When Life Nearly Ended: How Falun Gong Changed My Understanding of Faith. African Scholar’s Son Found His Way in New York.

One day in 2013, I suddenly passed out at home. Three days later when I woke up in the hospital, my doctor said that my blood sugar was 17 times the normal level, and my life was in danger. But I didn’t feel that bad. Before discharging me, the doctor said, “Someone wants to keep you here.” My name is Rwegoshola Laurent Rweyemamu. I was born in 1976 in Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania. My father, Justinian Ferdinand Rweyemamu, was born in Bukoba, a small village in northwestern Tanzania. Though raised in a farming family, he was a top student. In 1962, shortly after Tanzania gained independence from the UK, he received a scholarship from Fordham University in New York, majoring in economics, applied mathematics, and philosophy. Three years later, he graduated ahead of schedule and earned a Rockefeller Foundation scholarship to pursue graduate studies in economics at Harvard University. In 1971, at only 29 years old, our father became the first Tanzanian to earn a Ph. D. from Harvard University. A Chinese friend of mine told me that my father's achievement was comparable to becoming the “Zhuang Yuan” in ancient China — the top scholar in the nation’s highest imperial examination. While at Harvard, he joined fellow students Mahmood Mamdani and James Ault in an African Studies Group, where they discussed the challenges of post-colonial development in Africa. In 1973, Oxford University Press published his book Underdevelopment and Industrialization in Tanzania, based on his doctoral dissertation. It later became an influential work in African development studies. After returning home, my father taught at the University of Dar es Salaam while also serving as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Planning. Tanzania’s founding president, Julius Nyerere, held him in high regard. The two often worked late into the night discussing national policy and economic development. In 1977, my father moved to Geneva to join the Brandt Commission. Two years later, he entered the United Nations Secretariat in New York, where he worked on international development and economic cooperation. From 1979 to 1981, he also served as chairman of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa. Though still young, he had already achieved professional success and enjoyed a happy family life. Then tragedy struck. In March 1982, my father died from cancer at the age of 39. At the time, my mother was pregnant with my twin sisters and could not travel. As a six-year-old boy, I accompanied my father’s body back to Tanzania for burial. Although President Nyerere was unable to attend the funeral personally, he paid tribute to my father, saying: “We have lost one of the most brilliant minds our country has produced.” After my father's passing, my mother raised four children on her own. She worked for the United Nations and remained deeply committed to providing us with a Catholic education. Until I was sixteen, I spent many summers in Tanzania, which is why I can still speak Swahili today. In 1998, after graduating from Stony Brook University in New York, I moved in with my girlfriend, and together we had a son and a daughter. I worked in real estate appraisal and IT jobs in New York City. Despite having steady income and a family, I was really not happy. Having grown up in the Catholic Church, I always believed in God and hoped that faith could somehow help me to reach heaven. But I never truly understood how to live according to God's expectations. Religion to me felt more like an insurance policy. Like many people, I had done things I regretted. I lived with my girlfriend without being married, which went against the Catholic principles. I also smoked marijuana and occasionally told lies. I wanted to become the best person I could but I had no idea how to do it. I needed clear guidance! In 2008, my guidance arrived. That year I turned 32, I was an accounting systems technician at the Manhattan law firm Hawkins, Delafield & Wood. There I became close friends with a network engineer named Tyrone. He introduced me to Falun Gong and gave me a copy of Zhuan Falun. The moment I opened the blue-covered book, I was captivated. I could hardly put it down. Within three days, I finished all 447 pages. I felt like a new man. Zhuan Falun teaches people to live according to the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. It also discusses virtue, karma, human destiny, and spiritual cultivation. I came to understand that although many aspects of life are predetermined, a person's moral character can influence his destiny. From that day forward, I became a practitioner, doing the Falun Gong exercises and reading Zhuan Falun regularly. I also became involved with The Epoch Times. Soon afterward, I quit smoking and drinking. I also married the mother of my children. Yet my lifestyle was still not healthy. Since college, I had struggled with my weight. Standing 5 feet 9 inches tall, I eventually reached 290 pounds. The collapse in 2013 was the result of years of neglecting my health. My doctor told me that my blood sugar reached 1,730 mg/ dL — 17 times the normal level. Yet he could find few symptoms associated with such severe diabetes and was deeply puzzled. I believed that this was not simply diabetes, but a wake-up call to improve my cultivation. I filled the doctor's prescription quietly but discarded the medicine because I did not want anyone to worry. I began to improve my cultivation. I also changed my diet and increased my physical activity. In three months, I lost 80 pounds, and my blood sugar returned to normal level of approximately 108 mg/ dL. Like many married couples, my wife and I had our ups and downs. I often shared my thoughts and aspirations with her, hoping to find in her a true soulmate. Unfortunately, things did not turn out that way, and over time we gradually drifted apart. After our children had grown up, our marriage came to an end. I later took a job with UPS and then I moved to Newark, New Jersey. While living there, I experienced two unusual events. Around one o’clock in the morning on July 8, 2023, I was awakened by hard pounding on my door. “Fire! Fire! Get out!” my neighbor shouted. When I rushed outside, firefighters had already arrived and begun battling the blaze. Later, I returned to inspect the damage. Much of my furniture and clothing had been destroyed. A few coins on my desk had become so hot that they burnt into the desk surface. But to my amazement, a copy of Zhuan Falun that I had was on the desk and remained completely intact. Three months later one day, I was preparing an online Falun Gong class for some African students. Suddenly, I heard a cracking sound from next door, but I paid little attention. The next morning, police officers arrived and informed me that someone had fired a gun the night before. A bullet may have entered my apartment. After investigating, they discovered a bullet hole beside my pillow and found the bullet. These incidents left a profound impression on me. I felt that Falun Gong practitioners are protected by higher beings. In the fall of 2024, I began working as a dorm teacher at the Northern Academy of the Arts in Middletown, New York. My responsibilities include caring for students and helping guide their personal growth. Many of the students come from overseas and live far from their parents. This job has helped me rediscover my paternal instincts and become more sincere, patient, and compassionate. Today, I still have a lot of family and strong ties Today, I still have a lot of family and strong ties with people in Tanzania. Today, I still have a lot of family and strong ties Like my father I hope to use my abilities to help the people of my homeland. I hope my story can encourage others to learn about Falun Gong, improve their lives through spiritual cultivation, and attain well-being and inner peace.