(Clearwisdom.net) News from Houston at midnight on October 23, 2002: It is estimated that over 2,000 Falun Gong practitioners from all over the world have arrived in Houston, Texas to participate in a peaceful appeal. Remaining unaffected by the environment, the practitioners make the best use of their time to focus on sending forth righteous thoughts (i.e. using pure and positive thoughts to cleanse one's mind and improve the surrounding environment).
Around 6:00 a.m. on October 23, over 500 Falun Gong practitioners began gathering at the Inter-Continental Hotel in downtown Houston to unfurl Falun Gong banners. At 6:00 p.m., another 100 practitioners from Taiwan arrived. By midnight, over 2,000 Falun Gong practitioners had assembled in Houston to join the peaceful appeal.
About 5:30 p.m., Jiang entered the hotel, but has not appeared since then. According to plans, Jiang was to leave the hotel the next morning (October 24) to attend an activity beginning at 9:00a.m. in the George Bush Library at Texas A&M University. A practitioner who was staying near the Inter-Continental Hotel told reporters that over 200 practitioners would be taking turns to continuously send righteous thoughts overnight until the next morning when Jiang left the hotel. It is estimated that about 500 Falun Gong practitioners would gather at nearby Texas A&M University to peacefully appeal during Jiang's visit there.
When asked why so many Falun Gong practitioners were coming to join the peaceful appeal, Mrs. Wang from the west coast said, "Jiang is a murderer who is killing innocent people. Under his orders, many Falun Dafa practitioners have been tortured to death. We want to let Jiang know that his atrocious crimes cannot escape the attention of the international community."
At 2:00 a.m. on October 24, as this report was being written, over 200 Falun Gong practitioners were sitting quietly opposite the front door of the hotel to peacefully appeal. The "welcoming group" members had left at least two hours earlier.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." Since its introduction in 1992, it quickly spread throughout China, and is now practiced in over 50 countries.
It was Jiang who instigated and escalated the persecution of Falun Gong. Since July 20, 1999, Jiang's regime has been conducting a persecution aimed at ruining Falun Gong practitioners' reputations, draining their financial resources, and destroying their bodies. Tens of thousands of people have been detained, sent to labor camps and sentenced to prison terms without legal trials. Many have been subjected to various tortures. Thousands of sane, healthy people have been sent to mental hospitals, and some female practitioners have been raped. By the end of October 2001, the government's official internal statistics indicated that over 1600 practitioners had been tortured to death. To date, 505 deaths have been verified and reported overseas.
According to Clearwisdom Net news from Chicago on October 23, while staying in Chicago, Jiang was served with a lawsuit in the United States District Court of Northern Illinois for his campaign of torture and genocide against Falun Gong practitioners. Attorney Terri E. Marsh pointed out, "Business opportunities are indeed important, but great importance should also be attached to human rights. This lawsuit filed by Falun Gong practitioners is not against the Chinese people, nor is it against the Chinese government or the Party. It is targeted at Jiang, who has exploited his official position to commit atrocious crimes in persecuting innocent Falun Gong practitioners."
We hope Dafa practitioners all over the world will strive together to form a diamond-like indestructible entity at this special historic moment in the Fa-rectification process. Let us use our strong will and powerful righteous thoughts to break through the interference and suppression of our minds from evils in other dimensions, calm down and not be disturbed by any illusion in the ordinary human world, but focus on sending forth righteous thoughts and studying the Fa. Let us put our powerful righteous thoughts to full use to eliminate the evil.
Category: April 25 Events
