(Minghui.org) In celebration of this year's upcoming World Falun Dafa Day (May 13, 2012), the Falun Dafa Association of Taiwan held an activity on April 29 at Liberty Square in Taipei. Over seven thousand Falun Dafa practitioners formed an image of Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa. The image is 120 meters long and 90 meters wide.
7,400 Falun Dafa practitioners sit together to form an image of Mr. Li Hongzhi on Liberty Square, Taipei on April 29, 2012.
Over 7,000 Falun Dafa practitioners do the exercises together outside Chungcheng Memorial Hall.
A group of tourists from Mainland China watches the group exercises.
Tourists from China and other countries were drawn to the practitioners' activities, with many taking photos and videos.
Participants Share Their Experiences
Mr. Zeng, from Macao, was one of the many Falun Gong practitioners who traveled to Taipei to take part in the activity. “This activity is very important, solemn and a rare opportunity,” Zeng said. “I put aside everything in order to be a part of it.”
Mr. Zeng first took notice of Falun Gong in Shenzhen in 1998 when he was doing business there. He saw people doing exercises in the park and especially enjoyed the beautiful music of “Pudu.” He soon began practicing Dafa. Mr. Zeng related, “Before practicing Dafa, when my business was losing money, if it lost a few hundred thousand, I would be very upset. After practicing Falun Dafa, I can calmly face gain and loss, even if it's a few millions.”
Mr. Zeng continued, “In Macao, at first, I was afraid [of the influence of the Chinese Communist Party] and dared not to talk to people about Falun Gong and the persecution taking place in China. At that time, my business was slow and everything seemed difficult. Later, I looked inward and found the attachment of fear. I realized that I had to get rid of this attachment because I am a Dafa practitioner. So I began to introduce Dafa to people and validate theFa openly in public. And I treated everyone with Truth, Compassion and Forbearance. Then, my business got better and all the obstacles were removed. Now, many policemen in Macao know me. They know that I am a Falun Dafa practitioner. When I go out to validate Dafa, everything goes great.”
Ms. Lin, Ms. Ping and Mr. Guanghui Lin and other four practitioners all came from Hong Kong the day before the Taipei event. While each obtained Dafa at different times and under different circumstances, they have all benefited greatly from Dafa. They said they were very proud to have the opportunity to participate in the event.
Ms. Lin runs her own business, providing special education for children from toddler to kindergarten-age. Ten years ago, her husband went to the United Kingdom for advancement study. Ms. Lin took the time to visit her mother and found out that she was practicing Falun Gong. Ms. Lin wanted to learn more about it so she borrowed the book Zhuan Falun. Back in Hong Kong, she called her husband and found out that he was also reading Zhuan Falun. So the couple both began practicing Dafa.
Ms. Ping is an accountant who moved to Hong Kong in 1996 from Guangdong Province, China. After the Chinese Communist Party started to persecute Falun Gong in 1999, she heard about Falun Gong for the first time. In 2004, her husband became very sick and returned to Mainland China to seek medical treatment. But eventually, he died in China. Ms. Ping returned to Hong Kong with an empty heart. In 2006, she visited her hometown again and ran into Falun Dafa seemingly by chance. “I had some illnesses related to my job. I had pain here and there all around my body. The worst was the pain in my back. Besides, after my husband passed away, I lost my focus in life and felt that my life was like aimless wandering. I felt the pain both physically and mentally,” Ms. Ping said. “Falun Dafa saved me. All my illnesses disappeared after I started practicing Dafa. My mood stabilized. I became healthy again in both mind and body. All is well now.”
Guanghui Lin began practicing Falun Dafa on March 14, 2006. “I still remember the date clearly,” he said. “I used to study Buddhism but I still smoked cigarettes and I had insomnia. For over a decade, I was weak. I also had arrhythmia for 5 or 6 years. I had to carry emergency medication everywhere I went. All the illness left me after I began practicing Falun Dafa. So my wife began to practice Falun Dafa too. But I am not practicing Dafa to heal my illnesses. It is because I believe that Dafa is righteous and good. At first, I didn't know that the exercises could give me such great benefits.”
Ms. Jinzhu Cao came to Taiwan with her family when she was a child of eight. Her husband, Mr. Fang, grew up in a family in the mountains of Taitung. By the time he was middle-aged, Fang had his own factory and had a million-dollar (Taiwan dollar) monthly income. But in 1983, the economy took a downturn, the factory closed and the couple moved back to Taitung to make a living through farming. Later, in order to provide a better education for the children, they moved to Taipei New Village. Mr. Fang tried a few jobs there but none of them was stable. He also had developed illness by then and would faint from time to time. The doctors said that his condition was not curable. He suffered both financially and physically. Frustrated, he turned to smoking, drinking, and became short tempered. Things became very tense within the family.
Fang's family. Mr. Fubing Fang, youngest son Weiteng Fang who is studing at Taiwan Feitian Academy of Arts, and wife Jinzhu Cao.
Mr. Fang spent a lot of money and learned various of Qigong exercises but nothing helped his health or disposition. Once, in a park, they saw a group of people practicing Falun Gong. Ms. Cao said to her husband, “Look, their movements are so graceful. Practicing in the park is free, and the teaching is free. It doesn't cost a lot like other Qigong exercises.” Then a friend introduced them to a nine-day Falun Dafa introductory seminar, which was also free of charge. From then on, the couple began the path of cultivation. Ms. Cao recalled, “When I started cultivating Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, I felt that it was the greatest thing in my life.”
After practicing Dafa, Mr. Fang's illness disappeared and his temper became better. “He used to lose his temper and sometime even hit our kids if they were not listening. Now, we talk to them calmly and rationally,” Ms. Cao said. The family became harmonious once again and father and sons have become friends and share their thoughts with each other. Out of their great respect for Master Li Hongzhi, the couple participated in the image-forming activity in Taipei.
About Falun Dafa
Falun Dafa (also called Falun Gong) is an advanced self-cultivation practice of the Buddha School. Falun Dafa was founded by Mr. Li Hongzhi, the practice’s master.
