Vancouver is a beautiful city in Canada, with its many well-known sites where tourists linger. On one of its major streets is a spectacular site known to the public as the site where Falun Gong practitioners peacefully appeal 24 hours daily in front of the Chinese Consulate. This appeal, launched in August 2001, has lasted for a year and nine months. During the past over 630 days and nights, Vancouver practitioners have overcome many interferences and difficulties and the appeal has sustained without a stop.
The appeal started in August 2001, when overseas Dafa disciples launched a worldwide SOS to rescue the 130 Dafa disciples on hunger strike to protest being illegally held in Masanjia Labour Camp. A Western practitioner in Vancouver initiated an around the clock appeal. He was joined by other Dafa disciples in Vancouver and the relay hunger strike appeal lasted 300 hours. Reflections emerged in our minds on how to appeal in front of the consulate. While everyone understood the importance of appealing before the consulate, no consensus was reached on whether to do it around the clock. One opinion was that the 24 hour approach would take up a lot of manpower and time and the Fa-rectification activities have a lot on the agenda that demands manpower and time; therefore it would be all right just to appeal during the day. As long as our mentality is well positioned, wherever we are makes no difference. Another opinion was that a consulate is an overseas representative of that evil. Our presence before the consulate is to directly expose the evil. Over there it was also where the evil materials in other dimensions converge. Those evil materials would not stop persecuting Dafa disciples or interfering with people just because we take a break. Therefore, we should persist and continuously expose the evil, and not allow them a time for recess. Further, the consulate is on a very busy street in Vancouver. All kinds of vehicles pass by all day long. Our presence make more and more people aware of the truth. We should keep the 24 hour appeal going. Finally, even though there was no consensus, we believed we should cooperate well as long as we decided to keep it around the clock.
With a very simple and firm thought, and relying on firm belief in Master, Dafa disciples have kept it going around the clock up till today. During this process, many moving stories unfolded. But there were also interferences from the evil. We learned from our mishaps and took some lessons. Above all we elevated rationally and as a whole.
The 24 hour appeal is easier said than done as there are many foreseeable and unforeseeable difficulties and obstacles. As soon as fall was over, came winter. Vancouver's winter is raining at least 3 or 4 days a week. At night the temperature was low and chilly. Later we built a small hut to keep the practitioners from the rain and in it we could also meditate or study the Fa. Practitioners in the appeal included elderly ladies in their 70s, younger women who were several months pregnant, young mothers who brought along their babies or toddlers, and those who worked during the day and rush to the site in the evening. At the time, because we had not had a thorough exchange of understandings from the Fa principles, the involved practitioners were limited. At each shift there was only one disciple and the night shift usually lasted from 10:00 pm to 7:00 am. That winter was one of arduous hardships and more severe weather than usual. The hut did not have a front cover. On days where there were heavy rains or snow, the rains and snow mixed with the wind coming into the hut creating quite an ordeal to disciples on site.
Master teaches in "Touring North America to Teach the Fa"
"Whether it's the bitter cold of winter, the intense heat of summer, or when everything is covered by ice and snow, or in the pouring rain, and no matter what people's attitudes are or how difficult it is, you haven't let up. Master knows about all of this. I see it, and I'm happy. I know that you're choosing on your own to do what you should. This is what the overall body of Dafa disciples is doing."
With Master's Fa principles guiding us, we overcame great difficulties no matter what. The solemn and benevolent Falun Gong appeal of that winter moved the hearts of those who passed by. Many of them pulled over on purpose to approach us for the truth of Falun Gong. Among them there was a Western girl who came on a cold winter night with 9 large red apples for the elderly practitioner on site, those who showed great concerns for us, a mayor's candidate who brought a bowl of hot noodles, those who brought us hot coffee, university students who came for a survey, mainstream journalists, and countless people who simply beeped the horn to show their support.
It was when they drove by that many people learned about Falun Gong. The Clearwisdom website carried a report of the Across-Canada-SOS Rescue Walk 2001. A Western young man came across Dafa disciples during their walk and he joined them in their mountainous journey on foot for a week. He told them that he used to drive by the consulate and time and again he learned about Falun Gong and the persecution in China. He was deeply impressed of the practitioners' appeal for their belief. Therefore, when he ran into the Dafa disciples on the SOS rescue walk, he very much admired the courageous spirit of Falun Gong practitioners and hence he wanted to be a member of the team.
Likewise, there can be many others, who accidentally drive by several times. A thought of compassion in their heart has already seeded a destined connection for them to receive the Fa in future. Isn't this telling us that their thought of compassion is sentient beings' support and understanding of us? After more than a year and a half, the 24 hour peaceful appeal in front of Vancouver's Chinese consulate has become a symbol of Falun Gong and a window for people to learn about Falun Gong. Many times, when we were introducing Falun Dafa to people of our local areas, they would say, Falun Gong! I know it. You' been sitting there to appeal at the Chinese consulate Many Chinese people who have just arrived from Mainland China were taken by their local friends to drive by on purpose so that they could see the truth they were unable to see in China. Many Chinese living in Canada and travelling to China tell their relatives and friends in China about our extended 24 hour appeal. It was at that site that several disciples who managed to come out of China found fellow Falun Gong practitioners and quickly merged into us.
After seeing our appeal, an everyday friend was moved and said: "There used to be a rumour that Falun Gong practitioners are paid a lot to demonstrate in front of the consulate. Now I don't believe such rumours. Such a cold day and such a long night. Who would be able to do this if there had not been a case where people are terribly being wronged. No one could ever pay for someone to show such a strong spirit."
There was also a columnist of the mainstream media who drove by frequently. Finally one day he decided to reach us to find out what power was behind for us to be there that long. To get more information, he stayed with Dafa disciples for two nights. He interviewed disciples and wrote up a very good report in a provincial newspaper of BC. At the end of his report, he said, the Chinese consulate is spending huge amounts of money on renovation of its building into a structure of complete cement and steel wires, which may appear strong. The Falun Gong practitioners have also built a simple hut outside the premises. They will keep their appeal going. If I were asked to choose which is stronger and lasts longer, I would choose Falun Gong!
These stories form many small streams that flow into the momentum of Fa rectification. All this sends us a message that the compassionate nature of people is awakening and we feel tremendously joyful for them because their compassionate reflection has already laid a wonderful foundation for their future!
Nevertheless, our long time appeal there stirred the nerves of the evil. Every single moment of our presence there directly tells sentient beings how Jiang's regime in China has been persecuting Falun Gong practitioners and that the persecution still continues. Every single moment directly exposed their lies. Because of our presence there, government delegations from China never dared to take the front entrance and the visa office has not moved back to the premises even after the renovation was completed. The evil is afraid of people knowing the truth and controls those with bad thoughts to try all kinds of means to interfere with us and to send us away. At the beginning, the consulate frequently called the police and complained, saying that our appeal interfered with them. But every time the police came, they heard about the truth. After some time passed the police knew what was happening. Once the police came out of the consulate and told us that because we were there the consulate people felt scared. We smiled as the sentence from an everyday person's lips revealed the real mental status of the evil. At night, some times unidentified vehicles roamed around the area; once our banners were vandalised by some unknown people.
Once the consulate attempted to remove us permanently under the pretext that they needed to set up a separation fence for construction. They quietly obtained a construction permit for it from the municipal government and then staged a very fierce action. Everything looked as if we had to leave. Since it all came suddenly without any advance notice, we exchanged our understandings on the Fa principles and realised it was interference and sabotage from the evil. It was something we must deny with our righteous thoughts. At the same time, we should not go to extremes. Upon hearing about it, many Dafa disciples quickly went to the site to send forth the righteous thoughts. While most of us continued SFRT, several of us talked the matter over with the construction contractor and the police who were called there to mediate. These practitioners calmly but firmly told the other party the facts and why we were there for an extended appeal. We also told them that we were willing to cooperate with them to finish the fence. We listed other similar incidents elsewhere in Canada to the police, pointing out what the real motive of the consulate was. Eventually, the police understood it and agreed that we could temporarily transfer our banners to a spot outside a neighbouring residence. The construction team leader said they would finish the job as soon as possible and we could move our banners back onto the new fences. This sudden incident was resolved perfectly.
Two months before this Fa conference, the city received steady complaints from residents about us, saying our banners were so large that it could lead to traffic accidents. The relevant city staff came to our appeal site several times for inspection and notified us to reduce the size of our banners.
In reply to a disciple's question on appealing before the consulate, Master says in Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference:
"Remember: wherever a problem occurs, that's where you need to clarify the facts. (Applause) As for whether the result is good, don't look at the other party, it comes from your minds. If you want it to be good then it will be good. And if you don't intend to make it good, or if you are wavering in your mind, then it won't be easy to rectify things. In other words, you need to have strong, righteous thoughts. If you' thinking, "I'm truly saving you. I'm truly telling you the facts," then the result will be good."
Four of our disciples went to the city engineering department to clarify the truth. The Western practitioner who initiated the appeal explained why he at that time adopted the 24 hour appeal. Another practitioner told of her family members in China who were persecuted by the vicious police until the family collapsed and lives were lost just because of practising Falun Gong. The practitioner who has always taken charge of producing the strong posters and banners explained how he took into consideration the city' image to improve his design and choice of posters. The practitioner who stayed in contact with the department staff discussed the issue with the staff referring to the Canadian Charter and explored on how to reasonably resolve the complaints about our appeal. When one practitioner was clarifying the truth, the others kept sending the righteous thoughts. They brought themselves into a harmonious cooperation. At last, an official said, "For your petition, the bigger the banners are, the better the result is!"
We know that our appeal is different from an everyday people' demonstration. We are cultivators. When we run into interferences, on the one hand we should be aware of sending righteous thoughts to see through the evil's purpose and on the other hand we have come to understand that we should remain calm and look inside to see if there is any omission with our xinxing that has been taken advantage by the evil.
When there was voice from the public that our hut was shabby and messy, something negative to the city's looks. We were aware that we should pay attention to these details and we, therefore, disassembled the old hut and built a beautiful stronger blue booth. We also improved our separate banners and posters into a connected one-piece display panel covering the complete wall. The content was also enriched and the tone was filled with more compassion. This improvement did not only further reveal Dafa disciples' courage to sentient beings but also demonstrated to them the solemnity and magnificence of Dafa.
When we hear people say, you've been there for so long, people already know it, they get used to your being there as everyday they pass by, and they are now numb to it, yet the persecution of Falun Gong still happens in China, what use is it for you to do this? We understand although the persecution still continues, our daily presence will reduce the persecution till it stops. When hearing people talk about being numb, we should look inside whether we are being told that our heart has become numb because of the long time appeal. Also we came to see that our truth clarification is not sufficient. Once a sentient being really understands the truth, his compassionate nature should not be numb. When people do not understand the truth, they won' express their understanding but instead will express dislike even if we leave the spot entirely.
When the banners or posters were purposely damaged by someone, we knew there must be some omission on our part that the damage happened. We should not blame the particular practitioner at the site because it was not meant for any particular person but for us all, targeting the Fa as well. Any one person's fault will lead to a fault of us as a whole. Therefore, any disciple sitting there must maintain even stronger righteous thoughts and sense of responsibility.
When there were concerns among us whether our presence there took up time and hindered us from telling the truth to sentient beings, particularly to the precious Chinese people, we realised that we were doing Fa-rectification work in the capacity of Dafa disciples, not as everyday people doing their jobs. If we were only there physically without our xinxing reaching the requirement of the Fa on us, then it would be everyday people on their work shifts, sitting there only to sit, persevering only to persevere. Then no matter how long we sat, there wouldn't be any power to move people's heart. That would really be hindering Fa-rectification work. But when we sit there as a Fa-rectification disciple, what rises from heart is the solemn magnificent righteous thought.
A variety of comments from the public included both praise and criticism, which enabled us to realise that there was not sufficient exchange among us from the perspective of Fa principles regarding the 24 hour appeal. The significance of the appeal may not have been fully understood. In the very first place, the understanding was to SFRT at a short distance, to expose the evil, and to tell the truth to the public. Now after such a long time, we have come to see that the 24 hour appeal in fact has integrated Vancouver disciples into one because it is something that can not be achieved by one or two people as it demands the collaboration of us all. Some practitioners assumed responsibility to build and replace the display boards, some others quietly took care of the battery replacement, and some others coordinated shifts. When there was interference, some disciples contacted the relevant institutions. Isn't it a process in which we step by step advance towards rationality and maturity?
When we first started, there was often a vacancy on a shift. Sometimes one disciple had to go there twice a week. Disciples who went complained about others who were not going. Now many practitioners say they can take care of the site so as to let other practitioners with skills have more time for more important work. Those who cannot make it actually support the appeal with righteous thoughts. Everyone can understand that it is far insufficient for only one or several persons to have righteous thoughts. The righteous thoughts should come from all, going or not going there. This has set up a higher demand on us as a whole. When problems or contradictions occur, we no longer complain but are tolerant to each other, and treat and solve the problems from the one body approach. Isn't this a process for us to advance as a whole?
The format of our long time 24 hour appeal in effect displays the spirit of Falun Gong to sentient beings, an unshakable, diamond-firm spirit of the people who seek the truth in spite of tremendous tribulations, never to bend or retreat. The appeal enables sentient beings see that no power can change the compassionate original nature of a life who truthfully melts into compassion and returns to their origin.
It is like what Master says in "The Disciples' Magnificence":
"At this great moment in history, every steady step is a glorious historic testimony, and is incomparably-magnificent mighty virtue. All this is being recorded in the history of the cosmos. The magnificent Fa and the magnificent epoch are forging the most magnificent Enlightened Beings"
Vancouver Dafa disciples, showered with Master's benevolence, have taken the 24 hour appeal journey in front of the consulate to this day. On this journey there have been ups and downs. On the remaining journey, our steps will be more steady and we will be more rational, but we believe when history goes past this chapter, the future people will remember today as history.
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