Western Practitioner: Living a New Life

Hello everyone. I am 43 years old and today I would like to thank Teacher Li (the founder of Falun Gong) for bringing the Great Law to the human world to save sentient beings. I want to share with you today the profound changes I've experienced in my life since obtaining the Great Law a little over a year ago. The differences are like that of night and day.

In order for you to appreciate these differences, I must share a little about my life from the time I was a child all the way up until I started to practise Falun Gong.

When I was only four years old, my parents divorced. With my younger brother and mother, I moved around a lot, went to many different schools and wound up spending most of my time with older kids who introduced me to many negative things. From a very early age, drugs and sex were a driving force in my life. These elements determined everything in my life, dictating my thoughts and actions. I eventually quit school at the age of fifteen, because I was consumed with this demonic nature. I was good-natured at the core, but my lifestyle with drugs and women not only hurt myself but also affected others, especially women.

Somewhat miraculously, despite my clouded state I was always able to hold down a decent paying job ever since I dropped out of school. I was also able to marry my wife Jennifer at the age of nineteen and hold the marriage together until now, twenty-four years later. During this time I raised two healthy daughters, Amy twenty one and Kimberly seventeen, both of whom thrive in school. It was as if I had two lives, or two sides, just like Teacher describes, a Buddha nature and a demon nature. Because of an innate goodness I was able instill in my children a sense of morality and provide them with a stable environment. All the while, however, to support my bad side I always had a second job that went solely to my addictions. But no matter how they consumed me, they were unable to destroy my Buddha nature and my longing to cultivate.

One day my mother told me about a qigong practise called Falun Gong (Qiqonq - exercises to cultivate "qi" or "vital energy") . In the past, there were many things that my mother tried to introduce me to so that I could break free from my bad habits. But this was somehow different. Immediately when she told me about Falun Gong, I felt a subtle but powerful spark from within. I didn't want her to push anything on me, so I kept that feeling to myself. Nonetheless, the very next day she brought over Teacher Li's exercise video and took me through some of the exercises. Something clicked and shined like gold, but again, I kept it to myself. The next day, by myself, I went to the Falundafa.org website and went to the page containing pictures of Teacher performing the exercises. I tried the Falun Standing Stance right in front of my computer. With my eyes closed, I felt a wind blowing or turning inside my arms. I opened my eyes and saw Teacher holding the wheel and as I saw him, the spark that I had felt before turned into the light I now see. Teacher, you have given me so much. Thank you.

I called my mom right away and asked her about the Falun Gong practise site in my area. I told her I wanted to go to the next one. She told me the time and location and I planned to go. But on the way to the practise site I got lost and ended up being an hour late. But for whatever reasons, the class didn't start on time. They too were an hour late. I was very pleased and apologised for being late. As we practised the exercises that day, I felt very strong wheel-turning sensations throughout my whole body. I was amazed. I took home from the practise site the exercise videotape and the book, Falun Gong. I learnt the exercises the next day and began reading the book. I exercised and studied each day until the next group practise, a week later. That week, my thoughts became clearer and clearer until a miraculous thing occurred. At the time, I had no thoughts or desires for Falun Gong to remove my addictions. In fact, I wasn't even trying to quit the drugs, alcohol and womanising at that point in my life. I had tried numerous times before to break the habits, but on more than one occasion I wound up in the hospital because of overwhelming withdrawal symptoms and physical shutdown. But as I practised and studied the Falun Gong teachings that week, I realised that I wanted clarity. I realised that I wanted to practise and study more and that these negative things were getting in the way. That week I did less and less negative things until the morning of the next group practise I came to the realisation that I didn't want to do these things at all. More than anything, I wanted to go to that next class clean. I threw out my drugs and alcohol and from that day since, I have never gone back. What is even more miraculous is that I didn't encounter any degree of cravings or a desire to go back to that way of life. My life was utterly changed, so quickly, so naturally. My family and friends were completely amazed. Thank you so much, Master Li.

So many profound changes have come over me in a little over one year's time. I now have a new understanding about life. The purpose of life is for me to return to my original true self, ascend from my previous life of delusion and proclaim the Truth to all sentient beings. My only desires now are to be Truthful, Compassionate and to always Forbear. I never lose my temper and always consider others when I speak. Now that I have found Falun Dafa, my wife and daughters always smile, as well as the rest of my family and friends.

Thank you, Teacher. Thank you all, for hearing my experiences.