(Clearwisdom.net) May 13 is World Falun Dafa Day, and practitioners around the world all celebrate this sacred day and send heartfelt greetings wishing Master Li a happy birthday. On May 15, North Carolina practitioners gathered at Duke Garden and celebrated this special occasion with a Falun Gong exercise demonstration, an instrumental performance, and a guitar solo.

Teaching children to fold lotus flowers

Western practitioners singing "Coming for You"

Falun Gong exercise demonstration

According to a practitioner named Mr. Wang, the Jiang regime and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started to persecute Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. To instigate public hatred against Falun Gong, the regime has been spreading all kinds of lies to mislead the public and justify the persecution. The most notorious example is the staged tragedy "The Tiananmen Square Self-Immolation" in which the Chinese police killed one participant at the site while the other participants vanished from public view. To stop the persecution, practitioners have resorted to every peaceful means to appeal to the international community, seeking to clarify the truth and expose the brutal persecution. "Once they learn the truth," Mr. Wang said, "people will make their own conscious choice. The persecution cannot last long once everyone learns the truth."

Ms. Jin just came from Mainland China to visit her relative. She said that the persecution is still ongoing and that she herself was detained and sent to a brainwashing center for further torture for practicing Falun Gong. For the same reason, a neighbor of hers was tortured to death. If not for the international concern and voices of justice that continue to condemn these acts, the persecution would be far more rampant and brutal. Ms. Jin also said that the practice environment here in the west is terrific.

A western practitioner named Patrick sang "Coming for You" in both Chinese and English. Patrick said that the words of this song expressed what was in western practitioners' hearts. When 36 western practitioners from 13 countries went to Tiananmen Square to appeal for Falun Dafa in 2001, for example, they truly went there for the precious Chinese who had been deceived by the Jiang regime and the CCP's propaganda. Just like the lyrics say: