Remembering When Teacher Taught the Fa at the Assistants' Fa Conference in Changchun, China in 1998

July 26th, 1998 was a day I will never forget. The founder of Falun Dafa, Teacher Li, took time out of his busy schedule to return to Changchun from abroad and meet practitioners in his hometown. We had never thought it possible, not even in our dreams.

At about 3:30 p.m. that day, we went to the Shangri-La Hotel. The conference was held in a big hall located in the southwest corner of the second floor. The conference hall was serene and solemn. A yellow cloth covered the podium, on which there stood a pot of colourful flowers. Seeing this, we all had a hunch that the Teacher was coming. We waited for that wonderful moment with great excitement. At about 4:50 p.m., Teacher appeared at the entrance. Everybody stood up, and welcomed Him with thunderous applause. Teacher walked toward the podium along the aisle on the left side and reached out to shake the hands of the practitioners who stood near the aisle.

Once at the podium, Teacher stood and asked a staff assistant to position his chair higher, saying," I'll sit a little higher so that everybody will have a good view." At 5:05, he began to give a lecture. Teacher was very happy, and said to all the practitioners in the audience,

"I haven't seen you for a long time... Yet you have cultivated yourselves well, and I can say that no true cultivator has been left behind. It's the same whether or not you've seen me in person. You won't be treated differently as long as you keep cultivating on this path of cultivation. (Applause)(from "Teaching the Fa at the Assistants' Fa Conference in Changchun")

Teacher believes in his practitioners. Teacher repeatedly told us to seize the time to study the Falun Dafa teachings, practise the exercises, improve our heart and use the teachings in Falun Dafa as a guide at all times. During the ten-minute break, Teacher didn't even drink any water. Instead he stood beside the podium and answered practitioners' questions with regard to their cultivation.

One veteran practitioner was afraid that there wasn't enough time left, so he asked Teacher how much time was left for cultivation. Teacher told him that as long as he seized the time to cultivate, time would not be a problem. Teacher said that time is limited, but I enlightened to its inner meaning afterwards. Teacher knew about the arrangements of the old forces. The former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin and his regime was about to launch the persecution against Falun Dafa. Falun Dafa practitioners would soon walk the path of Fa-rectification cultivation. Practitioners in Teacher's hometown were major targets of the persecution. That's why the Teacher repeatedly told us to seize the time to study the Falun Dafa teachings and practise the exercises to lay a good foundation so that we can fulfil our historical responsibilities.

After the break, Teacher began to answer questions for the group. Teacher pointed out practitioners' serious responsibilities many times during both the lecture and the question and answer period. We didn't enlighten to it at the time. One practitioner asked,

"Since Sakyamuni came from the sixth-layer universe, why wasn't he able to see the boundary of the small universe?"

Teacher: "Some of you in the audience came from very high levels too, but you can't see anything, not even things beyond humans." (from "Teaching the Fa at the Assistants' Fa Conference in Changchun")

At that moment, we were all shocked. We had never thought that we came from such high levels. We didn't realise that Falun Dafa practitioners would be asked to shoulder such a mission, save sentient beings and leave lasting magnificence during this historical period.

At 10:10 p.m., the lecture ended with warm and enthusiastic applause.

Teacher stepped down from the podium. He walked out of the conference room from the aisle on the right side. Walking in from the left and out from the right, Teacher actually circled the entire hall. How considerate our Teacher is. Teacher tried to shake hands with each and every Falun Dafa practitioner, fulfilling their wishes. Though I had cultivated for four years and was a practitioner in the Teacher's hometown, I had never seen Teacher in person.

As the compassionate Teacher appeared in front of me, I suddenly held his hands with my both hands. I could not express how excited I was. I wouldn't exchange that moment for any amount of money. I had never had such an experience in all my life. My mind and body were entirely immersed in happiness. I could only express myself one way, and that is to firmly cultivate Falun Dafa. No matter how many difficulties and dangers there are, I'll follow the Teacher and complete the path all the way.

Jiang has used his power to brutally persecute Falun Dafa since the 20th of July, 1999. As a Falun Dafa practitioner from the Teacher's hometown, I acted in a way that is worthy of Teacher's expectation. I let go of all my attachments to the greatest extent and went to Beijing to appeal for a stop to the persecution against Falun Dafa and to let people know the true facts about Falun Dafa. Whenever I encountered difficulties, I would recollect that scene that of the Teacher giving the lecture, and remember his words,

"It's hard to endure, but you can endure it. It's hard to do, but you can do it." (from "Zhuan Falun")

During these years of trials and tribulations, I have made efforts to do what a Falun Dafa practitioner should do. I was dismissed from my job, illegally detained three times, and was once sentenced to forced labour. No matter how I was persecuted, they could never shake my firm determination to practise Falun Dafa.

We Falun Dafa practitioners should cherish this opportunity as it will never again be available. As the Fa-rectification progresses to the final stage, Teacher has told us to let go of human attachments and save the world's people. Not seizing this opportunity and using excuses would be a manifestation of our human attachments. We must overcome the obstacles set in our path that keep us from saving all sentient beings. The sentient beings have waited millions upon millions of years to be saved. If they cannot be saved, it will be our biggest loss. Let's cherish the time, try our best to do well the three things that the Teacher has told us again and again to do, and walk righteously every step on the Fa-rectification cultivation path.