(Clearwisdom.net) A grand march in Washington DC brought people from all walks of life from around the world to Washington DC to call for an end of the persecution of Falun Gong. Among the participants there were many western practitioners. Here are a few stories of western practitioners talking about how they started practicing Falun Gong, and why they came to DC.

Fibiana Gaily

Fabiana Gaily from New York started practicing Falun Gong in 1998. She said, "I like the spiritual peace that I get. I never had physical problems so health-wise I was healthy; it is spiritual peace that Falun Gong brought to me."

I came to DC to support Falun Gong. It is a commemoration of ten years of persecution and no one thought that the persecution would last this long. So I want to be part of it, and help raise the public's awareness about the persecution in China and abroad."

Oana

Oana McKinney is from Romania. She started practicing Falun Gong in 2001 in Romania. She had been interested in spiritual things, and did some other forms of qigong. A friend introduced Falun Gong to her. She said, "When I found Falun Gong, I found what I had been searching for. I felt different, and was less stressed than before."

Insert photo: MochAsh Moloch from Toronto, Canada started to practice Falun Gong three and a half years ago. He said, "I was practicing Taichi for a few years and stumbled upon Falun Gong. Since I practiced other Qigong for many years, I decided to try this kind of Qigong. I decided it is the best for me.

Compared to Falun Gong, everything is so vague in other types of qigong. The teachings are vague, and they contradict each other. It is very difficult to understand anything. They did not give you any true benefits. They do not last very long. It is very shady and murky at best. The teachings of Falun Gong are very clear, very easy to understand, very easy to learn. Everything is described so clearly. It is not complicated.

After I practiced, I found my relationships with my family greatly improved. Being honest with people, thinking about other people first, I amended tattered relationships, such as with my father. Because I was so selfish, my family did not want to be around me. When I came to be closer to Truth-Compassion-Forbearance, the basic principles of Falun Gong, I found everything around me changed. My family, my friends, I got a better job, I had a better relationship with people at my work, I had direction in my career, my life became more organized. I was able to be proud of myself. I was no longer meandering in my life, I had a sense of direction, that is the road to Truth-Compassion-Forbearance."

Kent

Kent is a computer specialist in a global company.

He said, "I started practicing Falun Gong in February 2002. The day before I came across Falun Dafa, I said to myself, "Tomorrow I will start Qigong." The next day on campus, I came across a practitioner, I got information, I went home, I read the information and I found it was pretty interesting. For years I had been doing a Taoist type of spiritual thing, so I was familiar with spiritual practice. As I read Zhuan Falun, by the time I got through the fifth chapter, I decided this is what I want to do. I cannot describe my feelings, I cannot put it in words. If I could I would be so eloquent. There is nothing better. By practicing Falun Dafa, my body felt light, and I felt healthy, but I consider these to be the least significant of what I experienced. The practice emphasizes improving character. I feel joy in improving my character. I tried to improve my character before but it never worked out. This time it worked. That is all I really wanted and I got it. I feel very peaceful and grateful for that.

I have gone through the process of self discovery, bit by bit, improving different aspects of my life. Falun Dafa inspires me to always to do better, even though I am not perfect. It always makes me examine my actions, and I can improve every time. It has been seven years and I have improved a lot.

Two weeks after I started, my body felt light. I did not know I was unhealthy before. Only after I practiced did I feel my body was right. I knew everything was good in my body. As a younger person, the spiritual side is important to me.

I came to DC to support the event here. I want to be part of it. It has been ten years, the persecution has been going on for ten years. It is a tragedy. More governments and people do not do enough. It is crucial to have this publicity to raise awareness of the persecution and stop it."

Jeremy

Jeremy Ford from Baltimore is a computer professional.

Jeremy said, "I started practicing late in 2005. Initially I practiced by myself, then in early 2006 I joined a local practice group. I was working in a Chinese restaurant back then. I saw an article in a Chinese newspaper and asked them to translate it for me. They were saying it was Falun Gong and they were talking from the point of view the CCP had given them, a negative point of view. After they told me, I decided that I had to find more about Falun Gong. I went home and read about Falun Gong on the internet, and eventually I realize that I should do this. I went to a bookstore and I found the book. I never found that book again at the bookstore. From the book and the internet I started learn the exercises myself. I knew I was not fully grasping the exercises and finally I got up the courage to meet other practitioners. That was around April 2006. I started to practice diligently last year.

After starting practicing, the first thing that changed was my mental health. Prior to practicing, I was a severe alcoholic. I drank vodka every single day, just to function. I was late to work every day. I was a terrible worker. Everything changed completely: now, I do not drink, I do not smoke. I go to work early every day. People at work depend on me. I am a model worker now. I can go to sleep at night. There is so much peace in my body and in my mind right now. Physically I am not tired. I can go without sleep if I need to. Everything changed. And it keeps changing."

When talking about Chinese culture, Jeremy said, "Shen Yun Performing Arts has helped me in ways I did not think possible. By watching those performers perform, they actually help me understand things, about Dafa, about the universe. I did not think I could learn from a dance. By watching the dance, I just realized these things. That amazed me so I actually have to tell everybody about Shen Yun. I have to. It is just such a wonderful experience, wonderful things for everyone."

"I think the persecution has been going on too long. It has been going on years too long. We have to do everything we can to stop it. It just can't go on."

Kristen

Kristen is from Colorado. She started practicing Falun Gong last fall. She said, "I used to drink alcohol and take drugs. I do not do that anymore. Definitely Falun Dafa helped me with that. I tried to quit many times over a ten year period and had never been successful. I was introduced to Falun Gong by my boyfriend. I really enjoyed it. Last month I went to the New York Fa conference. I love Falun Gong, it is great.

I hurt my back before practicing and I thought maybe Falun Gong would help my back, and it did. I no longer have problems with my back. There are a whole bunch of other benefits as well, I did not expect that. I am sober now. It is a big step for me.

Before I practiced Falun Gong, I never heard about the persecution of Falun Gong in China. It is kind of weird, as the persecution was so severe. It is very similar to the Nazi's persecution of the Jews back in World War II. It surprised me that I did not know about it. How could it happen that I did not know about it? It was very surprising and shocking. Now I am talking to my congressman and hope we can get the House Resolution passed."

Freedom

Freedom was from Russia and now lives in New Jersey. She started practicing Falun Gong 10 years ago. Her sister, who practiced for 11 years, introduced Falun Gong to her.

She said, "I had terrible allergies, and my sister said if you start doing the exercises, you will feel better. Initially I did not believe it, but I started. One or two weeks later my allergies were gone. I feel very good and lots of changes have happened to me. I quit smoking, I become more patient, I become more kind. People around me and my family saw lots of changes in me. My mom started practicing after me. My family supports Falun Gong. I have a big family, even though they do not practice, they are very supportive.

I started practicing exactly as the persecution started. I was born in Russia. I did not believe what the CCP said because of the communist system, I do not believe them. They always lie. It is the same as in my country.

I do not believe the propaganda. I see the practice helped me and it is aDuring the past ten years, I have participated in numerous truth clarification activities to help stop the persecution. I joined the drum team. I was in the first drum team, and I participated in every parade. I volunteered to deliver truth clarification newspapers so Chinese people will learn the truth about Falun Gong.

I have been busy. I always try to help fellow practitioners on different projects. I believe China is a good country and a great culture, but under the Insert photo: KevinKevin is a business owner, from New Jersey, originally from Vietnam. He started practicing in 1999 just before the persecution started.

He said, "I used to suffer serious pain in my feet and I went for western and eastern treatment. The eastern acupuncture helped me a little bit, but it still came back a couple of years later and I was very puzzled where the problem came from. No medicine and treatment could effectively take it away. I was only 23 years old at that time. I just graduated from college and I lost my hope for the future. I was devastated. I just kept seeking a cure; in the meantime mentally I was very imbalanced over the stress of work. I swore a lot, I fought with people, I punched through the wall. Mentally and physically I was very confused. I did not know where to go. I kept seeking for answers. I looked into Taichi, Yoga, but they all cost a lot. One day I bumped into a client who introduced me to Falun Gong. But it took couple of months for me to pick it up and look into it. I heard Qigong can bring many benefits to health. I kept seeking but all other qigongs are all about money. I had not found a true practice until I took up the opportunity and looked up Falun Gong on internet. I started to read that and at once the answer was very very clear to me. I realized what qigong is. It was really a breakthrough for me to pick up the practice. The pain in my feet went away very quickly and mentally I was very clear. I no longer quarreled with my wife; no swearing. I have become very very peaceful.

I found it so right. I continue to practice and improve. There are ups and downs, but I continue to improve, better and better. It has been ten years, and I am still practicing Falun Gong.

I started practicing Falun Gong just before the persecution started. Initially I did not know what the persecution was about. But I knew Falun Gong teaches people how to be good based on Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, it is very beneficial to people's health, and free of charge. When all the propaganda was released by the CCP against Falun Gong, I was not really moved, because when I read the book, I genuinely knew what Falun Gong was about, without being influenced by the media that did not know much about Falun Gong. My belief in Falun Gong and its teaching is very solid. It was very simple to me because I had benefited from it both physically and mentally in just a short few months, it was amazing. It took some time to learn what the persecution is about, and I realized how bad the persecution is in China. The persecution defamed Falun Gong, many people were deceived by the fabricated stories, even my parents at that time turned against me and the practice because they did not know the truth, even my wife. But later on, instead of arguing with them, I remained very calm, which gave a chance for them to listen to me. When they realized that Falun Gong is good after all, they supported my practice. It is very important to know what the truth of Falun Gong is before you say anything bad about it.

I, together with people from all walks of life came here to to raise a voice, to raise awareness of the persecution. We hope through ten years of clarifying the truth, that people will understand Falun Gong and help stop this brutal persecution. The CCP has ruled China for 60 years. I myself came from a communist country, Vietnam, and my parents suffered a lot in Vietnam before coming to the US. The communists confiscated all their belongings and broke their whole family apart. My dad was taken to a concentration camp for a few years without us knowing whether he was alive or not. With that experience, the CCP should not be existing in this world, it interferes with freedom of people, damages people's normal lives, as well as people's human rights. As long as the CCP exists, it will be very difficult for people to break through. The CCP has to be disintegrated."