On June 11, Saturday 2005, Falun Gong practitioners were invited to participate in Brooklyn's "Flag Day Parade." The practitioners' waist drum troupe once again displayed their elegant demeanor and were warmly welcomed by local citizens.

Falun Gong practitioners' procession

The parade was held on a bustling commercial street in a multi-cultural, but primarily Spanish community. Some Chinese people reside nearby. The purpose of the "Flag Day Parade" is to recognize that people of different nationalities can live in peace and harmony together in the community and work together to make the community prosperous.

Vigorous waist drum troupe

The Falun Gong practitioners' procession drew great attention from spectators with its banners and energetic waist drum troupe.

Holding a vertical banner with a Falun emblem, a young practitioner led the procession. The words above the emblem read, "Falun Dafa". The words on the left read, "Buddha Fa is boundless" and the words on the right read, "Falun is always rotating." A blue banner with the golden words, "Falun Dafa is good" in Chinese and English followed, after which came the waist drum troupe. A huge gold banner with the red words, "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" was at the end.

Although it was quite hot, the waist drum troupe was vigorous, as drumsticks flew up and down to the music of "Falun Dafa is Good" and "Joyful Celebration." Local residents and passersby stopped to watch. Many waited eagerly for the practitioners' procession. Some took pictures. Expressions of admiration could be seen on people's faces.

The practitioners' procession not only exhibited the unique Chinese culture to people of other nationalities, but more importantly, it brought the beauty of Falun Dafa to people here. Many people in the community took flyers to learn more about Falun Dafa.

There was another entry in the parade composed of Chinese people. The more than 10 senior citizens in this group represented the "Brooklyn Chinese Association." They seemed to walk with difficulty. They said that they were very tired and were unable to talk more with practitioners. Some practitioners in the procession were also in their 60s or 70s, with the eldest being 75 years old. They looked very healthy and energetic and they smiled happily. Carrying bags on their shoulders, it seemed that they could easily keep up with the young people. After the parade, they went to anti-torture exhibition sites to participate in other truth-clarifying activities.

Taking group photo with City Council Member Sara M. Gonzalez

Miracles brought by Falun Dafa manifest at each moment. We sincerely hope that those Chinese people who are afraid of the Chinese Communist Party's cruel tyranny and don't want to face up to the facts, will be able to calmly learn the truth about Falun Gong.

After the parade concluded, the organizers expressed their thankfulness to participants, and then invited City Council Member Sara M. Gonzalez to give a speech. Council member Gonzalez stressed the significance of being united. She was pleased to take a group photos with the practitioners, and expressed that she would like to promote the practitioners' art exhibition in the city council.

Wuppertal is a city close to Düsseldorf with a large, pedestrian-only shopping zone. On a recent sunny Saturday, several Falun Gong practitioners from the German state of North Rhine Westfalia held an anti-torture exhibition there. When passers-by saw posters depicting the cruel torture methods used in attempts to force Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their beliefs, they were shocked at the human rights violations happening in China. Many immediately decided to sign the petition calling for an end to the persecution. People were particularly concerned about the fate of practitioner Jiang Renzheng's family, who were deported by the German Government and are now suffering persecution in Mainland China.

One elderly woman was not able to comprehend how such tragedies could occur in modern times. She realized one reason is that many countries have not taken a stance against these human rights abuses because of economic interests and the thought that there is a lot of money to be made in China. Like many of the other passers-by, this lady could not accept that politicians would be willing to supply arms to a country that so seriously violates basic human rights.

One policewoman had experienced communism in East Germany. She heard about the horrific actions of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in its persecution of Falun Gong and said that people were told many lies by the former German communist government too. Another lady from Hungary agreed that communism should be eradicated. She said that communism is on its last legs and will collapse soon.

A young student from Yugoslavia took a flyer home and urged her father to read it at once. Later, she called her Turkish friend and told her to come to our anti-torture exhibition. She said she wished that we would repeat the exhibition in Wuppertal in order to give her whole class at school a chance to see it.

Our anti-torture exhibition helped many people know about the vicious nature of the CCP. All people are hoping that the persecution will end as soon as possible and the Chinese people will be set free.

The "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" International Art Exhibit is being held simultaneously around the world. The exhibit displays the greatness of Falun Dafa and also exposes the ruthless persecution that has been going on in China. The Taiwan "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" Art Exhibition is sponsored by the Taiwan Falun Dafa Association. The exhibition has toured Taiwan and will now be held at the National Yunlin University of Science and Technology (NYUST) for 10 days starting on June 10. It has attracted numerous visitors. Even elementary school pupils enjoy the paintings so much that they don't want to leave.

Exhibition hall at the National Yunlin University of Science and Technology

Students from the university voluntarily work as guides.

Elementary school pupils visit the exhibition and write essays on it.

On the morning of June 10, the sponsoring organizations conducted an opening ceremony and reception. Professor Ai Changrui from National Chung Cheng University was the host. A number of people in the art community and principals of some elementary schools also attended the reception, which included musical performances. Some elementary schools teachers brought all the students in their classes to visit the exhibition and to enjoy the choral and violin performances. Sponsors prepared many music CDs, VCDs, bookmarks, and paper lotus flowers, as well as materials exposing the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong, and gave them to visitors free of charge.

More than 40 art works are displayed in this exhibition. The exhibitors are artists from 15 countries, and are all Falun Gong practitioners. Among them, Mr. Zhang Kunlun and Ms. Pan Chuhong personally experienced persecution, including imprisonment and torture in China. The artists used their traditional painting skills to depict the beautiful situation of their cultivation experiences as well as the lofty uncompromising courage of practitioners when facing torture.

An elementary school pupil from Yunlin County said, "Good people can be distinguished from the bad ones. However, the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] considers bad people as good people, but treats good people as bad ones." Another student said, "After viewing the paintings, I feel really sorry for those people depicted. They are persecuted but their hearts are determined. They would not do any bad deeds. In addition, those practitioners' expressions show that they do not hate the police officers, but only want them not to continue persecuting those innocent people.

According to sponsors, this "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" Art Exhibit in Yunlin County will have three sessions. The first will be held from June 10 to 19 in NYUST, the second from June 24 to 26 at the Senior Citizen's Clubhouse in Beigang Town, and the third will be held from June 27 to July 1 in Welfare Building 2F of the Formosa Petrochemical Corporation at Mailiao, Yunlin County. Everyone is welcome to visit.

From June 6-10, 2005, Falun Gong practitioners in the San Francisco area held the "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" art exhibition in the exhibit hall on the second floor of the San Francisco Federal Building. On the morning of June 6, before the art works were completely set up, many staff members passing by were already very interested in viewing the paintings. Some expressed their appreciation of the art works and wanted to buy some of them. Some sighed after learning that the persecution is so cruel. Some expressed their wishes to learn more about Falun Gong. And some extended their gratefulness to the practitioners for bringing the "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" art exhibition to the Federal Building.

Thirty-six art works created by artists who practice Falun Gong from across the world were exhibited. The paintings manifested the peace and beauty brought by the cultivation of Falun Gong. In addition, the paintings also depicted various brutal methods of torture used against Falun Gong practitioners in China, as well as practitioners' worldwide peaceful appeals calling for an end to the persecution. They urged bringing the chief perpetrator, Jiang Zemin, to justice.

After viewing some of the paintings, a middle-aged western woman expressed her appreciation of the works and asked if the exhibition is held at other places. She was amazed that there are so many talented artists among Falun Gong practitioners. She said that she would come back to view the paintings later.

Pure Lotus

The Unity of Nature and Human

As soon as a worker in the building, saw the painting entitled, "Pure Lotus," she exclaimed, "It's so beautiful!" After viewing and admiring other paintings, she said that she most liked "Pure Lotus" and wanted to buy it. She said that she enjoyed doing meditation and felt very comfortable when viewing these works. "It would be wonderful if I could buy these two paintings and hang them in my room where I practice meditation," she said.

Some individuals said they considered the artworks depicting the brutal persecuting too graphic, and said that they did not feel good after viewing them. They became silent after learning that all these were real stories that actually occurred and are still taking place in China.

A federal investigator left her business card to practitioners after he viewed the paintings. She said that she is willing to help if needed.

Listed below are some of the messages left in the guestbook:

"This exhibition is great! It vividly reflected the persecution against those good people who uphold the truth. It's so wonderful! Thank you!"

"They are really masterpieces! They depicted people's pursuit of truth and wisdom as well as Falun Gong practitioners' determination in their belief."

"These art works can touch people's hearts and awaken people to help those persecuted people."

"I feel very lucky that I came here today to visit the exhibition."

"Thank you for holding the painting exhibition which allowed us to learn about the persecution those people suffered."

"Very touching! Thank you for the values rooted from China."

"These elegant paintings revealed the persecution that spread to the entire world."

"I feel very sad upon seeing innocent people being persecuted. I wish Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance will eventually prevail. The works are so beautiful."

"I'm so sad that I couldn't continue viewing them. I believe everyone should enjoy the right of spiritual belief. I don't understand to what extent they [the perpetrators] have been brainwashed that they could even perform such violence on these peaceful practitioners."

"The effect is tremendous and it's very touching. They even spend so much time and energy to attempt to move practitioners' peaceful beliefs. There will be one day the red wall will collapse. Falun Gong will enjoy the great honor."

"My 10-year-old child wanted to view and enjoy these paintings. I already viewed these works since I work here. Therefore, I went to the cafeteria. When I came back, my son told me, 'I viewed those paintings. It's so sorrowful.' I told him, 'Yeah, any discrimination is incorrect, but these are much beyond discriminations.'"

"I was immediately attracted by these beautiful paintings and the explanations underneath. I'm deeply touched by the content of the paintings. I could not help thinking of the significance and connotation behind the cultivation practice, which described the realm of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance."

"Such striking contrast between the kind and the evil, such touching unyielding determination really moves me! Thank you!"

"Thank you for this exhibition which is so significant for education. I'll pray for the end to the persecution. Hope you will keep going and let us learn more. The art works are really outstanding."

San Francisco Federal Building