(Clearwisdom.net) For the past two or three months, Falun Gong practitioners have been every corner of Manhattan. They held Anti-Torture Exhibits seven days a week, introduced Falun Dafa on street on weekends and gave mini-parades. They were found in schools, businesses, subways, galleries... Almost everybody in Manhattan has heard about Falun Gong. More and more people have learned about the persecution, and many have signed in support of the anti-persecution movement and even wanted to learn Falun Gong.
Falun Gong has become a hot topic in Manhattan. People asked, "How did the persecution happen?" "What can we do to help?"
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Falun Gong booth in Manhattan
I. "Thank you , Guardian Angels!"
A group of nicely dressed people happened to pass the Falun Gong practitioners distributing flyers at Broadway and 76th Street. An elderly woman in red suit walked over and said sincerely, "Thank you for coming our community to tell us about all this. You have brought us good luck. You are our guardian angels. I see a halo around every one of you."
II. "You Are So Good!"
Many New Yorkers shop on weekends. Practitioners have set up a unique booth at a street market every weekend since August, 2004. Many moving stories have happened there. The following are a couple of them.
Falun Gong practitioners put a lot of thought in decorating their booth of about ten feet by ten feet. An eye-catching banner with Anti-Torture Exhibit pictures was hung high in front of the booth. It said, "This Is Happening in China Now." Many people were shocked to see the pictures of torture victims and stopped to read in detail. On one end of the booth were a TV set, free truth-clarification materials and signature sheets. The other end of the booth was a display of facts of the persecution. Behind the booth was a huge board of pictures with "Falun Dafa Is Good" as the theme.
A truth-clarification video was played continuously. Many people stopped to watch it.
Falun Gong practitioners took turns to play the video, send forth righteous thoughts and demonstrated the five sets of exercises.
A couple of girls of eleven or twelve years old walked over the booth and kept saying, "You are so good!" They took the initiative to sign in support of anti-persecution movement and said they would tell their friends about it. One of the girls said, "I will write to the president and ask him to help stop the persecution." Before they left, they told us they would go to learn Falun Gong at our group exercise time.
III. You Are Lucky!
Next to the Falun Gong booth was a young clothes vendor. He told Falun Gong practitioners a woman had told him he was lucky to be next to Falun Gong practitioners. She said Falun Gong was so good. One time she didn't feel well and kept sneezing, but when she stood next to a group of Falun Gong practitioners doing exercises, she felt very comfortable and stopped sneezing.
IV. "I Can't Leave."
One day, a Falun Gong practitioner was about to leave when it was close to the end of the market. But a group of people went to ask many questions about Falun Gong. They all knew about the persecution of Falun Gong in China. But they were not very clear about what Falun Gong was and why the persecution had happened. A Falun Gong practitioner said later, "I couldn't leave. They asked me so many questions. I was very happy to have the opportunity to answer their questions. It was great!"
V. A Man Learns the Truth
A man read the display boards very carefully. A practitioner went over to talk to him. He said his ancestors were from Iran. He heard about Falun Gong at a Chinese Ambassador's speech, which left him with a negative impression of Falun Gong. He met a few practitioners later in the western U.S. but still didn't quite understand Falun Gong. The practitioner told him about the five-year-long persecution of Falun Gong in China, how it had happened and why practitioners came to New York. The man finally understood. He happily thanked us for our efforts.
Category: April 25 Events
