A small group of practitioners from Berlin decided to organise a weekly information day in one of Berlin’s districts or suburbs to let the people there know more about Falun Gong and raise awareness of the brutal persecution against practitioners of the spiritual movement in China.
Many passer-bys showed great interest and were happy to stand and chat with us. An unemployed person told one of the practitioners that although he had not got much money, he wanted to find a way to help stop the persecution. First, I told him that we do not collect money or ask for donations, but that it would be appreciated if he signed our petition in support of bringing the instigator of the persecution against Falun Gong, Jiang Zemin, to justice in a court of law. He signed and was visibly glad that he could help in our efforts to stop the persecution.
We noticed an elderly woman with a hearing disability who looked at the display about the victims who died in the persecution. She was visibly moved by the tragic stories and found the pictures depicting the torture methods particularly shocking. She told us, while continuously shaking her head in despair, how stunned she was by what she just saw.
She then looked at me seriously and asked about Falun Gong, while pointing at the words “Falun Gong.” I thought hard as to how I could best explain Falun Gong to her. Then, I had a wonderful thought. I pointed at a picture, depicting children in peaceful meditation. As she kept looking at me with this questioning look, I gave her a newspaper and showed her “What is Falun Gong?” With a pleasing smile she pressed the paper to her heart and showed her gratitude.
Shortly after, another practitioner spoke with a Christian lady. First she said that she had little time, but after noticing our displays, she took a lot of time to listen to us about the persecution. She asked many questions of the practitioners and then asked after a while, “I feel very comfortable around you. I stayed here for such a long time, although I really did not have the time.” This lady said her farewells with a radiant smile, thanked us and wished us lots of luck and success.
During the day we were surprised by the large number of children who stopped to learn the exercises. One practitioner taught a small boy the first four exercises. After learning the exercises the boy said that he enjoyed learning them. Besides, he was surprised to find that the pain he had suffered in his shoulder before doing the exercises had disappeared.
To surprise the passer-bys we handed out paper lotus flowers we had been making all day long. Many of the children were very keen on the lotus flowers and wanted to learn how to make them. A little girl said, “I believe we can’t find these kinds of flowers here. I have not seen them. My mother will be very interested where I learned to make such lovely flowers.”
The busy street seemed to empty slowly and we saw less and less shoppers and passers-by. Finally the last passers-by left for their homes. We suddenly realised how quickly this day had passed.
Translated from German at http://de.clearharmony.net/articles/200409/19228.html
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