(Minghui.org) Practitioners held an event in Bucharest’s Alexandru Ioan Cuza Park on July 8, 2023. They demonstrated the exercises, distributed information about Falun Dafa and the persecution of practitioners in China, and answered questions from interested passersby.
Practitioners held an event near the entrance of Alexandru Ioan Cuza Park in Bucharest on July 8, 2023
Romanians said they saw their own traditional cultural values reflected in Falun Dafa's traditional values: Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. They expressed their deep appreciation of the practice and its values, and some even urged practitioners to speak with government leaders to stop the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of practitioners in China.
“The principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance are the main principles that mankind should have”
Maria (first from left) said that Falun Dafa activities should be promoted and supported by the whole world
Maria is 19 years old and has applied to the University of Bucharest as a biochemistry major. After an in-depth conversation with a practitioner, she expressed her admiration for the practice’s three principles, stating that they are necessary for humanity.
“I think these are the main principles that a human being should have,” she said. “(People should) always seek Truth, to have Compassion for everything that moves and everything that doesn’t move, since those also have life, and Tolerance, which often comes from Compassion.”
Upon learning about the persecution of Falun Dafa in China, Maria said that she stands in solidarity with practitioners. “I support the practitioners in China,” she said. “I can only tell them to be careful, to watch out, don’t get caught, pursue their passions, and don’t stop no matter what the government says, no matter what others say. They should keep practicing.”
She especially respected the practitioners’ devotion to their faith despite facing enormous pressure in China, because she said faith is also an essential part of her own life. “Faith helps me in my lowest moments, when I have no hope; when I think it’s all going to end, I actually look up (at the sky) and see that we are infinite,” Maria said.
Maria encouraged Romanian practitioners to continue their activities to reach out to the public. “I think the activities you are doing are wonderful. I think they should be promoted and supported by the whole world, not just a small group of people, because spirituality is in all of us,” she said. “We are all divine beings, we come from somewhere above and we should look at each other as such.”
Constantin Bibescu said that the information made available to the public by Falun Dafa practitioners is very useful
Constantin Bibescu is 81 years old, but his enthusiasm for serving good causes has remained untouched by life’s hardships. When he heard how the CCP persecutes practitioners, he offered to help raise awareness about these atrocities that mainstream media often overlooks.
“We thank (Falun Dafa) for Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance and for an ancient practice for body and mind practiced in more than 100 countries around the world,” Bibescu said. “Communism is very harsh, and we all know what these people are going through. We have been through it too, but not quite like this. We wish the practitioners (success in their) resistance and we support them. Send them our love and compassion.”
Bibescu also thanked the practitioners that participated in the event for the way they carry out their work and for the quality of the information provided and dialogue.
One woman approached the booth out of curiosity about the practice, because she never heard about Falun Dafa before. When she learned about Falun Dafa’s values, she expressed her concern that there is a decline of values like Falun Dafa’s in today’s society. “People have simply lost themselves because of material interests and are no longer concerned with being kind to each other, respecting morality, helping each other,” she said.
The woman said the values of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance are similar to the traditional cultural values of Romania that she lives by.
“I believe in (the practice’s) moral principles and the idea of good, because I know that if you do good, good things will happen to you. I help people because when I was in trouble I was helped, and I will continue to help people,” she said. “I think that’s really the essence of the principles you have here—to be kind to others, to have compassion and to help them unconditionally.”
She also views the CCP’s suppression of Falun Dafa as an attack on these traditional moral values, and was alarmed by the CCP’s transnational efforts to extend the persecution beyond China. She called on practitioners to bring the issue to national leaders so that they could stop the persecution and preserve these moral values.