Preface: At 17, I was a rebellious teenager—trapped in a toxic cycle of drugs, depression, and endless fights with my parents. I barely scraped by on minimum wage at a clothing store in Brazil, and my health was rapidly deteriorating. Life felt like a dead end, and I saw no way out. But then, one unremarkable night in 2005, everything changed.
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My name is Luis Novaes. At 17, I was a rebellious teenager—trapped in a toxic cycle of drugs, depression, and endless fights with my parents. I barely scraped by on minimum wage at a clothing store in Brazil, and my health was rapidly deteriorating. Life felt like a dead end, and I saw no way out.
But then, one unremarkable night in 2005, everything changed. A random click on a mysterious website led me to a cryptic sentence that turned my world upside down. I rebuilt my life, and today, I want to share my story with you.
One evening in 2005, while searching online for answers to my struggles, I came across a site about candle-burning rituals. The home of the website was in Portugal, not Brazil. In my native Portuguese, the site explained how candles could ward off negativity and bring good fortune. I devoured the information, desperate for a way to improve my life. At the end, a single sentence caught my attention: “If you want to eliminate evil, ascend to higher levels, and connect with God, forget everything I said. Look for Falun Gong.”
What is Falun Gong? I wondered, and what is the relevance here? I immediately began to explore this unfamiliar practice. A week later, I tried to revisit the site, but it was gone. I refreshed the page, double-checked the URL—nothing. Whether it had been taken down or had never truly existed remains a mystery to this day. But that one line had already planted a seed in my heart, setting me on a path I could never have imagined.
Life hadn’t always been difficult. I was born into a wealthy family in São Paulo in 1981. My grandfather founded Catavento Book Distributor in 1966, and by the time I came along, it had grown into one of Brazil’s leading publishing companies. My father, the eldest son, worked as a senior director under my grandfather, and we enjoyed a life of privilege.
But everything changed when I turned 12. A bitter dispute between my father and grandfather forced my father to leave the family business. My uncle stepped into my father’s role and later inherited the family fortune when my grandfather passed away.
Our lives were turned upside down. My parents scrambled to find stable jobs and start new businesses, but every venture seemed to fail. We relied on loans from friends and family, and as money ran out, so did their support. My brothers and I transferred to a public school, where we were exposed to drugs, alcohol, and other bad influences. Church, which my mother had once taken us to faithfully, felt like a distant memory.
Angry and frustrated, I blamed my father for our misfortunes. I envied my cousins, who continued to live in luxury while we struggled to make ends meet.
In a desperate attempt to save me from my downward spiral, my parents sent me to the U.S. for my senior year in high school. In AC Flora High School in Columbia, South Carolina, I found a new identity on the soccer field. My performance as a striker earned me a spot on the state’s all-star team in 2000, and my coach encouraged me to pursue an athletic scholarship in the U.S. But I wasn’t interested in discipline or hard work—I wanted an easy life.
I returned to São Paulo in 2001 and enrolled at Grant Thornton College to study business while working part-time as a customer service representative for an insurance company. A year later, restless and bored, I moved to Sydney, Australia, in search of new adventures.
Life in Sydney was far from glamorous. While attending an English Language School, I juggled jobs as a fish cutter, cook, and construction worker. I also found time for my new hobby: spending countless hours surfing at Dee Why Beach. Balancing fun and hard work wasn’t easy. Stress pushed me deeper into drug use, including skunk, hydroponic weed, and ecstasy. My health deteriorated. My asthma, a lifelong condition, worsened, and my severe food allergies triggered frequent bronchitis attacks. I wanted to quit the drugs but lacked the strength to do so.
After one year, I returned to São Paulo to study industrial design at the Center University of Fine Arts, hoping to find stability. Yet, despite my busy college life and work schedule, I felt empty inside. My resentment towards my father and my wealthy cousins grew, and my mental and physical health continued to decline.
By 2005, in my senior year of college, I was desperate for answers. I confessed my struggles to a priest at my church, but his advice—“Go home and pray to God”—left me disappointed. I turned to meditation at a Buddhist temple, attended shamanic retreats, and experimented with herbal teas. Nothing worked. Even my dabbling in Japanese martial arts and rituals failed to bring peace.
That’s when I encountered the mysterious website on candle-burning rituals and its cryptic advice to “look for Falun Gong.” Intrigued by this strange hint, I searched online and found Falun Gong’s official website. The books Falun Gong and Zhuan Falun were available in Portuguese, and I began reading them immediately.
As I read Falun Gong, I felt an incredible energy surge at the back of my head—something I’d never experienced before. Excited, I dove into Zhuan Falun and began practicing the exercises by following the online video by Founder Master Li. The teachings of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance resonated deeply with me, and I decided to make Falun Gong a daily part of my life. Before long, I joined an exercise group at Ibirapuera Park and began attending their activities.
The changes came quickly. I quit smoking, drinking, and using drugs—habits that had plagued me for years. My resentment towards my father and my cousins melted away, replaced by understanding and compassion. I began treating others with respect and taking responsibility for my actions.
The most astonishing transformation was in my health. My chronic asthma disappeared, and my lifelong food allergies vanished. One day, I accidentally ate a boiled egg and braced for the usual allergic reaction—but nothing happened. Encouraged, I tested shrimp and sausage, with the same result. For the first time, I felt truly healthy.
The practice of Falun Gong didn’t just heal my body and mind—it also restored my relationships. The anger I once harbored toward my father gave way to a deeper understanding of his struggles. We rebuilt our bond, and my family began to thrive again.
In 2014, I moved to New York to work for a Media company called Epoch Times. There I met my lovely future wife, a TV host from Taiwan. We were married in 2015.
Today, I work as a business consultant and investment analyst. We are living a meaningful life, full of energy, happiness and purpose.
My parents proudly share my story with friends, marveling at my transformation from an erratic, self-destructive young man to a responsible, compassionate adult. My father eventually succeeded in business, and my brothers followed in his entrepreneurial footsteps. In an unexpected twist, my father even asked me to help manage his financial assets—a role I could never have imagined during my darkest days.
The website that led me to Falun Gong remains an enigma. When I tried to revisit it, it was gone. Whether it was taken down or never existed in the first place, I’ll never know. But its fleeting advice changed the course of my life forever.
To anyone searching for purpose, healing, or direction, I hope my story offers hope. Falun Gong brought me out of my darkest days and gave me the tools to build a life filled with health, happiness, and meaning. Perhaps it can do the same for you.
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