Falun Gong Founder Speaks at New York Conference

By Jan Jekielek
Epoch Times Staff

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/united-states/falun-gong-founder-speaks-at-new-york-conference-60916.html


Mr. Li Hongzhi, founder of Falun Dafa, speaking at the 2011 New York Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference on Mon. Aug. 29. (Alex Ma/The Epoch Times)



NEW YORK CITY—Despite Hurricane Irene having passed through the New York area the previous day, thousands of Falun Gong practitioners (also known as Falun Dafa) from around the world converged on Westchester County Center on Monday to exchange perspectives on their practice, as well as on countering the Chinese regime's persecution of their fellow practitioners in China.

After a storm-induced last-minute scheduling change, Falun Gong founder Mr. Li Hongzhi delivered the opening speech at the 2011 New York Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference. He encouraged practitioners to do better in their cultivation—living according to truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, Falun Gong’s fundamental principles.



Xiaodan Wang, a musician whose relatives helped her escape the persecution of Falun Gong by sending her to the U.S. 12 years ago. (Jan Jekielek/The Epoch Times)

"It's positive reinforcement," said Xiaodan Wang, a 31-year-old musician, one of the attendees. "It's a great pleasure to see so many practitioners from all over the world, all trying so very hard to help others."
Xiaodan arrived in the United States from China 12 years ago, sent to university by her relatives in 1999 in a bid to help her avoid persecution. Her father Zhiwen Wang was a prominent Falun Gong practitioner, one of the first arrested in 1999 when then-Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin launched a campaign to “eradicate” Falun Gong.

"My father would be really glad to see so many practitioners, after 12 years of imprisonment," she said.

During the 1990s Falun Gong, a traditional Chinese spiritual practice that includes practicing five sets of gentle exercises, became incredibly popular in China, with the number of practitioners reaching 70 million–100 million by 1999, according to Chinese state estimates. The sheer numbers, the embrace of the practice by high-ranking Communist Party members and officers in the security apparatus and armed forces, and the spiritual independence of Falun Gong, scared Jiang into ordering the persecution.

Xiaodan was a teenager when she started practicing Falun Gong alongside her father. One of the speakers at the conference on Monday was 7-year-old Lotus, who stood on a chair to deliver her speech at the podium, much to the delight of the audience.

Falun Gong practitioners at Westchester County Center in New York on Mon. Aug. 29. (Dai Bing/The Epoch Times)

She described how she had been cultivating. One vignette involved receiving a test back from her teacher, marked 100 percent. Her friend, a bit jealous, pointed out that there was in fact a mistake on the paper. Lotus approached her teacher about the mark—and the teacher decided to give her 100 percent anyhow, as a result of her truthfulness.

Lotus, one of the speakers at the 2011 New York Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference. She is 7 years old. (Alex Ma/The Epoch Times)

Another speaker was Cai Yi, from New Jersey, a practitioner who has been working for a number of years on exposing the Chinese regime’s persecution of Falun Gong. He described how the team he had been working with was faced with many challenges. He realized that one of the key elements preventing cooperation among the team members was a number of them were not able to accept criticism. Overcoming this gap, the team’s performance greatly improved.

Frank Mendez, a software engineer from Silicon Valley, originally from El Salvador, arrived in New York Friday, ready to brave the inclement weather. The conference had been scheduled for Sunday, but was postponed until Monday after Irene shut down most of the region.

Frank Mendez, a software engineer from the Silicon Valley, has been practicing Falun Gong for half a year. He learned the practice from a co-worker. (Jan Jekielek/The Epoch Times)

Frank said he had been practicing Falun Gong for around half a year, having learned the practice from a co-worker.

“I’m very excited about it!” he declared. Frank started out with doing the Falun Gong exercises, and then quickly read Zhuan Falun, the main text of the discipline.

As a result of practicing Falun Gong, Frank experienced both physical and psychological benefits. “I've eliminated my allergies,” he said, something that he had not been expecting.

“It’s opened up communication channels, even with my wife,” said Frank. “That was absent somehow before, we were just working, doing our thing.”

Practitioners had arrived in New York from all over the world, including one practitioner who had come to New York from Liaoning Province in China. Working in the high tech sales sector, he said he had been practicing Falun Gong since 1995.

"I feel purified," he said, after attending the sharing conference. He said that the climate in China is still very severe for practitioners, though the general population has, due to practitioners’ efforts, largely been disabused of lies told about Falun Gong by Chinese regime propaganda. He said he believes that Falun Gong practitioners are "the most honest and beautiful people" and that he expects the persecution will end soon.

He provided some insight into why the persecution of Falun Gong may have been initiated by the Chinese state,"Falun Gong is the opposite of the Chinese Communist Party."