(Minghui.org) Practitioners gathered at Portsmouth Square in Chinatown, San Francisco on May 18, 2024 to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day. They told people about how they benefited after they began practicing Falun Dafa.
Practitioners did the exercises in front of the San Francisco Ferry Building on May 18, 2024.
The US West Tian Guo Marching Band started off the event by performing several songs, after which practitioners shared personal experiences of positive changes to their health and well-being through practicing Falun Dafa. This was followed by a dance piece “Taichi Master,” poem recital, Chinese musical instrument pipa solo recital and waist drum performances.
Next, practitioners demonstrated the exercises, followed by a long flute solo recital and singing. Practitioners concluded the day’s activities with singing.
Practitioners held cultural performances at Portsmouth Square in Chinatown, San Francisco to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day.
The Tian Guo Marching Band performed several songs.
Dance piece “Taichi Master.”
Poem recital
Chinese musical instrument pipa solo recital
Waist drum team performance
Exercise demonstrations
Long flute solo recital
Vocal solo
Practitioners Share Cultivation Experiences
Mr. Xu studied medicine in college. He had suffered from hereditary, chronic bronchitis and relied on medication for many years. After practicing Falun Gong, his stubborn respiratory problem disappeared without medical treatment. He became relaxed and full of energy.
His grades used to be average but improved significantly after he practiced cultivation. He published one to two academic papers every year after he got a job in research. One of his papers was named by a magazine as one of the most influential and innovative scientific research papers of the year. To date, he has published more than 40 articles and reviews papers for many academic magazines and conferences. When he applied for a green card as an outstanding academic, the US immigration bureau approved his application in two days. He said, “Practicing Falun Dafa has brought me wisdom and blessings, for which I am forever grateful.
“I am just an ordinary Falun Dafa practitioner. Dafa changed my destiny and made me the most fortunate being. What I gained is far more than what I put in.”
He said, “I want to thank Master for teaching us Falun Dafa!”
Ms. Yang suffered from poor health when she was young and frequently went to doctors. She had liver and digestion problems, nose, throat, trachea inflammations, heart disease, hardening of the arteries, arthritis and so on.
In 1990, she was diagnosed with advanced gastric cancer. The doctor told her family that she could live at most 2 years. She had major surgery that October. Due to a large cancer mass in her gastric cardia, most of her stomach was removed. Two years later, although she was still alive, her cancer cells had metastasized to other areas of her body.
In 1994, her left eye kept tearing up, her left ear was often blocked, her left nostril continually drained bloody mucus. The doctor said she had symptoms of nasal cancer. Results from a CT scan showed there were two tumors the size of peas in her left nostril. She could live at most 3 months and there was no treatment for her.
She said, “My family often wept. In this hopeless and painful situation, my colleague gave me the book Falun Gong. After reading the book, I thought it was amazing and made up my mind to practice cultivation! I followed the teachings in the book and my health improved every day. I finally experienced what it was like to be free of illness.”
She thanked Master for giving her a new lease on life.
This Practice Teaches People to Be a Better Person
The performances caught the attention of many passersby. Arin and his wife Shay from Los Angeles stopped to watch. Shay said that she felt peaceful seeing practitioners doing the exercises. “On the busiest streets in the world, practitioners do the exercises tranquilly, they are able to keep focused, it is interesting, you can feel energy passing through this place.”
When she learned that Falun Gong is based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance, she said, “I loved these principles one hundred percent, this practice is teaching people to be a better person.”
Laroul, a resident in San Francisco, happily accepted a flier that a practitioner handed her. She said that practitioners appeared to be calm while doing the exercises. A few minutes later, she came back and said, “Can I sit together with these practitioners?” She then sat among practitioners who were doing the sitting meditation. Her face was covered in tears. When asked why she came back, she said that she read the flier and felt sad to learn of the persecution in China.
Laroul, who lives in San Francisco, tried the sitting meditation.
Rose and Bridget said they passed by the area in the morning and felt calm seeing practitioners do the exercises. Bridget said, “Now that we are back, we want to experience the calm feeling again.” When Rose learned of the persecution in China, she said, “This isn’t right, the CCP thinks it can restrict people’s freedom, this is sad because Falun Dafa is a peaceful meditation practice.”
Rose (left) and Bridget said practitioners looked tranquil doing the exercises.
We Need Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance
Gloria, who sells food at the San Francisco Giants games, said she suffers from backaches and arthritis. She is keen to try Falun Dafa. “We need Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. I want to practice this to strengthen my body.” She took several fliers, “I will give them to my daughter and friend so that they know what Falun Dafa is. I also want to put some information at my workplace.”
Scott has a friend who practices Falun Dafa, so he also wanted to try practicing. After learning the exercises, he said, “I feel refreshed, my body feels relaxed, I love Falun Dafa and the principles that teach people to be kind.”
Scott (left) learns the fourth set of exercises from a practitioner.
Diane was drawn to the practitioners’ performance when she passed by Portsmouth Square. She stopped to watch and took photos. She said, “Amazing, I love it. Are they from San Francisco? I will go online to find out more about Falun Dafa.”
Diane loved the practitioners’ performances.
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