Rectifying the Fa in the US (part 1)

As soon as I boarded my airplane that was leaving for Chicago on Oct. 22, 2002, I started to study the Fa [Law and principles of Falun Gong] to purify myself. When the airplane arrived at Chicago at about 1 o’clock in the afternoon, I felt both a little bit nervous and excited. I felt that this trip was extraordinary.

At the customs desk, the immigration officer asked me straightforwardly, “Have you come here to protest against the Chinese President?” I replied, “Yes, this Chinese dictator has killed so many innocent people.” He said, “Jiang arrived at this airport about an hour ago.” I asked curiously, “Is that right!”

“Sure, he was treated the same way as we did to anyone else.” Then, he asked me, “Are you a Falun Gong practitioner?” “Yes I am, do you know what Falun Gong is?” Upon hearing my question, the officer turned to his colleague and said, “Look! This visitor is asking me whether I know about Falun Gong.”

He told me with a smile that Falun Gong has three treasures. I said they were the three principles, Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. Apparently, he has come to gain a certain degree of understanding about Falun Gong. He asked me if I know the hotel address and the activitiy schedule of Jiang. I said no. He again turned to his colleague and said, “See, he comes to protest, but he doesn't even know anything. Should I tell him Jiang’s hotel address?” I looked at him firmly and friendly, “Why not?” He then let me write down the hotel address of Jiang. He then wished me good luck as I was about to leave. I thanked him for his amicability and understanding about Falun Gong. When I walked out of the customs, I sent forth righteous thoughts as I was walking. [This means to think of purifying one's environment with upright, positive thoughts]

When I arrived at the hotel in the afternoon, there were already a lot of Dafa disciples sending forth intensive righteous thoughts in the park beside the hotel. I joined them right away. The weather was fine when I left the airport so I wore a T-shirt and felt fine. However, the temperature dropped in the neighborhood of the hotel where the evil Jiang was staying. It also became cloudy and cold. Because of the intensive righteous thoughts sent forth by Dafa disciples, the coldness had subsided by dusk.

After dinner, I took a rest in a nearby hotel where a fellow practitioner had rented a room. I had learned a lesson from my last trip to Germany, I wanted to adjust my conditions to their optimum. I was not here to fight a battle of fatigue, but to send forth my purest, steadfast righteous thoughts within my capacity so that all is cleaned. When I felt ready, I returned to the park, and sent forth righteous thoughts with many fellow practitioners through the night. I felt clearly that my cultivated part retained righteous thoughts, and was separated from my human side. The trivial thoughts on the human side occurred sometimes, but they were eliminated immediately. Nothing could have interfered with my righteous thoughts. The duration of time spent sitting in the full lotus position [Where both legs are crossed on top of each other] had long exceeded the limit in my regular practice, but the strength of my righteous thoughts kept out any disturbances.

It was about 5 o’clock in the morning when a cold gust suddenly occurred and the weather made a turn for the worst. There was both wind and rain and i could sense that this was interference. Fellow practitioners were still sending forth the their righteous thoughts even though they had not slept for the whole night. A lot of us stood on the sidewalk, and some practitioners carried banners. I stood on the street corner, facing the hotel as I sent forth righteous thoughts. The wind was very strong, and it blew directly onto my face along with the rain. After a while, I started to feel that I could not physically sustain this for any longer. Many human attachments started to arise. I felt that I had reached my limits. I sensed that this was a real test, and reminded myself what I should do in the most difficult time. I started asking myself If I have done my very best. Right at that moment, I noticed that I hadn't. I realized the selfishness inside me and with tears in my eyes, I said, “I haven't done my best, I am really sorry.”

I found that I didn't try my hardest in many Fa-spreading activities. Without total devotion and complete sacrifice, I didn't fulfill the requirement of the Fa. This is a serious lesson to learn. On the other hand, I comprehended that continuous self cultivation and improvement is needed in the true cultivation. It is just like what Teacher said in the Boston Fa-lecture in 2002, “….your performance during this process, you are establishing yourself, laying down the foundations of everything for yourself.”

We continued to send forth righteous thoughts as we were. It was about eight o’clock when the Jiang left, the bad weather also improved. I packed up, and went to the airport with the other fellow practitioners for our next destination — Houston.