An Aromatic Lotus Flower: A Young Russian Falun Gong Practitioner

Sofia will turn thirteen this year and comes from a family of Falun Gong practitioners. During the summer of 1999, her mother started to bring her to the Falun Gong exercise venue on a regular basis. At that time, I always regarded her as a child rather than a Falun Gong practitioner.

However, to everyone's surprise, Sofia has a good comprehension of the teachings of Falun Gong despite her young age. She likes practising the Falun Gong exercises and reading Falun Dafa articles. Apart from going to school, she also likes to take part in all kinds of Falun Dafa activities. She is always healthy and lithe. She has now grown to be a big girl who is very tall and pretty.

Sofia is very devoted to her cultivation in Falun Dafa. For the five years that she has been cultivating it is to her as just one day. She runs among the people practising the Falun Gong exercises in the park, she is always present at group Fa study; she takes part in the Falun Gong exercise demonstrations as well as the singing and dancing performances, she dances really well; she joins in sending righteous thoughts at the Chinese Embassy whilst we are appealing for a stop to the persecution against Falun Gong plus distributing Falun Gong related leaflets in markets and rail stations; she joins the Falun Gong parades; she keeps those Falun Gong practitioners who have had to seek asylum company; she is at the underground station to welcome the new practitioners who arrive; she is also at the train station to meet and send-off Falun Gong practitioners when they go on their journeys. As long as it is something to do with Falun Dafa, she is always there, she is almost everywhere.

During the summer holidays, an elderly female Falun Gong practitioner was in a rush to return home, so she asked Sofia to talk to the local government for Moscow City Day and deliver some factual materials about Falun Gong to them. When this elderly lady returned she realised that Sofia had carried out these tasks really well. She was so happy that she even kneeled on the floor in front of Sofia to express her thankfulness. Sofia’s face reddened to the ears, so much so that she hid her face with her hands. Actually, so long as it is something for Dafa, Sofia will actively and conscientiously take part. In her mind, there is no concept of yours or mine, whether it's hers or someone else's responsibility, whether she should take part or not nor does she seek self interest. Of course, there are many such examples.

Nowadays, many children are only children leading them to fear hardship and suffering and don't want to be scolded or told what to do But Sofia is completely different; she has such a precious character whilst holding no fear no matter what the task. There was one time when everywhere was covered with ice and snow, the depth of the snow was knee high, making it extremely hard to walk. There she was with us crossing over many railway tracks to fetch some Falun Dafa newspaper from a train. At that time she was only eleven years old. About two or three years ago she could already carry one bundle of newspapers on her back (weighing about seven or eight kilogrammes), now she can carry two bundles of newspapers (about fifteen kilogrammes)! She is like a tree with her roots firmly embedded in Falun Dafa. For the five years she has being cultivating, all of what she has done, all she has said, how she has behaved when compared to any older Falun Gong practitioners she is by no means inferior. She is a shining particle of Dafa.

In Russia, the middle school has a consistent eleven year period system, she is now studying in year seven. At school, she is also a diligent student with an excellent record.

Yong Falun Gong practitioners like Sofia can be found all around the world, they are like an “aromatic lotus flower". They are tempering themselves in Dafa, they are steeling themselves for Dafa and they are growing up in Dafa. Some of these little “aromatic lotus flowers” are blooming in China including those orphans whose parents have persecuted to death under the former dictator of China, Jiang Zemin and his wicked regime. Some of them are blooming in Russia, some of them are blooming in Taiwan, some of them are blooming in the USA, some of them are blooming in Canada, some of them are blooming in Australia. There are many, many more such children all around the world.