It was hard to imagine a more picture-perfect day than this past Sunday on Boston Common. And in the early afternoon near the Brewer Fountain, with cymbals clanging and five male drummers dressed in colorful yellow costumes, the celebration of World Falun Dafa Day began.
Fifteen years ago on May 13, Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder and teacher of Falun Gong (Falun Dafa) introduced this ancient, spiritual practice in China. The practice quickly became popular with the Chinese people living under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party.
In his opening remarks, Bob Gaudreau from Wenham, Massachusetts, gave a short history of Falun Dafa, explaining how people eagerly embraced the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance and the practice grew to almost 100 million. Even the Chinese communist government supported the practice until in July 1999 China's then leader Jiang Zemin for no apparent reason other than jealousy of the practice's popularity started a nationwide persecution.
Sunday's events were more a celebration of the goodness and wonder of Falun Dafa in changing people's lives. Passers-by and those stopping to hear more were treated to a wide variety of events for over four hours.
For the young, there was a puppet show, "The Seed That Would Not Grow," which had broad appeal regardless of one's years.
Kids and adults alike enjoyed making lotus flowers from colored paper strips. Flowers were given away to anyone who desired one. And to some, it appeared that the paper blossoms were giving off an enchanting smell. The flowers are made to help raise awareness about the plight of Falun Gong children and orphans in China as a result of the persecution.
The crowd was also treated to compositions on the saxophone by Steve Giglotti from Waltham, who plays in the New York-based Divine Land Marching Band. And 11-year-old Chris McKenna's dulcimer playing was top-notch as he remained unfazed when the wind blew his sheet music here and there.
When interviewed, Steve Lancione, 51, from Milton recounted how he was introduced to the practice: "Six years ago, I came to a point in life that I had everything—a decent job, nice house, wife and kids, a couple of trips a year. 'Is this it?' I asked myself. Is this the meaning of my life…I didn't feel fulfilled. So with an open mind I started to investigate different religions and spiritual practices. I checked out a lot of things. And one day on the Internet I saw that people in China were being imprisoned and killed for their beliefs and something about this triggered my interest to know more. And as things would have it, a talk on Falun Gong was scheduled at my local library. I went and knew right away that this was what I was looking for."
Al Iannotti, a speech and occupational therapist assistant from West Warwick, Rhode Island, had a similar story. "When I was in my early 20s I felt a spiritual void and this feeling forced me to revisit the religion that I was raised in, yet that did not help. I kept looking and one day, as if by chance, I was visiting Boston and while in Chinatown was handed a flyer on Falun Gong. What interested me most was why this practice is persecuted in China for no good reason. Looking back now, it seems so simplewhen I was really ready to find what I was looking for, it just fell into my lap."
The day was filled with music and dance. Some songs were in Chinese, which surprisingly caught the audience's attention even though many probably did not know a single word of Chinese. Songs in English abounded too.
In contrast to the festive spirit, Cherri Yang, an MIT undergraduate student, brought the persecution up-close and personal—a fact no doubt underscored by Mother's Day—when she gave an account of her mother's imprisonment in China. Ms. Yang has been visiting local and federal government officials to gain her mother's release. Part of her petition calls attention to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (Article 18): "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion…and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief." China along with most countries in the world signed this Declaration, yet under the Chinese Communist Party rule continues to dishonor its commitments.
Professional children's entertainer and songwriter Marcus Gale from Maine sang his composition "Wake Up," which seemed to capture what Falun Gong has brought to his life, as well as his hope of what it could bring to the listener "Wake up from the night / Turn to the light / Wake up, wake up, wake up."
Perhaps Bob Gaudeau summed up the day best when he said: "When something as good and profound as Falun Gong emerges on this planet, it is definitely worth celebrating. So Happy World Falun Dafa Day everyone."
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