NEW YORK CITY—The sounds of a Western-style marching band and drummers echoed through midtown Manhattan on May 13, as thousands gathered for an annual parade marking 34 years since Falun Dafa was introduced to the public in China.
The parade featured nearly 2,000 Falun Gong practitioners from New York and elsewhere. They marched through the streets in coordinated yellow attire, some dressed as heavenly guards, while others performed dragon and lion dances and carried colorful banners. A float carried female participants dressed as heavenly maidens.
The banners displayed slogans such as “Falun Dafa Is Practiced in Over 150 Countries,” “Falun Dafa Brings Hope to Mankind,” “Falun Dafa Is Good,” “Life-Changing Health and Moral Improvement,” and “Humanity’s Only Hope Is to Improve Morality.”
Their aim was to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day and share a message of hope with the public.
Mark Yang, 27, a researcher in the U.S. capital who has practiced Falun Gong since before he was born, was a member of the Tian Guo Marching Band during the parade. He told The Epoch Times that practicing Falun Dafa has brought him a great deal of positivity.
“Especially in the current age, there’s so much negativity online around the world,” Yang said.
“I’m working in the policy sphere, so every day you’re encountering something that is not very happy. It can really trigger some people, bring a lot of negative emotions, and Dafa really helped me to find hope, find a purpose in life, and to maintain this positivity.”
The parade started at 47th Street and Second Avenue, near the United Nations headquarters. From there, it headed to Second Avenue and turned west on 42nd street, passing through Grand Central Terminal, Bryant Park, Times Square, and the Port Authority Bus Terminal, before ending near the Chinese Consulate on 11th Avenue.
The practice’s popularity drew the ire of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which viewed its rapid growth and widespread appeal as a threat to its grip on power. In July 1999, the Chinese regime launched a brutal campaign to eradicate the practice.
Despite the cruelty and persistence of the campaign, survivors in China say the CCP’s effort has failed to force them to abandon their faith.
The date, May 13, also coincides with the birthday of the discipline’s founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi.
‘Absolutely Blessed’
Several other participants in the parade also spoke with The Epoch Times.Vivian LaFarge, 49, said she first encountered Falun Dafa in a park in Atlanta in 2000. Naturally drawn to spiritual pursuits, she joined a group practicing Falun Gong and participated for several minutes, though she did not continue with the practice at the time.
Later in 2015, she became severely ill and contracted Lyme disease. Three years later, believing she was nearing the end of her life, she asked God whether there was anything she still needed to do on Earth. Suddenly, the image of herself practicing Falun Gong at the park in 2000 came into her mind with incredible detail. After taking up the practice, she said her health quickly improved.
“I think to myself how absolutely blessed I was to have that three minutes or five minutes in the park in Atlanta in 2000,” said LaFarge.
“Falun Dafa plucked me out of the depths of whatever darkness I was in, in every shape and form, physically, mentally, emotionally … It pulled me out, and it completely remade me. “
LaFarge said she hopes New Yorkers who come across the parade will take away at least a memory, a positive impression of Falun Gong.
“So if people need to have that in their unconscious so that when they really need it, it comes up and they can step up and step into Falun Dafa and discover who they really are, that’s great.”
Lawrence Rweyemamu, 50, started practicing Falun Dafa in 2009 and said it completely changed the trajectory of his life.
He said Falun Dafa taught him to focus less on material possessions and more on finding meaning and purpose in life and on “true joy rather than fleeting happiness.
Rweyemamu said taking part in the parade was very important.
“This parade shows the people of Manhattan what Falun Dafa is, and hopefully brings awareness to those people who see us,” he said. “Almost everyone that I speak to who practices has found true benefit in their life from it.
“So I think that May 13 is an important day for the world, in that what Falun Dafa tries to do is make people into better people.
“Good people are good for every country in the world, so I think that that’s something important to memorialize.”
‘Universal Values’
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Hugh Huang, 34, said he studied in Taiwan, where his professor introduced him to Falun Gong.He first read Falun Gong texts in 2010, but didn’t start practicing at the time; only later did he pick up the practice.
Huang said that after practicing Falun Gong, he has been much better at controlling his temper.
In the past, he said, “I would just explode if I reached a certain point, and that’s horrible. But now I know how to control myself.”
“When I have quarrels with my wife, I know that I should calm down and look within to see, ‘Is it my fault?’ And if so, I apologize and correct it.”
Asked why he decided to join the parade in Manhattan, Huang said he came out of gratitude.
“Because today is World Falun Dafa day, we’re just coming to celebrate it, because we want to thank Master [Li] for introducing the Fa to us, and we want to show how beautiful this Fa is to the residents of Manhattan,” he said.
“Our principle is our truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. These are universal values. Even if you are not practicing Falun Dafa, you can still incorporate those principles into your lives.”
April Zhang, 56, a graphic designer, said she had asthma from middle school through college, about 14 or 15 years. She said she had no more energy to live and quit college because her asthma was so severe. After she started practicing Falun Dafa, her asthma was gone in just one month.
Her father was a physics professor in China. Her mother also taught physics. She studied physics, and her brother did, too. She said her whole family just believed in science—they had no faith. She found that when people have no faith, money can become very important.
Struggling with poor health, Zhang said she didn’t want to continue living. She was unhappy and couldn’t find peace. She said she was always depressed.
“So I think faith is so important, especially faith like Falun Dafa,” said Zhang. “It’s so important. It may make people [live] stronger and have happiness forever.
“I hope all the people know how good Falun Dafa is, and like me, benefit from Falun Dafa.”
The New York parade is among the largest of its kind worldwide. In recent days, there have been other parades in the cities of San Francisco, London, Seoul, and Montreal.
