The Glory of Falun Dafa

At the onset of the Olympic Games, many Falun Dafa practitioners travelled to Athens in Greece. They envisioned telling the people of Greece about the wonderfulness of Falun Dafa. They also wanted them to learn about the inhuman persecution and the cruel torture practitioners suffer at the hands of Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin and his cronies.

I wish to tell you about two special performances that practitioners had prepared in particular for that time. One is the Falun Gong practitioners’ downtown parade included female dancers in enchanting and delicate dresses who presented the Lotus blossom dance and the other is the waist-drummers who were in yellow and red traditional Chinese costumes. The waist-drummers affirmed with each drum beat the universal principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance. Each drumbeat announced that evil cannot survive and will be eliminated. Immediately behind the drummers were practitioners dressed in white, holding a lotus flower in their hand.

Those of Asian decent see the Lotus flower as a symbol of spiritual growth. From the muddy waters, the Lotus bud reaches its crown towards the heavens; uncorrupted, unsoiled and untouched by the dirt that had given it life, it unfolds its true beauty. The same unfolding can be seen in those humans who chose a spiritual path. They let go of wickedness and filthiness and return to their original being.

We noticed more and more passers-by in the pedestrian zone. They were clapping their hands, smiling, waving and showing their delight with heartfelt attentiveness. Some walked alongside the practitioners in the parade, as if they couldn’t wait to learn all about it and the reason for this wonderful parade. We even noted that, within ten minutes, the police officers who had held an attention position relaxed and displayed a friendly attitude. This clearly showed that the Chinese Embassy lost its influence; and its pressure and request to stop, arrest and detain the Falun Dafa practitioners held no longer a grip on the police officers. Falun Dafa’s harmonious field surrounding the practitioners had changed the atmosphere within a short period of time.

Many of the passers-by accepted gladly one of the many Falun Dafa leaflets, which the practitioners had brought along. A large quantity of leaflets were printed in the hope of informing the Greek citizens, the many tourists and the media attending the Olympic Games about the inhuman persecution. Hearing about the persecution of the Falun Gong practitioners in China greatly shocked these people. They could hardly believe it.

The parades destination was Constitution Square, in the heart of Athens, where the practitioners performed the Lotus dances and the waist drummers played their drums under the blazing sun for the bystanders. The practitioners dressed in white demonstrated the harmonic exercises. Banners displaying the words, “Falun Dafa is good,” were exhibited all around the large square. It was a field that radiated peace, truthfulness and sincere dedication.

Once the by passers had been told about Falun Dafa and the persecution we invited them cordially to the August 16th musical evening soirée, presenting soloists and the European Falun Dafa choir, at the open air theatre Dora Stratou, located near the Acropolis. We hoped to enjoy the warm summer evening together.

We performed our last rehearsal in the midst of nature, in enchanting surroundings and the accompaniment of crickets chirping. We still had to iron out some shortcomings. But, we knew that since we performed with all our heart, wishing deeply to excel, presenting the spectators a musical display of the glory of Falun Dafa and letting them hear the story of our cultivation path, we could only succeed. Those Dafa practitioners that performed as Lotus dancers, and musicians and male and female soloists opened their heart to impart the glory of Falun Dafa to the spectators during that evening’s performance. The final performers on the stage were the European choir, the female singers wore a most beautiful, colourful silk dress and the male singers wore black pants and white shirts. Far and wide one could hear in English “Coming for you” and in Chinese “Wei Ni Er Li.”

Coming from far away,
Again and again, I came for you,
I came for loving you
Precious Chinese people, (or)
Please listen to my heart-felt voice,
Falun Dafa’s great, oh Falun Dafa Hao!
See the truth behind those lies.
Do not miss this precious chance, this precious chance!

With the second song we paid homage to our cultivation path and sang in English the “Ode to the Lotus.

A council member thanked us deeply for the performance that was free of charge and announced widely that the practitioners pay for all costs needed for such a performances from out-of-their-own-pockets.