NEW YORK CITY—The sounds of the marching band and drummers echoed through midtown Manhattan as thousands gathered on May 13 for a parade marking 34 years since Falun Gong was introduced to the public in China.
Nearly 2,000 people joined this year’s World Falun Dafa Day parade, some in coordinated yellow attire, some dressed as heavenly guards, while others performed dragon and lion dances and carried colorful banners. A float carried women dressed as heavenly maidens.
Mark Yang, 27, a researcher from Washington who has practiced Falun Gong his whole life, played in the Tian Guo Marching Band during the parade. He told The Epoch Times that the spiritual meditation discipline has brought him a great deal of positivity—a balm in modern times.
“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 down Second Avenue and turned west on 42nd Street, passing Grand Central Terminal, Bryant Park, Times Square, and the Port Authority Bus Terminal, before ending near the Chinese Consulate on 11th Avenue.
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’
Vivian LaFarge, 49, said she first encountered people practicing the Falun Gong meditative exercises in a park in Atlanta in 2000. Naturally drawn to spiritual pursuits, she joined the group and participated for several minutes, although she did not continue with the practice at the time.In 2015, she contracted Lyme disease and became severely ill. She said that 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 in incredible detail. She said that after she took up the practice, 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,” LaFarge said.
“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 hoped New Yorkers who came across the parade would take away 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,” she said.
Lawrence Rweyemamu, 50, started practicing Falun Gong in 2009 and said it completely changed the trajectory of his life.
He said the practice 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.Huang later picked up the practice and has since been much better at controlling his temper, he said.
“I would just explode if I reached a certain point, and that’s horrible. But now I know how to control myself,” he said.
“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.”
Huang said that he decided to join the parade in Manhattan 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 life.”
April Zhang, 56, a graphic designer, said she had asthma from middle school through college, about 14 or 15 years. She felt she had no more energy to live and quit college because her asthma had grown so severe. After she started practicing Falun Gong, her asthma was gone in just one month.
Her father and mother both taught physics in China, and she and her brother both studied it. Her whole family only believed in science and had no spiritual faith, she said. She found that when people have no faith, money can become very important.
“I think faith is so important, especially faith like Falun Dafa,” Zhang said. “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. Other parades to celebrate the day have been held this year in San Francisco, London, Montréal, and Seoul, South Korea.
