Chicago: Practitioners Hold Activities in Front of the Chinese Consulate

Over the past few days, it has been rainy, and the sky above downtown Chicago has been covered by a dark haze all of the last week. At night, practitioners who sent forth righteous outside the Chinese Consulate had to put on thick winter coats.

Over the weekend, practitioners from different areas including Canada, Australia and Japan arrived in Chicago one after another to support the local practitioners. The sky also became clearer and clearer as Dafa practitioners intensified sending forth righteous thoughts.

June 17, Tuesday was a sunny day. Dafa practitioners distributed truth-clarifying flyers at different places in Chicago. Coincidently, there was an open-air performance on the southern side of the City Hall plaza. At noon, Southwest Airlines provided free pizza on both the northern and southern sides of the plaza. Many people lined up for the pizza. When a practitioner handed out a few sets of truth-clarifying materials, many people in the queue wanted some of the materials. At the intersection north of the plaza, many drivers also wanted some materials.

When a local resident learnt that Dr. Charles Li was being illegally imprisoned by the Chinese government and was tortured, he said with indignation that this outrageous behaviour cannot be tolerated. He immediately wrote a letter expressing his support to us and told us that he would let everyone at work know about this. He would also post his letter on a display board.

An older gentleman did not quite understand us when he passed by the Chinese Consulate and saw us sending forth righteous thoughts. After a practitioner explained to him what we were doing, he took out his video camera and shot this solemn, peaceful scene. He also told us that he would tell everyone he knew about this.

A middle-aged gentleman from South Korea accepted a set of materials and then asked for details about Falun Gong, because his mother-in-law also practised Falun Gong. He said that he was quite familiar with China's situation and expressed that he resolutely supported Falun Gong.

A couple felt very sad after looking at the photos depicting the persecution suffered by practitioners in China. The lady took out some money to give to the practitioners, expressing her concern and support. The practitioners told the couple that we do not accept donations. They left, but a little while later they came back and held a practitioner's hand. They said with tears in their eyes, "What can we do to help? We will pray for you."

When kind people see that Falun Gong practitioners who are suffering the persecution still clarify the facts with determination, they are deeply moved. It is also easy for them to see through Jiang's deceit.

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To support the lawsuit against Jiang, and to
comprehensively and thoroughly clarify the truth and clear away the evil factors, in addition to clarifying the truth to the government and media more deeply, Chicago Dafa practitioners started sending forth righteous outside the Chinese Consulate 24 hours a day.

On June 12, the judge announced that he accepted the amicus brief cosigned by 38 members of U.S. Congress supporting the continuation of the lawsuit. He also requested rebuttals before June 19. According to this schedule, the judge's decision to go on with or dismiss the lawsuit will be postponed until June 20 at the earliest. The local practitioners came to the understanding that the process of trying our best to do well in this lawsuit is a great opportunity to thoroughly clear away the evil factors and to offer salvation to sentient beings.

Practitioners throughout the world understand based on the Fa [principles and teachings of Falun Gong, based on Truthfulness - Compassion - Forbearance, contained mainly in the book Zhuan Falun] the significance of taking this lawsuit as a breakthrough to further comprehensively clarify the truth on a large scale and to suffocate the evil, as well as to clear away the interference. Recently, one after another, practitioners from different places in the U.S. including Minnesota, South Dakota, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Washington DC and Florida, and from other countries including Canada, Australia, Japan, Europe and Taiwan arrived in Chicago and joined the activities of sending forth righteous outside the Chinese Consulate and clarifying the truth in Chinatown. They joined the local practitioners in comprehensively, broadly, and thoroughly clarifying the facts surrounding the lawsuit. Meanwhile, practitioners throughout the world also gathered at Chinese Embassies and Consulates to send forth righteous thoughts and explain the facts surrounding the lawsuit against Jiang to local governments, non-governmental organisations, media and the public.

Recently, Chicago practitioners encountered many forms of interference. For instance, banners and signs were not allowed to be put up outside the Chinese Consulate; rented rooms for practitioners from other areas were suddenly cancelled; at night, when practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts in front of the Chinese Consulate, some people threw eggs at them from time to time; practitioners met with some interference when playing truth-clarifying videotapes in Chinatown; and some people even set a tree stump nearby on fire to cause trouble. However none of this affects the practitioner's steadfast determination.

In the evening of Wednesday, after a big rainstorm, the sky was bright and clear. On the pavement opposite the Chinese Consulate, about 60 Dafa practitioners sat neatly in two rows to study the Fa, practise the sitting meditation and send forth righteous thoughts. They looked very peaceful and serene. A young practitioner kindly handed out truth-clarifying materials to every driver that stopped at the traffic light. Her dedicated expression was as if a teacher was devoting all her attention to look after her students.

Because it was a weekday, and it was late in night, there were very few people walking on the street. The three police vehicles in front of the Chinese Consulate that were either parking or slowly moving were very eye-catching. A practitioner who temporally came here to do coordination thought: "There are so many police cars. Was it because they received our complaint or the Chinese Consulate did something?" Very quickly, a police officer came over and had a short conversation with him. The officer introduced himself and asked if that practitioner was coordinating the activity. The officer said, "There is nothing wrong. I just want to let you know that we are very clear about what you have been doing here and we really respect what you are doing." The practitioner said, "Thank you. We take turns to stay here and will make sure to keep the place neat." The officer said, "We have all witnessed what you have been doing here over the past few years. We all respect you very much."

Along with cultivating and practising Dafa, practitioners came to understand more and more clearly that during this short period of time, only when we ourselves become more and more clear-headed and rational, walk our path righteously and use every opportunity to comprehensively clarify the truth.