(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners participated in the “I Love Me” health and wellness event held at the Helsinki Expo and Conference Center from October 21 to 23, 2022. “I Love Me,” a large-scale exhibition in northern Europe, brings together people who are interested in health, wellness, beauty, and fashion.   

When the visitors passed by the Falun Dafa booth, they were greeted by smiling practitioners, some of whom handed out fliers while others demonstrated the exercises. Many people stopped to watch the exercise demonstration. After learning about Falun Dafa and how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecutes it, people signed a petition calling for it to end.

Visitors learn about Falun Dafa and sign the petition to end the persecution.

The exhibition organizer provided a room where practitioners could show people the exercises. Many who were interested showed up to learn them every day. After doing the exercises, people said that they felt relaxed and comfortable.

One visitor said she felt something spinning between her arms when she did the second exercise. She asked a practitioner who was teaching the exercises what it was. Another woman said, “When I was doing the fourth exercise, I felt so good that I did not want to stop.”

People learn the meditation exercise.

Seija said after learning the exercises, “I feel comfortable. The movements look simple but are not easy to do. I can feel positive energy throughout my whole body. I don’t know how to describe it, but my soul is touched.”

Referring to the exercise music, Seija said, “This music makes me feel comfortable and relaxed. Even though my body is here, I feel like I am in another place.” Her daughter Jenni who has practiced yoga for four years said, “For some reason the music makes me feel like crying. It’s so powerful.”

The practitioner said that Falun Dafa teaches people to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in their daily lives and to be good. Seija said, “I love these three words.” Several people who spoke with practitioners were interested in learning more about Falun Dafa. They thanked the practitioners and wished them good luck.

Two little girls followed their father to the booth and looked at the photo of a practitioner meditating. A practitioner said, “If you want to learn it, we can teach you.” The sisters nodded. Their father took photos of them while they did the exercises. Some passersby saw the girls learning the exercises with such concentration and stopped to watch. Afterward, the younger girl took the fliers on the table and shyly handed them to passersby.

Two sisters learn the Falun Dafa exercises.

A practitioner handed a pamphlet to a man who stopped to watch the practitioners do the exercises. She explained a bit about Falun Dafa and told him how the practice is persecuted in China. He said he knew about it and that he’d practiced meditation for 30 years. He said that, even though he was some distance away, he could feel the energy when the practitioners were doing the exercises.

Jonatta accepted a flyer and read “Falun Dafa” aloud. He said this was the first time he’d heard about Falun Dafa but he knew about the communist party and its atrocities. He said he was worried about the infiltration of communism into Western countries. The practitioner suggested he read the book How the Specter of Communism Is Ruling Our World. He took a picture of the book title with his phone and said that he would read it. He said, “You are doing a very important thing and I support you. God bless you. I will tell my friends.”

Background: What Is Falun Dafa and Why Is the CCP Persecuting It?

Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings, which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and have learned the five exercises have experienced improved health and well-being.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology and on July 20, 1999, he issued an order to eradicate the practice.

Under Jiang’s personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organization with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 23 years. The actual number is believed to be much higher. Countless practitioners have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply China’s organ transplant industry.