Greetings to Teacher,
Greetings to fellow practitioners,
Before the persecution of Falun Dafa started in China, there were very few people practising this cultivation way in Italy. Today there are many people who have a good pre-destined relationship with Falun Dafa, who have done really well in their cultivation and who have shown via their actions the power of the principles of Falun Dafa, “Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance”.
Soon after the April 25th appeal* in Beijing in 1999, Falun Dafa practitioners introduced the practise to one hundred doctors who attended a seminar of natural therapy in Biella, Italy in May of 1999. The practitioners also clarified the true facts surrounding the rumours and slanderous propaganda spread by the Chinese government. The event marks the starting point for Falun Dafa related activities by Italian Falun Dafa practitioners. For the rest of our sharing we would like to take a retrospective look at the process we have gone through and share our experiences with fellow practitioners. * This refers to the "sensitive" anniversary of April 25, 1999, on which date ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners peacefully gathered outside the Zhongnanhai compound (China’s central government building) and successfully appealed for the release of forty-five practitioners who had been illegally arrested in Tianjin City.
Jiang, the head of the evil and wicked Chinese Communist Party officially started the full-scale persecution on July 20th, 1999. Overwhelming lies and slander pounded Falun Dafa as a practise and also against those who practise Falun Dafa. Together with practitioners in China and other countries, Italian practitioners clarified the facts to the Chinese government and all of the countries in the world peacefully and rationally. “Validating the Fa with rationality, clarifying the truth with wisdom, and spreading the Fa and saving people with mercy.” Practitioners in Italy strove forward vigorously in helping Teacher to rectify the Fa*. * Law or Principles, the teachings in Falun Dafa
During the past six years, we have clarified the truth about the persecution through various channels in different forms. We talked to the President, Prime Minister, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Internal Affairs and police departments about the persecution, so as to rescue fellow practitioners who were persecuted in China. We also held press conferences at the parliament so that more parliament members would recognise and support Falun Dafa. We spoke to non-governmental organisations, political parties and civil associations. As a result, practitioners were invited to introduce Falun Dafa so that numerous people had the opportunity to understand what is really going on. We also set up information booths in local health expositions to introduce Falun Dafa as a practise to more people. Efforts were also made to the news media so that they could correct their erroneous news coverage that quoted the falsified information provided by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This has helped to prevent the general public from being misled by the lies fabricated by the CCP. The mainstream news media published positive articles and photographs about Falun Dafa; Radio and TV stations broadcast the truth of China’s persecution against Falun Dafa. Practitioners also successfully filed a lawsuit against the Chinese media controlled by the evil party. The efforts made to let the lawyers and the law circle also know the facts has meant that the vicious people are unable to spread lies and keep poisoning the Chinese people with slanderous information about the practise.
Italian versions of China Falun Gong and Zhuan Falun were also published. This has enabled many pre-destined Italian people to gain an understanding of Falun Dafa and to start to practise.
Through interviews, letters, phone calls, faxes, e-mails, seminars, painting exhibitions, art performances, torture exhibitions, signature collections, peaceful appeals at the Chinese consulate and distribution of factual materials on the streets, practitioners gave the general public a chance to awaken their conscience and compassion. Such tasks provided the general public an opportunity to recognise and support Falun Dafa so that they can position themselves well for a bright future. Several hundred thousand copies of factual information about Falun Dafa and the persecution have been distributed Italian people. The sound of Falun Dafa spread all over the country. The banners of “Falun Dafa” and “Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance” were hung at St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Materials about Falun Dafa were delivered to the Pope several times. Falun Dafa was also spread to the small country San Marino located in the mountains.
As to the actual location for our activities, we have been clarifying the truth and introducing Falun Dafa to people at the major scenery spots in Rome and Milan over the past two years. Other practitioners toured around the country so as to introduce Falun Dafa to more people. The materials were prepared in different languages so that tourists from various countries would not miss the opportunity to learn the facts.
Falun Dafa practitioners are one body. Although there are numerous practitioners in certain countries, the number of practitioners who stepped forward to let more people know the truth was still very limited. Some projects called for the cooperation of all practitioners. For example, the activities towards the EU’s parliament members has prevented the enactment of Article 23 in Hong Kong’s Basic Law. When the head of the ruthless agency solely set up to persecute Falun Gong in China, called the “610 Office” and the head of the CCP took state visits to the USA and Germany, practitioners cooperated with one another to send forth righteous thoughts within close proximity. Filing lawsuits against the head of the evil and high-level officials of the CCP is without any doubt the fruit of cooperation by all practitioners.
Seeking the precious Chinese people
It is estimated that there are about two hundred thousand Chinese residents in Italy, but we wandered how we could contact and find them? There are a lot of people who practise Falun Gong in Italy, but only a few actively help to stop the persecution, and these few live far apart. A distance of 100~200 kilometres is not unusual. At the beginning, we looked up the addresses in Chinese telephone directories and mailed Falun Dafa materials by post. Practitioners also clarified the truth to the Chinese people in the neighbourhood of their residence. However, the number of Chinese people we were able to contact was still small.
In the winter of 2001, Italian practitioners got in touch with many Chinese people when we held activities in a Chinese community in Milan. The environment back then was really horrible. This Chinese community was heavily controlled by the Chinese consulate. On an occasion when practitioners were holding activities outside a Chinese restaurant, the store owner was instigated by the Chinese consulate and wouldn’t allow us to hang the banner on the wall. With two practitioners holding the banner, the remaining practitioners demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises and clarified the truth to the passers-by. The officials of the Chinese consulate, the leaders of the Chinese community, and the editors-in-chief of local Chinese newspapers all came to the scene. They took photographs and videotaped us. The officials of the Chinese consulate instigated the restaurant owner to expel us. Several people carried buckets and splashed wastewater towards practitioners in the name of washing the windows. As practitioners had filed an application at the police station and obtained permission beforehand, plainclothes policemen stepped forward to protect the practitioners. The police scolded and fined those people involved in the wrongdoing. The practitioners’ continuous efforts in introducing Falun Dafa to the Chinese community in recent years have made many more Chinese people come to see the truth about Falun Dafa.
to be continued...
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