On Monday, June 5, 2006, the second "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" Art Exhibition was solemnly held in the New York State Assembly Building. Four assembly members came to make speeches expressing their support.

People appreciate paintings and learn about the truth

In her opening speech, Ms. Rachlin, spokesperson for Falun Dafa Information Center, briefly introduced to the audience what Falun Gong is and the background of these art works. Every art work displays the personal experience of artists who practice Falun Gong or the experiences of their friends and families. Some works express the purity and sublimation after their Falun Gong practice, some works depict the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) brutality in persecuting Falun Gong and practitioners' uncompromising spirits, and some other works express Falun Gong practitioners' peaceful resistance and the heavenly principle of "Good will be rewarded and evil will be punished."

Assemblyman McEneny pointed out that the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong is a serious problem. He called on those who visit China not to be enticed by China's material prosperity. Such material affluence is at the cost of ignoring the interests of another group of people. Everyone should have the freedom of spiritual belief.

Assemblyman Reilly thanked Falun Gong practitioners for conveying an important message to the state assembly in the form of culture and arts.

Assemblyman McEneny

Assemblyman Reilly

Assemblyman Benjamin cautioned the guests not to ignore the CCP's human rights abuses due to economic interests, and said that the current tragedy in China is similar to the Nazi's holocaust of the Jewish people.

Assemblyman Benedetto expressed that frequently people ignore the art exhibitions held on the roadside while passing by in a hurry, but today's art exhibition has touched many people's human nature. Even if they passed by in a hurry, it is hard believe that they were not touched. He felt that it is very important to let more people learn about the human rights abuses happening in China.

Assemblyman Benjamin

Assemblyman Benedetto

Speakers also included Professor Barnard from Amnesty International (Albany Branch) and Mr. Zheng, whose parents are suffering persecution in China for persisting in practicing Falun Gong.

The exhibition hall was at the main traffic route of the state assembly building. The exhibition was held for three days from June 5-7, 2006, and displayed twenty art works from artists who practice Falun Gong. Visitors who made a special trip to the exhibition as well as passersby who walked by in a hurry were deeply touched by the outstanding painting techniques and profound meaning of the art works. People praised the exhibit by saying, "Very beautiful! Very moving! Very powerful!" Many people, after viewing a few paintings, decided to sign their names on the petition to support Falun Gong practitioners' anti-persecution efforts.

On June 3, 2006, The Epoch Times, The Federation for a Democratic China (FDC) and Falun Gong practitioners held a rally on Goethepaltz in Munich and a parade to condemn the CCP's violations of human rights, and to support the eleven million people quitting the CCP and its affiliated organizations. The parade started from Goethepaltz, passed Isartor and the German Museum, and ended at East Train Station Plaza, where practitioners held an anti-torture photo exhibition and re-enacted the CCP's harvesting organs from live Falun Gong practitioners.

Supporting the eleven million people quitting the CCP and condemning the CCP's brutality

Mr. Scherd, a representative from The Epoch Times, pointed out in his speech that the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, published by The Epoch Times, exposed the evil nature of the CCP. The spreading of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party gave more people chances to learn the true nature of the CCP. There are already about eleven million people quitting the party. So the CCP becomes more rampant when its demise is near. The CCP becomes more brutal when persecuting people who try to protect human rights, the members of families and churches, people who go to Beijing to appeal for their own benefits, and Falun Gong practitioners.

Regarding the CCP's harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners since 2001 and cremating bodies to eliminate the evidence, Mr. Scherd said that although it happens in China, the German people should not ignore it. If we allow the CCP's brutality to continue, then the dignity and value of human beings will disappear. Now, about eleven million people have quit the CCP. The red wall is about to crash down, and we can see the hope of peace in the world.

Mr. Kritzler, the representative from the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong, introduced the seven-year persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. He also said that after the CCP's harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners was exposed, the CCP destroyed a lot of evidence and killed some witnesses to cover the truth. Big hospitals hastened to perform the organ transplant surgeries. Some doctors said that the organs were from Falun Gong practitioners. Mr. Kritzler said that people should not ignore this issue any longer. Instead, we should take actions to stop the CCP's brutality.

Mr. Kritzler, the representative from World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong, condemns the CCP harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners

Re-enacting the organ harvest to expose the CCP's brutality

Signing names to condemn the CCP's brutality

At the East Train Station Plaza, where the parade ended, practitioners held an anti-torture photo exhibition, and re-enacted the CCP's organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners. German citizens signed their names on the petition to condemn the CCP's brutality. Leonhard, a teacher, said that he is against communism and any secret jailing and secret concentration camps. He thought that the CCP should make everything public.

Mr. Niky said, "I have been paying attention to the situation in China for long time. From the Cultural Revolution, the June-4^th Tiananmen Square Incident, and the persecution of Falun Gong, people can see that behind the economic development, the CCP severely violates human rights. Falun Gong is not a political group, but the CCP persecutes the group, as it is their political enemy. It is unbelievable that the CCP harvests organs from living Falun Gong practitioners and cremates the bodies to eliminate the evidence. It is very brutal and unbelievable, so I came here to support the activity."

Marion, a college student majoring in sociology, said, "The reason that I signed my name on the petition is because I am against all kinds of human rights violations. As a German, the CCP's harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners reminds me of the Nazi's secret concentration camps. I hope that I can help to stop the persecution by signing my name on the petition.

From May 1-4, 2006, a Falun Gong workshop was held at Byreshwara School, a small town school in a rustic setting, a couple of hours drive from Bangalore city.

Students learn the exercises

Doing the exercises on the school playground

The workshop was initiated by the headmaster of the school, a diligent Falun Gong practitioner today, whose long-standing ailments were cured after he learned the exercises and started reading the book two years ago. He has introduced the exercises to students in his school and they do the exercises before they start their classes in the morning or after school.

The headmaster talks about Falun Gong to all the people who visit the school, and he has a quiet, disarming way of telling them to take up the practice. He has convinced all his colleagues and teachers from nearby schools. In fact, one of the teachers from a nearby district school was so convinced by the headmaster's talk that he got together some more teachers from other schools and organized the workshop. Practitioners from various cities had come to help in the workshop. All practitioners stayed in the school--sharing the food with the teachers and students in a community kitchen run by the school, and sleeping in the classrooms.

The students and the teachers were taught the exercises and their movements were corrected. We also took the teachers through The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa as we taught them the exercises, and one of the teacher's translated it into the local language for the benefit of both teachers and students. We also showed them Master's exercise VCD and they were visibly moved. In the workshop we also read the book Falun Gong together to give the group a feel for group study and told them the importance of studying the book Zhuan Falun. Many teachers shared their understandings and as is customary, tried to draw parallels with their knowledge of Indian spiritual thinking. We tried to make them understand the importance of sticking to one practice. Most of them agreed that whatever they previously practiced was more about rituals and less about continuously looking within.

The headmaster sat with us every evening after the workshop when we read Essentials for Further Advancement. He tells everyone that you can't have any excuse for not studying the principle of Falun Gong. He says that there are so many hours in a day and if one cuts down on sleep one can make time for the study! He gave us many instances of students who had transformed completely after being introduced to Falun Gong. He told us about a boy who was the son of a mason who had helped build the school. The boy, a problem child with poor scores, was turned away by all the nearby village schools. The mason approached the headmaster and requested that he enroll him into his school. The headmaster insisted that he do the Falun Gong exercises. Within a few weeks the boy calmed down and started doing well in his studies. He did well in his final school exams and is studying in a city college.

The headmaster is convinced that Falun Gong is a key component in his school and he wants the front area at his school to be a practice site. He says people from the village who pass by the school will benefit from watching the children do the exercises. And perhaps someday they will want to learn the exercises too.

He has vision and dreams for the students of his school. He says that once the students go to the city schools he does not want them to feel handicapped by not having knowledge of computers, so he has introduced computer studies in his school. If any visitor wishes to donate anything to the school, he says in his humble, disarming way, "Just give my children some computers!"

When the workshop was nearly over some of the teachers asked us to visit some other schools in their districts. Practitioners from Bangalore have already visited a few schools. In fact, one of the girls schools for Moslem students was very keen on introducing the exercises to their students. The female practitioners from our workshop group visited the school. The teachers in that school were very happy with the principles of Falun Gong and said since it had nothing to do with any religion, the school would be happy to accept it.

The headmaster is keen on translating Zhuan Falun into the local language so that more people can have access to the book and understand it. He asked for volunteers from the group of teachers who attended the workshop, to start on the translation job. They plan to meet once a week and review the translation. A practitioner from Bangalore will also sit with them for the review. They had their first meeting last week. So in another couple of months we hope to see a translation of Zhuan Falun in another Indian language.