(Clearwisdom.net) As soon as the Chicago Falun Dafa Conference was over, I used my summer vacation time to return to Manhattan's streets. With practitioners from Canada, Taiwan, and other countries, we continued to clarify the facts to the tourists who came from all over of the world, and to New Yorkers. We showed them that innocent Falun Gong practitioners are being brutally persecuted in mainland China. I had also spent all of my winter vacation on the streets of Manhattan clarifying the facts. They were the most valuable days of my life.
Although I only spent a week clarifying the facts this summer, it felt quite different from my experiences last winter. Therefore, I wrote down some of my encounters and my feelings from the two vacations.
1. People Are Awakening
Last winter, New York was extremely cold, and so some New Yorkers ignored the information flyers that we offered to them as they hurried by. However, after arriving this summer, I was surprised to see that more and more people are taking the truth flyers that we hand out, and most are willing to sign their names to our petition to express their support. Many people also ask us, "What can I do to help stop the persecution?" More than 50% of New Yorkers have already learned the facts. In fact, we have clarified the truth in Manhattan for over a year now.
Once, an Arab-American living in New York very patiently listened to me describe stories about how innocent and kind practitioners have been persecuted only because they didn't want to give up their belief in "Truthfulness-Compassion- Forbearance." After listening, he expressed his sympathy. When I mentioned that he could sign his name on a petition, he said he didn't want to. Still, I sincerely thanked him and told him from my heart, "Even though you didn't sign your name today, as long as you have this kindness towards us, you certainly can be saved." In a while, I actually discovered that he was signing his name to the petition offered by another practitioner. I felt happy in my heart and smiled to myself.
I really feel that after clarifying the facts for over a year on Manhattan's streets, the evil has been eliminated in massive quantities and people have been awakening.
2. Expecting People
When a person chooses to support Falun Dafa, he has been saved. When collecting people's signatures, oftentimes I was quite moved by some of the
things that happened.
Once, when an African American New Yorker visited our Torture Exhibit for the second time, I asked him whether he had heard that Falun Gong practitioners were being persecuted. He replied: "Yes, but I didn't pay too much attention before. I thought that you were against the American government. Several days ago, I learned that it is the Chinese government that is persecuting good people." I told him that the practitioners here on the streets weren't New Yorkers. Some came from counties such as England, Taiwan, Israel, or Japan, and others came from different American states. We all used our own money and our vacations, and group by group, practitioners from different places of the world came to New York. It didn't matter whether it was raining and windy or whether it was cold winter or hot summer. Our purpose, day after day as we stood on the streets, was to tell people that the Chinese Government was cruelly persecuting Falun Gong practitioners in China. We want all people to know about the crimes committed by the Chinese government so that together, we can stop the persecution. He enthusiastically agreed with me and thought that what was occurring in China was not only encroaching on Chinese human rights but also on the basic human rights of people throughout the whole world. Different countries and races should all declare that the persecution must stop. I told him that we would be holding a benefit concert soon. The money raised would be used to rescue children whose parents had been persecuted to death, were still in forced labor camps, or were living on the run to avoid harassment and imprisonment just because they were not willing to give up the practice of Falun Gong. At such young ages, many children have lost their parents and have been left with no one to support them. He immediately wrote down the concert ticket hot-line number.
One time, after a husband and wife signed the petition, I mentioned the orphan rescue concert. He asked, "Is the performance free?" "Yes," I said. Then he said, "This is extremely noble and just behavior, I must do my best to support it." Before he left, he patted my shoulder a of couple times and sincerely said to me, "What you are doing is a significant thing, please keep it up." His inspiring words remained in my heart for a long time.
Another time, when I asked a man if he would sign the petition, he said, "Of course!" Without any hesitation, he signed his name and meanwhile, pulled out his wallet to donate some money. He may have already known about the persecution in China.
Every day, countless people stop and look at our torture re-enactment. Some of them photograph the information boards and some carefully read the details about the persecution. People of different races and different cultures frequently ask the same question: "Why have the good people, who practice "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" suffered such brutal torture?" People living in free countries and breathing free air just can't imagine the situation that exits under the cruel reign of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Ordinary Chinese people have lost their most basic human rights including the right to be good people. I repeatedly exposed to the people passing by me how the evil CCP cruelly rules in China. Even when my throat became hoarse, I couldn't ignore the people who wanted to learn the facts. I also knew that after people learned the truth, they would stand by Falun Dafa without hesitation.
3. The Precious Chinese People
Last winter, when we offered the flyers to mainland Chinese people, most refused to take them. But this summer, the situation noticeably changed.
One day, two Chinese people on bicycles were attracted by the banner, "Falun Dafa is good." Being very curious, they stopped and looked towards us from a distance but did not come over to our torture exhibit. I immediately went over to them. One asked me: "Have you been paid by Falun Gong practitioners to stand there?" I smiled after hearing what he said. I asked him, "If your mother was arrested because she practiced Falun Gong and was tortured to death, as her son, wouldn't you want to appeal for her? You would hope that all people could learn the truth and help you to stop the crimes. Everyone here is a volunteer and a Falun Gong practitioner." Without waiting for me to finish my sentence, he said, "I understand." So I gave both cyclists some Chinese language information flyers, which they happily accepted.
During the first week of clarifying the truth in New York this summer, I found many Chinese were willing to take the truth materials that we offered them. When Chinese people passed by in a hurry, I always caught up with them and handed them some truth materials. Teacher has mentioned over and over that Chinese people are here to attain Falun Dafa. Some of them came from very high levels. However, the majority of Chinese have been deceived by the CCP's slander of Falun Gong and they have negative thoughts about Dafa. They are the ones who urgently need to be saved.
On another day, a young female student stopped in front of our torture exhibit and quietly read the information on the posters. I gave her a VCD and a Chinese booklet containing information about the persecution and the goodness of Falun Gong. She quietly accepted the materials. I asked her to sign the petition, which she did without speaking. I asked if she came from Taiwan. She told me with a smile that she came from mainland China.
4. A Young Fellow Seeking a Righteous Way
After I finished clarifying the facts about the persecution to an African American New Yorker, the young fellow asked me about Falun Gong. I told him that Falun Gong is the highest level qigong that teaches a righteous way and cultivation. He was very excited and wanted to learn the Falun Gong exercises right there. I told him that studying Falun Dafa and practicing the excises in a group were the best way. So I gave him a flyer with the contact information of all of the assistants in the New York area as well as a list of the practice sites. I told him, "Any Falun Dafa practitioner will gladly teach you the exercises for free." He was very happy and thanked me many times.
I met a young Russian tourist. When I told him that during 50 plus years of CCP tyranny, 80 million Chinese people had lost their lives, he said that when Stalin ruled the Soviet Union, 10 million Russians also lost their lives. He completely agreed with me that the communist party is an extremely evil entity. He thought that the CCP did not have much time left. After that, he told me that he practiced one kind of Chinese Qigong, and when I told him some profound principles of Falun Gong, he completely understood them. He said that he was leaving the next day to return to Russia. My intuition told me that he was a person who had a destined relationship with Falun Dafa, so I suggested that he get on the internet, find the Falun Gong practice sites in Moscow and download the Russian version of Zhuan Falun for free. He happily accepted my suggestions.
I will spend my entire summer vacation in Manhattan. Every day, standing on the noisy streets and breathing the exhaust fumes from passing vehicles, we insist on exposing the evil crimes of the Chinese Government cruelly persecuting just and kind people. Because we live frugally, a steamed bun with a little bit of preserved vegetable is our lunch. As more and more people learn the facts and stand by Dafa, what else can be more significant and joyful than saving people's lives?
I will continue to write down some of the true stories and experiences as they occur around me. Although they are only small things, we can see that during the Fa-rectification period, people are awakening.
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