Since 1999, China has experienced the most concerted campaign of propaganda and disinformation that the world has ever seen—one using every communication channel and the communist regime’s entire mass media arsenal. The key target of this campaign has been people who follow the ancient spiritual practice of Falun Gong. In the most literal sense, their voices have been silenced amid a cacophony of venom and lies. Here, they have the opportunity to present their stories of perseverance, faith, and personal evolution, straight from the heart.

This story is about Capt. Nguyen Tuan Dung, a Vietnamese pilot with 14,000 flight hours. Many people have asked him why he left a high-paying job in the Middle East for a position with a Taiwanese airline. The answer is that he wanted to learn Chinese so that he could read the Chinese version of Zhuan Falun the main book of Falun Gong—a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.

Capt. Nguyen, 44, has been a pilot for 22 years, with expertise in flying the Airbus A32o. He has trained in Australia and France and is fluent in Vietnamese, English, Russian, and French.

Taking Up the Practice of Falun Gong
As a pilot, Capt. Nguyen has had many opportunities to visit many different countries and experience different cultures. Seeing so many people afflicted with sadness and suffering, he found himself often wondering about the purpose of life—why there is so much pain in the world, and why people are here on Earth.

He felt stressed, and sometimes had trouble sleeping at night. He sought answers in religions, philosophy, and psychology, but none of these disciplines provided what he was looking for. He also practiced martial arts, but that didn’t help either. He was still confused by the basic questions.

Three years ago, his parents, both sports coaches, called him from Vietnam, excited to tell him about their experiences of cultivating Falun Gong. They suggested that he give it a try. He was practicing a different qigong at the time, so he didn’t take his parents’ suggestion seriously.

Later, when he visited his parents on a vacation, his mother taught him the Falun Gong exercises. On the plane back to work, he opened the book Zhuan Falun.

After one hour of reading, he felt that he’d found the answers to all the questions that had bothered him for such a long time. What a profound teaching, he thought. Once home, he spent 10 days reading all the Falun Gong books, and watched Master Li Hongzhi’s exercise instruction video. Then he called his parents and said, “I’ve found the profound spiritual teaching that I’ve been looking for!” He then officially started cultivating Falun Gong.

Improved Health
Soon after taking up the practice, Capt. Nguyen experienced a major improvement in his health. He used to be exhausted after long-distance flights, especially the red-eye (overnight) flights. After these flights, every bone in his body seemed to ache. The qigong exercises he tried before didn’t help, and the intense pain would last for days.

Now that he practices Falun Gong, he always does the exercises after the red-eye flights and before going to sleep each day. When he wakes up, he feels good, with no pain.

Pilots are required to have an eye examination every year after age 40. Nguyen was surprised to discover that after he started practicing Falun Gong, his vision got better than it was when he flew military aircraft in his twenties.

Capt. Nguyen at a Falun Gong activity in 2016 in Taiwan.

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