At 40 years old, Steven Le currently works as a financial consultant at a bank in Melbourne, Australia. Having developed great relationships with his clients, Steven has been honored as one of his company’s best employees.
Nobody could have imagined that many years ago, Steven was a short-tempered, troubled young man, who always fought with his sister and gave his parents many headaches.
Everything changed for Steven when he received a Falun Dafa flier at a college event in 2000, setting in motion his journey of cultivation.
Falun Dafa, also called Falun Gong, is a traditional Chinese system of mind-body cultivation. It was first taught to the public in 1992 in northeastern China and has attracted tens of millions of adherents. The practice, which is banned by the Communist Chinese regime, teaches the core principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.
Calmer, Happier
Steven’s parents escaped persecution in Vietnam and came to Australia when he was 1 year old. As a child, he had lots of conflicts with his sister. The atmosphere at home was always tense.
His temper changed, however, after he read the main Falun Dafa book Zhuan Falun as a student at Victoria University.
“I saw a banner promoting Falun Dafa. The banner was of a little child sitting in peaceful meditation. I was curious and went over to find out more. There I saw a practitioner and asked if I could take a brochure home.”
Steven left the brochure on his bedroom desk for a few months. One day he decided to learn more about Falun Dafa. So, he reached out to a practitioner who ran the local exercise site.
“What intrigued me most at that time was a comment in the flier that stated, ‘Grand Tai Chi master recommended his students learn Falun Dafa.’ So I said to myself, I am currently learning Tai Chi, but if a grand Tai Chi master advised his students to practice Falun Dafa, then this must be even more powerful.”
At the exercise site, Steven read Falun Dafa’s main text “Zhuan Falun,” which he felt deeply connected to. “It had profound principles that I understood and embraced,” he said.
So he decided to put his mind and heart into learning Falun Dafa.
“I found this to be an incredibly powerful practice. When I started learning Falun Dafa, through reading the book, listening to Teacher’s lectures and doing the exercises, I became more tolerant and calm. When my sister became bossy, I was less moved and let it go.”
“It has helped improve my life at home because there are fewer arguments. I felt like it wasn’t important to be right or to win an argument. It felt like a massive weight had been lifted off my shoulders. So things became happier overall.”
Family Witnesses the Power of Falun Dafa
Steven’s changes have touched his family.
Steven and his sister get along well now. “I noticed a dramatic difference [in her]. I think this is the result of me changing the way I react to certain situations,” Steven said.
As for his mother, Steven said, “My mom has embraced Falun Dafa as she can see the changes in me because she is also very spiritual. She saw how I used to be hot headed, and now I am calmer and if the practice can change me, it’s amazing. My mom totally supports Falun Dafa; she is currently studying Zhuan Falun and is reading it in Vietnamese.”
Inner Peace, Sense of Purpose
When Steven was growing up, he didn’t follow through on projects. So what’s the reason he has kept up his Falun Dafa practice for over 10 years? His reason is simple.
“It must be the inner peace that I am feeling through meditating, and the spiritual resonance of the teaching that is speaking to my soul. It must have been all these things coming together. By practicing I gradually understood that life is more than just growing up, working, having a family, growing old, dying, and reincarnating. I learned these fundamentals and Falun Dafa is something I can relate to so well.”
“If I had never learned the principles of Falun Dafa, I think I would be in a completely different state of mind, being competitive and focusing on obtaining those superficial things in life. I would actually be missing out on the real purpose of life.”
“I feel that life has more profoundness than how the external world appears to our pair of eyes. Our daily lives are really meant to uncover our attachments and let them go. I feel that Teacher Li (the founder of Falun Dafa) has given me hints along the way to help me to look inside and untie those knots to help uplift my inner being.”
Practicing Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance at Work
As a banking consultant, Steven has dealt with many customers. He said, “I could easily be annoyed with their very demanding requests. But thanks to the practice, I am much more tolerant. By being more mindful it has helped me to overcome the stresses of work and have a more balanced life.”
“Customers can feel the energy or vibe and they respond to that. Falun Dafa teaches compassion. I try to assist every customer and show empathy and compassion. I am not perfect, but cultivation is about identifying what is not perfect and changing it. So now at work I can take personal things lightly and focus on assisting the customers.”
“Whatever happens, I try to do what is right. I am able to gauge what is right and what is not. My starting point is to have my moral conscience always intact and remind myself that I am a Dafa disciple.”
Steven’s customers often praise him and he has been recognized at work for his achievements. His colleagues and clients also learned about the persecution of Falun Dafa in China from him and they have been very supportive.
Recalling his journey, Steven said, “Master Li has shown me the meaning of life. He has looked after me. He has guided me all these years and I remembered one time that I wished I could have a supreme master, a powerful one. And my dream came true.”
This article was originally published on Minghui.org, a website organized by Falun Gong practitioners to spread information about the Chinese spiritual practice and the persecution it suffers because of the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution.
See more:
* An English woman: “Practicing Falun Dafa Gave Me Good Health and Self-Confidence”.
* Bully Changes After Practicing Falun Dafa.
* A Book Transformed an Austrian Woman and Saved Her Marriage.