(Minghui.org) Daryle didn't know what she would obtain from the nine-day Falun Dafa workshop held by the Tianti Bookstore in Manhattan, but she did know that the pain in her shoulders was unbearable. To her surprise, the pain was gone after the first day.

“I was able to fall asleep that night. This practice helps me a lot,” she said on September 17, the last day of this month's workshop.

In the last two years, Tianti Bookstore, located on West 30^th St. between 7^th and 8^th Ave. in New York City, has held a nine-day workshop every month, playing video lectures for and teaching exercises to those interested. Each workshop is open to the public, free of charge, and accommodates 15 students.

Students learn the Falun Dafa exercises at the workshop hosted by Tianti Bookstore in Manhattan.

“Positive Energy”

Seventy-year-old Helena learned about the workshop from newspaper ads. “It's the positive energy at the workshop that made me stay here,” she said. “Master Li Hongzhi [the founder of Falun Dafa] talked about getting rid of attachments to material things. That would be a perfect state. That is why I came here.”

The meditation exercise requires sitting with one's legs folded in the double or single lotus position, which is a challenge for beginners. The instructor told students that they can sit in chairs for the first eight days, and sit on the ground on the last day.

However, Helena wanted to give it a try. Although she cannot put her legs in the double lotus position, she endured the pain and sat on the ground from the beginning. Her persistence and spirit impressed the instructor and staff members.

On the sixth day, Helena came to the workshop an hour early. She told the instructor that one of her son's friends was in big trouble. She told him about the workshop over the phone and asked him to write down the title of the book Falun Gong, and the bookstore's website.

“What I can tell you is, this is the best thing I can give you,” she told him.

Predestined Connection

Ptah is a photographer in Manhattan. This was his second time attending the workshop. He said he has been practicing Falun Dafa on his own for almost four years.

“You would not believe it if I tell you how I started practicing,” he said.

A few years ago, a European gentleman he met at work gave him a Falun Dafa flyer and wrote down the falundafa.org website for him. He didn't take it seriously, nor did he check out the website.

A few days later, he had a dream in which he saw that in an ancient society, Master Li Hongzhi was teaching a group of students in kimonos. Master Li also taught him in the dream.

After waking up, he found the flyer and went to the website right away. He later came to the workshop.

Persistence Pays Off

Mari had to overcome a series of obstacles that hindered her coming to the workshop.

She heard about Falun Dafa on a trip to Europe last year, and wanted to practice it. But all kinds of interference made her not able to learn even the first set of exercises.She heard about the workshop at Columbia University and always wanted to attend, but never got a chance until this month.

After listening to the lectures for three days, she had a dream on Saturday morning, in which she calmly and openly talked to her boyfriend about one of his problems that bothers her. She was surprised, because she was not able to do it so calmly before. In the dream, she even heard the Falun Dafa exercise music playing in the background.

When she woke up, she saw that her apartment was flooded due to a broken faucet. The incident made her late to the workshop that day.

Making up missed days is difficult, but her boyfriend encouraged her to go to the bookstore and give it a try. She waited outside until the class was over. The manager was touched by her patience and decided to help her.

The test of her sincerity was not over, however. The next day, she found that the subway station near her apartment was closed, but because of a street fair, no taxis were available nearby. Mari went a few blocks away to get a cab. When she arrived the bookstore, it was exactly the time to start.

After the class, she told the instructor, “I really want to attend this workshop. I've been waiting for a year.”