Belgium: Falun Gong Practice Site in Diepenbeek

Every Tuesday, one can hear the melodious sound of Chinese music in a sports centre in Diepenbeek, Belgium. Together with other Falun Gong practitioners, Patricia does the five sets of exercises here.

Five years ago, there was only one Falun Gong practitioner when the practice site was set up. Gradually more people came. Some came every week and some even came here from other cities. Soon they went back to set up practice sites in their own cities.

Patricia Rosa and her son Thomas have both benefited from practising Falun Gong

Patricia was the first local Falun Gong practitioner. She said, "The practice site is a very good place that can help people learn about Falun Gong practitioners, and see the beauty of Dafa. In a peaceful atmosphere, it is easy for people to feel a strong energy field at the practice site."

Patricia, 54, got to know the practice from reading a newspaper report on Falun Gong practitioners suffering from the persecution in mainland China in 2000. She said about the practice, "I never thought that I could realize the real meaning of life, and find true happiness. However, Falun Gong enables me to understand the true meaning of life, and I have found true happiness."

At the practice site, Falun Gong practitioners study books such as Zhuan Falun [The primary text of Falun Gong practice] in addition to doing the exercises. For past few years, hundreds of people have come here to learn the practice and to get to know Falun Gong. Before doing the exercises every week, practitioners always come in advance to study the Fa together.

Many local people have come to know about Falun Gong through their friends and neighbours. In 1992, Falun Gong was made public, and many people benefited greatly. Word of mouth led hundreds of millions to know about and practice Falun Gong, and the same phenomenon took place in Belgium. Thomas started practising Falun Gong after learning about it from his mother.

Thomas, who is now 18, came into contact with Falun Gong when he was just 9. "At that time, I was too young to understand the real meaning of Falun Gong. My mother told me a lot of things about Dafa. Sometimes she quoted the words of Master and sometimes talked about her own experiences. I was astonished, but at same time, I was happy that I could listen to Dafa almost every day. I felt that Dafa was not new to me, just as if what I had known before were suddenly awakened. I was brought up with Dafa." At the age of 13, Thomas told his mother that he wanted to practice Falun Gong.

After starting down the road of cultivation, Thomas saw life differently. He said, "At school, sometimes I see my classmates as if they were lost. They do not know how to behave well. They can easily lose their temper, mocking each other excessively and having no respect for teachers. In those days, I felt most grateful for having already come into contact with Dafa. New understandings about the meaning of life allowed me to handle any situation well."

Christopher, who often comes to the practice site, also feels that practising Falun Gong has changed his attitude of how to handle things and made him a better person, "I have benefited a lot from practising Falun Gong. It has changed my previous way of leading my life. I did not know why things happened the way they did. Falun Gong helped me know the reasons and made me a better person."

One of his colleagues introduced Falun Gong to him and taught him the exercises. "In the past ten years, something in my mind has been telling me that I should change myself and be kind to others. I also strongly believe in the existence of karma. That's why I quickly accepted Falun Gong." Since practising Falun Gong, his health has improved, and he has led a better life by following "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance".

Falun Gong practitioners from other places have been coming to the practice site to do the exercises together. It is here that John started to practice Falun Gong. He then set up a practice site in Sint-Truiden, where he lives. He does the exercises at the local practice site every Saturday, and comes to this practice site to study the Fa and do the exercises with his father every Tuesday.