November 16-18, 2001
This was the 4th time Falun Gong took part in the yearly "Alternative Fair" (an esoteric fair for health and spiritual growth) in Oslo, which is the biggest one in Europe. This year was very different from the past.
In other years, between Friday and Sunday, we used to distribute only 700 flyers. But this year was completely different. Many people, when passing by our stand and hearing us say "Falun Gong Information," stopped, took a flyer or asked questions, such as "Oh, Falun Gong! I have heard about it. Can I get a flyer?" This year we distributed nearly 3,000 flyers!
Some weeks before the fair, Norwegian practitioners published a two-page article about Falun Gong in the most important Norwegian alternative magazine, a publication containing lots of alternative, esoteric and new-age articles, which is read by many spiritually open-minded people in Norway. It just so happened that the publishers printed 30,000 copies of this issue instead of the usual 15,000! Many people read it and were very positive about Falun Gong.
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Dafa reaches peoples' hearts
A young couple stopped and talked with us for a while. When they heard that Falun Gong is completely free and that we use our own money to print flyers without asking for any donations because we do all this completely from our own wish to let other people have a chance to cultivate, they told me, "You are the only ones at this place who are genuine."
A middle-aged lady told us, "I have been in Beijing and have seen Falun Gong practitioners arrested! It is really horrible!" She told us that she was soon traveling to China again. She got different Falun Gong information material from us, which she will take to China to clarify the truth to the Chinese people.
Another middle-aged woman was deeply touched by Falun Gong and told us that she had waited for this her whole life. Now she knew that she had finally found what she had been looking for.
Many people bought the books and videotapes. A woman called us some days later and told us that instead of an "introduction" video, the video she bought was an SOS-video, which had been accidentally placed into an introduction video-case. She wanted to get the real introduction video, but also three more SOS-videos. "This issue is so important that we need to inform the world about it!" she said to a practitioner.
A man from the stand opposite to ours asked a practitioner, "Why are your flyers getting distributed so much faster than mine? People take your flyers but not mine. Is it because yours are a nicer color?" The practitioner replied, "I think they take them because most people recognize "Truthfulness -Benevolence-Tolerance" from their heart. The neighboring man: "Yes, there you are right. People understand that they are missing something in their lives; they are longing for something." Practitioner:"Truthfulness-Benevolence-Tolerance are universal principles. One feels satisfied if one follows those and that's the best a human being can get." Man: "I will come to the exercise site. I have a strong desire to try it. That seems very interesting." Practitioner: "Welcome! We are looking forward to seeing you!" Since the Monday after the fair he has been coming to our exercise site.
Another neighboring stand was that of "parapsychologists." They were always watching us. One of them came over to a practitioner and asked how it could be possible to hold the arms so quiet, without moving a little bit for such a long time as we were doing the fifth exercise. He found it really impossible to do! After talking with the practitioner he got very interested in Falun Gong and said that he wanted to read the introductory book.
A small girl passed our stand many times. She was looking at Master on the TV and said to her mother that she liked the exercises very well and wanted to learn them. Other children were also looking at Master on the TV introduction video and found it so nice to watch that they didn't want to leave our stand.
When people got the Falun Gong flyers, they were smiling broadly and a lot of them said, "Thank you very much, I will read it." Some people first refused to take a flyer, but then they stopped only after taking a few steps because they changed their minds suddenly and asked us for a flyer.
A very old lady bought the books and the introduction video, but then she suddenly asked a practitioner to show her the exercises at our stand. She wanted to learn them right away.
We also held lectures all three days during the fair. Around 70 people attended the lectures. They were touched by Falun Gong and the serene atmosphere in the room. Many of them wanted to learn more. One lady believed Falun Gong could help improve relationships at work. She invited us to lecture for a group of employees at a hospital.
Two weeks after the fair (on November 30th, 2001 and December 1st, 2001), we held an introductory course over two days and around 25 people learned the Falun Gong exercises. After the fair and the introductory course, we are now completely out of materials-- books, videotapes and exercise music.
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Category: Parades & Other Community Events
