Germany: Falun Gong at Dresden’s “Zwinger”

July 2nd, 2006, was a scorching day. Many visitors that came to enjoy Dresden’s 800th birthday preferred shady areas. The temporary stage and the spectator area in the eastern section of the Zwinger were smack in the middle of the blazing sun. A small area that was lucky to get some shade from the baroque buildings was filled with people, while barely anyone stood in the sun drenched spectator area.

Our European Falun Gong choir first stayed in the sun, but then also retreated to under the arches of the stairs in front of the Eastern exit. I wondered if one would be able to hear the performance from there. But my worries were unnecessary. The sound, that perhaps would have been lost in the air in the sun-drenched area, could be heard to the fullest and with undiluted power and beauty from under the arch.

Then, from the middle of the area appeared a waist-drum troupe, made up of eight little drummers and a very tall drum major with his cymbal. They called out “Falun Dafa Hao!” while moving along. People around me asked, “What kind of people are these?” I took this opportunity to tell them about Falun Gong and the inhuman persecution in China. At the same time, Chinese practitioners dressed in shiny yellow outfits appeared and smilingly distributed flyers, keeping it low key.

After the drummers, seeming to appear from nowhere, six dancers performed the lotus flower and the screen dance. “These dancers appear so composed and unpretentious,” said a woman next to me, “Totally unstressed, with no shoving and commotion. Besides this, all this is so beautiful! It is hard to believe!”
Because the entire performance was given without any posters and appeared to be impromptu, a practitioner stepped on to the stage and told the spectators about Falun Gong. “Oh, he’s telling us the same you told us!” said a woman. Although I had told it some distance away and without a microphone, it was understood. Good!

I baby sat a fellow practitioner's four-month old baby. One woman got rather interested. I told her that the mother sings in the choir. “Ah! Your daughter-in-law!” “No, she is from Vienna and I’m from Hamburg. We met here for the first time". “Oh my, she trusts such a small baby to a stranger.” I responded, “No, we are not strangers. We both are Falun Gong practitioners and live by the principles ‘Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance.’ Therefore, one is no stranger.” She could hardly believe it. Then, she said, “To be honest, I also would trust you with my child.” Even during such small incidences one sees the power of Falun Dafa, even if one has no intentions, nor understands it.

Originally published in German at: http://www.clearharmony.de/articles/200607/32816.html