramatically. She recalled, “In 2011, as a 28-year-old young mother, I fell ill. For seven months doctors treated me with a lot of drugs. My liver couldn’t take it, and I developed toxic hepatitis.”
Olga was in a bad way. She lost a lot of weight, was very weak, could not eat properly, and felt apathetic. She said, “When my parents came to see me and my father saw the condition I was in, he said, ‘Olga, if you want to live, read Zhuan Falun!”
So, in the spring of 2012, Olga started practicing Falun Dafa and reading Zhuan Falun, “My health quickly returned to normal. I threw away all the pills. I gradually gained weight, and I had a desire to live.”
In 2014, war came to the town where Olga’s family lived, and they had to leave.
She said, “We had only one evening to pack. I walked around the house with a heavy heart, knowing that I was leaving forever. Realising that I couldn’t take everything with me, I only packed the essentials. At that time my husband was skeptical about Dafa—he didn’t like it when I went into another room to do the exercises. The very first thing I put in my suitcase was my picture of Master and all my Dafa books. He helped me pack and didn’t say anything.”
Since 2014, Olga’s family has had to move three times and live in two different cities. “Every time I check into a new flat, the first thing I take out of my suitcase is my picture of Master and my Dafa books,” she said.
Her husband now has a good opinion of Dafa. He sees Olga’s father, who practices Falun Dafa, run his business honestly. Although Olga’s father has money, he is modest. He also sees how Olga’s brother (who also practices Falun Dafa) does not chase after his father’s fortune. Instead, he’s always ready to give something of himself to help others. Olga is raising their children to be honest and kind. She reminds them not to be angry or complain about life. The practitioners in Olga’s family often say that practicing Falun Dafa taught them how to be good people.
During heavy rocket attacks, Olga’s husband now says aloud, “Falun Dafa is good.” She said, “He believes that these great words save lives! He’s not angry about our fate or the difficulties.” She sometimes reads Master’s teachings in Zhuan Falun and other articles to him, and he always listens attentively. This helps him to have a positive attitude towards life’s difficulties.
Olga says she’s determined to practice diligently, “Thank you, Master, for giving us the Great Law of the Universe in Zhuan Falun and teaching us to live by the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance!”
Zhuan Falun Rescued a Young Man from Confusion
Before Denis started practicing Falun Dafa in 2003, he had many questions about life and was always searching for answers.
“Since I was 16, I searched for some universal knowledge that would help me discern right from wrong, what to choose, and what path to follow. My parents have their criteria, my grandparents have others, and my friends and acquaintances have theers. Was there really no single criterion?”
When he started reading Zhuan Falun, he realised that he had finally found the universal and basic criteria for judging right and wrong. “I found the principles by which to live in harmony with myself, my family, friends, and society. I finally realised what I should base my life on.”
Denis said that the first time he read Zhuan Falun, he had that, “moment of knowing the truth” and felt really happy, as if he had finally escaped the abyss of confusion.
“The principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance are very simple, and in Zhuan Falun they guide and help to orientate me in a complex and rapidly changing modern world. Thank you, Master, for the very valuable and profound knowledge!”
Zhuan Falun Helps Her Find True Happiness
Lyudmila lives in western Ukraine. Her childhood and youth were spent in the USSR (Russia), and at that time she thought that the most important thing in life was to earn a lot of money. To her, this seemed to be the key to happiness.
After getting an education, Lyudmila started working in trade. She opened her own business and had a family. After her children grew up and left to work in another city, she wondered, “What next?” She kept searching for happiness. “I thought it was in sexual relations, perhaps in tasty food, or entertainment?” She felt empty.
In 2010 Lyudmila was given a copy of Zhuan Falun. At first she didn’t understand much, but after a year she read the entire book.
She realised that she had finally found the key to true happiness: “This sacred book changed my life and my attitude towards others for the better. I stopped chasing material achievements. I became kinder and more patient.”
Lyudmila says she also learned to be considerate. She never misses an opportunity to share her precious knowledge with people, and she advises them to read Zhuan Falun: “Only then do I feel happy, because I give people real happiness—the opportunity to improve themselves according to the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.”
Finding the Meaning of Life
Ivan was interested in martial arts since he was a child. While researching the subject, he learned about qigong and the importance of moral self-improvement. “I read somewhere that real martial techniques are passed on only to morally upstanding people. So I started looking for a moral guide and a school of spiritual self-cultivation,” Ivan said.
Ivan moved to Kyiv when he was 15. While in college, he read books on philosophy, Zen Buddhism, qigong, and other practices. He also attended lectures on the subject and looked for martial arts schools. He lived in a dormitory, money was scarce, and his life was hard. He thought about why people exist: he didn’t want to just work to eat and eat to work.
A year and a half later, Ivan read Zhuan Falun, and he said it changed his life, “In it, I found answers to many of my questions, and all the knowledge I gained before was organised into one system. I never became a master of martial arts, but I found a moral law that filled my life with meaning—Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance’.
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