(Minghui.org) Dean Tsaggaris, a 45-year old computer engineer from Silicon Valley, started practicing Falun Gong in 1997. During the New York Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference held in May, Dean had a chance to share how he has benefited from Falun Gong spiritually and physically.

Dean Tsaggaris started practicing Falun Gong right after graduating from college in 1997.

Dean said that he had been looking for a lot of answers about life and the purpose of life since college.

“My family—my ancestors, my great grandparents, and great, great grandparents—back in Greece and Europe had a tradition of being priests in the Greek Orthodox Christian church. When I was very young, I felt like somehow that tradition was going to carry through me, but I wasn’t sure how it was going to happen.”

“When I got out of college, I learned about Falun Dafa. It really opened up the world to me, and answered so many questions for me. Now I know why I came to this earth, and the purpose of my life: to practice cultivation, to practice truthfulness, benevolence, forbearance.”

The teaching of Falun Gong, truthfulness, benevolence, forbearance, has changed Dean's mind.

“When I was younger, I had a lot of fear. Any time I had to do something new or something I’d never done before, I was always afraid to do it. After I practiced Falun Dafa, I had a lot of opportunities at events like this celebration here (in New York). I had an opportunity to overcome my fear, which was a big problem from when I was a little child.

Dean was the host of an event, which was one of the celebrations that Falun Gong practitioners held in New York during the conference.

“Just a few days ago, I was on the stage. I was very relaxed, and my true self came out. Someone even told me afterwards, 'That was really the true you up on the stage there.' I felt I was very relaxed, and I was being who I was supposed to be.”

“It was my 18 years of cultivation in Falun Dafa which made that possible: letting go of my fear, and letting go of the negative thoughts and bad thoughts in my mind.”

Just like thousands of other practitioners, Dean has also benefited from Falun Gong physically.

“I’ve been practicing all these years, and I’ve never been to a doctor or anything. It’s pretty amazing. Most people, when they start getting older, they start having issues. When I talk with my family, they talk about, 'Oh I have this problem and that problem. I went to the doctor.' I don’t have anything to say, because I haven’t been to the doctor in more than 18 years. It’s really a miracle, actually.”

Dean, his wife, and their 7-year old son often go to the local park on the weekends and practice Falun Gong exercises together.

“I really feel like I know how to be a good father and a good husband now,” Dean smiled while talking about his family.

“Over the years, we had some conflicts back and forth. I would look inside, find my problem, and try to be more compassionate with my wife and my son. I really feel like a much better father and a much better husband now.”