WASHINGTON—Over 3,000 Falun Dafa practitioners from around the world attended the annual Washington, D.C. Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference on July 18 in Constitution Hall.
Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, was introduced by Mr. Li Hongzhi in 1992 in China. On July 20, 1999, the former chairman of the Chinese Communist (CCP) Party Jiang Zemin launched a nationwide persecution and propaganda campaign against the traditional Chinese spiritual discipline. At that time there were more Falun Dafa practitioners—between 70 to 100 million—than (CCP) members.
Every year, peaceful protests, a vigil and a sharing conference are held around July 20 in Washington, D.C. This year marked the 10th anniversary of the persecution.
Seventeen Falun Dafa practitioners shared their experiences on how they told people the truth about the persecution of Falun Dafa and improved themselves spiritually. Mr. Li, who received long applause and a standing ovation, also arrived at the conference and made a 40-minute speech.
Mr. Xiang Dong from Washington, D.C. talked about his experience bringing the renowned Shen Yun Performing Arts to the U.S. capital. When a coordinator was needed, Xiang—although busy with his work—decided to fill the position.
In the end, Shen Yun Performing Arts staged six regular shows and one VIP show in the John F.Kennedy Center’s renowned Opera House in February, 2009.
Xiang said that while facing all the difficulties, he found that he overcame them after reading Falun Dafa books, letting go of attachments and cooperating with others. He described his fellow Falun Dafa practitioners as pearls and himself as a string. Together they make a beautiful necklace.
In its 10 years of suppressing Falun Gong, the CCP has deceived and harmed many Chinese people through lies and slander. 72 year-old retired teacher Ms. Yang Feng has been making phone calls to China to tell people there the truth about Falun Gong for seven years.
Since the Chinese diaspora has begun to quit the CCP in recent years, she has convinced over 10,000 Chinese people to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations, including the Young Pioneers of China and the Communist Youth League of China. Once she called a cell phone in China, and the first person answered the phone agreed to quit the CCP, then passed the phone to the next person, who also quit the CCP. Yet the third person didn’t agree to quit the CCP, he then argued with her loudly, and scolded her. She was not moved and calmly explained the facts to him. Although he didn’t quit the CCP, he passed the phone to the fourth person. Both the fourth and the fifth person agreed to quit the CCP, she said.
Another 14 Falun Gong practitioners from all over the world also—from different perspectives—talked about their experiences of improvement in cultivation in different environments.
