(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners in Florida held several events at the Lake Worth Beach Park in West Palm Beach County to celebrate the 22nd World Falun Dafa Day on May 8, 2021.
May 13, 2021, was the 29th anniversary of Falun Dafa’s (Falun Gong’s) public introduction. It was also the 70th birthday of Falun Dafa’s founder Mr. Li Hongzhi. Practitioners from different parts of Florida celebrated to thank Master for his benevolent salvation and to display the goodness of Falun Dafa by demonstrating the exercises and clarifying the truth.
Falun Dafa practitioners from Florida wish Master a happy birthday.
Practitioners demonstrate the graceful exercises.
Passerby learning the first exercise from a practitioner
Lake Worth Beach Park, a popular tourist destination, is located on the east coast of Florida. The sunny day drew many locals and tourists alike to the park to enjoy the weekend.
Falun Dafa practitioners in yellow T-shirts demonstrated the five exercises. Their slow and graceful movements flanked by the azure sea prompted many passersby to take photos and videos and talk to the Falun Dafa practitioners.
Practitioners recalled how they began to practice Dafa and expressed their gratitude to Master for his benevolent salvation.
Accountant Attracted to Dafa
Dessi Ivanova, an accountant, expressed her gratitude to Master.
Dessi Ivanova, who works in the tourist industry, is an accountant. One of her friends who used to smoke and drink heavily quit after he started to cultivate Falun Dafa. This alarmed Dessi. Originally from Bulgaria, she enjoyed drinking to relieve stress.
The stress of her job was difficult to overcome. She had conflicts with people, argued with and berated them. When that friend told her about a special book, Zhuan Falun, that taught about cultivation, the thought of reading that book attracted her deeply. Dessi decided to give up smoking and drinking and step on the path of cultivation on August 23, 2013.
“That day was my most blissful day,” she said. “When I started to cultivate, the changes in me were great. First, in terms of moral integrity, Zhuan Falun resolved questions I’d never understood before, like why should we not commit bad deeds, as everyone sometimes just goes with the flow, and nobody explains the reason behind this.
“According to Christianity, if someone hits your face on the left, you should ask them to hit the right side, too. I did not understand the reason behind this, but Zhuan Falun explains everything clearly. After understanding these theories, I changed some of my old habits, and my health improved. In the past, I needed a drink to come down. But now, I can fall asleep immediately once I put my head on my pillow. In the past, I used to lose my temper easily. Now, I can discipline myself because I live by the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.”
Dessi condemns the CCP’s persecution of Falun Dafa. She said, “Such a good practice is being persecuted in such a cruel manner. Just because of their belief in Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, the Falun Dafa practitioners in China are being arrested, tortured, beaten, sentenced to prison, and even have their organs harvested while they are still alive. This is really not right.”
On this day honoring World Falun Dafa Day, Dessi is filled with gratitude for Master. She put her palms together and said with tears covering her face, “No words can express my gratitude to Master. I cannot imagine how my life would have been if I had not obtained the Fa. I want to tell everyone in the world that even if you cannot take the cultivation path, you should learn to understand more about Falun Dafa and its goodness. Even if you just read the book, you will benefit from it and become a good person.”
Ms. Zhang’s 29 Years on the Cultivation Path
Ms. Zhang has cultivated Falun Dafa for 29 years
Ms. Zhang, who lives in Miami, started practicing Falun Dafa when she was 20 years old and witnessed how Falun Dafa was introduced to the world.
At the start of summer in 1992, Ms. Zhang and her parents attended Master’s first Falun Dafa introductory session in Beijing. This was the first time she heard about the Fa principles, especially what cultivation was. She’s witnessed the miracles of Dafa since then.
When she first started practicing the exercises, Ms. Zhang felt the turning of the Falun (Law Wheel). Master also cleansed her body. She said, “Every time I meditated, my nose and tears kept flowing. This went on for a week. After that, I recovered from the rhinitis that had been troubling me for many years.”
Ms. Zhang remembered that the first edition of Zhuan Falun was published in the winter of 1994. Once again, Master came to Beijing to meet practitioners. Everything was very different, and there are already many people cultivating Falun Dafa all over China. When her parents brought home a copy of Zhuan Falun, which had just been printed, she read four pages.
Master said,
“One should return to one’s original, true self; this is the real purpose of being human. Therefore, once a person wants to practice cultivation, his or her Buddha-nature is considered to have come forth.” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun)
She understood that the purpose of life is actually to return to one’s original true self. That period of time was really wonderful.
Ms. Zhang’s peaceful life took a dramatic turn in 1999. That year, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched its persecution of Falun Dafa, also known a Falun Gong. But by then, Ms. Zhang, who had already understood the meaning of life, did not believe the CCP’s slander.
In February 2000, Ms. Zhang and practitioners from different parts of China worked through the night to make a Falun Dafa banner. Along with her cultivating parents, Ms. Zhang went to Tiananmen Square to seek justice for Falun Gong and tell people that Falun Dafa was good and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance was good. Ms. Zhang was arrested and illegally detained. Her parents were later transferred to a forced labor camp. However, Ms. Zhang’s steadfast belief in Dafa and Master has never wavered.
Ms. Zhang was able to emigrate to the U.S. and has never had the opportunity to return to the country where she was born.
Ms. Zhao Qi Gained a New Lease on Life
Zhao Qi gained a new lease on life after practicing Falun Dafa.
Zhao Qi, a Falun Dafa practitioner from Jacksonville, gained a new lease on life. On the 29th anniversary of Falun Dafa’s introduction in China, Ms. Zhao Qi is full of gratitude for Master. Her husband, who was a soldier, contracted cancer and passed away. That very day, she felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen. The pain was so intense that she could not sleep for three months and became emaciated. Looking at herself in the mirror, Ms. Zhao saw her grayish face and felt that she did not have much longer to live.
Zhao Qi saw a video about a Taiwanese man who said he used to have colorectal cancer and stomach cancer and had endured four surgeries. After practicing Falun Dafa, he recovered his health.
Zhao Qi realized that there was hope, so in September 2012, she contacted local Falun Dafa practitioners and started to do the Dafa exercises. One week later, she was surprised to discover that the angioma she had was no longer as painful. This boosted her confidence. She then read Zhuan Falun and understood that people have illnesses because of karma; if a person wants to be rid of illnesses, he/she must cultivate. Thinking of this, she suddenly sensed a tremor pass through her and a flow of warmth, making her feel warm and very comfortable all over. During the first two years of practicing the exercises, it was like that every day. She was so excited that she forgot about her angioma. One day, after doing the exercises for a year, she suddenly remembered her angioma, but found it was gone.
“Cultivation has not only given me a healthy body,” Zhao Qi said. “Before that, I was selfish. However, Dafa requires us to abide by the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance to be a good person, so we also need to improve and elevate ourselves in terms of moral integrity. Dafa changed me into a cultivator who considers others’ needs first.
“For Falun Dafa Day, I would especially like to thank Master for introducing to us such a high level practice, which allows me to take the path to return to my original true self.”
Roslynne Malonson Has Cultivated Since 2000
After cultivating, Roslynne Malonson gained both health and inner peace
Roslynne Malonson started to practice Falun Dafa in 2000 in Boston, 21 years ago. Malonson said, “When I first read Zhuan Falun, I knew that Falun Dafa was really very good. Many Fa principles resonated with me, and I immediately understood that this was what I wanted.”
Cultivating Falun Dafa changed her life significantly. She said, “I feel so great. Before I practiced Falun Dafa, I often had insomnia and could not go to sleep. After practicing the exercises, my body immediately started to change. I can sleep very well. My mind also became very tranquil and I feel very peaceful.”
The Fa principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance made her more tolerant. She became easier to get along with, and she emphasizes that her character elevated.
“When I meet with problems,” she said, “most of the time I will look within and see where I did wrong. After that, I will find where I need to elevate and improve myself. Looking at the past, the difficulties or conflicts I thought were difficult to overcome became very small.”
Alexander Meltser Found What He Was Looking For
Entrepreneur Alexander Meltser felt energy when he first did the exercises.
Alexander Meltser is an entrepreneur in Boca Raton. Introduced to the practice by a relative in 2001, he started to cultivate. He said, “20 years ago when I first read Zhuan Falun, I knew that this was something that my inner heart had always been looking for, and I know that this was something that I had been searching for all my life.”
The Fa principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance touched Alexander’s heart and helped him understand life in depth and how to become a better person at work and in his family life. “It gave me a deeper understanding of life and the universe,” he said. “When I first started to do the exercises, I could immediately feel a form of energy, something I had never experienced. All these changed my understanding of things. I can actually change myself and the environment around me by changing my behavior. This really gave me great strength and faith. I know that this is the righteous Fa that I should abide by. This is the real reason why I stepped on this cultivation path.”
After becoming a cultivator, he learned how to look within to find the cause of a problem.
“I think that after cultivating,” said Alexander, “the greatest change in me is that I can truly look within myself, to see the cause of the problem, and correct myself. This, in turn, affects my surroundings. In the past, I always looked outwards for the cause of a problem. We are always looking for and pointing out other reasons, other people's problems, or other situations. However, when I started to look within myself to see the cause of the problem, I could correct myself.”
Alexander said that cultivating in Falun Dafa made him become a real person. His heart of compassion broadened, and he has become more tolerant.
“Dafa and the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance,” he said, “are things that you can never find anywhere else.” He is very happy that he can follow this path to return to his original true self.
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