Falun Dafa Practitioners Present the Truth to the Rotary Club of Barrie-Kempenfelt in Canada

On August 29, 2001, two practitioners made a presentation to the Rotary Club of Barrie-Kempenfelt. Rotary International is an organization that has individual clubs located in cities throughout various countries in the world. Each club consists of business owners and managers. My local city mayor suggested that I contact them to ask if I could make a presentation in order to create more awareness locally about the SOS campaign.

There were about 40 people at this meeting. They all listened attentively to our half hour presentation. We got them to try the first exercise and showed them a ten-minute video revealing the human rights violations in China. They had several questions at the end, which were all positive. It was a very relaxed atmosphere. They told us that they really enjoyed the presentation and found it very informative.

Within hours after the presentation, their club newsletter, Eye Opener, was sent out to all members. On the first page there was an excellent article about Falun Gong (see below). On the third page there was a picture of the club members doing the first exercise. Under the picture it read, "This is proof that our members do exercise."

From this presentation we learned that it is very important to speak in a way that everyday people can understand. For example, the other practitioner told the audience that the powerful peacefulness from the exercises can have an effect on your life and you will feel calm even when someone cuts in front of you on the highway. The audience chuckled and relaxed because being busy business people they could relate to this example. Also, by starting the presentation with the first exercise, they could experience how peaceful Falun Dafa is before they witnessed how brutal the persecution is from watching the video.

Next time, I hope to emphasize the courage of the practitioners in China more than the repression, because in the article they wrote for their newsletter, they described the practitioners as passively resisting the authorities instead of describing how brave and tolerant they were.

The following is the article written by one of the club members for their weekly newsletter.

EYE OPENER- Rotary Club of Barrie-Kempenfelt

August 29, 2001

Guest Speaker

Falun Gong in China: Human Rights in Crisis

Falun Gong is described as "...a peaceful and harmonious way of living, a powerful cultivation system of mind, body and spirit." Joel Chipkar and Christine Loftus practice Falun Gong and understand its benefits. Joel demonstrated how easy it is to perform the required exercises, intended to relax the body and the mind.

The doctrine states that whenever there is a conflict with others, practitioners should always seek inside themselves for self-improvement. "You should always display compassion and kindness towards others and think of others before doing anything", wrote Li Hongzhi, the modern founder of this ancient practice.

In all, there are five groups of exercises, which can be performed at any time of day. Some exercises may help a person relax before sleep. In contrast with other disciplines, all exercises can be mastered in one hour.

Falun Gong has no political agenda or affiliations, no religious formalities, rituals or worship. There is no membership or obligations, and people can begin or discontinue practice at any time.

Why is it, then, this ancient practice, having up to 100 million followers in China in 1999, was the subject of repressive action by the Chinese authorities? Christine Loftus chronicled a large number of human rights abuses that have occurred as a result of the [party name omitted] Party's decision to condemn Falun Gong.

In addition to a graphic video presentation confirming the fact that force is used on a routine basis to curb the practice, Christine provided us with staggering statistics of suffering and of death because of passive resistance to the authorities.

It appears that the Chinese [party name omitted] regime accepted and promoted Falun Gong until 1999, when the Chinese president decreed that the practice was illegal and must cease. The decree was followed by an intensive military and police crackdown.

Please help by contacting government authorities so that political pressure may help curb human rights abuses in China.