Recently, many western practitioners have become involved in truth clarification activities in New York's Chinatown, and the effect over the past several months has been very good.

After an incident in New York City's Chinatown on June 23rd of this year in which Liang Guanjun (leader of the United Federation of the New York Chinese Associations) and his cohorts beat Falun Gong practitioners who were clarifying the truth outside a restaurant where an outgoing Chinese diplomat was dining, there was much discussion among practitioners regarding how to improve the environment in Chinatown. A few western practitioners decided to dedicate their Sundays to truth-clarification activities in Chinatown. They created a new practice site in a popular Chinatown park that is frequented by a large group of male Chinese workers who in the past have at times been hostile towards Dafa practitioners. After practicing the Falun Dafa exercises, the practitioners eat lunch in various local Chinese restaurants. Finally, they spend three to four hours at a busy Chinatown plaza where they display poster boards and hand out flyers that clarify the facts about the persecution of Falun Gong.

I think this activity is very important. There are many Chinese people in that area around the Confucius plaza. I participated a couple of weekends ago and found that our presence there was well noted by the people passing by. I think it is important especially for westerners to try to attend because it shows Chinese people that westerners enjoy practicing Falun Gong and that it is well supported in this country. I hope more westerners can take a couple of hours out and stop by.

I felt that the events today in Chinatown were very righteous and they are clearing away the poison from a large number of Chinese people. It seems that every week they have a stronger impact and as a result more and more people are awakening.

This past Sunday, we practiced the exercises in Chinatown. We were among a group of about 12 practitioners. The same group of Chinese men 3 years ago who used to act aggressively towards Falun Gong practitioners were just silently looking at us. One of them came up after we finished the exercises and commented that the minds of his fellow Chinese men were too corrupted by Communism, they were hopeless, but the practice was very good and if more Americans can learn it, this country would be an even better place.

Our activity in Chinatown last Sunday attracted many sentient beings:

Thousands of Chinese walked by and saw us doing the exercises. A few times we were surrounded by big groups of people who listened to us clarify the truth or just read the many signs we put up (I wish I had a camera). One practitioner very kindly and patiently spoke to one deceived person for hours until his thinking finally turned around. A Chinese practitioner who was persecuted in China often had groups of Chinese around her listening to her story.

People in Chinatown observe us very closely. Don't miss this precious opportunity to show the mighty virtue and kindness of a Dafa disciple.

I just wanted to share with everyone a short story from this weekend. I was fortunate enough to make it to the Chinatown practice site this Sunday morning at 10am. When I first got there I could feel the pressure and intensity immediately. When I arrived there were only two other practitioners, but there must have been about 150 Chinese people waiting around in the park, hanging out and talking. They were all standing in a circle as one big group. They were standing right in the place where we usually practice. You could feel that they were all looking at us, seeing who we are and what we were going to do, as if to test us in some way to see if we would leave if they took the place where we usually practice.

Finally another practitioner arrived and we decided to just move over a little from where we usually practice and start practicing the exercises. At about halfway through the standing exercises some practitioners arrived to photograph us while we were practicing and interview one or two of us. Immediately some of the Chinese people standing around us started yelling at us and the practitioner taking the pictures. The scene became very intense, with several of them yelling and one practitioner trying to reason with them, and clarify the truth about what we were doing. After the shouting went on for several minutes it was around 11am, so we all decided to send forth righteous thoughts. During the time we started sending righteous thoughts the situation immediately changed. It became very quiet and still in the park. It was as if the old forces were trying to cause interference but as soon as they saw us all raise our palms they ran as fast as they could. It was pretty amazing to see just how powerful our righteous thoughts can be.

After we sent righteous thoughts I had to make a phone call so I stood away from the practitioners for a while. While I was making the phone call I watched the other practitioners stand back up and begin the fourth standing exercise. While I was watching I saw several Chinese people who were walking by stop and stare at the practitioners in amazement. They literally could not look away...so many people were walking by and so many of them stopped and stared, as if they had never seen practitioners practicing before. I actually couldn't believe it. After four years of us clarifying the truth, people are still in shock when they see us practicing. It reminded me how important our practice sites are, especially in Chinatown. It also reminded me how many more people there are left for us to reach. If people there still can't believe that there are practitioners here, then we still have quite a lot of work to do.

I really encourage as many practitioners as possible to go to Chinatown and practice if they have the time. I think the larger our group is the more powerful the effect and the more powerful our energy field is.

I just wanted to share with everyone my experience and understandings. Please feel free to share your understandings with me and clarify anything that may be incorrect.

I've gone to the Chinatown practice site for a few months now, and it has struck me that when we have a larger practice group more attempts at interference by the crowd appear. When it's been only 2 or 3 of us, the crowd seems less inclined to bother us. However, they are no less fascinated by our practice. I might add that the type of interference is that of talking, laughing, noise making in general; it's not physical interference. Of course, if I understood what they were saying, that might be a test for me. Also, I've heard from a couple of newer practitioners who came to Chinatown that they felt better after coming because they were able to overcome their fear about being there.

We have also drawn the same type of intense interest at Confucius Plaza, where we pass out truth-clarifying materials and have posters of the persecution on display. Practitioners also demonstrate the exercises in shorter form. It seems to me that the intense scrutiny reflects the crowd's interest in both the practice itself and their interest in Westerners practicing the exercises. And they are very attracted by the strong righteous field we form. Sometimes I think they are looking for deviations, for flaws in our character or behavior. When they find none, it only intensifies their interest. It builds momentum, propelling them to the next step, that of learning more about Dafa and the persecution. More and more of them are reading the posters and taking the materials. It is very heartwarming to see their interest growing as they take baby steps towards awakening. I think people are realizing that the interference directed towards Dafa is nothing more than a "paper tiger".

For the past 2 weekends, I've had the pleasure of working with practitioners involved with the film project in Chinatown. They recently moved their venue from a park to a school auditorium. The environment with the group is also very strong and righteous. There are many things to be done with the preparation and set up involved to show the films. They added a new element to the film shows yesterday when they introduced a raffle - all done to build stronger and more personal relationships with the Chinatown audience. And the response has been very good. Dafa documentaries are shown during intermission. Then, as the audience leaves, they take materials from a table set up in the school lobby.

I hope that you take the opportunity to attend these activities when you can, if for no other reason than to experience first hand the wonderful things happening in Chinatown. There is clearly more work to be done, but the ball is in motion and the momentum is growing.

If I have said anything incorrect, please let me know.

Posting date: 12/25/2003
Original article date: 12/24/2003
Category: Practitioners' Insights

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