I have written poetry since the age of eleven. Poetry is an art form, a way for someone to express himself, just like painting or music. A time came when I realized that what matters is not to just take a pen and write verses. What really matters is to experience poetry... to be able to experience life in a poetic way. "And what does this mean? " somebody asked me. I answered: "Just imagine staring at the sky with an August moon on Gaudos (Greek island, uninhabited) and falling stars or a sunset. How do you feel? Imagine then having this feeling every moment in your everyday life. This is what I call poetic. Of course there's more than that."
At a young age I also realized that in order to create true poetry, poetry which really touches the soul and has something to say, I had to become a true person myself, to understand the world around me, to touch the truth of the universe. It was then that my spiritual journey started, through books, movies, traveling, philosophical discussions and a few poems. I absorbed knowledge, I consumed art and I was thirsty for more. But my thirst was never quenched because there was always something new to learn, another place to visit, a new experience to experience and so my soul could never become satisfied. Something was always missing and deep in my heart I was sad.
The last year before attaining the Fa was a spiritual year. The step I chose to take was something that no one had expected. My parents didn't find any meaning in that and many friends told me that they wouldn't do it. I decided to leave Athens and go to Germany to get a master's degree in German (without really knowing the language) in a field in which I didn't have any background (environmental protection), almost without money, without having a place to stay and without knowing anybody there. In spite of the difficulties, something inside me was telling me, "You should go." And even though my sensitivity towards the environment and my need to do something to help the environmental situation motivated me to take this step, the true reason I had to go to Germany, I now believe, was to attain the Fa. So, I went. I said to myself, I'll only stay there for six months as a trial and then I'll go back. However, everything went smoothly. I found a job, I found a cheap place to stay and I successfully completed the first semester. So I stayed and attained the Fa a year later.
I didn't know anything about Falun Dafa. Nobody had ever talked to me about it. I also didn't know anything about the persecution in China. However, all of a sudden I found myself practicing. It was in Paris at the Eiffel Tower last August that I saw these posters showing people full of bruises and wounds. There were also practitioners doing the exercises at that time. Something touched my heart. I had to find out more about this. So, I approached somebody who was distributing flyers and I asked. He explained to me about Falun Dafa. "And how about the posters with the tortured people?" I asked. He explained to me about the persecution in China. I asked for a contact in Stuttgart where I was living at the time, and two weeks later, I had already started the practice.
The way I came in contact with Falun Dafa strengthened the belief I always had that nothing happens accidentally in our lives. Everything happens for a reason. It's just when we are not able to see the true reason behind something that we call it accidental. Life itself (or something behind it) was taking me step by step somewhere and because it brought me to Falun Dafa, I knew it was good. As soon as I started with the practice, people told me I looked calmer. A friend who hadn't seen me for some time said that my face reflects more peace and compassion now. He didn't know the reason. I slowly got rid of many poisonous things from my mind and soul, such as negative thoughts, anger and fear. My life stopped being a continuous race. I became more capable of living in the present, in the now. I know now that what we call quality of life is not about having a good car or having lots of money. It is about having peace of mind. I know now that what we call spiritual development is not about consuming knowledge. It is about our continuous effort to become better persons.
I also know that I have a long way to go, that I am only at the beginning. But it is so wonderful at the age of 29 to have found answers to so many questions I always had, and to know that I am on a path that's taking me somewhere beautiful and it is up to me whether I reach this place or not. I suggest that we should all leave human poetry behind and move forward to the poetry of the universe.
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Category: Beginning Cultivation
