Suzhen Chen
My name is Suzhen Chen. I’m already 80 years old. Basically, since the medical incident I had when I was in my 30’s, I have issues and illnesses all over my body. Not a single part of my body is trouble free. That’s why I’ve been meditating, going to the Buddhist temple, and doing Tai Chi. I have always been very mindful about my health. All these years, I appear to look fine on the outside, but I’ve always had issues internally. Stomach pain, gallstone, headaches as well. No part of my body seems to be in good shape. After meditation, I have improved a lot. But recently, maybe after the pandemic started, it seems like I’ve reached a bottleneck. I started having insomnia. It’s hard to fall asleep. I can only fall asleep at one or two o’clock in the middle of the night. Sleep has become a burden. As a result, my son-in-law enrolled me for this Health and Happiness Retreat. I figured I should give Bodhi Meditation a try. I came and I thought, can I get rid of my insomnia and headache? This was my hope for the class.
On the first day, after I practiced meditation, I felt even worse. I didn’t sleep all night. I wanted to quit. I didn’t want to come anymore. But on second thought, I didn’t want to disappoint my son-in-law. My son-in-law is a rare find. He is really a very good person. So I persevered. On the second day, my gallbladder started to hurt. The pain radiated through my body. It was so painful. Then it stopped hurting after a day. No more pain in the gallbladder, no pain when I reached home, and no pain at night. On the third day, my cervical spine started to hurt. I had that checked previously. The doctor said I had bone spurs in my cervical spine. This is because I’ve been working at a desk all my life. I worked in an office. Towards the end, I started to feel a bit of something in my head. It hurts a bit, but when the practice is over, the pain goes away. So I can sleep very well at night. For the entire eight days (of class), I slept well for seven days. I used to only fall asleep in the middle of the night. I would go to bed early, but end up tossing and turning in bed. I had a hard time falling asleep. Now, I seemed to have relaxed and fall asleep naturally. I don’t know what time it was, possibly around 9 or 10 o’clock.
Also, I did not have this headache only during the class. It was from the time I had a medical incident during a major operation in my 30’s. I have had the headache for more than 40 years. My head hurts no matter whether I can sleep or not. It would hurt from 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning until 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon. That’s why I feel terrible all the time. In the past I had to go to work and take care of my children. It was very stressful. No doctor could cure it. When the headache is severe, I can’t see clearly. I could not think clearly. When my head doesn’t hurt, my eyes are fine. That means it’s not a problem with my eye nerves. The pain feels like a tight band on my head, just like the Gold Band worn by the Monkey King, causing pain. It hurts. Now the band seems to be gone. It feels lighter.
I am particularly afraid of the cold. When I come out in the morning, even in summer, I need to keep my neck all wrapped up. My head is very cold. In the past, as I wanted to be physically fit, I practiced standing stance. I didn’t know better and I didn’t have a good teacher at that time. Even when it was a very cold day, I would get up at 5:00am to stand in front of the tree. And I didn’t wear a scarf. The cold qi was terrible. That’s why my whole body was cold. My head was very, very cold. It is difficult to get rid of the cold qi. I used to go for acupuncture. I took Chinese medicine. I tried Chinese massage, but nothing helped. When I saw people doing meditation, it seemed like they felt hot. However, I kept on having cold sweat. Cold qi came out. I touched my neck and there was sweat, but it was also cold. The cold qi has come out.
In the past, I couldn’t stand for too long. Sitting was fine. I could sit for the whole day, because I’ve been sitting all my working life. As for walking, I can walk for more than two hours without any problem. But I simply cannot stand still. It feels like I’d faint anytime, so I am nervous about it. On the first day during meditation practice, my calves felt swollen. I would move my legs a little. On the second or third day, the swelling was gone. Basically, I could stand just like everyone else. I stood throughout, there was no problem. Usually, if I walked, by the afternoon, I would already be tired before I reached home. Now I’m not tired at all. I am full of energy.
Thank you, Grandmaster, for your great kindness, which benefitted everyone.
The intent of the testimonial is to offer wellness information of a general nature. Individual results of practice may vary.