Roland Odar from Sweden

Greetings to our Master and greetings to you all,

My name is Roland and I am a 27-year-old Falun Dafa disciple from Sweden. I've been practicing Falun Gong for about seven months. I first encountered Falun Gong in autumn 1999. At that time I passed a park where I saw a few people practicing. I thought it seemed interesting, so I asked for information. After that, I practiced a few times, at different practice sites. I had also bought the book China Falun Gong, which I found in a store. Doing the exercises were difficult and I only read a few pages of the book. After a while I didn't think about it any further.

I had a lot of problems in my family life during my early years. At a very young age, crime, drugs, and violence came into the picture. I started to practice various fighting sports, which, to a certain extent, kept me from getting into trouble.

I knew that I had gone astray in society. I had stolen from others, deceived others and harmed other people. Since I'd been so lost, I thought that maybe I could try to find a better path in life, maybe even the righteous one. Although I didn't know where the righteous path was, I just had a feeling that there was one.

I've been in and out of different prisons since I was nineteen. I could never find the meaning of life, and always tried to find peace in my heart. But after my brief encounter with Falun Gong in autumn 1999, I started to think in another way. I didn't realize that it was because of Falun Gong that my notions seemed to change.

From then on I was going to be a good person. I had always liked to try different things, so I thought, "Why not try this one too, after all, life is quite short." I tried my best to turn myself away from stealing, fighting and lying. I got rid of the things that I had stolen or bought with stolen money, which was almost everything I owned. So all of sudden, I had nothing left and no job either. I needed to get a job and earn my own living! But all the jobs I started lasted only a few days, or a few weeks, because I didn't have enough tolerance. Again I started to experience a sense of worthlessness in this environment.

Then one day, when I met the practitioner who had taught me the exercises. She hugged me and I felt ashamed, because I was about to cry. I didn't know why. I had only met her once a year ago and hadn't had any contact with Falun Gong practitioners since then. I took some more information and reread China Falun Gong, which I had not been able finish reading a year ago.

Later I began to read Zhuan Falun. After reading half the book, I went to the police and turned myself in for the wrong things I had done. The police were very surprised. Here I was turning myself in willingly, when normally they have to track down criminals.

I started to practice more and more. I read through Zhuan Falun, and went to the nine-day video lecture, but I still couldn't manage to go out in public with my yellow Falun Gong jacket and hand out flyers or collect signatures for the petition. "What if some of my old friends see me?" I worried. I later understood that it was a xinxing [mind and heart nature] tribulation, so I put my Falun Gong jacket on and started to hand out flyers, collect signatures, and practice with other practitioners in the middle of the city. Everything was so beautiful in a way. I only wanted to be there with the other practitioners among all the people, with my yellow Falun Gong jacket, exercising and collecting signatures all day.

Since becoming a practitioner, my health has improved remarkably. I sleep better, feel very calm and harmonious, and sometimes people I know can hardly recognize me.

I understand how important it is for the world to know about the cruelty that is going on in China. I hope everyone will do their best to help bring an end to this brutal persecution of Falun Dafa and its disciples.

I try as often as I can to spread the Truth through various Hongfa [spreading Falun Dafa to people] activities. When I see how much the practitioners in China have sacrificed for the Truth, tears fall down my cheeks. When the tears stop falling, I feel how Shan [Benevolence] has grown in my heart.

My happiness for the opportunity I have been given to take part in Fa-rectification, and my gratitude towards Master Li is beyond words.

Thank you.

Posting date: 8/13/2001
Original article date: 8/12/2001
Category: Experience Sharing
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2001/8/6/14379.html

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