The Greatest Gift

[PureInsight.org] Sitting in my favorite blue living room chair, my friend Desiree and I chatted and enjoyed a cup of Jasmine tea in front of the glowing oak fire, the candles flickering gently in the polished ceramic bowl on the glass coffee table. We had not seen each other for several months.

"You look different, younger somehow, relaxed and serene, and your hair is still dark. How come you have no wrinkles?" said she.

"Desiree, I replied, "I have received an outstanding gift. I would like to tell you about it."

It was the time right after Christmas, when scores of people in the United States are traditionally exchanging gifts, to celebrate this holiday in their customary manner.

"What gift are you talking about?" my friend said. "Bring it on! If it is so great, it must have been quite expensive. Who sent it to you? Which department store did it come from? Or was it perhaps hand-delivered from some fancy boutique? Did it come by mail? Did you get it on the internet? Tell me, I am curious what it could be. Is it an antique, or something to wear? It cannot be another book! I know you like books. You have so many. It is not another book you can't put down, is it? You and your books!"

I looked at her, smiled and replied, "Yes, it is another book that I bought myself, but not just any book – not a novel, not a detective story, not a historical tale, not a cookbook and not a travelogue. It is probably the greatest mystery story of all, ever told to anyone."

Reaching behind me, I handed her a bright, blue-colored volume from the library table. She exclaimed at the shiny cover, looked at the title and slowly read, "Zhuan Falun."

Desiree looked puzzled, gave me a sideways glance and said,

"This is what you are so excited about? Heck, it does not even have a fancy cover design, and the title does not tell you anything; it gives no clue as to what this book is about."

As she opened it, she discovered the design of a circle, with several smaller designs in the center and around the perimeter, and the photograph of a man. Studying the photograph for a moment she commented, "He looks friendly enough. Did he write it?"

Then she looked at the table of content and became absorbed, reading the chapter headings. Pausing, she gave me another long look and said,

"O.K. – out with it. What makes this unassuming looking blue book so special? The subject matter makes no sense to me. Why do you think this is the greatest gift?"

I related that after I finished reading this book for the first time about five years ago, I consciously decided to completely change my life, and that I have since read the book 102 times. I told her that the wisdom contained in the pages of this book had tremendously broadened my mental outlook and affected the habits I had clung to for almost 70 years; it had given me back my health that had deteriorated for ten years prior; made me realize the immensity of the universe - to the extent I am capable of fathoming such a thing - and our relation to the cosmos and everything in it; and, most of all, taught me that "we are what we think."

Desiree thought my expression "I would not give up this book and the teachings therein for anything in the world" somewhat extreme, asking me, "You are not serious about that, are you?"

When I told her of all the good that had come from studying this book, she was somewhat less skeptical, but told me that she would not have the discipline to follow such teachings at the moment, and that the tenets of the teachings, to conduct one's life according to Truthfulness, Kindness and Tolerance, sounded too simplistic.

I smiled again and said, "I am not trying to convince you, at all cost, to read this book. I am merely telling you the tremendous benefits I have reaped from following the words of wisdom contained in this book that Master Li Hongzhi has made available to anyone in the world who chooses to follow them. Also, anyone who opts to practice the wisdom contained in the pages of this book will at least become a better person and have a path that could lead to an advantageous afterlife. Anytime you wish to borrow the book, I will be glad to lend it to you."

I filled Desiree's teacup again and she commented,

"Just by looking at you, and remembering what a struggle your life had been for so many years, I believe you did get tremendous benefits from this book. I will make a New Year's resolution to read the book myself. Perhaps it is after all the greatest gift you have ever received."