It’s been over a year since the last time I have had the chance to formally share my experiences and a lot has happened since then. I hope that you will point out anything that is not in line with the Fa.
SOS WALK
Before last years Irish Fa conference, some European practitioners and I had organised to have an SOS walk from Amsterdam to Brussels – with our arrival coinciding with the activities in Brussels for the UN Summit.
I remember that about a month before the Irish conference, on the 1st Oct., I had increased my Fa study to about 4 chapters a day. At the time, I was not doing much in clarifying the truth or was not participating in any major Dafa projects. The college year had not yet started, so I had a lot of time to spare. I thought that the most important thing was my Fa study and cultivation. Even though I wanted to clarify the truth, I did not know what a Fa-rectification Dafa disciple truly was.
One night, I had a dream; a person said to me “You need to read more”. I believed it was a hint from Master. Then I increased my Fa study to the point where I would sometimes read up to 9 chapters a day. I also felt that I was being pushed higher and higher, but this wasn’t from my own cultivation and was an external force. Even though I was reading so much, a lot of it just wasn’t ‘going in’. My understanding of Fa study was still very shallow. I also thought that I was being pushed to this level because of the SOS walk. Just before the conference, I found out that Teacher had something else arranged for me. I’ll get to that in a minute!
The SOS walk went quite well, thanks to the efforts of so many local practitioners. When we walked, we found that everything was already arranged, we didn’t need to think too much, just walk in the direction Master meant for us to – even if this wasn’t directly on the route from Amsterdam to Brussels. We arrived in Brussels at the beginning of the Parade through the city centre.
APPEAL AT TIANANMEN
On the day of the first Irish conference, a practitioner from the UK told me that some practitioners were planning to go to Tiananmen Square to appeal. I had already wanted to go independently, but somehow the timing was wrong. I said that I would like to think about it and would send an e-mail to say if I would go or not. About 2 hours later, I said that I wanted to go. It was good for Dafa, so I should do it.
Slowly, I began to realise that this was why Teacher was pushing me upwards so quickly. Very little was down to myself.
The group who had decided to go exchanged e-mails before going and I found we progressed together. I still remember one of the first e-mails – it said that we should not be arrested. We planned to just sit on Tiananmen Square and do Fa Zheng Nian for 15 minutes and then leave.
There was a kind of innocence about this thought, but I don’t think it was naivety. After all Master was looking after us.
We met on the square, and began to Fa Zheng Nian. When the police arrived, I was a little surprised. I thought “what are they doing here?” Then, I realised people were being dragged away. Still I was a bit surprised at what they were doing, but a thought entered my head – “Why am I being left alone?” Everyone else around me seemed to be taken away. With this thought, two police officers lifted me up and forced me into the van. I’m sure if this thought had not come about, I would have been allowed to leave.
The whole arrest didn’t feel like a big deal, I put the thought of what my parents and friends would think out of my mind and sat down the back of the police minibus with some other practitioners. A few of us got out of the minibus through the side window and I managed to walk away unnoticed with some footage of our appeal. I walked towards the crowd, which had gathered in a circle around the police cans and minibuses, and kind of melted into it. When I passed through and began to walk away, an army officer stopped me for having a camera. So I was taken to the police station to be questioned.
There were 3 reporters and 4 other people in the room at the time. One of the people there was a practitioner. I learned a lot from his behaviour; he was distinguished and upright in the station and I got the impression that he was doing Fa Zheng Nian continuously. On the other hand, I was nervous and didn’t settle. I did Fa Zheng Nian, but was preoccupied with what had just happened. After police asked us a few questions we were then left go.
The day of my return flight, I passed through Tiananmen Square. The thought entered my mind about whether to appeal again. For some reason, I didn’t.
RETURN HOME
My father had questioned Falun Dafa from the very beginning. I tried to explain what Dafa was and what I had gained, still it didn’t do much. On the flight home, I did Fa Zheng Nian to get rid of any unrighteous elements that may be influencing him.
It turned out that my father had been interviewed by one of the major tabloid newspapers about the appeal – he said that he was proud of what I had done and would stand by me. He also made sure that his words would not be quoted incorrectly on the paper by asking the reporter to read them back to him! He was probably the most rational and supportive throughout the days before I arrived home.
Looking at Clearwisdom over the following days, I noticed that the main focus was on the appeal. The media were all over the story too. It was difficult to settle and I was bothered by a few thoughts; the first was that everyone played his or her part to create the environment that allowed for the appeal. There were not just 36 practitioners appealing on the square that day. We were all there.
The second set of thoughts went to organising press conferences and getting everything else sorted so that we could clarify the truth on a large scale – it was very hectic and I felt as though I was dragged back in my cultivation over those days.
The third thought went towards the press release that was sent out in Ireland. The original was written with the main idea of “Those who are appealing are doing it out of compassion”. However the press release that was sent out just said something like “Cork man arrested in China”. I felt that this was going along with the old forces deviated arrangements.
Naturally, after the appeal those who participated shared with each other what they had learned and their shortcomings. I raised the point that the press release wasn’t correct from my understanding. However this was done without a calm heart. One practitioner responded; “Study Fa more”. This said it all.
CLARIFYING THE TRUTH TO CHINESE PEOPLE
I don’t have many chances to get out, but I have 2 main experiences of clarifying the truth to Chinese people. The first happened when I was at work this summer – I work as an assistant manager in a supermarket. A Chinese lady came into the store, asking for a job. She handed me her CV and said that she would like to apply for a job. I knew her real reason was to ask me “Can I hear the truth about Dafa?” I told her I could not make decisions about hiring staff and looked down through her CV to find something to start a conversation. It turned out she spoke Japanese, so I said “Oh! you speak Japanese”, I said that I spoke a few words, like “Ni Hao”. We laughed a bit and things felt relaxed, so I said “Can I ask you a question? Do you know Falun Gong?” Her expression changed and she said that it was bad. I asked her how she knew this. Her reply was that the media in China always said so. Then I asked if she had ever talked to Falun Gong practitioners, she replied “no, we don’t talk to them”. I told her I practiced Falun Gong and she was a little surprised. I then asked her how she could say that Falun Gong was bad if she didn’t obtain both sides of the story. I persisted in saying that maybe the media was wrong in their reporting. At this time, she remained silent, it exactly like it said in the Clearwisdom editorial,
“Any beings in which righteous thoughts still exist, no matter how they have been deceived by the lies and however stubborn they may seem, upon realizing the truth, their spirits will be stunned and their physical fields will even undergo a change in their very nature.”
I could feel her dimensional field was completely shocked.
Then she spoke some of the ‘usual’ propaganda about practitioners committing suicide. I asked had did she ever read Zhuan Falun and told her that I had and in Zhuan Falun it said that killing was forbidden- this surprised her too. I said again that I think these report (about practitioners in China) were not right, told her I’d pass on the CV to my boss and said goodbye. Still stunned, she said goodbye.
What I learnt from this experience was to bypass the notions of Chinese people having pride in their country and in communism. There was no mention of politics, just that the media did not have the correct information. In this instance, the effect was very good.
The second instance was in Houston, during the evil heads visit. There were many Chinese people there and some were so misled that they denied the existence of the persecution. When I explained about a practitioner to one lady and how he had been shocked with electric batons by six people, she replied “Oh! They (the electric batons) have been banned in China…” Other were completely unwilling to talk with us. We were persistent, and kept smiling no-matter what they said.
When it came to about 1pm that day, many Chinese people left their ‘posts’ by the flags and went to get food. I was sitting down, doing Fa Zheng Nian and saw those people running past. The pity I felt for them weighed heavy on my heart; they were selling everything they had for a meal and some temporary benefits. I just wanted them to wake up and see the truth. I would have given anything for this.
As I sat, this righteous thought rose up. It seemed to purify everything. I was asked to move to another place to Fa Zheng Nian and I agreed. Three practitioners sat in full lotus and Fa Zheng Nian. I sat behind them on a step trying to eliminate everything stopping these China people from awakening too. I think the effect was very good and the atmosphere was purified very quickly.
MELTING INTO FA
Throughout the past year, what I have mainly noticed is that when I give everything to Dafa everything goes smoothly. When I get a little negligent, things take a turn and there are problems.
I recall one time when I went to Dublin to stay with practitioners for the weekend. There was an up and coming press conference and a lot of preparation work. I was assigned the task of putting together a press pack. After arriving in Dublin, we studied together first. Everyone else finished whatever he or she was doing and went to sleep. I stayed up compiling the press pack with two thoughts, this is for Dafa and I must make it as easy as possible for the media. The entire press pack took about five hours to create.
Everything went so smoothly. And I’ll always remember when I was lying down after completing the task I heard Pu Du coming from somewhere in front of my head. I closed my eyes and my heart was at peace, I felt like a part of Fa. This is why I am here.
LEARNT FROM THE LAST YEAR
It’s hard to put into words the things that I’ve learned over the past year. But in general, my outlook has changed from thinking only about my cultivation, to trying to save sentient beings in everything to do. I admit that I have some steps to take in improving within Fa-rectification. But by improving diligently in Fa, I hope to reach a state where I cherish every moment. As the Latin phrase goes; “Carpe Diem” – Seize the day.
He Shi.
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