Belgium: Falun Gong Practitioners Participate in World Day Activities in Brugge

On June 27, 2009, Falun Gong practitioners were invited to attend the World Day activities in Brugge, Belgium to introduce Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) to the public. Falun Gong practitioners first attended this activity three years ago and since then the activity host has actively contacted and invited practitioners to attend annually.

Passersby stop to find out more about Falun Gong

The practitioners set up a yellow tent on the lawn, where they displayed many photos about the spread of Falun Gong all over the world, Falun Dafa books, posters of Falun Gong exercises and various kinds of materials. Outside the tent, some practitioners demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises, which attracted many tourists. Some explained to the tourists what Falun Gong is all about and spoke about the persecution happening now in China.

A lady came to the tent with her little daughter. A practitioner gave them a hand-made paper lotus flower and told them the stories behind this lotus flower – from what Falun Dafa is about to the story of a little girl, Fadu, whose father died as a result of the persecution against Falun Gong. They were moved by the story. The practitioner told them that they could tell the story of little Fadu when being asked about the lotus flower so as to let more people know about the persecution of Falun Dafa in China. This would help to end the persecution sooner. The young mother then told her daughter, "We will do so definitely. We will tell everyone." The little girl answered, "Yes, Mom!" The mother added, "We will tell this story to others even if we go without this flower later."

A gentleman who had been in China said that he had seen in person many people practising qigong in the parks. But what made him confused was that Falun Gong looks similar to other qigongs. How can other qigongs exist legally while Falun Gong is persecuted brutally? A practitioner told him, "Because what Falun Gong cultivates is Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, which brings the powerful effects to the cultivators' physical health. By 1999, there were about 100 million Chinese people practising Falun Gong. This made the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) panicked. Actually the CCP had already started to slander and frame Falun Gong in 1996. The autocratic CCP eventually launched the brutal persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, despite the peace and goodwill of the large number of Falun Gong cultivators."

This gentleman said that he had been seeking the genuine meaning of life. Afterwards, he learned a lot about the beauty brought by Dafa, some content of the Dafa books, the truth about cultivation and the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Before leaving, he expressed gratitude for the practitioner's patient explanations, which helped him learn about Falun Gong. He said he would learn more when he went home.

A tourist came to the tent and said that he was practising a form of qigong and had great interest in Falun Gong after seeing the exercise demonstration. He read the posters and then asked about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. Afterwards, he asked again about the details of the fifth exercise, a sitting meditation, and the main book of Falun Dafa cultivation, Zhuan Falun. He also shared his understanding on "committing to one discipline in cultivation" and "the attachment of smoking". One practitioner told him that he had quit his thirty-year habit of smoking after starting cultivation. When hearing this practitioner's personal experience, this tourist expressed that what he was practising now was too far away from what he expected. He would read the Dafa books online and hope to find a way of cultivation towards a higher level. He expected to benefit from Falun Dafa.

A lady said that when she saw the Falun Emblem, she knew this was a very ancient symbol, but the srivatsa symbol reminded her of the Second World War. A practitioner explained to her what the Falun (Law Wheel) is about, and told her, "You are able to tell others the genuine meaning of this symbol now." She agreed, "Yes, but I must be clear myself first."

A young man saw the Falun badge wore by Falun Gong practitioners. He told a practitioner, "I am attracted to it." The practitioner led him to an illustration poster of the Falun Emblem. In response to a question he asked, the practitioner read a few paragraphs in Zhuan Falun to answer him. They had a pleasant conversation. At last the man said, "I must download the book Zhuan Falun online and read it carefully."

A high-school teacher read the panel posters and saw the beautiful paper lotus flowers. She thought these flowers were beautiful and the meaning behind them was also beautiful. She said that she would like to tell her students about the flowers and the story of the flowers. She invited Falun Gong practitioners to her school to introduce Dafa and to instruct her students in the exercises. The practitioners happily accepted her invitation.

The whole activity of promoting Falun Gong was also of great benefit to the practitioners. Loretta said, "Through introducing the beauty of Dafa to people, the merciful might of Dafa makes me full of gratefulness in my heart. That sublimation status in Dafa is indeed incomparably excellent." Ms. Pan said that the exercise demonstration was more sacred than her usual exercises on her own.