Falun Gong Invited for the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Queens

March 5th, 2000 in Queens, New York. Among the well-decked parading columns in the celebration of the Irish St. Patrick's Day stood out a Falun Gong group with a soaring model of the book "Zhuan Falun". The big banners of "Falun Dafa" and "Zhen-Shan-Ren (Truthfulness - Benevolence - Forbearance) were also particularly striking. To the solemnly compassionate yet appealing Falun Gong music of Pu-Do (Salvaltion to All) and Gi-Shi (Helping the World), the practitioners paraded with serenity, which won heart-felt applauses from the spectators.

How did the Chinese Falun Gong group get into this Irish parade? It all started with the debut of the group in the Chinese New Year Parade in Queens earlier of the year which had left a very favorable impression on many people, including some of Irish descendent who since then took the group to their hearts. Later, the St. Patrick's Parade planning committee sent out a warm invitation to the local Falun Gong group. It was accepted with all readiness; thus, some Dafa practitioners in New York and New Jersey came to celebrate the Irish holiday-in their typical way.

In the audience, some were watching the Falun Gong practitioners doing demonstration exercises in the parade; some were reading the Dafa introductory materials distributed to them; some were in active talks with Falun Gong practitioners. Of the Falun Gong participants, there were veterans as well as novices. They all shared a sincere wish to let the world truly understand Falun Gong, and to bring the Dafa to more people with predestined relationships. One beginner who had attained the Fa for only one month remarked that he was awash in negative publicity of Falun Gong prior to attending a 9-day seminar for Falun Gong propagation. As it turned out, the seminar had completely righted his wrong understanding of Falun Gong. During his talk with a person in the audience, he felt deeply sorry for that person who, having some exposure to the Falun Gong exercises, had not read the book "Zhuan Falun". In the group behind the Falun Gong practitioners, an old American lady initially was a bit confused about the practitioners ahead of her raising their hands to do the "Holding the Wheel" exercise. A Chinese practitioner explained to her briefly, but found her doubt had not been dispelled. So the practitioner introduced her in earnest to an American practitioner. Finally, the senior citizen was happily convinced. On surface, it looked like a pure coincidence, but it is those incidences like this that make the people get to know the Fa and plant the seeds for them to ultimately attain the Fa. Proceeding in this manner, it is only a matter of time before the world is "illuminated by Buddha's light and universally rectified by it".

All along, the Falun Gong parade was constantly accompanied by claps and cheers. Some people in the audience even saluted to the practitioners with their palms pressed together. As the parade was in progress, we heard "Thank You, Falun Dafa!" "Thank You, Falun Dafa!" from two Americans. They were the organizers of the event.

(Submitted by a New York practitioner on 03/06/2000)
(Translated on Mar. 10, 2000)