(Minghui.org) May 13, 2023, was World Falun Dafa Day and the birthday of Falun Dafa’s founder Mr. Li Hongzhi. Practitioners in Greece held several events, starting in April, to mark the occasion.

Truth Well-Received by Chinese Tourists

Located at the foot of the Acropolis of Athens, Thissio is a commercial district with cafés and vendors of a variety of handicrafts. It is a popular place for locals to relax and for tourists to visit. On April 9, Falun Gong practitioners went to Hsiheo Street in Thissio. With the Acropolis as a backdrop, they demonstrated the exercises and distributed leaflets to let people know about the beautiful practice of Falun Dafa.

Falun Gong practitioners hand out Falun Dafa flyers near the Acropolis

A Greek lady (first from the left) learns the fifth exercise. Her friend took a picture of her and gave her a thumbs up.

Greek practitioners take a group photo to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day.

Two young Chinese men stopped to watch the practitioners do the exercises. When one of them asked if they were promoting Falun Gong, the practitioner replied, “Yes, we are demonstrating what Falun Gong is all about.” The other young man said, “It’s not at all like what I thought!” The practitioner was taken aback by his comment, but before she could respond, the young man added, “It’s all nonsense on TV [in China].” Then everyone laughed.

When asked if they had joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its youth organizations, both men waved their hands, “No, we’re not into that stuff.” A practitioner handed them a booklet titled “Heavenly Blessings” that has examples of people who were blessed by practicing Falun Gong or by sincerely reciting “Falun Dafa is good.” One of the men took the booklet and said, “This is good. Let’s look at it.”

A Chinese woman, Ms. Wang, saw the practitioners doing the exercises and exclaimed, “Isn’t this Falun Gong? Isn’t it forbidden in China?” A practitioner explained to her that Falun Dafa has spread to more than 100 countries and regions around the world and that the universal values of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are wonderful. Ms. Wang nodded her head and said, “Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance are indeed very good.”

Ms. Wang recalled that when she was a student, she saw news on TV that said that people who practiced Falun Gong committed murder and suicide and set themselves on fire. “Do you have people like that?” she asked. A practitioner told her that those were slanderous reports and explained that the Tiananmen self-immolation was a hoax staged by the CCP to incite people to hate Falun Gong and that Qiao Shi, former chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, had said, “Falun Gong is beneficial to the country and the people, not harmful to them.”

The practitioner gave Ms. Wang a pamphlet with comprehensive information about Falun Gong. Ms. Wang took it and said, “You can’t find this in China.” The practitioner told her that the pamphlet is indeed available in China, but it is not easy to find, because it is very dangerous for Falun Gong practitioners to distribute leaflets or pamphlets in China. There are surveillance cameras everywhere, and sometimes practitioners are kidnapped by the police who are tipped off by people who do not understand the truth. But many practitioners still risk their lives to distribute leaflets, pamphlets, keepsakes, and CDs in China.

“Then why do they still go out and hand them out?” Ms. Wang asked. The practitioner said that Falun Gong practitioners have benefited physically and mentally from the practice, while the CCP has been poisoning people with lies about Falun Gong and persecuting its practitioners. This persecution is not only targeting Falun Gong practitioners but has also poisoned the entire Chinese population. Falun Gong practitioners have benefited from Dafa, so they cannot just turn a blind eye to the persecution and not do anything, because whoever believes in the CCP will be implicated when the CCP goes down. To help more people, practitioners go out to distribute information and speak the truth, regardless of their own safety.

The practitioner explained that only by spreading the truth will more and more people, more police officers, and more officials understand the truth, stop aiding and abetting the enemy, and even take the initiative to protect Dafa practitioners and work together to end this cruel persecution.

Ms. Wang said she would read the pamphlet carefully and take it back home to her family.

Practitioners Demonstrate How to Fold Lotus Flowers at a Flower Show, People Learn About Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance

From April 27 to May 14, 2023, the 69th Flower Exhibition of Kifissia was held in Kifissia, north of Athens. More than 2,000 species of plants were displayed in 86 booths.

Practitioners went to the flower exhibition on April 30 and shared Falun Gong’s philosophy of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance through storytelling and folding small lotus flowers.

Falun Gong practitioners act out the story “Journey of the Little Lotus”

The practitioners used dolls to act out the story of a lotus seed that used the treasures of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to resist the temptation of evil, deception, and laziness, and then returned to the surface from the silt at the bottom of the magic lake and grew into a beautiful lotus flower. The performance attracted many children and parents to come and listen.

Afterward, the practitioners taught the children to fold the small lotus flowers and gave the accompanying parents Falun Gong truth leaflets to provide further information about the goodness of Falun Dafa and the persecution in China.

At the end of the activity, the children left with big smiles on their faces, holding the small lotus flowers they had made with their own hands.

Promoting Falun Dafa in Thissio

On May 7, Falun Gong practitioners visited the business area in Thissio to demonstrate the Falun Dafa exercises and distribute leaflets and small lotus flowers with the inscription “ Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good, Falun Dafa is good.”

A tourist takes a photo of practitioners doing the exercises.

The Acropolis was on the hill behind the practitioners. Many of their events are held here because of the beautiful scenery and the never-ending flow of passersby.

Next to the Falun Dafa booth was a vendor selling hats. At first, the vendor was a little upset because people often stopped to look at the Falun Gong booth and inadvertently blocked his hat stand. When a practitioner noticed this, she apologized to him and directed people away from his stand.

After a few encounters, the hat vendor’s attitude gradually changed, from using harsh words to gentle reminders. A practitioner gave him a small lotus flower, which he happily accepted and said, “You guys are doing a great job!”

Mariana (center, in red) reads a leaflet while Pantelis (far right) learns the second exercise.

Pantelis was drawn to the second exercise, and he lifted his arms and tried it while his wife, Mariana, read a leaflet.

A practitioner introduced them to the five Falun Gong exercises. The couple was very interested and wrote down the location of a practice site nearby.

Pantelis said, “The exercises are wonderful. Thank you!” They said they would definitely try to learn Falun Gong.