[New Orleans] The American city of New Orleans is a beautiful port in the state of Louisiana. Unfortunately the city is notorious for it high crime rates. Its citizens are beset by violence and problems with maintenance of law and order. However, the spread of Falun Dafa brings a new opportunity for the city's future.
On December 2nd, Mr. Marc H. Morial, Mayor of New Orleans named the day as "Falun Dafa Day" in New Orleans; to honor and promote the beneficial effects of Falun Dafa in upgrading morality and improving the mind and body. He also encouraged all citizens to embrace Falun Dafa and thereby benefit from it.
On that very day, Falun Dafa workshops were held in two public libraries in New Orleans for the first time. Practitioners from Louisiana and Texas introduced Falun Dafa and taught Falun Gong exercises to about 20 new practitioners of different ethnic groups. These predestined new practitioners shared the same feeling as us, the veteran practitioners, when we first started - that Falun Dafa was a righteous practice we had been seeking for many years. One gentleman said, "I have spent a lot of money learning all kinds of martial arts. I am tired of all these violent and physically demanding exercises. Falun Dafa gives me a feeling of peacefulness and energizes me at the same time. This is what I really need." Two ladies had rushed from another city for the workshop. By the time they arrived, the workshop had already ended. They said, "Falun Dafa not only has exercises, but also requires upgrading of xinxing (mind or heart nature, moral charachter/by editor) and conforming to Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. This is the cultivation practice we have been seeking for years." They hoped to learn the exercise at a practice site the next day. An elderly couple learned all the exercises diligently. When asked whether they needed a break, they said no, and added that they thought Falun Dafa was very good.
What happened to Gary, a Tai Chi master, was rather extraordinary. Gary first received Dafa four years ago. He even participated in proofreading the English translation of the Dafa books. Later, for various reasons, he stopped practicing Falun Gong. One week before the Dafa workshops, a local practitioner on his way to the city hall for the proclamation letter, asked a stranger for directions. The stranger turned out to be Gary. After they chatted and got acquainted with each other, the practitioner invited Gary to the workshop. Gary not only helped with publicizing the workshop, he also brought several students from his Tai Chi class to come and learn Falun Dafa. After the workshop, Gary said he would resume and be persistent in practicing Falun Dafa this time around. We all felt the great compassion of Teacher. Teacher does not want to leave a single disciple behind. We disciples should be responsible for our own destiny and should not miss out on the cultivation opportunity.
ABC TV station in New Orleans and the largest local newspaper Nola Live sent reporters to cover the event. They appeared to pay very close attention to Falun Dafa events. The reporter from the TV station inquired if there would be similar events in the future. Reporters from Nola Live not only interviewed Dafa practitioners, they also learned Falun Gong exercises amidst their busy schedule; and felt energized. The hosting practitioners talked about the extraordinary positive effects of Dafa, they also mentioned and exposed the evil crimes of Jiang Zemin to the media. We believe, as Dafa becomes better known in the world, the evil will be condemned by more indignant people.
The director of one of the hosting libraries said: "I know what's happening in China. They are too wicked. You have my deepest sympathy." We feel the end of the evil is near.
Dafa Practitioners from New Orleans
December 4, 2000
