Germany: Falun Dafa Practitioners Celebrate World Falun Dafa Day in Heidelberg

Falun Dafa practitioners from Heidelberg and Mannheim gathered at Bunsenplatz to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day and wished the founder of Falun Dafa, Master Li Hongzhi, a Happy 70th Birthday on May 8, 2021.

Falun Dafa practitioners from Heidelberg and Mannheim wish Master Li Hongzhi a happy birthday. They are grateful for Master’s compassion.

Practitioners demonstrating the Falun Dafa (also called Falun Gong) exercises at Bunsenplatz.	Local residents signing the petition to end the persecution of Falun Gong.

Local residents learn about Falun Dafa and the persecution in China.

Edith, a Falun Dafa practitioner who took part in the celebration, said, “We are here today to celebrate May 13, World Falun Dafa Day. We are also collecting signatures to end the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners. Many passersby signed the petition, and expressed their support for Falun Dafa. Many people are now awakening to the truth.”

Falun Dafa practitioners come from all walks of life and backgrounds, but they pursue the same goal. With the rapid decline of moral standards in today’s society, practitioners believe that they are very fortunate to be able to cultivate in Falun Dafa. During this year’s Falun Dafa Day celebration, practitioners demonstrated the five sets of exercises, shared experiences on how they cultivated themselves, and expressed their gratitude to Master.

Becoming a Diligent Practitioner
Ivo, a young man in his 30s from Bulgaria, is currently working as a video editor at a television station. He was attending college when he began to cultivate, in 2004. Ivo was very interested in martial arts at the time, and was searching for relevant topics online. He came across the term “qigong” and out of curiosity, he started to research what the term meant. He found the website for Falun Dafa and to his surprise everything was free of charge. He started to download Master Li’s lectures and video demonstrations of the exercises. He began to read the lectures and started to practice Falun Dafa.

Ivo is a young practitioner from Bulgaria.

Ivo said, “Like many other young people my age, I liked to smoke, drink alcohol, attend parties and enjoy life. After cultivating in Dafa, I realized that these are all addictions. I could quit smoking and drinking, and took life more seriously. Dafa made me realize that the true meaning of life is to return to one’s true self.”

He continued, “I’d get very jealous and competitive before cultivating in Dafa. During my college days, I’d get very jealous and upset, and often complained about how my life was unfair whenever someone was better than I. I would then retaliate by figuring out how I could surpass people around me in order to prove myself.

“I am just like that person who gets jealous about the child scoring a hundred in the book Zhuan Falun. I learned to take my attachments such as jealously and competitive mentality lightly by constantly studying the teachings of Falun Dafa. I know that everything is arranged and happens for a reason. I just need to follow the natural course of things.”

Ivo said sincerely, “Master, I wish you a Happy Birthday! I thank you for being able to read the Fa. I will not let you down and will do better. Master, I hope you can hear my voice.”

Veteran Practitioner: Master Has Taught Me to Be Calm
Edith, a Falun Dafa practitioner from Germany, has been cultivating for more than 20 years. When her husband started to practice Falun Dafa in 1997, she saw many positive changes in him. The once short-tempered and easily agitated person became more patient, and cared more for the family. Edith started to wonder what had caused these changes. Eventually she began reading Zhuan Falun. Since then, Edith and her husband have embarked on the path of cultivation. No long after, Edith’s children also started cultivating in Dafa.

Edith, a Falun Dafa practitioner from Germany

Just before the CCP issued a nationwide suppression of Falun Dafa, Edith attended the European Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference in Frankfurt, Germany where Master came in person to the teach the Fa.

Edith is a retired preschool teacher with 40 years of experience. She said, “To be able to persuade and educate children is often very challenging. At that age, children’s language, actions and emotional level aren’t developed yet, so oftentimes, they would misbehave and be disobedient.

“For example, children would fight and hit people. Before cultivating in Dafa, I would always reprimand the child who provoked the fight,” Edith said. “However, Master told us that we needed to educate our children with rationality. I learned to remain calm under any circumstance. Since then, I would always try to understand the situation, and find the reason for the quarrel. I would patiently tell them that hitting is a bad behavior. I told them how to always think of the needs of others first and be an obedient child.

“Regardless of the problems I may encounter, I can keep peace in my mind. Thank you, Master for teaching me how to be calm.”