(Minghui.org) On Sunday, May 11, 2025, amidst melodious music and a gentle breeze, Falun Dafa practitioners in Los Angeles, adorned in yellow shirts, gathered at the world-renowned tourist destination of Santa Monica Beach. They performed the Falun Dafa exercises and held celebratory activities to mark World Falun Dafa Day.

This year, May 13th signifies the 33rd anniversary of Falun Dafa’s public introduction and the 26th World Falun Dafa Day. It also marks the birthday of Falun Dafa’s revered founder, Master Li Hongzhi. On this day, practitioners transformed their heartfelt gratitude and blessings in unison: “Los Angeles Dafa disciples respectfully wish Master a happy birthday!”

Falun Dafa practitioners in Los Angeles held a series of activities at Santa Monica Beach.

Falun Dafa practitioners demonstrate traditional martial arts.

Falun Dafa practitioners perform traditional drumming.

Doctor: Thank You, Master, for Your Guidance

Dana Churchill, a Falun Dafa practitioner and doctor in Los Angeles, expressed his heartfelt wishes: “Thank you, Master, for guiding us. Today, we celebrate World Falun Dafa Day in Santa Monica, showcasing the true demeanor of Dafa practitioners to tourists from around the world. My gratitude to Master is beyond words.”

Dana Churchill celebrates the 26th World Falun Dafa Day in Los Angeles.

“I used to be very arrogant, thinking I had experienced the best things in the world: I could speak four languages; I lived in France and even planned to open a hotel on the famous French Riviera; I had been to places many people hadn’t; and I drank the most expensive wines... But where would all that lead me? It only left me feeling empty inside,” Churchill stated. He added that after he began practicing Falun Dafa in 2000, he experienced physical and mental benefits, and the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance permeated his life, making everything beautiful.

In 2000, when Churchill’s landlord introduced him to the Falun Dafa book Zhuan Falun, he quickly decided, “This is the path I want to take.” Before that, Churchill suffered from severe high blood pressure, which caused splitting headaches whenever it flared up. “I had high blood pressure from a very young age, which caused me great suffering. By the time I was around thirty, I had sought medical help to no avail. Medication didn’t work, and I tried various methods like taking vitamins and minerals, but nothing helped.”

However, about two to three months after Churchill began to practice Falun Dafa, he recalled, “My blood pressure returned to normal, something I had never experienced in my life. I felt it was a miracle. In any case, Falun Gong changed my life, allowing me to return to medical school and embark on a career in medicine. So, it is a very powerful cultivation practice.”

What amazed him even more was that since practicing, the irritable and world-weary person he used to be had disappeared, and he felt a profound sense of peace.

“Everything Master Says is Being Fulfilled”

Li Youfu, president of the Falun Dafa Association of the American Southwest, said, “I had been earnestly searching for a great Way that could save people, and in 1996, I finally found it.” Li Youfu has practiced Falun Dafa for nearly thirty years, but the excitement, gratitude, and sense of wonder he felt when he first started practicing remains as fresh as ever: “I just felt that everything Master did was ordinary, and everything he said was plain, but when these words were realized, they shocked the world.”

Li Youfu at World Falun Dafa Day.

He recalled that he had the privilege of hearing some of Master’s words firsthand, and they were all coming true. “Everything Master says is in the process of being fulfilled.”

He gave an example: “In the beginning, when there were only a few people practicing Falun Gong in Los Angeles, I had the opportunity to ask Master, ‘When will more people in America know about Falun Gong? When will they know about Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and practice Dafa?’ Master said something to the effect of, ‘In the future, the whole world will know.’ Twenty-nine years later, the whole world knows about Falun Dafa and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.”

Veteran Pro-Democracy Activist: Society Needs Falun Gong

On Sunday afternoon, Falun Dafa practitioners in Los Angeles erected a temporary stage by the sea and celebrated the occasion with song and dance performances, attracting tourists from all over the world to stop and watch.

Mr. Zhu Yufu, one of the founding members of the China Democracy Party, also came to the scene to express his support for Falun Dafa practitioners. Based on his personal experience, he believes that Falun Gong upholds China’s traditional culture. “The Falun Gong [practitioners] I know are truly kind. I have personally seen Falun Gong practitioners uphold the principle of peace and remain steadfast.

“A normal society cannot lack groups like Falun Gong who cherish goodness, hold ideals, and follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to maintain it,” Zhu Yufu stated. He believes that if everyone could follow the universal values of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, it would bring positive influences and “rebuild the order of this society.”

He added, “The ethical standards of current society have been utterly ruined. Society needs Falun Gong; especially a society like China that has experienced so much suffering, it needs a healthy attitude—an attitude of sincerity, kindness, and tolerance—to rebuild social order.”

Finally, Zhu Yufu noted that May 13th is also the birthday of Falun Dafa’s founder, Master Li Hongzhi. “I wish him a happy birthday!”