On May 3, 2001, the Falun Dafa Buddha Society presented a grand photo exhibition, "The Journey of Falun Dafa," in downtown Manhattan. This was the first large-scale and comprehensive exhibition showing Falun Dafa's difficult but glorious development over the past nine years, since its first public seminar in May 1992. Ever since the gallery started to prepare for the exhibition, curious passersby asked about its content. Practitioners provided "private tours" and explained the pictures. The passersby often came in with curiosity, and left with Dafa information and the desire to cultivate. And this was just the start. On May 3, the opening ceremony attracted over a hundred people from different backgrounds. During the three-hour ceremony, practitioners explained the photos to the visitors and answered their questions. An artist came in, looked around, and started talking with a practitioner while enjoying the snacks prepared by practitioners. He even asked about the Chinese wine. Then, the topic naturally switched to Falun Dafa. He asked about the persecution of Falun Gong by Jiang Zemin's government. The practitioner answered his questions and introduced facts about cultivation to him. He showed great interest and kept asking how to get books and learn the exercises. After a short while, he jostled through a few visitors, waving the exhibition's introductory material, and came to the practitioner and asked, "'Falun Dafa'. What is 'Dafa'? 'Falun Gong', this I know. 'Falun Dafa', what is 'Dafa'?" He spoke with good pronunciation and a sonorous voice. Several practitioners smiled. At that moment, he only had "Falun Dafa" in his eyes, and from his heart, he only wanted to know "What 'Dafa' is." Practitioners received every visitor with sincerity and compassion. It didn't matter how the visitor was dressed, what kind of social rank they had, or whether they held any misunderstandings. Those who walked in were seen as having a predestined relationship, with a destiny to fulfill. They were lives that we had to try our best to protect. No wonder the bartender told the practitioners that she could feel the energy. Every practitioner was serene, so the people around them became serene as well. A young girl who wanted to learn the exercises got lots of help from practitioners. She felt uncomfortable for causing troubles for others. A practitioner told her, "This is fine. I got lots of help as well when I started to learn the exercises." When the practitioner told her "how Falun Dafa taught me to be a good person," she said, "You are already a model (of being a good person)." Two practitioners demonstrated the exercise in a corner of the exhibition hall. A visitor in front of them followed them to learn almost the entire time. When the artist stepped into the exhibition hall, he saw the largest photo that was hung at the most visible spot. It was the Falun emblem with the three Chinese characters "Truth, Compassion, Forbearance" made by five thousand practitioners from Wuhan City, China. He exclaimed, "Five thousand people. So many people practice. One hundred million people practice. If everybody practiced, what a wonderful world it would be!" A lady from Hong Kong is the gallery owner's friend. In the past, whenever there was a new exhibition, the owner would invite her. But this time she did not receive the invitation. But another friend of hers told her, "You must go see the exhibition." When she saw the pictures of the persecution, she dragged her husband, who was chatting with others, to look with her and told him, "What I told you is true!" Listening to practitioners explaining about the torture method "Dilao," and how the practitioners in Mainland China were treated inhumanely for persisting in their belief, they cried. A computer specialist said, "I am not surprised by the persecution they have encountered. I went to China two years ago and visited Tiananmen Square. I saw a person say something, and then the police jumped him." While discussing the details of the exhibition with the gallery owner, the practitioners came to know that he had been interested in us and had been following the reports regarding Falun Dafa. Having had the gallery for ten years, he is going to move to somewhere else. This is his last month. He felt that being able to present the exhibition on Falun Dafa in his last month made a perfect ending. He half-joked, "Can I not go to China anymore after this exhibition?" After a moment of reflection, he said, "Who cares?" In fact, besides sponsoring the exhibition, he started cultivating recently. All visitors had their favorite pictures. Some liked the innocent children; some liked the character display, "Truth, Compassion, Tolerance," formed by practitioners; some liked the magnificent sight of the group exercises; some liked the practitioners' blending into nature. No matter which picture they liked most, what they liked were all Dafa pictures: the pure hearts of compassion in this chaotic world. Reported by New York practitioners May 5, 2001
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Category: April 25 Events
