(Clearwisdom.net)
In Taiwan, if you randomly ask a person if they've heard of Falun Gong, ninety percent of them would probably answer affirmatively. They might even tell you: "In Mainland China, you're not allowed to practice it." If you go a step further and ask them: "Do you know what Falun Gong is?" they might say, I have seen Falun Gong flyers, and know what it generally is. Many people, however, would say with regret: "You guys are always practicing very early in the morning, and so I have never gotten a chance to really come into contact with any of you."
In order to help more people know the truth of Falun Gong, a group of practitioners decided to reach out more to the community. We go to mass transit centers, department stores, elementary schools, media events¡ªwherever there are a lot of people to demonstrate the Falun Gong exercises.
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Practicing and spreading Falun Dafa in the major streets and small alleyways
With our groups of four or five people, or two or three people, with combinations of men and women, old and young, we walk through many busy areas accompanied by peaceful music, and the serene exercise movements attract many passers-by. The beauty of Falun Dafa can be seen through this kind of face-to-face contact.
"Tonight I Will Go Buy a copy of Zhuan Falun to Read at Home"
One evening, we arrived at a public transportation center like before. We found a place that did not block the traffic, hung a "Falun Dafa is good" banner, and put the music on to start the exercises. Not long into demonstrating the exercises, a young man of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight came with a small video camera and taped the movements of every practitioner. When we finished practicing, we went to him to introduce Falun Gong. We found out that he was a devout Christian. He had lived overseas for a long time and watched Falun Gong for a long period of time. He very much sympathized with Dafa during the persecution, and he never understood the Chinese media's negative coverage. We sincerely told him the facts about Falun Gong using our own experiences. We also suggested that he should read Zhuan Falun. Before he left, he happily thanked us for answering his questions, and said: "Tonight I will go buy Zhuan Falun to read at home."
Child at Park Comes to Learn the Exercises on his own Initiative
The park near my home is also a great place to practice and promote Dafa. One day, my son and I went to a park with Dafa materials, bookmarks, truth-clarifying flyers, a yellow bag with small triangle flags of "truth, compassion, and tolerance" on them, to begin practicing. Four kids suddenly ran up to us and asked what we were doing. My son explained to them: "We are practicing Falun Gong." The kids right away asked to learn the exercises. Then, they intently followed our movements. It seemed that the peaceful movements of our exercises drew the attention of the people in the park. When we were almost finished, a lady came up to us, and she very politely asked us what we were doing. The kids all loudly answered: "We are practicing Falun Gong!" She was actually the mother of two of the kids. She said that she had heard of Falun Gong before, but never knew it would be that easy to learn, and the movements would be so graceful. She kept our contact numbers, said that she hoped to start learning Falun Gong.
"Today, I Finally Found Falun Gong"
A transportation center in Danshui is a place where many people come in the summer. One day, we hung up an extremely large red banner with yellow words both in English and Chinese, "Falun Dafa." It fluttered in the wind and was very dazzling. Three visitors from overseas walked nearby. They looked at the banner and intently watched us doing the exercises. One of them said that he had been in Taiwan for four months, and he had heard that Taiwan had a lot of Falun Gong practitioners. He hadn't found a practice site until today.
A Bride from Mainland China Sees Dafa Practitioners in Person for the First Time
One time, we were doing the exercises outside of an elementary school. An older lady with her daughter-in-law and grandchild came out to watch us. We told them that practicing Falun Gong would result in both physical and mental benefits. The older lady asked us to teach her daughter-in-law. Her daughter-in-law followed our movements and her child did, too. After finishing, we chatted and learned that she was from Mainland China and had been married to a Taiwanese man for three years now. She said that she had heard of Falun Gong in China before, but since the pressure was too strong, she never got a chance to understand it. This was the first time she had seen Dafa practitioners in person, and they were nothing like the Chinese media portrayed.
A Businessman Gives Us a Thumbs-Up
Once, we were at a transportation center in Zhongxiao doing the exercises. A gentleman who was about fifty walked towards us. He gave us a thumbs-up and said "Falun Gong is great, it's not afraid to go up against China." We made it clear to him that Falun Gong does not participate in any politics, and we would not contest with China. It is because Jiang's regime abused its power to persecute Falun Gong that we need to stand up in public and clarify the truth. Everything we do today is just for stopping the cruel persecution of Mainland China. He then said, "Nowadays, there are very few who dare to come out to speak the truth like Falun Gong practitioners."
We asked him: "Why don't you also come and practice with us?" He then said that he was a businessman from Mainland China, where people are scared to even mention Falun Gong, and he said that he had no time to practice. We told him that practicing Falun Gong benefits your body and mind, and is perfect for a busy, working person. He asked us if we could go to some place to teach his businessman friends to learn the exercises. We told him: "Falun Gong is free and open to everyone, we would love to go." Then, he gratefully left his phone number with us.
Lately, through this kind of face-to-face contact with the local people, we have been promoting Dafa to the community more intimately. Besides seeing our gentle and peaceful exercises, people's understanding of Dafa is growing deeper. Their confusion regarding Dafa, through these kinds of actions, is being cleared away. We believe that the more people know the truth and oppose the persecution, the sooner the suppression in Mainland China will end.
