A Letter from a Western practitioner in Canada to the editors of Chinese newspapers on this Thanksgiving weekend

Dear Sir/Madam:

Although my father's ancestors came from Scotland and my mother and her family came from England, I have always been interested in Chinese culture. When I was three years old, I can remember pulling my grandfather's encyclopedia off the bookshelf, turning to the page with the beautiful Chinese paintings of misty mountain peaks and waterfalls, and making up my own words for the captions I couldn't read under the pictures. My favourite stuffed toy was a panda.

In the mid-1980's I visited Guilin in southern China - and felt that I had come home. Almost two years ago, I began to practice Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa. On this Thanksgiving Weekend, I have decided to make public the things for which I am grateful:

I am grateful to Master Li Hongzhi for giving the world the teachings of Falun Dafa through his books China Falun Gong and Zhuan Falun.

I am grateful that through the goodness of those teachings of Zhen-Shan-Ren, and my pre-destined affinity with Falun Dafa, my illnesses have been cured. When I had cancer, I could not work full time. After starting the practice of Falun Dafa, my body became strong again and I was soon able to return to work full time.

In their propaganda film and booklet, the Chinese government claims that more 1400 people have died because they refused medical treatment. I would say that out of 100 million people who were practicing Falun Dafa in1999, it is surprising that not more people died because so many practitioners are in their 70's and 80's and took up the practice because they were very sick and medical treatment didn't help them. I would like the President of China to know that my father died after he was medically treated and that according to statistics, the fifth leading cause of death in the United States is poisoning from medication. On the other hand, if you check the Falun Dafa website at www.falundafa.ca you will find under the "China" heading some health surveys of many, many thousands of practitioners in Beijing and other cities. Those surveys were conducted by research doctors at highly respected hospitals in China. The results? More than 90% of the people were cured!

I am grateful that through the practice of Falun Dafa, my mind has become strong and clear. In the Chinese propaganda, they say that some people became mentally ill from practicing Falun Dafa. In Lecture Six of Zhuan Falun, Master Li takes thirteen pages (in the English translation) to explain very clearly that cultivation insanity does not exist. He goes into great detail about the various reasons why people become mentally disoriented and commit irrational acts. I encourage you to read the book for yourself and you will see that the Chinese government propaganda is false, totally false. The people listed in the propaganda could never be true disciples of Falun Dafa.

In China on October 1st, at least one thousand Falun Dafa practitioners were arrested in Tiananmen Square and some were brutally beaten. They stepped out to validate Dafa. And I admire their courage tremendously. Last week, I stepped out in my own city, to let the city authorities know of the interference to local practitioners being perpetrated by people and organizations encouraged by Chinese Consular authorities here. I have sent my letter to the Mayor and to each of the 50 City Councilors. It is the first of many letters I shall write to all sectors of society, letting people know the truth and goodness of Falun Gong, and exposing the evil of the current crackdown against Falun Gong initiated by the President of China.

Falun Xulian Dafa is part of the wonderful ancient legacy of China. Its teachings and its Teacher, Master Li Hongzhi, are enlightened, upright, kind and virtuous. They deserve to be celebrated, honoured and cherished, not slandered. All practitioners of Falun Dafa ask that the reputation of Master Li Hongzhi be rightfully restored to a place of high honour for the immense service he has done for humankind by making public the teachings of Falun Dafa, and for his constant compassionate service to his students. These services are too profound and immense to be verbalized. We also ask that the virtuous practitioners who are suffering such torture and degradation be released from their incarceration in prisons, mental hospitals and labour camps, and that they be allowed to practice their beliefs in safety and peace. The current political leaders of China may not believe in Buddhas, Taos and Gods, but Buddhas, Taos and Gods do exist. Can evil therefore remain unpunished?

Sincerely,

A Canadian Falun Gong Practitioner