England: People Learn the Falun Dafa Exercises During the Ashtead Village Festival

(Minghui.org) Practitioners set up an information booth during the Ashtead Village Day festival in Surrey, held on Saturday June 10, 2023. They demonstrated the exercises and told people about Falun Dafa. Many people learned the exercises on the spot.

Practitioners participated in Ashtead Village Day, held on Saturday June 10, 2023. Adults and children learned the exercises in front of the information booth.

High school students learned the Falun Dafa exercises during the festival.

Primary school students tried the sitting meditation exercise.

Many carnivals and festivals organized by local governments and grassroots organizations are held during the summer. The sun shone brightly during this event, and there was a gentle, cooling breeze. Local practitioners in Ashtead, located south of central London, have been introducing Falun Dafa to residents for a decade. The village day was organized by the local and surrounding residents. Everyone came together to offer a day of entertainment, including sports, music, amusement playgrounds, a dog show, vintage car exhibition, and so on. There were over 100 stalls at the event.

Practitioners decorated their booth with signs describing the five sets of exercises, images of people practicing Falun Dafa around the world, and colorful lotus flowers. Residents, tourists, and their families stopped and talked with practitioners. They were all curious about Falun Dafa. They also asked why a meditation practice was persecuted in China.

Event-goers sign the petition calling for an end to the persecution of Falun Dafa in China.

Positive Energy

Three male twelfth grade students wanted to try the exercises. They invited two female classmates who passed by the booth to join them. Chris, one of the students said, “I felt good doing the exercises, and very relaxed. A positive energy grew inside my body.” He said he’d like to come to the local practice site.

Two women brought their daughters who are in the fourth grade to learn the exercises. The children sat down and followed practitioners in doing the sitting meditation exercises to the music. Most of them were able to sit in full lotus position. Rebecca, one of the children’s mother, stood by watching and said, “I can feel the energy. This is wonderful!” She explained that the children are learning yoga in school, but she hopes practitioners can go to the school to teach Falun Dafa. The women said they will suggest that the school hold Falun Dafa classes.

Linda was delighted to meet practitioners at the event. She was very keen to do the exercises and said she would read the flier at home. She said, “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are important principles. Everyone needs to be kind and tolerant as well as treat others sincerely.”

Olly, who is in tenth grade, and his brother returned to the Falun Dafa booth after visiting the other booths. He told practitioners that his brother was keen to learn the sitting meditation exercise. Olly said that he and his grandmother practice Buddhism. He took a brochure about Falun Dafa so his grandmother could read it. He and his brother learned the meditation exercise. Olly picked up the book Zhuan Falun from the table and started reading it.

Olly has a friend from China who told him about the persecution. He said, “What the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) did is wrong. We are humans and should be treated the right way. One should not steal people’s organs and sell them for money.”

It is Wrong to Persecute Those Who Practice Cultivation

Margarita criticized the CCP for organ harvesting. She said it is not something humans should do. When she learned that organs were being removed from practitioners without consent and while they are still alive, she said angrily, “This is so brutal, I cannot forgive such acts.”

Kyle (second left) was able to sit in the full lotus position the first time he tried the meditation exercise. He and his classmates loved the lotus flowers practitioners gave them.

Kyle, who is Indian, is in the eighth grade. When he and four classmates learned of the persecution in China, he could not understand how something like that could happen. He said, “Everyone is equal in England. Yet people in China are persecuted and have no freedom of belief. Organ harvesting must stop. Stop the CCP from killing people. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance can help our community become a better place!”

Many people brought out their mobile phones to take photos when they saw children learning the exercises with solemn expressions on their faces. Some people stopped to watch the exercise demonstrations. As the organizers said, “This is a glorious day.”