(Minghui.org) Practitioners gathered in Westlake Park in downtown Seattle on May 5, 2024 to celebrate the 25th World Falun Dafa Day and wish their founder, Master Li Hongzhi, a happy birthday. They took a group photo to express their greetings to Master Li Hongzhi, “Falun Dafa practitioners in Seattle wish Master a happy birthday! Falun Dafa is good and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!”

Practitioners celebrated the 25th World Falun Dafa Day, and wished Master a happy birthday during an event in Westlake Park.

Practitioners did the exercises in Seattle’s Westlake Park on May 5, 2024 in celebration of World Falun Dafa Day.

The city of Carnation, State of Washington, proclaimed World Falun Dafa Day for the second time this year. In the greater Seattle area, Falun Dafa has attracted more and more people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds to learn the practice.

The City of Carnation proclaimed May 13, 2024 World Falun Dafa Day.

During the rally several practitioners spoke and introduced the spread of Falun Dafa to the people of Seattle, and the significance of Falun Dafa Day to the world.

Ms. Zhang Xuqing, who started practicing Falun Dafa in 1995, recalled in her speech that her body and mind underwent tremendous changes after she began to practice. “My bad temper slowly disappeared, and my physical changes were even more startling. Many illnesses were resolved,” she recalled, “including a lifelong illness that could develop into a disease, and the most stubborn and unbearable enteritis. After practicing cultivation, they were gone in just a few weeks. I feel indescribable joy, and my gratitude for Master is beyond words.”

Practitioner Shao Xiaodong said in his speech that Falun Dafa practitioners are promoting the values of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and they live by the principles of honesty, kindness, tolerance, and forgiveness. He said, “When facing persecution, practitioners do not choose violence and hatred, but adhere to their beliefs, respond to persecution with peaceful protest and non-violent resistance, convey positive values to the world, and inspire more people to pursue peace, justice, and tolerance.”

Shao Xiaodong spoke at the rally celebrating World Falun Dafa Day in Westlake Park, Seattle on May 5, 2024.

Lilian, a young practitioner, shared her understanding of Falun Dafa’s spread to the world. She said that Falun Dafa made her realize the deeper meaning of diversity and equality, and helped her become a better person.

Lilian said that practicing Falun Dafa helped her become a better person.

Practitioners demonstrated the five sets of Falun Dafa exercises, accompanied by melodious exercise music, after the rally. Many passersby stopped to watch and talk to practitioners.

Practitioners introduce Falun Dafa to passersby and answered their questions about the practice.

A man from Scotland who was visiting a relative in the United States said that he had heard about the atrocities committed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but did not know much about Falun Dafa. He wanted to know why the CCP persecutes the practice. A practitioner talked with him in detail for a long time. After hearing the facts, he expressed great sympathy for practitioners.

A man who was born and raised in the United States, and whose mother is Chinese, asked a practitioner why Falun Dafa practitioners commit suicide as the Chinese state media claims. The practitioner explained that Falun Dafa values life and does not even kill animals. The practitioner described the ways the CCP persecutes practitioners and recounted his personal experiences. The man thanked the practitioner and said that he would no longer believe the CCP’s propaganda.

After listening to the facts, many tourists signed a petition calling for the persecution to end.