Finland: School Students Show Concern About the Persecution of Falun Gong

On September 22nd 2006, Finnish Falun Gong practitioners were invited to introduce Falun Gong to the students in a class at a high school in Helsinki.

A practitioner introduces Falun Gong to the middle-school students

This invitation was from a class teacher who saw a Falun Gong event during the Eurasian Summit. The teacher decided to invite the practitioners to the school and contacted them online. Twenty five students and another teacher who was interested in Falun Gong welcomed the practitioners to the classroom.

A Finnish practitioner started talking about Falun Gong after the teacher introduced them. First of all, the practitioner asked students to raise their hands if they had heard about Falun Gong before. Four to five students raised their hands in the class. Thereafter the practitioner gave a brief introduction: "Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a cultivation way in the Buddha School introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in May of 1992. Falun Gong Practitioners follow the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance, to improve their character. Also the five simple sets of exercises can bring healing and fitness, like Tai-Chi and Yoga but not the same. Now Falun Gong has been spread to more than 80 countries worldwide, but Falun Gong practitioners have been brutally persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in mainland China since 1999. The CCP even harvested organs from living practitioners to make profits, then destroyed the evidence by cremating the murdered bodies."

Another practitioner demonstrated the five sets of exercises for the students. After the demonstration the practitioner asked the students if they had any questions. The first student asked, "What is Falun?" The practitioner explained, "Falun means Law Wheel. The turning Law Wheel has the universe's nature and is a miniature of the universe. The Law Wheel turning clockwise saves oneself, taking in a huge energy from the universe. The Law Wheel turning counter-clockwise saves others, sending out energy and correcting negative states. Thus other people will benefit along with you."

Afterwards, students became very interested in Falun Gong and raised their hands to inquire:

"How was Falun Gong spread to Finland?"

"What supernormal abilities does Falun Gong have?"

"Can we practise Falun Gong if we don't believe in anything?"

"Is Falun Gong a religion?"

"I know Falun Gong is good, but why is it persecuted in China?"

Students were very active, and there were many questions to deal with. The practitioners explained about the persecution and the practice while answering questions. In order to provide a clear understanding about the persecution, they recommended that students read Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party which exposes the CCP's evil nature, and also read the book Zhuan Falun, which is the main text of Falun Gong practice. Simultaneously practitioners also gave students some Falun Gong materials, to help them further to understand the practice.

The allotted class time had soon passed, but the teacher knew students still had questions to ask the practitioners and promised to arrange such a discussion in the future. After the lesson finished, students in the class qqueued up to take Falun Gong leaflets.