(Clearwisdom.net) May 13 was the World Falun Dafa Day and the birthday of Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa. More than one hundred Falun Gong practitioners in south California gathered at Santa Monica Pier and celebrated this special day with group exercise and art performance.

Santa Monica Pier is a famous tourist spot. Falun Gong practitioners' meditation to soothing music brought a peaceful atmosphere to the busy pier. 

Falun Gong practitioners practitioners do exercises in a group at Santa Monica Pier.

Many people are fascinated with Falun Gong and learn it on the spot.

Many tourists and passersby were attracted to the group exercise. Some leaned the exercises on the spot. One woman said, “They look at ease and pure-minded. Everyone should spend some time to take a look, to treat themselves fairly. No matter what cultural background they have, they all need to learn how to respond to their bodies. The quickest way is to do meditation.” She wants to encourage her friends to practice as well. She can't understand why such a good practice is persecuted in China, where it originated from. She said, “There is freedom to practice in the States. People in every nation should have the right to practice.”

Female Solo

Falun Gong practitioners gave various performance for the crowd after their group exercise. Marshal Arts Master Li Youpu has been cultivating Falun Gong for more than ten years. He gave a Baguazhang performance in celebration of Master Li Hongzhi's birthday and won warm applause. Youpu encourages people not to be afraid of the evildoers. “It is pathetic to be afraid of the wicked and bully the kind. People should protect the kind and stop the wicked.”

Falun Gong practitioners sang a chorus of “Ode to Master's Grace” to express their gratitude to Master Li Hongzhi. Western practitioners who don't speak Chinese did their best to follow the rhythm. Dr. Donald Churchill was one of them. About ten years ago, Dr. Churchill lived in New Jersey. It was the tough time in his life. He felt void spiritually and drank excessively. One day, he went to church and prayed from the bottom of his heart for something that would change his life and get rid of his pain. On the same evening, his Chinese landlord introduced Falun Gong to him. For two nights in a row, he had the same dream which encouraged him to pursue Falun Gong. He found a Chinese couple two days later who taught him the Falun Gong exercises. He said, “I used to have high blood pressure and arythmia. I was borderline diabetic. I also had learning disability and agoraphobia. Three months after I started practicing Falun Gong, I found my heart no longer raced as before. My blood pressure became normal for the first time. I trashed all my high blood pressure medicine.”

Many Falun Gong practitioners have experienced benefits from Falun Dafa. To express their gratitude, they took the opportunity of the World Falun Dafa Day to express their gratitude to Master and introduce Falun Gong to more people.