Sweden: Demonstrating Falun Gong on Viktoria Day in Borgholm, Oland

The 14th of July is Viktoria day and is celebrated in Borgholm. This year the Crown Princess turned 25 years and this was celebrated at Borgholm’s sports ground in front of an audience of around 7000 spectators.

Borgholm is the biggest city on the Island of Oland and attracts tens of thousands of tourists during the summer months. July 14th is one of the most popular days. Many tourists were passing via the Main Street and the Socitets Park on their way to the sports ground in Borgholm. Three practitioners demonstrated the five exercises of Falun Gong and handed out flyers and pamphlets to passers-by.

Many people stopped and looked, and were fascinated by the harmony and tranquillity in the slow, soft and simple exercises. Whenever we changed from the fourth standing exercise to the fifth and sitting meditation exercise, and we opened our eyes and sat down, there were a group of 4-5 persons that stood and watched our every move curiously.

Many people that passed by could feel the peaceful atmosphere where we practised and many stopped to read the sign that we had nearby, which showed a short introduction to what Falun Gong is and how the characteristics of Truth-Compassion-Tolerance are the main principles of Falun Gong.

One woman was very happy to see us. She had read the two books “China Falun Gong” and “Zhuan Falun” by Li Hongzhi that a contact person in her hometown had lent to her. She said that she looked forward to reading the English version of “Zhuan Falun” to deepen her understanding of this cultivation practice of body and mind. She thought that all humans were heading more for kindness, and that all of man had the possibility to gain a higher consciousness one-day. She talked very enthusiastically with two of us.

A man from the South of Sweden asked if the second exercise that we displayed was hard to do – where one hold one’s arms in a wheel shape, in four different positions. The practitioner answered “One does it totally on one’s own abilities, and can improve gradually and hold the arms longer in the different positions.” Further more, “the effect of the exercise can be different for different people and it isn’t at all like physical exercise, instead one feels relaxed when taking the arms down.”

One of two youngsters asked if he could go up tickle the two practitioners who were sitting and meditating to test them as he thought that they should be able to handle such a thing. The practitioner that was standing and talking to people told him, “We are here to show the exercises and not to be tested in such a way”. Soon after the meditation exercise was over the two children went up to the two practitioners and had a fruitful conversation. The curious one felt it difficult to believe that the meditation could improve one’s self-confidence and had many questions about how it felt meditating and how one was affected by it.

One woman replied, “No thank you I won’t be going to Dalarna [A province in Sweden were the city Falun is located] and I am living in the USA,” when she was offered a flyer about Falun Gong. The practitioner explained that the word Falun in Falun Gong doesn’t have anything to do with the Swedish City Falun, and that Falun means Law wheel in Chinese. (The questions. “Why is it called Falun? Does it come from Falun or does it have anything to do with [the city of] Falun?” are asked rather frequently in Sweden!) The woman was happily surprised after receiving a pamphlet about Falun Gong in the USA. She said thank you and then walked on with her family.