Falun Dafa comes to Lincoln, UK

Lincoln is an old city, in the north east of England, in the less inhabited mass of flat land and broads which dominate the landscape of the east of the country. On the 19th of January 2002, a few Falun Dafa practitioners went to the centre of the city, to appeal for public support against the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners in China, and to give people the chance to get to know Falun Dafa. Lincoln is isolated from most of the major cities in the UK, so some of the practitioners had to travel for some time to get there. This was the first time Falun Dafa had come to public view in Lincoln. It was a beautiful clear winter day, with a cold wind. In the main shopping area, the practitioners put up posters revealing the atrocities of the persecution and explaining about Falun Gong, and handed out over 2000 leaflets. A few practitioners would perform the exercises while others handed out flyers and talked to people. There was a great feeling of calm and harmony around the area of the demonstration. Although this was clearly something very unusual for the people of Lincoln, it all felt perfectly natural, and people were very keen to accept leaflets. Many people stood watching, often for some time, forgetting the cold winter wind, and the January sales, as they became engrossed in the display of the peaceful Falun Gong exercises, or gathered around the posters. Even those young men and boys who one suspected might have, on other occasions, been rowdy and disturbing didn’t seem to have the heart to disturb the practitioners, especially after seeing the kind and righteous way practitioners conducted themselves; they too stood and watched quietly, or went on their way

The most heart-warming thing about doing such activities is that one can see, more clearly than at other times, that spark of conscience in people's hearts which so often these days seems to remain hidden. It is encouraging to see that people really care about right and wrong. A blind woman who was passing heard the noise of the exercise music and asked her companions whether it was T'ai Chi. A practitioner went over to her to explain about Falun Gong and the persecution in China. He found her to be very compassionate and warm-hearted. She chatted for about five minutes, and was very touched with the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance, and she was horrified to hear of the persecution in China. She asked that her heartfelt wishes and blessings to be conveyed to the practitioners; her manner and tone of voice were sincere and touching. One quiet young boy stood watching the exercises unwaveringly for about half an hour before he went to talk to a practitioner; his innocent mind found it hard to understand why the practitioners were treated so badly in China, and he asked many thoughtful questions about the persecution and about Falun Gong. Many people expressed their disgust at the treatment of practitioners in China, and offered their heart-felt support. Many tried to give money as a way of support; practitioners explained that Falun Gong does not accept donations, but were nonetheless touched by the gesture. As people who deeply value the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance, for us to see other people’s kindness and support is truly worth more than all the money in the world.