Four Falun Gong Practitioners embarked on a week long “Lotus Peace Tour” through all nine of Austria’s provinces, in order to raise awareness among Austrians about the suffering of Falun Gong practitioners in China. Since 1999, everyone who wants to practice this form of Buddha School Qigong in China is being persecuted. They regularly suffer torture and rape in forced labour camps. Moreover, those imprisoned in forced labour camps carry the added risk of being selected as an unwilling organ “donor”.
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| September 20th in Innsbruck and Bregenz | |
On the third day of our tour we experienced different reactions from people, as well as a lot of sunshine and intense conversations and encounters. The practitioners who participated in the Tour erected a booth on Museum Square. Before we arrived, we stopped in the alley leading to the “Golden Roof”, an important tourist site in Innsbruck, to ask for directions. Two of the practitioners used the opportunity to hand out the “Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party” (an editorial published by the International Epoch Times newspaper detailing the crimes of the Chinese Communist Party since its inception) to a group of Chinese who were admiring the “Golden Roof”. Some of them readily accepted the material.
Once the booth was set up, we noticed varying reactions among the public. Very few people had heard of Falun Gong before. One teacher was very interested in a brochure about an art exhibition by artists who practise Falun Gong. He took several flyers and told us that he would pass them along. He also leafed through a copy of Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Gong. One man in his sixties passed on his bicycle and made some derisive comments when he spotted a practitioner doing the second exercise. He told us that we could spend our time better at work than hanging out on the square. After we had explained the purpose of the exercises to him and the background of the persecution, he understood that our tour was geared towards exposing a great injustice. He told us seriously, “I really respect what you are doing.”
Later, a lady passed our stand who told us that she was celebrating her fiftieth birthday, although she looked a lot younger. She was practising a form of Buddhism as well as Christianity and was familiar with Falun Gong, which she had seen in the city park. She told us that she was homeless and how important our activities are. “The things they are doing to Falun Gong in China are just too terrible.” We explained the principles of Falun Gong to her and she gained a deeper understanding of our cultivation practice. She bid us farewell with a kind gaze and even blew kisses to the practitioner who had been talking to her.
The “Lotus Peace Tour” then continued on to Bregenz. Many of the passers-by smiled at us but didn’t want to accept our flyers. One fifteen year old came to sign our petition and said that he would try to bring some friends later. Many people were interested in one to one conversations about the background of the persecution and signed the petition. One man came to ask whether he could buy a badge with the Falun Gong symbol. He then continued to tell us that he also practices the Falun Gong exercises and sometimes reads Zhuan Falun, which he keeps by his bed.
We ended the day at the apartment of a practitioner's aunt who graciously let us stay with her. We shared our experiences with each other. We noticed that some practitioners tend to form small cliques, excluding others. This may lead to uncritical acceptance of the other’s opinions because a practitioner may desire a peaceful environment and no friction. In the process, a misunderstanding or an attachment may be reinforced.
Originally published in German at: http://www.clearharmony.de/articles/200609/33940.html
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