German Falun Gong practitioners applied for a booth at the two-day 2002 Tubingen Health Exhibition. During the exhibition, we held a one-hour Falun Gong presentation and demonstrated the exercises each day. In addition to handing out leaflets, VCDs and various other materials, we hung a huge Falun emblem above the booth and displayed a colored board showing information about the history of the srivatsa ("wheel of light" from Sanskrit, connoting good fortune in ancient times). We also displayed Zhuan Falun [the main text of Falun Gong] in various languages, the Falun Gong exercise-teaching video, tapes of Teacher Li's lectures and CDs that revealed the truth about the persecution at the booth. Our hand-written posters reading "Falun Gong--the way to health and a peaceful mind" were pasted in every corner of the exhibition hall. Though my husband was not yet a practitioner, he helped us carry a television to the booth, on which the program "Falun Dafa--the way for people to return to their true self" was played continuously.
Many people came to the Dafa booth to watch a demonstration of the exercises and pick up materials. Most people who attended this exhibition were interested in spirituality, and some of them had even practiced other cultivation ways for many years. Some also told us that they could see things in another dimension with their celestial eye, and that they could feel a strong energy field around the Falun Gong practitioners' bodies.
A lot of people wished to learn Falun Gong exercises in the local class, which is conducted in the Physical Education Department of a university. A young mother asked: "Can I take my kids to learn the exercises together?" Another lady said she could hardly believe that she could learn Falun Gong exercises for free, saying: "If I attend every class, is it still free of charge?" After getting a positive reply, she found it inconceivable.
An elderly person mistakenly related the srivatsa to the Nazi's emblem in World War II, after he spotted the Falun Emblem. After an explanation from a German practitioner of a similar age, he finally realized the difference between the two emblems and said, "I did learn something today". Another German man, who has studied spiritual cultivation for years said, "Wonderful, what a peaceful exercise!" I told him that though I was introducing Falun Gong at the exhibition and teaching the exercises at the free local class, I was simply a Dafa practitioner, and what I mentioned was only out of my personal understanding and does not represent Dafa. In addition, I told him that he should study Zhuan Falun, the original work written by Teacher Li, the founder of Falun Gong. Among other misconceptions, many people regarded cultivation as a means of pursuing fame and personal benefits. After listening to what I said, a lady mentioned to him that Falun Gong is an orthodox practice. This man thus said that after going home, he would definitely read Zhuan Falun on the Internet.
A young man with a peculiar demeanor visited our booth three times, and said that he felt the energy field there was as strong as when he practices qigong. He also mentioned that he had practiced various qigong methods. He could sit in the full lotus position, with two legs folded on top of one another, after he watched the video of "Falun Dafa--the way for people to return to their true self" three times in a row and learned the five sets of exercises. He came to our booth again the following day. But to our surprise, his demeanor was entirely different. He said he had started to read Falun Gong [introductory text of Falun Gong] on the Internet after he got home the previous day.
I also ran into my former colleague who holds a Ph.D. degree in biology. As I remembered, he had read Falun Gong after he borrowed it from me. He told me that his celestial eye was open, and he finally realized that it is due to his inborn quality after reading the book. He had never talked about this matter since then. But this time, he told me that he already read Zhuan Falun and two other books on the Internet.
Our activities in this Exhibition produced great results. Some were obvious, while others were a bit more subtle. I think all that we did was rewarding. If we cherish every opportunity to display Dafa's sacredness and magnificence to people, we will be able to lay a foundation for them to obtain the Fa in the future.
A woman attended the Falun Gong class conducted in the Physical Education Department a few days later. When she came back the second time, she told me: "I had a feeling that I was seeking something for many years, but I didn't know what it was. At the beginning, I thought that it was a fitness method relating to my physical condition, but afterwards I found that it was not so. I tried to learn Tai Chi, qigong and yoga - however, they were not what I wanted. After attending the Falun Gong class once, I immediately realized that this was what I had been looking for."