Ms. Svensson was already there. “I had read about the tortures and sufferings Chinese practitioners were enduring, and I just cried.
The Chinese media started to send false information about Falun Gong from China, and the Western media from Beijing had followed suit.”
Ms. Svensson had decided to go to China to talk with the Western media there.
Spiritual practice was taught in 1995 in Gothenburg, Sweden
By Lilly Wang
Epoch Times staff
A group of Swedish practitioners during visit to Jietaisi temple outside Beijing in November 1996, including Lei Wang (third from right on first row), Sven Olausson (middle of the back row, dressed in blue and purple), Pirjo Svensson (in the middle on the third row, with red scarf), and Anne Hakosalo (dressed in red on second row). (Courtesy Pirjo Svensson)
GOTHENBURG, Sweden—During a 1994 visit back to China, Ms. Lei Wang of Gothenburg, Sweden, saw many people sitting together in a park and meditating.
“I was so attracted that I sat together with them. The music was wonderful. That was the most peaceful experience I had ever had,” Ms. Lei said.
The group she sat with that day was made up of Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) practitioners. She learned that Mr. Li Hongzhi—the teacher of the spiritual practice, given the respectful title of “Master” by his students—would offer a ten day seminar at Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province. Ms. Lei got a ticket for it.
In 1995, Lei visited Beijing and attended a meeting with Master Li. During that meeting, he mentioned that Falun Dafa would soon begin spreading from China to the West. “At that moment, the Falun Gong Association in Sweden was established in my mind,” Lei said.
An invitation was issued and accepted. On April 6, Mr. Li came to Sweden. He would give introductory sessions in four cities and a seven-day seminar in Gothenburg, Sweden’s second largest city.
Gothenburg Course
The first person to enroll in the Gothenburg class was Ms. Pirjo Svensson, a registered nurse.
“I started sleeping well, like a baby, my body was renewed, and my backache disappeared,” Ms. Svensson said. “And every time I practiced I felt my soul was smiling inside. Dafa cleansed and healed my heart and body. I started forgiving people who had hurt me. That week was the happiest time in my life. I could feel an incredible energy.”
The last person to show up for the Gothenburg class was Mr. Sven Olausson. A technician at a power plant, he was working the late shift. “During the coffee break, I suddenly felt that I must attend the session,” Mr. Olausson said. “I took a leave and hurried to the class.”
At the age of 13, Mr. Olausson had lost his mother, and from the age of 15 he had lived on his own. He was troubled by questions about the meaning of life.
Arriving at the session, Mr. Olausson sat in the back of the room. Master Li “was looking at me with a smile as if he knew what I had in mind.
“He spoke clearly and purely in a way that I had never heard before. He was incredibly straightforward in his speech. That night I slept very well.”
Ms. Bolette Ebertz is a social worker who was adopted from Korea. She lived a comfortable life, but felt something was missing. She spent much money and time searching for a teaching, but nothing felt right.
During the class, she was quite clear she had found what she had been waiting for.
“We could ask any questions and Master would compassionately answer all of them. When we learned the exercises, he went around correcting our movements. I felt how master adjusted my exercise in the gentlest way imaginable. It was a very special time.”
“I felt like I was coming home,” Ms. Ebertz said. She stopped smoking and drinking and said she started to grasp the meaning of life and existence.
At a rather young age, Anne Hakosalo became interested in Chinese acupuncture, herbal teas, and the spiritual aspects of Chinese culture. After attending the Gothenburg seminar, “My knee injury and chronic headaches disappeared. It also changed my view of life tremendously.”
China and Persecution
Altogether, 120 people attended the Gothenburg seminar. Afterwards, a group of them began making annual trips to China.
Lei Wang was one of the organizers of the Falun Gong class in Sweden in 1995 (Zhihe Li/The Epoch Times)
“The journeys to China were so precious, because they helped us to move forward faster in cultivation,” Ms. Svensson said. “They were so friendly and compassionate. I remember it was very difficult to sit in double lotus, but in Beijing I was able to do it. I was so grateful.”
After the Chinese regime began persecuting Falun Gong in July, 1999, the character of the visits to China changed.
Ms. Hakosalo was in China on scholarship at the time. In late October she got a call from a friend who asked her to go to Beijing for an urgent matter.
“I understood it was something important,” Ms. Hakosalo said. “I was actually feeling ill and freezing but I just packed up and headed for the capital. When I arrived, I was taken to a hotel where I met some other practitioners from different parts of China. I was told then we were going to hold a press conference to expose the truth of the persecution.”
Ms. Svensson was already there. “I had read about the tortures and sufferings Chinese practitioners were enduring, and I just cried. The Chinese media started to send false information about Falun Gong from China, and the Western media from Beijing had followed suit.”
Ms. Svensson had decided to go to China to talk with the Western media there.
“Reporters from several international media came,” Ms. Hakosalo said. “We told the journalists what Falun Gong was, the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, and the mistreatment in the labor camps and detention centers. After the press conference, we left the hotel quickly in different directions.”
Back in Sweden, Ms. Hakosalo read about the death of Ms. Ding Yan who was tortured to death because of her role in helping organize the press conference. Ms. Ding had given Ms. Hakosalo a nice haircut before the conference.
Both Ms. Hakosalo and Ms. Svensson returned to China one more time.
On Nov. 20, 2001, they were part of a group of 36 Western practitioners who gathered in Tiananmen Square in Beijing to protest the persecution of Falun Dafa.
“We wanted to stop the persecution and stand up for the Chinese practitioners,” Ms. Svensson said. “That was one of the best and most righteous things I have ever done.”
“I wanted to tell the world the truth of Falun Dafa, to tell my fellow practitioners in China, and to tell the Chinese regime to stop the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners,” Ms. Hakosalo said.
“When you receive Dafa as a person, you get a new life, a new body and a new future,” Ms. Svensson said. “We become strong inside and upright in the heart, we care more and more about other people and drop selfishness. Dafa is a great gift to us and we bring that gift to other people.”
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