We arrived in Istanbul late in the evening on Monday, June 4. We had left Switzerland with the telephone numbers of various contacts whom no one in the group knew. Only one of us actually knew someone in the capital--a university friend who wanted to discover the Great Law of Zhen-Shan-Ren.

In the plane, an English teacher at a cultural centre in Turkey was sitting beside the group and asked what we were going to do in his country. We replied that we were going to introduce Falun Gong. He quickly became interested and hoped that a practice centre could be set up in Istanbul so that everyone could get to know the method.

Tuesday, June 5

In Istanbul, we found that no one had ever heard of Falun Dafa or of the persecution in China. They were discovering Falun Gong for the first time.

We practiced the exercises with the music in the parks near the Blue Mosque and the famous Saint Sophia. Many people stopped and managed to convey to us that they found it very peaceful and beautiful to look at. A Turkish man from Chicago came to talk to us and told us that when he returned to the United States he was going to learn this method, which he found so serene and yet full of energy. A woman wanted to know if there was a practice centre in town since she would like to learn immediately. We could see in her eyes the light that seemed to have opened the way to the Great Law, for which she had waited so long.

In the evening, the university friend of one of our group of practitioners told us she had found a room free of charge in a club, a sort of fitness centre close to Istanbul, for demonstrating the exercises. She and her two friends had everything necessary to inform people: they had designed and put up notices and posters, handed out flyers (a model had been emailed to them from Switzerland) and telephoned people who might be interested. We were surprised and very touched by all they had done, since we had not asked them for anything.

Wednesday, June 6

In the morning, we met a journalist (one of our original contacts) who was very interested in what we were doing and asked if we could send her literature about Falun Gong and its repression in China. She has since received all the information and intends to write an article.

When we arrived at the club for the demonstration, consider all the surprises that awaited us! First of all, we were told that we could have the room for the next day. Secondly, there were some 30 people in the room. Tears came to our eyes at the thought that Teacher had prepared everything. To crown everything, someone in our group recognized some people in the room as old classmates. In addition, as we talked we discovered that we all had friends in common-- incredible, but absolutely true!

Thursday, June 7, back to Geneva in the evening

We held another demonstration in the same place and we met the manager of the club (who had come to practice the day before). She said that the exercises were wonderful and quite exceptional, and that she had been waiting for something so good for a long time! In addition, it had been quite a shock when she saw so many people, since tai chi or yoga demonstrations only managed to attract 3-5 people. So she proposed to everyone that a room would be made available free of charge for Falun Gong every week and that people could practice while watching Master's video, since nobody knew the exercises properly yet.

Then we met a lady who spontaneously offered to teach the exercises at a later stage. What was most surprising was that she had long been suffering from severe menstrual pain and the first time she practiced the exercises the pain was intense. However, she decided to come back next day to continue, since she felt that it was something good, and to her great surprise the pain was completely gone by the time of the second demonstration.

Another person felt something spinning at the point where she had a backache, and yet another felt strong heat and a lot of things spinning rapidly in her fingers. Another man felt that it was "powerful" and "marvellous." In other words, the benefits they were experiencing and the things they were feeling so rapidly were beginning to change their lives.

Everyone was very touched by the exercises, the principles of Zhen-Shan-Ren and the events in China. When we said goodbye, some of them had tears in their eyes because they had finally found what they had long been seeking. Others were already impatient for us to come back, and still others were planning the creation of a Turkish Falun Gong Association and hoped that some day practitioners from the world at large would come to do the exercises with them when they were on holiday in Turkey.

Saturday 9 June -- a glimpse of Turkey during Hongfa activities in Fribourg, Switzerland

Back in Fribourg, we met a Turkish woman who was on a 10-day holiday. She was very disappointed not to be living in Switzerland so that she could discover this method, but when we told her there was a centre near Istanbul, she immediately broke into a smile again. In addition, she lives near the fitness centre -- quite a "coincidence," you might say!

In our group, we realized the extent to which many people are ready and waiting for the Great Law, whatever their ethnic, religious or social background. We became aware of our immense good fortune in being able to practice and cultivate during the time of Fa-rectification. Perhaps Turkey and other countries will have this good fortune too. So let us go where Falun Gong is not yet known and transmit it together, hand in hand, with confidence as our leitmotif, using the heart's own language of Zhen-Shan-Ren.