Stories of Clarifying the Truth in Manhattan

By Lisa Tao of Washington DC

(Clearwisdom.net) Throughout the last several months of clarifying the truth in Manhattan, many members of the public went from being cold and uncaring to supporting Falun Gong practitioners and condemning the persecution. The following are some very touching stories that I would like to share with everyone.

I don't speak a lot of English. Over the last five years, practitioners have taught me some simple phrases from the banners that allowed me to clarify the truth. At the beginning of August when I went to Manhattan, I saw mountains of people, yet their features were cold and unmoving. They refused to read the display boards and receive our flyers. Seeing them walk away and miss the opportunity, I began to become very anxious and a sentence of English flew right out of my mouth, "Falun Gong is being persecuted in China by Jiang, please help stop the persecution." Some people turned around and read my yellow T-shirt, which says "Falun Dafa, Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance." My partner, who was from Japan, held her display board up high and people began to slow down to read it and take flyers from us.

From then on, this phrase followed me throughout Manhattan. Practitioners who've clarified the truth in Washington DC for years have also come to Manhattan. At first we always clarified the truth to the Chinese people, though now we've started to clarify the truth to Westerners. Western practitioners taught us English in the metro. They would shout out a phrase and we would repeat it, like "Help stop the persecution of Falun Gong in China," again and again. The whole boxcar of people would hear it.

Once, we pointed to the English words on the display board and asked a passenger to teach us. After reading it several times he said, "Yes I do! I support Falun Gong."

There was an older woman who was clarifying the truth in the subway station. She wasn't able to speak very much English, and her accent was heavy, though every word she spoke came deep from within her heart. When a woman in her twenties stopped to read the flyers, she took over a stack and started to talk to the people coming in and out of the metro, telling everyone about Falun Gong.

There was one time when we met a Caucasian couple, the older man was very proud and said that they lived in China and Hong Kong for many years. When we talked about Falun Gong, he said in a mocking voice, "In China you are illegal." So then I told him, "The Chinese Communists violated human rights, and refused to give China's citizen freedom of belief. Falun Gong has received respect and support from over 60 countries around the world, several hundred thousand people in Taiwan practice Falun Gong, and it is also legal in Hong Kong..." He then interrupted me and said, "It is also very difficult for you in Hong Kong." I was undaunted, and calmly I answered him, "That is because the Communist Party extended its persecution to Hong Kong, in an attempt to destroy Hong Kong's democracy and freedom." I then asked him, "Sir, did you know that last year on July 1^st there were 500,000 people parading through Hong Kong to protest Article 23, and that number was reported even by the Chinese government!" His expression suddenly took a turn for the better, and smiling he said, "They said 500,000, so it must be more than that, one million maybe, perhaps more."

We all laughed, and at this point he warmed up to us. Our ensuing conversation was very pleasant. At the end they shook hands with us like they were bidding good-bye to old friends, and the man's eyes now showed trust and respect towards us. After taking leave of them, I turned around and a fellow practitioner asked me, "Since when was your English so good? When did you learn it?" I didn't know, and he then asked, "How did you clarify the truth to him? How did you change his mind so fast?" I thought about it, but realized that I'd forgotten what I just told him, but my one wish was clear, and that was to rectify the Fa and save sentient beings.

We often meet Western people in Manhattan who greeted us in Chinese, so we then taught them how to say, "Falun Dafa is good!"

Many Westerners came to us and said in both Chinese and English that "Falun Dafa is Good!" and their voices echoed throughout Manhattan. It eliminated a great amount of evil in other dimensions.

On 51^st Street there was a teenager passing by. After he saw the torture exhibit and the pictures of Western practitioners who went to the Tiananmen Square, he cried and said, "I want to go to Tiananmen too, and tell the citizens of China that Falun Dafa is good."

The days of clarifying the truth in Manhattan go by very quickly. In a blink of an eye it has already been three months since our group arrived here. It's not just the practitioners who clarify the truth in Manhattan, there are also locals who have learned the truth out there helping us. When I was on the metro, I gave a truth clarifying VCD to the person sitting next to me, and others began to ask for them too. Soon all the VCDs we brought with us ran out, and there was still a man who said to us, "Please give me a VCD, I'll be leaving on 34^th street." After searching around in all our bags we found another one and gave it to him. He thanked us repeatedly and left. On the metro there are still people waiting for us to give them some, so we had to tell them, "Sorry, it's all out, but you can go ask for one when you see people wearing yellow T-shirts on the streets." They laughed and said yes, there are indeed practitioners all over Manhattan.

On 5^th Avenue, a pastor took the flyers and said, "Yes, I've heard of this situation, though I cannot understand why Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance is persecuted." I said, "Sir, have you ever thought about why over 2000 years ago, the Roman Emperor Nero persecuted Christianity? Why did Hitler murder Jews? Why did the terrorists attack the Twin Towers to kill so many peaceful citizens? What are the reasons for these incidents? You might remember the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Massacre of the young students..." Before I was able to finish my statement the pastor said that, "It is because they are evil that they persecuted innocent people. They never have a reason. The Chinese communists persecute both Falun Gong and Christianity. My church and I will pray for the Falun Gong practitioners, the Christians and all people that are being persecuted, until they have all obtained their freedom."

On Wall Street, there was a Chinese person who told us, "I support Falun Gong, with no strings attached, no matter where I am and in whatever environment. You will always have my support, when I meet people from China, I always tell them that I deeply respect Falun Gong practitioners' courage in holding out against this brutal persecution and standing steadfast in their belief. Falun Gong will be the hope for the Chinese people in the future." He also said, "I know Falun Gong does not participate in politics, as long as you hold out, the communists will go."

After the memorial for September 11, there were a lot of people crowding in front of the ruins. There was a blonde girl who was no more than 20 years old. She shouted to the crowd, "I support Falun Gong 100 percent!"

On Park Avenue, a man in his forties told us, "I'm currently writing a book about Falun Gong, I lived a long time in Xi'an City of China, and I have a friend who is being jailed in Beijing right now because he practiced Falun Gong."

Once when I was on the metro, I passed out all my materials except for a bookmark, which I gave to a Westerner sitting next to me. He was very happy to receive it and read the words "Falun Dafa is Good" and "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance" over and over again. When I started to talk to him, he began to tell me many stories he knew about Falun Gong, and showed his strong support towards Falun Gong practitioners.

One day on Wall Street a gentleman walked up to us and said respectfully, "Falun Dafa is good" and then said a few other sentences supporting Dafa. What he said exactly I did not understand, but I knew that the comment was positive by his expression. I could tell that he weighed his words carefully before saying them. In the end he said, "I've told Clinton and Kerry about Falun Gong."

One time on the subway a Western lady did not take the flyers that we offered her. So the practitioner sitting next to her thought that if she did not want to take the materials, I should talk to her. The minute she said Falun Gong, the lady took the flyer and said, "Yes, in China they are being persecuted, and many people have died. The communists are horrible, they will not even let seniors and children go. I've seen the exhibits done by Falun Gong practitioners on the street, I was so very sad to see it."

The people in Manhattan are finally accepting the truth. Not only do the Westerners clarify the truth to other Westerners, they also spread the news to Chinese people. Once when I was acting as a Chinese police officer at an anti-torture exhibit, I was surrounded by a group of teenagers and was unable to move. The police finally came to untangle everyone, and I was able to clarify the truth to everyone.

In the streets, buildings, metros, offices and stores, there are Falun Gong practitioners everywhere clarifying the truth. Many people who understood the truth cried and condemned the persecution . Many people who understood the truth showed their respect by bowing and or making the heshi gesture.

November 21^st 2004

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/11/30/90311.html

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