My War With Addiction In Prison

My name Hung Khac Pham. This article is about my war with addition, namely drugs, alcohol, smoking and gambling. These addiction almost destroyed my life. Although I tried several times to win the war. I didn’t succeed until I came to prison.

Thirteen years ago, when I first came to Australia, a country I dearly love the most. I was a student o learn Hairdressing, which was my dream since I was a child, very soon I became the top student of my class, and I got a good job upon my graduation from college. After a few year’s hard working, I made enough money to start my own hair dress salon. The business was great, but the community where my salon was located had a bad reputation. In order to build up business network, I began to associate with people from all walks of life. That was the beginning of my involvement with smoking and alcohol. I started to gamble with some friends in the Pubs, and the gambling always went together with smoking and alcohol. I started gently but just in six month I already smoked one pack a day, and drank five schooner of beer each time. Naturally I soon lost all the money I made from Business which led me to borrow money with high interest. In order to pay back the debt, I got involved with drug business to make quick money, but still I ended up selling my business to pay the debt. I felt like a total loser in life. I was deeply stressed and depressed, as I couldn’t face the reality. I began to use drugs to anaesthetize myself. I began with cocaine, and soon took cannabis (weeds) and ice as well. By the way, my smoking reached two packs a day, and my drink of alcohol was so heavy that I simply took it was drinking water. Now I realized that I had deeply addicted to drugs, smoking and alcohol.

As a result of addiction, my health began to deteriorate. I was constantly depressed and in anxiety, and my memory became so bad that I had to write down the note and put on the fridge to remind myself of what to do tomorrow. And my hand often shook or trembled like dementia patients, my heart always felt severe painful and my chest felt tight and frequently out of breath and oxygen, every three days I would have a very severe head ache and stomach pain. I had to take pain-killer to release the pain. I couldn’t go sleep cause of drug effect and sometime I couldn’t go to sleep for three days after taking drugs but sometime I slept for 24 hours. I lost my appetite and often eat only one meal a day or didn’t eat at all.  I always felt tired and exhausted but the only way for me to get more energy was using more drugs, alcohol and smoking. This became a terrible cycle of my daily life. I felt lik in hell but I couldn’t get out by myself. This terrible life last it for more than two years until I was arrested for my involvement with my drugs deals.

In prison, the above mentioned symptom from addition still follow me and because of harsh environment of prison, some symptoms got even worse. Especially my head ache, insomnia, depression, anxiety and heart disease, but It was so hard to get treatment in prison.  Even if I submitted application for treatment several times, it took weeks or even months to get responded. Although I was checked in the prison clinic, they could not diagnose my symptom. All they could do was to give my more Panadol, sometimes my pain was urgent that I have to borrow pain-killer from the other inmates. I also noticed that the inmate who are with the addiction problems can only take the medication that make them very sleepy day and night or even more depressed. This made me think of ways to save myself.

At this moment some inmate who had tried a self-healing method told me about their experience. At least three of them had personal experienced the healing effect in pain, depression, high blood pressure and diabetes, etc. I had seen some people practiced the stretching and slapping (in Chinese called Paida & Lajin) in the yard. Since it would take a long time for me to get a medical treatment and the only treatment they could provide was pain-killer I thought I might as well give this method a try. So I approached Mr. Xiao, the inmate who teaches people the method. He patiently explained and demonstrated this methods and he told me this is not a medical treatment, but a self-healing methods and everyone can do it.  It is like yoga and Taichi. It is simpler than the other traditional methods I experienced such as a scrapping, cupping and massage. So I began to do it myself and also with friends Hung, who had already healed his lower back pain and gout with Paida Lajin.  Both gout and lower back pain bothered him for many years. But they never got cured through medication until he tried Paida Lajin on himself in prison.  Hung slapped my elbows and stretching my legs on the yard bench for only a few times and each time for about 10 minutes. I already felt the healing effect. My head ache used to appear in every 3!5 days, but now it appeared only once in three weeks. On month later it never came back until now, which past 8 months I don’t need Panadol any more. What a great healing without a medication!

Because of the effective healing I began to practice the method 1~2 hours a day regularly with Hung and Xiao.  Gradually my slapping covered my whole body, from head to toe. During the practice I experienced pain and Sha, which is a kind of color change on the skin because of detox. Following this, I experienced more healing reaction from the body, such as sweating, itching, burping, stinky urine, etc. And these are called healing reactions, or healing crises. A natural and necessary part of self-healing process.  After a few months of practice, all of my symptom caused by the addiction disappeared, especially the major ones that tortured me the most, such as sever head ache, severe heart pain, tight chest, shortness of breath, irregular heart beating, stomach pain and insomnia.  More importantly the deep rooted heart disease on the emotional level (when compared the above physical level disease). Also disappear such as depression, anxiety and frustration for my entire life.  It is a kind of state where I have total lost control and hope for my life, my future, my career, my relationship and my health. Since the body, the mind and soul are so closely connected the improvement of my physical health will naturally and definitely lead to improvement of my emotional and spiritual life.  Although I am still in prison and have to face many difficulties, deep in my heart, I am full of peace and joy.

Since I began to do this Paida Lajin self healing exercise nine months ago, I always have been mocked and laughed by some inmate in prison and some of them even try to prevent us from doing it, because they have not experienced healing effect.  This is method that you could never truly understand unless you personal practice it.  But because of my personal experienced the great healing effect. It’s only natural for me to overcome their misunderstanding and have kept on practicing it until now. It’s clear that all the people who misunderstanding this method have never tried it.  But we have not only tried it, but also experienced healing effect. That means we have done the clinic trial and proved it scientifically. In fact, I have helped more than 20 people (inmates) to release their lower back pain, knee pain and head ache, etc. With this method, more and more people have joined our stretching and slapping exercises. Still more inmates want to join us but dare not, because they are afraid of being mocked by others.

In the course of practicing this method, I have also been busy translating Xiao Hongchi’s book, “Healing Yourself Naturally Now” from English into Vietnamese. This not only deepened my understanding about self-healing, but also improved my English and Vietnamese language level.  When I first came to prison I spent most of my time on Play cards and gossiping with each other.  But now, I spend more time on self-healing exercises in the yard, and reading and translating Xiao’s book in the cell.  I almost finish the translation, and I think this will help more people who have addiction like me to be also liberated like me, from drugs smoking and alcohol.  I also want the governments and the society to pay more attention to this green method.  Since addiction to drugs, smoking and alcohol is universal problem all over the world.

In addition to my achievement in self-healing, in a deeper level practicing and studying this method have also helped me understanding the Creator much better. Soon after I entered prison, I began to study bible and go to chapel. After doing Paida Lajin, with Xiao, I noticed he also had been studied bible.  He had taken 3 bible study courses.  Naturally us often discuss about the Creation of God including the human self-healing system. As we have truly benefited from self-healing, we concluded that this self-healing system is a gift from God, but it is not accepted by most people. Once we watched a video in the Chapel together.  The video is about how the group of scientists got to believe in God, because of the beautifully designed and created order of the universe. So we discussed about the same beautifully designed human body and self-healing system.  And from this discussion and or practicing of this method we entered a deeper understanding about human body, which is a small universe in the big universe.  As I have been translating Xiao’s book I found that what he writes in his book about God and self-healing is exactly what I wanted to express myself.

“The human body is not a random combination of elements. It as designed and manifested by a super being with wisdom and love. Sometimes people have different names for this super being, such as Spirit, God, Dao. Although name varies across different cultures, it all points to the same ultimate source.  Everything observed about Paida Lajin was witnessed gradually, naturally and automatically through human practices.  Human beings struggle to understand the inherent creation by God with their incomplete knowledge. Therefore, the more a person surrenders to God, to Dao, the easier it is for us to witness God’s creation”  (page 272).

I started my war with addiction before I entered prison, but I failed.  If I had not been in jail, I would not have any interest to study bible, nor would I have any interest to practice Paida Lajin and therefore all the symptoms caused by my addiction would have gotten worse and it would have destroyed my whole life, physically, mentally and spiritually. But now, I can claim that I have won the war with my addictions.  This is the victory of God’s salvation for my body and soul through the word from the bible.  But also through the beautiful human self-healing system designed and created by God.

Millions of people are still in war with their addiction, so my dream to help more people to win this war with what I learned in prison. That is the words of God and self-healing system create by God.

16/07/2019

Hung Khac Pham

Prisoner MIN #609467