Some Highlights From the New York City 2002 Experience Sharing Conference and WEF Activities

Written by Practitioners from Toronto

(Clearwisdom Net)

On the afternoon of February 3rd, three of us were handing out flyers along 48th street when we heard the practitioners singing the song "Falun Dafa Hao" behind us. Turning around, we saw two African Americans walking spiritedly in time with the music that was reverberating through the city streets -- "Falun Dafa is Good, Falun Dafa is good, Falun Dafa is the righteous way, the Buddha-light illuminates everywhere."

In the crowded streets around Time Square, Lincoln Center, and The World Trade Center, practitioners with yellow scarves were everywhere. They greeted pedestrians and spread the message of "Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance." The vibrant yellow scarves fluttering in the freezing wind created a beautifully composed landscape in the streets of New York.

Policemen and police vehicles were on sentry at each intersection and important buildings. A fellow practitioner told me she clarified the truth to all the police she met. She said, "Those police officers were standing with nothing to do. You could just talk to them as if they were your relatives. Our responsibility as Falun Dafa Disciples enabled me to clarify the truth to them without hesitation." Most of the policemen accepted the flyers with pleasure.

Falun Dafa practitioners were peacefully demonstrating the exercises opposite the Waldorf Hotel Saturday, February 2 when a larger protest groups began their parade with much noise and commotion. The anticipated chaos by the other protest groups made the policemen very nervous, but the Falun Gong practitioners continued to practice peacefully and sent forth righteous thoughts. The police were touched by the sharp contrast between the clamor and the serenity, and asked a practitioner why we were so peaceful. The practitioner replied, "Because we believe in Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance, all of us know how to do it."

Mnay New York City journalists covered the event. Such a contrast between the clamor and the serenity deeply moved them as well. Many kept taking pictures of the practitioners. New York City's newspapers, TV and radio stations all reported on Falun Gong in a positive way during these days.

The public has learned the great glory of Falun Dafa from the serenity in the clamor, while the practitioners' words and deeds manifested with sacred prestige in the world.

In several days of peaceful appeals in New York City, a thin young girl was holding a banner near The Waldorf Hotel the whole time. A policeman noticed this girl while watching the practitioners there, but he didn't say anything during the first two days. On the third day he couldn't help asking the girl, "Aren't you tired?" wondering what power gave the thin young girl such superb stamina.

In front of the Chinese Consulate General, the practitioners were sitting in meditation in the freezing wind. The cops there also wondered, "Where does your persistent stamina come from?" The practitioners replied, "Falun Dafa, and Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance give us the power."

Through "Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance" people of all ages, various professions, and wide range of races and nationalities have converged into a strong group, another resource for Falun Dafa practitioners' superb stamina and unity.

On February 3, a few practitioners went to the site of the September 11^th tragedy at The World Trade Center.. The separation zone was delineated by a wooden wall, on which many people had written their comments. Among the close and numerous words, the most popular phrase was "God bless America" with a signature below.

The practitioners felt it was their responsibility to leave the message of Falun Dafa here. Lacking a pen, they used a female practitioner's lipstick. Lifted by two fellow practitioners, she wrote "Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance" in Chinese and English on the highest place of the wall. Each Chinese character was as large as a person's head.

Because an elderly practitioner couldn't speak English, her fellow practitioners told her to clarify the truth to the Chinese people that they met, and she did so. Whenever saw a Chinese person, she would go to ask him/her, "Do you know Falun Gong is good?" Some replied, "Falun Gong? Yes, I know it is good." Some others said, "Falun Gong is banned by the Chinese authorities," while some people had a misunderstanding about Falun Dafa. She clarified the truth to them with patience. Some people accepted the flyers, and said goodbye to her with smile.

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