(Minghui.org) On Saturday, May 8, 2012, Falun Dafa practitioners in North Carolina gathered at Pullen Park in the suburbs of Raleigh, to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day. May 13th Falun Dafa Day coincides with the founder's Master Li Hongzhi's 70th birthday and is the 29th anniversary of the public introduction of the spiritual practice. Practitioners who attended the event shared their personal experiences with the practice and expressed their gratitude to Master Li.
Practitioners in North Carolina celebrate World Falun Dafa Day
Demonstrating the Falun Dafa exercises.
A passerby learns the exercises.
Young Practitioners Practising Falun Dafa, with Positive Impact on People Around Them
Young practitioners benefit from practicing Falun Dafa
Kevin Tie, who will soon enter residency at Harvard Medical School said, “Many of my friends and classmates are stressed out by work, school, and all the difficulties in their lives. I have been able to step back and let go of myself when I encounter the same problems because I practice Falun Dafa. I've been able to see a little more clearly, and I feel a lot less stress in my life or I've been able to cope with it better.”
Kevin said it seems easier to maintain good relationships with his friends, “Master teaches us to be more considerate and to treat people with kindness, so when I am with my friends, everyone is happy and we are able to maintain long-term friendships. They also have a lot of respect for my faith. Because of the practice, there are some things I won't do, such as drinking, and when people go out, they respect that about me.”
Janine An a research architect, said, “Nowadays, especially in American society, many young people are very much driven by the immoral popular culture, and their behavior and ideas are not righteous. Plus young people, especially college students, have indiscreet sexual relationships, take drugs, or do things that are very immoral. In this respect, I can clearly see that practitioners my age are different. We focus more on our studies and work, and consider how to do something good for society. Many people don't seem to know what the purpose of life is, and their lives have no direction, which leads them to decadence, drug use, indulging in their desires and emotions, and alcoholism. Practitioners are very different.”
Jeanette Shi, a graduate of New York University, works in market research. She said that many of her peers have no sense of direction. “I think I found my own direction after I learned the practice.” She also found that, “young people nowadays, for some reason, everyone is very nervous, probably because the pace of life is faster now and there is a lot of competition in the workplace. After I began practicing Falun Dafa I no longer worry about gain and loss and I am more tolerant.” She said, “I am now very clear in my life that I want to be a really good person. Now the definition of good and bad in society is rather vague, and there is no definite moral standard. Through cultivation, I know that truth, goodness, and forbearance are all moral standards and universal values, so I will follow these principles to be a good person and a better person.”
Angela Zhong, a fourth-year college student, says, “I didn't practice Falun Dafa much in high school before, and I often blamed others for my problems. Now that I'm more diligent in my practice, I no longer look at how others are wrong, but where I'm not doing well. I think I should take more responsibility instead of putting it on others.”
Luwei Shen, who will be entering college this summer, said, “Cultivation has made me very efficient in my work and I don't get tempted by things and waste a lot of precious time. I have been practicing Falun Dafa since I was a child; I don't know what life would be like without it. I do everything following the principles, and measure myself against them, so I can correct my mistakes in a very timely manner. Because my family also practices Falun Dafa, they give me timely advice and I can correct myself promptly. So I feel much more fortunate than others.”
Being the oldest in her circle of friends, Luwei adds, “So I also have to take on the responsibility of being a big sister and hold myself to a higher standard, and if I do better, I can also influence my younger siblings.”
Tsinghua University Graduate: Solving Problems with a Calm Mind
Liu Wenyu said reading Zhuan Falun answered many puzzles in his life
Liu Wenyu, a graduate of Tsinghua University, now works in computer automation in the U.S. He started practicing Falun Dafa in 1998, and said, “Before practicing Dafa, I was confused. I saw that most people in society were busy running around and worrying about fame, gain, and relationships all day long. Their happiness, anger, and sadness all came from pursuing fame, gain, and relationships. I thought, “There must be another way to live!” “When I studied at Tsinghua University, we knew about unsolved mysteries in modern science, and some things are really incredible from the perspective of modern science. Especially when I heard that many cutting-edge scientists in the United States were very religious Christians. I wondered, “Why is that? If these people are doing modern scientific research, they should be true atheists, right? A famous scientist in San Diego said that if the universe was really formed by the Big Bang, how could such a wonderful structure be formed? If you examine the microscopic world, it's just incredible, if it wasn't created by man or another force, it's impossible to explain how it came from the chaotic state of the explosion into such an orderly state and a wonderful structure.”
“I always had two questions: One is whether people can have a more noble way of living, and the other is that in addition to the exploration of natural science, in other dimensions can there really be a kind of invisible power in charge.” In order to solve these problems, Liu Wenyu read many books, but he found that “these books, after all, still revolve around modern science and could not explain the issues clearly.”
In July 1998, after reading the book Zhuan Falun, everything became clear to him. He described how excited he was, “I really found the truth, why do people live? The purpose of human life is to return to the truth, which is to constantly purify and improve oneself.” “Because truth, compassion, and forbearance can make the universe harmonious, so if everyone follows truth, compassion, and forbearance to enhance and purify themselves, then they can achieve a higher level.”
It has been more than 20 years since 1998, and Liu Wenyu says that the benefits Falun Dafa has brought him cannot be described in one or two words. He said that before he practiced, he was narrow-minded and self-centered. After practicing, he found that many things and issues became very small, and his mind was calmer. “Those who I couldn't forgive in the past suddenly are forgivable; things that I couldn't understand in the past suddenly made sense; I used to have negative emotions about certain things and these emotions were gone.”
Family Member of a Practitioner: Everyone Has the Right to Believe
Robert Smith is a family member of a practitioner, he condemns the CCP’s persecution
Robert Smith, a former SWAT team special weapons and tactics officer and crime scene investigator, is also a family member of a Falun Dafa practitioner. He said,“The (Falun Dafa) practice is great and feels very peaceful.” About the persecution of practitioners currently taking place in China, Smith said, “It makes me very angry. Everyone should have the right to choose their beliefs, and China and the rest of the world should be the same. People should have the right to choose what they like to do. I saw what the (Chinese) police did, and they were totally wrong. I have been a police officer for 30 years and police should help people not hurt them.”
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