(Clearwisdom.net) The annual Health Expo at the University of Massachusetts was held on April 15, 2009. Falun Gong practitioners were again invited to participate. They set up two booths, one to introduce Falun Gong, the other to teach people how to make folded paper lotuses. Many university students learned the Falun Gong exercises at the Expo.
Students learn the Falun Gong exercises.
A student listens to an introduction to Falun Gong.
When the practitioners were setting up their booths the morning before the expo began, several university students had already looked at the display and wanted to learn the Falun Gong exercises. In the following three hours, a stream of students came. Students Omar Khan and Linh Tran not only learned the five exercises but also reviewed them with the next group of learners.
University President J. Keith Motley went to the Falun Gong booth to greet the practitioners and picked up an introductory flyer.
One student showed great interest in Falun Gong. She learned all five exercises on the spot. Her mother is from Africa and had told her a lot about how the Communist Party harmed people. She took a DVD of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party to watch with her mother.
Another student said he had served in the military overseas and had great interest in Asian culture. He speaks fluent Korean. He had seen people practicing Falun Gong in the Boston Common and learned about the persecution of Falun Gong from their display. He felt very close to Falun Gong when he happened upon it again at his own university. He said that he wanted to learn the practice at a group exercise site.
A man from Tibet said he had seen Falun Gong practitioners before. After hearing an introduction to the practice, he became interested and wanted to go to the Boston Common to learn it.
The Health Expo ran from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 pm. The Falun Gong booths were kept busy with students who learned how to fold paper lotus flowers and learned the Falun Gong exercises. Practitioners also exposed the brutal persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) over the past ten years. The lotus, a symbol of purity and steadfastness, represents Falun Gong practitioners who remain faithful in the face of the CCP persecution.
Robin Valentine was very touched by practitioners' steadfastness. She said, "Could you give me one more lotus and DVD? I will tell my friends this touching story!"
