(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners from European countries arrived in Paris on September 30, 2017, before the annual European Fa Conference.
The reporter had a chance to talk to some of the practitioners during the morning group exercise practice in a park in east Paris and after a parade in central Paris in the afternoon, to hear their personal experiences of finding Falun Dafa and benefiting from the ancient spiritual practice.
Greek practitioner: Falun Dafa Teaches Me Genuine Cultivation
Ilias Kosambouikidis, a restaurant owner, started practicing Falun Dafa in 1998 and the 19 years of practice let him have peace with the world and be detached from fame and gain.
Greek practitioner Ilias Kosambouikidis.
Ilias found that many people were curious about what a practitioner's life was like, and sometimes felt it was hard to understand.
Ilias said, “Actually, we are living a normal life like everyone else. We have jobs, family, and children.”
“We spend a lot of time promoting Falun Dafa and telling people the facts about the persecution in China, because not many people know that the practice is still being brutally persecuted in China.”
Most people regarded the genocide of Jews during World War II as the worst crime, because the modern media doesn't cover the persecution of Falun Dafa, often silencing themselves so as not to offend the communist regime.
“We are very happy to practice Falun Dafa and benefit from it. It is our obligation to tell the public the truth about the persecution and to end the persecution.”
When talking about how he had benefited from the practice, Ilias said that it let him know how he should live his life and do his job.
“Many countries have traditional cultivation practices telling people how to be a good person. But when you actually put the teaching into action, you find it very difficult to change yourself,” Ilias explained.
“Falun Dafa let me focus on my heart, and see my own shortcomings, so that I can understand other people's thoughts. When there is a conflict or an issue, a practitioner doesn't blame others. You only follow the principles of 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance' to understand the other party and be tolerant.”
It has been 19 years, and Ilias still sees himself as having a lot to improve. “The Fa is profound and boundless,” he added.
For example, people often don't like someone who has this or that habit that they don't like. However, Falun Dafa taught him to look at himself to realize that he himself had some habits that other people don't like, too. And only after realizing these habits could he improve himself by letting them go.
Another example, some of the restaurant work he does is dirty and was becoming tiresome. After he started practicing Falun Dafa however, he changed his mindset and started to help others when he had time, including washing plates and taking out the trash.
At first, when he was asked about it, he answered, “I am a Falun Dafa practitioner. I can do these things,” or “I am a practitioner so I ought to do more.” The Fa is profound and boundless. By looking inward more, he realized that this response reflected a heart of showing off. So he found more areas to improve.
“Looking inward is a process where my soul uplifts continuously and my understanding of the principles 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance' deepens.”
Polish Practitioner: Falun Dafa Changed My Worldview
Mikoaj is a tall and slim young man with a bright smile.
Falun Dafa practitioner Mikoaj, from Poland.
Mikoaj's life has changed dramatically since he found Falun Dafa in October 2013.
He was previously impatient and couldn't tolerate different opinions. Shortly after he started practicing Falun Dafa, he became more tolerant and can now remain calm and at peace during conflicts or confrontations.
He used to depend on his parents and lacked interest in holding down a meaningful job. After cultivating, he changed quickly, becoming independent, and bravely facing society.
His parents were amazed at their son's changes and sought out some practitioners to ask what Falun Dafa is about, and why it changed their son so quickly and thoroughly.
Mikoaj continuously reads the book Zhuan Falun, and his xinxing is also continuously improving.
For a while, even though he could make peace with ordinary people, fellow practitioners with differing opinions still disturbed him. He continued to read the book and look inward to find what was causing the disturbances. He recently found and eliminated his intolerance of differing opinions, wrote a sharing article about the process, and submitted it to the European Fa conference.
Slovakia Practitioner: Falun Dafa Is the Most Precious Treasure
Peter Spolnik shared his story of finding Falun Dafa. A friend asked him what Falun Gong was in 2005. He began searching for information and learned that it was an ancient Chinese cultivation practice. He found numerous stories from people all around the world who had regained their health after practicing.
He downloaded Zhuan Falun and the teaching videos from the falundafa.org website and started to teach himself the exercises.
Peter Spolnik from Slovakia.
Being the first one in his area to start practicing Falun Dafa, he had no peers to consult or talk to, but Master Li empowered him to learn the five sets of exercises in a short time. While meditating in a park, he often entered a tranquil state quickly.
He often saw that someone was sitting beside him with the same posture when he exited tranquility. So he began teaching people the Falun Dafa exercises.
A dozen years down the road, a group practice site has established in his city. He had connected with many fellow practitioners, both Chinese and Slovakian, and they often had activities to promote Falun Dafa.
Peter concluded, “People spent their time to make money or enjoy their lives. To me, spending time to let more people know about Falun Dafa is the most important thing I can do. Falun Dafa is priceless. It teaches you to discern right from wrong, and be a good person. It fills you with confidence and brings the world peace and happiness. Everyone in the world should know the practice.”
Practitioner from Hungary: Following the Principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance
Two years ago, Casba Orosz saw a book titled Zhuan Falun online. He downloaded the book and began reading. He liked the teachings in the book. By the time he had read half of the book, he became determined to follow the guidance of Falun Dafa for the rest of his life.
Casba Orosz from Hungary.
He learned the exercises by following the online videos. While practicing, he felt strong energy in his palms.
He later had a chance to watch a Shen Yun Performing Arts show. He subsequently connected with fellow practitioners in his city and joined their group Fa study sessions.
Practicing Falun Dafa helped him to deal with life's pressures. In the past, he often used alcohol to forget about problems. Now when he faces difficult situations, he looks at the matter based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The process allows him to easily find the origin of the problems and enables him to deal with the situations with ease.
German Practitioner: Falun Dafa Rebuilt Me Like a New Person
Alexander Gereg is a salesperson. One day in April 2016, he encountered a practitioner who introduced him to Falun Dafa. He picked up a copy of the book Zhuan Falun to read.
While reading the book, he felt his body growing large and tall, and his health problems being pushed out one after another. This experience and the profound teachings soon prompted him to become a Falun Dafa practitioner.
Alexander Gereg from Germany.
Gereg said, “I learned more in the first three or four months (of practicing Falun Dafa) than all I had learned in my life.” He said he had studied Tao Te Ching but benefited little. He said that reading Zhuan Falun was a totally different experience. He felt his body being cleaned in a strong energy flow and his ideological level being uplifted higher and higher, like flying over mountain peaks one after another.
He was moved to tears after he finished reading Zhuan Falun for the first time. He realized that he now knows how best to live his everyday life. He said it is a great blessing and a very happy thing.
Practitioner from Austria
Alex Siebor from Austria
Alex Siebor, a professional classical guitarist and teacher, started practicing Falun Dafa in March 1999. The first time he practiced Falun Dafa, he felt his body being cleansed and that many of his ailments were removed.
The teaching also let him understand what life is truly about and why we come to this world. Also, being a young man without a lot of experiences, Falun Dafa helped him to face many of life's tests and gave him peace.
His colleagues could tell that there was something different about him after he began practicing Falun Dafa. His music was more harmonious and could touch people's hearts. Some of his colleagues subsequently also started practicing Falun Dafa.
French Practitioners: Our Whole Family Practices Falun Dafa
The Lefebvre family from France.
The Lefebvre family of four in their yellow T-shirts stood out in the parade. And they had a story, too.
Mrs. Lefebvre was troubled with back pain for many years. After a surgery in 2003, the pain persisted. She was impatient, pessimistic, and had a lot of issues in both life and work.
She began practicing Falun Dafa in 2014. After a short few weeks, all her pain and ailments were gone. She also found all the answers to the issues of life and work in the book Zhuan Falun. She was no longer pessimistic and could see hope and beauty in her life and work.
Her husband and children saw the 180-degree change in her and joined her in practicing Falun Dafa, too.
Mr. and Mrs. Josefern and ez Lozand from Spain.
Mr. and Mrs. Josefern and ez Lozand from Spain started practicing Falun Dafa in 2003 together. Being a construction quality inspector, Mr. Lozand was short-tempered and often rebuked workers if he found any quality problems.
Falun Dafa taught him to look at himself first when he faced a problem. This enabled him to find the source of the problem and also improve his xinxing level in the process.
Latvian Practitioners
Mr. Normunds Kadikis from Latvia.
Normunds used to have a stressful relationship with his mother. The mother had a lot of life experience and wanted her son to follow her advice. But the son didn't want to be forced into anything. They couldn't resolve their differences and their relationship was strained.
One day in 2007, the mother saw some young people promoting Falun Dafa in her city. Thinking that maybe her son would like it, she bought a copy of the book Zhuan Falun.
Normunds had learned martial arts before but he felt it was missing something. When he read the book that his mother brought home, he admired the teachings in it. He also found the true meaning of life and learned the standards of right and wrong. His relationship with his mother subsequently improved, as did his health.
When practitioners promoted the practice in his city again in 2009, he learned the exercises. Normunds said, “Falun Dafa gave me all the answers I had been looking for. It also showed me a path to practice it. I will treasure this opportunity and be a genuine practitioner.”
