Turkey: Stories of Western Practitioners in Mersin

In the last two years, many locals in Mersin City have begun to practise Falun Gong. They persevere with studying the guiding principles and try to live their lives by the principles of “Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance.” Many of the practitioners have undergone great physical and mental changes since beginning their cultivation.

Falun Gong practitioners practicing exercises in the coastal area of Mersin city	Little Falun Gong practitioners practicing meditation	Practitioners in Mersin gathered to study the principles of Falun Dafa and share their experiences of cultivation

One of the practitioners used to be an alcoholic who lived an indulgent life and suffered torments. Once, when Falun Gong practitioners were promoting the practise, he was offered leaflets. Coming into contact with Falun Gong practitioners, he felt that Falun Dafa was what he had been looking for. As a result, he abandoned his wandering life. Since then, he has practiced the exercises at the local practice site every day, studies the principles and has quit smoking and drinking. In his free time, he volunteered to tidy the place where practitioners gather to have group study and exercise. He fixed a damaged door and used his own money to buy curtains, sofas, a refrigerator and cushions for everyone’s convenience. He made efforts to give his fellow practitioners a tidy environment. He said, “I am not short of money. I used to suffer torment, unable to find my life’s goal in the previous half of my life. Now I regained my re-birth through the cultivation of Falun Dafa.” At present, he is able to practice meditation peacefully with both his legs crossed for twenty minutes. If there were activities to promote Dafa, he would silently do the preparation work, such as unfolding banners, or moving heavy stuff. He quietly made contributions.

There is another Western practitioner who involves himself in translating Zhuan Falun [the main text of Falun Dafa] into Turkish. After coming home from work, he stays in his own room to do the translation work. His translation work has never been suspended in the last year. He had read lots of stories on Minghui.net about Master Li’s miraculous acts of introducing Dafa to the Chinese people in the early 1990s. He takes pride in being one of Master Li’s disciples. To help Master Li spread Falun Dafa around Turkey; he came up with many good ideas. He said that many things in Turkey were still undone and he would do them well.