(Clearwisdom.net)
I am one of many practitioners from ten different countries who, with today's peaceful protest, wish to pass judgment on the Chinese authorities for their treatment of Falun Gong practitioners. All participants are friends who had agreed among themselves to the following: With our appearance [in Beijing], to bring hope to those fellow practitioners who have been accused, tortured and humiliated; who have been subjected to evil actions; and to encourage fellow practitioners to never give up their belief in Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance.
Society's biggest legacy is its virtue, this natural material for peace and human happiness. It is an inheritance that must not be neglected or suppressed.
Falun Gong is the purest and most upright of these movements in the world today, an opinion that I am confident to express, after having intensively learned and practiced this system for four-and-a-half years.
Many journalists have not yet grasped the meaning of Falun Gong. Some "experts" in matters of religious study, who are attempting to integrate Falun Gong into one of several historical Chinese systems, have not yet read Zhuan Falun calmly and without prejudice. They speak of "sects" and politics, and completely misunderstand the inner meaning. They therefore publicly debate and insult [Falun Gong], again and again. A pity!
Other journalists have delved into Falun Gong's background and gained insights into practitioners' attitudes toward life and have then pronounced responsible but critical comments. They wrote from their prior misunderstandings of the bloody persecution against practitioners and at the same time expressed their admiration for Falun Gong practitioners.
I hope that with this act [at Tiananmen Square] practitioners again can peacefully and calmly proclaim and express the world's intent to stop the persecution of Falun Gong in China. I personally appeal to the Chinese government to finally end this senseless murdering and persecution. I also want to again emphatically state that all propaganda material broadcast against Falun Gong is irresponsible and concocted, something that becomes obvious under scrutiny.
Falun Gong allowed me to become acquainted with many highly moral, high-caliber men and women and their most charming children. It was Falun Gong that led me to the elite Chinese Language Studies program at Johann Wolfgang von Goethe University in Frankfurt. It was Falun Gong that transformed me into a calm, compassionate young man who has never been sick in the past 4-1/2 years. It was Falun Gong that made me into a responsible and prudent manager in the company where I have worked the past ten years. Please understand, therefore, that I wish to protect this "precious pearl of the Universe," until its purity and innocence is once more recognized. How can I sanction and watch any longer the deeds of the Chinese government, when 312 practitioners have already died [due to government-ordered circumstances], when uncounted numbers have been arrested, and thousands physically and psychologically tormented in forced labor camps?
It is now clear to me that the Chinese government is willing to use beatings, brutality and force even against us. Because Falun Gong gave me a new life, I am prepared to protect Falun Gong with my life, although I hope that it won't come to that. The persecution, however, has escalated to such an extent at the moment, that anything these brutal people can think of is possible.
Finally, I hope that news of this appeal will reach people around the world in an unedited and unadulterated manner. Wake up, protect the good and condemn the evil, look into your hearts and into the hearts of those where the indescribable brightness of Truth, Compassion and Forbearance is reflected!
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A Poem by Peter:
When Buddhas Smile...
A boat in the river, filled with stock market shares, computers, prescription
pills, cell phones and sick people;
At the shore a Buddha, in human form, full of virtue, smiling
Those in the boat are too busy; put down the cell phone; stock market shares fall; medicine no longer works; too busy
Again the smiling glance of the Buddha, there for them; but they don't have time.
Down the river, but where?
Where is Buddha, where's his smile?
It seems tree tops are close ahead; fixed gaze
Then recognition -- tree tops far away, waterfall up ahead, return impossible
Who now thinks of stock market shares, computers, prescription pills in this plunge downward?
Up top the Buddha, shedding a tear, mixing with the falling water, again unnoticed.
Peter Recknagel, November 15, 2001
Category: Journeys of Cultivation
