Practitioners in Taiwan Celebrate Falun Dafa Day and Express Gratitude for Master

(Minghui.org) Practitioners celebrated the upcoming World Falun Dafa Day, which falls on May 13 every year, on May 4, 2025. This is the 33^rd anniversary of when Falun Dafa was first taught in public in China. May 13 is also the birthday of Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa. At Chyau Zhong Elementary School in Taichung City, practitioners lined up behind a banner that said “Wishing Revered Master a Happy Birthday.” They pressed their palms together in a gesture of respect and had a photo and video taken to wish Master Li a happy birthday.

Falun Dafa practitioners gathered in Taichung on May 4 to wish Mr. Li Hongzhi a happy birthday.

Video: Falun Dafa practitioners said, “Happy Birthday to Revered Master! Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”

From all walks of life and age groups, they studied the teachings together that day and shared their recent cultivation experiences. Little practitioners recited poems from the book Hong Yin and sang “Falun Dafa Is good” to express their gratitude to Master.

Practitioners studied the teachings together.

Little practitioners recite poems from Hong Yin and sing “Falun Dafa is good.

The following are some of the experiences practitioners shared that day.

Knowing to Be Grateful and Content

Ms. Lo Shi-ting, 53, works for a media company. She said that Falun Dafa’s teachings have made her more grateful for her life, and she feels content. She looked younger than her peers and is full of energy.

Ms. Lo Shi-ting expressed her gratitude to Master Li. She said that she’d continue to cultivate herself and uphold traditions and kindness.

One of Ms. Lo’s classmates in graduate school told her how his health drastically improved after he took up Falun Dafa and that he never had to take a pill again. She remembered that he used to be sick all the time and that piqued her interest in the practice. Five years later, she became a practitioner because she believed that the practice would benefit her unborn child.

At work, Ms. Lo had to work with someone who was less capable and knowledgeable than she was and even became her supervisor. She felt wronged and resentful. After she became a practitioner, she learned to let go of that resentment because she knew that her promotion was based on the amount of virtue she had, not on her ability.

As an art major, Ms. Lo once preferred modernism. She wanted to be different and not be bound by tradition. She didn’t trust the idea of marriage and wasn’t sure if she wanted a long term relationship.

Cultivation allowed her to see that deviating from basic abilities and traditional skills was the wrong way to go. She said, “I will hold on to kindness and tradition and continue my cultivation to express my gratitude to Master.”

Being Joyful

Ms. Chang Shiue-Ching ran a farm in Nantou County. “After I became a practitioner, I felt happy and healthy every day. I stopped haggling over everything and no longer feel things are unfair.”

Ms. Chang and her husband became practitioners in 1998 because they wanted to help a family member who had cancer. After a while, she noticed that she wasn’t having migraines anymore and her back no longer hurt. She became cheerful and stopped fighting with her mother-in-law.

She said, “I used be depressed. It felt like there was a heavy rock pressing down on my heart. I sometimes couldn’t breathe. Falun Dafa removed that rock and allowed me to become cheerful and not care about a lot of things.”

One day as she was driving her child home, a car started tailgating her. When she pulled over to the side of the road to let the car pass, the driver rear-ended her, got out of the car, and scolded her for not knowing how to drive. She was baffled. By the time she got home, she’d forgotten about it.

“Before I was a cultivator, I would have gotten so angry that I wouldn’t have been able to fall asleep,” she said. Being an introvert, she dared not fight with anyone and often hid her emotions. “This time when my family asked what happened to my rear bumper, I was able to calmly say that someone rear-ended me.” She believes that cultivating has tempered her will.

Mind Becomes Calm

Ms. Wu Min-Chen from Taichung City used to be a public servant. She said that, over the past 24 years of cultivation, her mind has become more serene. “I have something to follow, and the teachings point me in the right direction, so that I can slowly adjust myself.” She said this was the greatest gain in her practice.

Ms. Wu Min-Chen is grateful that cultivating Falun Dafa has made her calmer.

When the persecution of Falun Dafa began in China in 1999, Ms. Wu became curious about the practice because “what the Chinese Communist Party attacks must be good.” In 2001, a former classmate invited her to do the Falun Dafa exercises. She agreed right away.

She used to suffer from a spinal injury, and her back often hurt. Through cultivation, her back pain significantly lessened. However, in her opinion, the frictions between people bothered her more. “In interpersonal conflicts, it all comes down to how you look at your own problems,” she said. Through searching within, she found that her personality improved and her problems were quickly resolved.

Heart at Ease After Knowing the Purpose of Life

Mr. Jiang Wei-Tung became a practitioner two years ago. “My heart became so at ease—like never before—because of the practice,” he said. He learned the purpose of life and how important it is to progress diligently one’s path of cultivation.

Mr. Jiang Wei-Tung is grateful for Falun Dafa’s teachings that made him feel at ease.

His father studied Buddhism, so growing up, he had the wish to elevate to a higher realm. A friend of his gave him a copy of Zhuan Falun and told him that it was “a ladder to a higher realm.” After reading the book, he thought, “Though the book is written in plain language, the principles are very profound.”

As he continued to study the book, he realized that he knew more about Buddhist teachings than his father. He used to be a Catholic, but he realized that “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is the truth.” He said, “We are in this secular world not to have fun, but to cultivate and return to our heavenly home.”

After knowing the purpose of life, he became more at ease. “I am lucky and grateful that I was able to learn Falun Dafa. I hope that I can progress more diligently in my practice so that I won’t disappoint Master Li.”