(Clearwisdom.net) [The following article appears in the book Hearts and Minds Uplifted--The Power of Falun Dafa, first published by the Clearwisdom editors in 2006. The many short stories in this book were written by people of all ages, from many countries, and from all walks of life. They are all very personal and unique, and yet they share a common theme: the tremendous spiritual growth that comes from practicing Falun Gong. For more information or to order Hearts and Minds Uplifted, please see: http://www.mhbooks.org/mhbooks/index.php?target=products&product_id=29937&sl=EN]

I am fourteen years old and going into the ninth grade this year.

My parents started practicing Falun Dafa in February of 1999. At that time, I didn't really pay attention to what they were doing. I just saw that they were doing a very gentle, slow-moving exercise every day. However, just after a couple of weeks, I couldn't avoid noticing the changes in my family. My mom used to have problems sleeping at night, usually not falling asleep easily. But I noticed that she started sleeping very well, and looked energetic. My dad seemed to be not getting angry or raising his voice at me easily. With these incredible things happening around me, I couldn't help mimicking the movements of their exercises to see what would happen to me. After doing the movements for a little while, my body became really warm and the exercises felt very soothing. My hands were especially warm. I didn't know how this slow-moving exercise got my whole body warm so easily, because when I run and jump while playing basketball, I still can rarely get warm at all. It was amazing. I liked to do the movements very much. Not long after I learned the exercises, I was able to do the double lotus sitting meditation for over fifty minutes. Although it was sometimes uncomfortable, it felt good to do it.

Later, I went to group practice sites with my parents sometimes, and I noticed that all the practitioners were very friendly. I didn't know why they were all so nice, so I asked my parents. They told me that the movements were just one part of Falun Gong. The other part was to practice the central components of Falun Gong, which were the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. My mom handed me a book called Zhuan Falun and said, "This book will answer any questions you have." I wanted to start reading, so I joined my parents as they read the book in the evening. We read together in a group, taking turns reading. They read the Chinese version, and I read the English version. After reading the whole book once, I still had many things I didn't understand, but what I did understand was that Master Li wants us to be good people and get rid of various negative behaviors and thoughts.

After learning Falun Gong, I feel it has benefited my life very much. My health has improved. My friends in school are always getting sick and having to stay home sometimes, like I used to, as well. But I have not gotten sick for a long time. I had perfect attendance all this year and last year. My studies in school have improved too. I am now in all honors classes and have straight A's. Also, when I first started reading Zhuan Falun, I could only read the English version. When I tried to read the Chinese, I didn't know many of the words and I always messed up. I didn't understand what I read, either. So I often got very frustrated from that. But my parents often encouraged me with what Master Li said in Zhuan Falun, "When it's difficult to endure, you can endure it. When it's impossible to do, you can do it." So I followed these words and just kept reading. I read just about every day now, and I can read the whole book in Chinese slowly without too many mistakes.

Falun Gong has also improved my character. Teacher has said, "You should always be benevolent and kind to others, and consider others when doing anything." (Zhuan Falun) . I have tried to be kind to my classmates, never getting into fights or arguments like I used to. For example, one time, my friend accidentally spilled soda on my binder and got all the papers wet. Before studying Falun Gong, I would have been really mad. Instead, I held it in this time. I just thought that he did not spill the soda on purpose, and there was not really any reason to get mad at him. So my friend said he was sorry and he helped me clean it up. I am happy that I didn't get angry with him. Otherwise, he would have gotten angry with me too, and there would have been a big argument.

In July of 1999, probably because they thought there were too many people practicing Falun Dafa, the Chinese Communist regime banned it. From then on, just because Dafa practitioners persisted in practicing Falun Dafa, many of them were sent to labor camps, prisons, and even mental hospitals [as a way to discredit and persecute them]. Thousands and thousands of Falun Dafa practitioners have been brutally persecuted, and many tortured to death. I really don't understand why the Chinese Communist Party would persecute good people, and why they would be so scared of good people. As the rulers of a big country, why do they spread lies and rumors to the whole world to slander Falun Dafa? As a practitioner of Falun Dafa, I want to tell people that Falun Dafa is good, and expose the wicked acts of Jiang Zemin and his followers, who confuse right and wrong and fiercely persecute Falun Dafa. I should safeguard Dafa. In the past couple of years, I've had various opportunities to do this.

I have a Chinese friend who has a Chinese satellite dish at his home, so he often watches news reports regarding Falun Gong made by the Chinese regime. One time, he told me some things defaming Falun Gong, and also asked me why I practiced. I responded to him by saying: "How would you know the truth about these things? Why do you believe those lies of the Chinese Communist Party? Have you read the book Zhuan Falun?" From then on, he never brought up Falun Gong again. But in my heart, I wish that he would read Zhuan Falun sometime.