02-03-13
(Clearwisdom.net) My name is Anders Eriksson and I live in Sweden together with my wife and my three children. I made contact with Falun Dafa for the first time four years ago. A friend of mine asked me to accompany him and try a Qigong-school, where the exercises were taught for free and where there was literature to explain the background. I had already tried two other Qigong-methods; none of them were free of charge and I found it difficult to get information and answers to my questions. From the first moment I started to read the Dafa books, I found it fascinating to finally receive answers to lots of essential questions. I also experienced openness and kindness from the practitioners, which is otherwise difficult to find in society. I suspected there would be requests for money or other obligations. Of course, these suspicions were groundless, as no one tried to control or influence my life.
I got to learn that karma was the cause of disease and other tribulations and that we, through Falun Dafa and the care of our Master, got help with eliminating karma. In my grown-up life, I have been relatively spared from diseases, but some things have happened that I connect with karma elimination. Just before I started to practice Falun Dafa, I had a period when I was affected by rashes on my whole upper body. Very intense thoughts came into my mind and I could even hear myself pronounce them loudly at times, "I want to go home." Similar things had never happened to me before. It stopped completely when I made contact with and started to practice Falun Dafa. One week before I went to Geneva to attend a Falun Dafa-conference for the first time, I had symptoms of a severe cold and a headache. A strange thing is that these symptoms that I mentioned occurred before I started to practice or before I participated in the conference, in the opposite order from what I have heard from other practitioners.
About half a year after I started to practice Falun Dafa I got into a car accident. Another car collided with me from the side and my car was pushed across the road and stopped in between two lanes on the opposite side. I could see lots of cars driving straight towards me, but no one collided with me. The car had to be towed and taken to a repair shop, but I was unharmed. During the whole course of events I was completely calm and there was no shock afterwards. Strange to say, it felt really good!
For a long period of time I read the books and did the exercises by myself at home. On one hand I worked a lot and thought that I had little spare time for activities outside work and family, and on the other hand I found it embarrassing not to be able to do the sitting exercise properly. I felt that I was so full of energy that I did not dare to do the exercises late in the evenings for a long time, because I was afraid not to be able to sleep then. At present I often practice late and I sleep very well. When you experience something that you believe is extraordinarily good, you want to share with others. Nowadays, we have a small practice group where I live. It is positive to be able to share experiences and discuss and it is a tangible difference to do the exercises in a group, compared to doing them on your own.
I have not had as much time to participate in Falun Dafa-activities as I would like. When I heard that Clear Harmony would start in Sweden, I applied as a translator at once. It is written in Zhuan Falun that a bottle filled with dirty things will sink to the bottom, "the more you empty the bottle, the higher it will float in the water" and I thought that if I take part in Falun Dafa-activities at night, there might not be so much room left for bad things. After a while I felt very stressed and I had a bad conscience if I did not manage to translate several pages every day. A discussion with another practitioner one day helped me to realize that it is not a question about performing certain amounts or doing enough hours of Dafa-work, but what is important is that when you perform different activities, you do it from your heart. Everything works much better if you have a pure heart and it really feels like an honour to be able to contribute to spreading the truth, through translating articles, answering peoples' questions about Falun Dafa or demonstrating the exercises for those who want to learn, as examples.
Many times, tears came into my eyes when I translated articles describing the terrible persecution of practitioners in China. Their remarkable courage and the unshakable way they stand up for Truthfulness, Benevolence and Forbearance, make me feel very proud of being a Dafa-practitioner. At the same time, it is extremely tragic that so many good people have to suffer so much, as a result of the ruthless Chinese government's repression. The Chinese authorities should understand that the persecution is unjust and that they can never win the struggle.
I try by small means to spread information about Falun Dafa and the truth about the persecution in China. I often wear a button that says "I support Falun Dafa." It provides excellent opportunities to catch people's attention. Many people who see it are interested. Some people take the opportunity to ask questions and I get a chance to explain and to give out information. I sometimes visit Chinese restaurants and then I distribute information to the people working there. At my place of work, a colleague of mine who is also a practitioner and I made contact with the industrial health service and we thereby got an opportunity to explain about Falun Dafa, about the persecution and we showed the exercises to a group of people who were in the danger zone of burnout. It was very much appreciated by the participants. All of these are examples of small, simple things, which do not require a lot of time to perform, but I believe them to be important.
It seems that everything is getting close to the surface now. A lot of people have received information about Falun Dafa and they know the truth about the persecution in China. At my place of work and among my acquaintances, it is getting common to receive specific questions about Falun Dafa. Someone has heard or read something and wonders if it is true, or how I as a practitioner view a certain issue. Some bad articles have appeared in the media and they provide us practitioners with an opportunity to further explain the truth.
I feel a deep gratitude for the opportunity to cultivate Falun Dafa. Finally I have found the way that leads me home. Thank you Master Li.
