(Clearwisdom.net)
Falun Gong Is Introduced in Sweden
The Swedish people were introduced to Falun Gong long ago. Different from other Western countries, many Swedish Falun Gong practitioners learned about Falun Gong by participating in a Falun Gong class. On April 6, 1995, Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong came to Sweden. He held five public lectures. From April 14-20, Mr. Li held the second Falun Gong class overseas in Nordgarden, Gothenburg, which was also the last class he taught in person. Those who attended the class were mostly westerners; among them were professors, doctors, nurses, workers and managers from different cities. The number of people was so big that it exceeded the organizer's expectations. In 1995, when the organizer, Ms. Wang, invited Mr. Li Hongzhi to teach in Sweden (he was giving lectures in France at that time), Ms. Wang was worried that there would not be very many people attending the class.
Some of the artwork of the "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance" Art Exhibit on display in Sweden
She said, "On learning that Mr. Li was giving lectures in France, I immediately contacted practitioners in France, asking if Teacher Li could come to Sweden. Teacher agreed. I was very excited and started to make preparations, but I had no idea how to organize such a class. We needed an interpreter who knew what Falun Gong is. As there were very few people who knew about Falun Gong, Qigong, etc., I did not know how to prepare for the class. I just wanted to tell all my friends and all my patients about it. I did what I could and sent out advertisements as well. Even so, I was uncertain in my heart. I remember telephoning Mr. Li, thinking that there were 6,000 people attending classes in China but how many people here could attend the class? I was not sure at all. When I told Teacher my concerns, Teacher said: "Go to sleep and get some rest. Even if only one person obtains the Fa, it is worth it for me to go there." I felt as though a load had been taken off my mind. In fact, I found that when the class started, there were more than one hundred people, which was beyond my expectation. The venue we hired could hold over seventy people, but now it was overcrowded. Later when we held the class, we changed to a place which could hold more than 100 people. Because we wanted other people know about Falun Gong, we first held classes in Gothenburg. The number of attendees grew each time. We had more than seventy people in the first class, and then we held a class in a library, and a class in the Vaxenskolan Adult School. The last class we held had the most number of people. Besides that, we held a public lecture in Udvalla and one in Stockholm. Altogether we held five classes.
"When we held classes in China, Mr. Li finished his nine-day lectures in seven or eight days in order to lighten his students' burden. Mr. Li also did the same in the class in Sweden.
"It was on April 6th, the eve of Easter when Teacher came. We began the class when Easter began. Teacher said that it could be difficult for people overseas to attend a nine-day class; the least was a seven-day class."
Teaching by personal example and showing his students every consideration
When giving lectures, Mr. Li showed his students every consideration, trying to let them hear clearly and really understand.
"It was during the classes that I was was especially worried about the interpretation of the lectures, but Teacher explained everything very clearly, giving every consideration to overseas students so that they could clearly understand. Sometimes he helped them understand by drawing pictures. When I was demonstrating the exercises on the stage, Teacher was down among the students correcting their movements one by one. So it took very long time. The students were willing to come to the classes ahead of time to have the opportunity of having their movements corrected. For every class, Teacher arrived ahead of schedule and was especially punctual and started his class on time. Therefore, Teacher especially stressed that the students should come to the class on time. Teacher lived a hardworking and thrifty life. One incident in particular left me a deep impression on me: Teacher was carrying a box of instant noodles in his hands when he got off the plane."
When giving lectures in mainland China, Mr. Li was rushing about China and for a long time he ate only instant noodles. Besides his thrifty lifestyle, Mr. Li taught by personal example as well as verbal instruction everywhere he went, which left a deep impression on his students.
Ms. Wang said, "Because we were understaffed, I was somewhat fussy and impatient. When I answered questions raised by the students, I had a manner of impatience. One day when we were having a meal, Teacher said that he would like to have a word with me. Teacher said to me: 'You should treat these students well.' Teacher was very modest and unassuming, and especially amiable. He is never choosy about what he eats and has no special requirements for his living arrangements. He is able to adapt himself to different circumstances. Every time when he gave lectures, he was always neatly dressed. He left me with an impression: He always considers others but set very high demands on himself. Teacher was especially patient when giving lectures. He taught his students again and again. After a student's movements were corrected once, he would still repeat his mistakes in a while, so Teacher corrected them again. Sometimes Teacher had to correct a particular student's movements several times. This was only for one person. Teacher is very, very patient."
When recalling her early experience with Falun Gong, a nurse who attended the class at that time said with delight, " I remember that when I was first in the class, Teacher Li entered. I was very pleased to see him, and he seemed very pleased as well. It was the energy he carried that made me very happy. He told us many, many things which are very good, such as the importance of being a good person and why one should be a good person. I remember that he was very warm and peaceful. He himself is sending out what he has taught - Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance. No matter how many questions we raised, he always answered them one by one, with great patience. Even though many questions were repeated several times, he answered them very patiently."
For these Swedish practitioners, the language difference and entirely different cultural background did not present any barriers. A dance teacher summed it up, "Without the same language, we can communicate with our hearts. It does not matter if we don't understand Chinese; we were listening with out hearts, and there were no barriers."
Source: http://clearharmony.net/articles/200801/42870.html
Category: News & Events
