Issued by Clearwisdom Net

On July 30, 2005, several Minnesotan practitioners set up a booth at a local Farmer's Market in downtown Minneapolis. The event was a huge success. Many people learned about Falun Dafa, the persecution in China, and the righteous grace of Truthfulness - Benevolence - Forbearance.

A practitioner hands out flyers while another demonstrates the fifth exercise

In the booth, we had several methods to clarify the truth to people. We had detailed information about orphans of Falun Dafa practitioners in China, as well as words and pictures depicting the persecution. We also displayed pictures of the five Falun Gong exercises with descriptions of each. On the top of the booth we had a huge blue and yellow banner which read, "Falun Dafa" and "Truthfulness Compassion Tolerance," in both English and Chinese. Behind the booth, we had a similar banner which faced a parking lot. The big blue banner caught a lot of people's attention.

Inside the both we had copies of The Falun Dafa Reader, local flyers, bookmarks, the book, Stories of Conscience, and also freshly-made paper lotus flowers to give to children and girls. Many people warmly accepted the flyers and the readers, and almost everyone accepted the bookmarks. Several practitioners demonstrated the exercises outside the booth, which attracted a lot of attention, and we saw a lot of kind faces and smiles. Many people attempted to mimic the exercises, and many people pressed their hands together in front of their chests in the heshi gesture. While practitioners demonstrated the exercises, another was handing out materials and clarifying the truth.

A practitioner demonstrating the third exercise and another clarifying the truth

Many people approached the table to ask questions. People ranged in age from old to young. Several of the older people had practiced qigong or yoga before and they were very interested in learning about Falun Gong. They all began to talk about their practices, but it always seemed that people were much more interested in Falun Gong, mainly because of the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. One older person asked us if the practitioner doing the sitting meditation was aware of us. We explained to them about the differences between a trance state and our Falun Dafa, where practitioners enter a calm and peaceful state but remain aware that they are meditating. They could see the calmness in us, and were delighted.

Two elderly ladies were asking about the exercises. One practitioner offered to demonstrate the fourth exercise, "The Falun Heavenly Circuit." During the demonstration, one of the women exclaimed, "I feel like I am in a pool! Just standing here I can feel the effects." The two ladies were very enthusiastic and took several copies of our informational materials.

A practitioner demonstrating the fifth exercise

There were many predestined people at the Farmer's Market. One young man was so enthusiastic about the practice that he said loudly, "Falun Dafa is so great!" People from all ethnic groups were at the market, and all of them accepted Falun Dafa; all the people we talked to thought it was good and that the persecution was horrible.

On May 7, 2005, practitioners from Southern Germany went to Tübingen to raise awareness about the persecution of Falun Gong in China. They collected petition signatures in order to help rescue the Jiang Renzheng family who were deported to China by the German Government. The father of the family was later arrested and sent to a Chinese forced labor camp. In addition, we collected signatures to bring Jiang Zemin, the former President of China and instigator of the persecution against Falun Gong, to trial.

The rainy weather caused problems with our displays because the wind constantly tried to topple our poster stands and blew away our brochures. However, we were not to be deterred. Whilst some practitioners set up the stall, others handed out leaflets and talked to passers-by.

As soon as they finished setting up the stall, the practitioners started to demonstrate the five sets of Falun Gong exercises. The number of interested passers-by steadily increased as people saw the graceful movements and came to find out more.

A poster display showed the torture methods that the Chinese government uses against Falun Gong practitioners and provided information about the persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in China.

This elicited many interesting conversations with the public. One elderly woman who came to our booth became very upset when she understood that such atrocities are happening in China right now. After we talked with her for awhile, she was happy to sign all the petitions.

One young lady came up to us and asked: "Why are the peaceful Falun Gong practitioners being persecuted and tortured?" She couldn't make sense of the cruelties.

One young man became very angry about China's policy and about the silence of the media regarding the cruel persecution. He wanted to know how he could help and signed all the petitions.

A lady and two of her grandchildren approached us and asked us to explain to the two children why the CCP thinks that Falun Gong is so dangerous and prohibits it. One of the practitioners explained to the children in simple terms that the CCP hates it when people think for themselves rather than just repeating what they are told.

A woman from Mainland China spontaneously came to our booth and told the Chinese practitioners that one of the professors at her university in Beijing has been telling his students about the beauty of Falun Gong and the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong.

The central library in Cambridge, England, hosted a poster exhibition for three weeks in July and August entitled, "History Reveals the Most Brutal Government."

The posters explained the rise of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its slaughter of millions of its citizens through treacherous campaigns to "cleanse" and instill fearful obedience in the masses. The posters explained how the killings began in 1949 with the CCP's inception, followed by the murder of entire classes of people. They discussed the Great Leap Forward which created a man-made famine, the Cultural Revolution, the Tiananmen Square massacre, and they also revealed the current persecution and murder of people who practice Falun Gong in China.

Falun Gong practitioners helped set up this exhibition as they felt strongly that it is important for people to know of the Chinese Communist Party's crimes committed during its genocide against people who practice Falun Gong. They also felt that looking at the history of the CCP and how it has always used violence and suppression to control China would allow people to better understand why it would brutally persecute a peaceful and non-threatening practice such as Falun Gong.

One telling example of this is the staged self-immolation incident on Tiananmen Square. Several people set themselves on fire, and it was claimed that they practiced Falun Gong. However, close examination of videotapes of the event revealed that this event was actually staged by the Chinese Government so that they could use it as propaganda to mislead the Chinese people about the nature of Falun Gong. The media was filled with untrue reports and the Chinese people began to think that people who practice Falun Gong do terrible things like setting themselves on fire. In truth, killing and suicide are both against Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Since this terrible event, practitioners have gone to great lengths to let people know that the self-immolation was staged b the Chinese Communist Party to frame Falun Gong practitioners and to use it as propaganda against them.

Accompanying the historic Chinese tragedies were posters discussing the recent wave of three million people withdrawing from the CCP. Also displayed were accounts of CCP senior officials who recently resigned from the Party because they could no longer live with themselves if they continued doing the CCP's unconscionable bidding.

A man reads about the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners

Many newspapers with the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party were given away at the exhibition. This document was published by The Epoch Times newspaper and is the most detailed and exact exposure of the CCP's dark history that has ever been released.

A visitor's book was also provided, where most people signed their names to support the three million people who resigned from the CCP. Some people left comments to state their opinions about the brutal regime in China. The following are several examples:

"We must stop oppression in all its forms. People can change the world."

"All people should live free."

"... successive Chinese governments have been murderous tyrants and oppressors of their own people."

"Praying for a free and open China"

"It is time for the Chinese people to have the chance to rule their own country the way they want. I hope the West will encourage this liberty which should be, in my mind, a human right. Good luck, I will spread the word."

"Replace oppression wherever it may be!"

"What a horrific display. May your good work prevail."

"We support you all - As do Amnesty International."

"Down with the Communist Party of China!"

"Tell everyone about these horrors!"

"When will Western Governments wake up and do something to help the people of China?"

"Would be good if pressure could be put on Chinese government to stop the torture, oppression and killing."