Big Family of Falun Dafa

A Western Practitioner from Toronto

Nihao Li Laoshi! (Greetings, Master Li!)

Mr. Li wherever you really are I always feel that you are near me.

Hello everybody -- all of you are truly my family under the great Law. Lately I have met so many more of my Falun Dafa family from all around the world. They always make me feel at home no matter what country I happen to be in.

In December at the Taiwan Conference I knew I was on the opposite side of the world to where I was born but things were not upside down and I didn't fall off the earth. I just closed my eyes and followed Master's words and music with the exercises and I felt at home with thousands of practitioners. Most of the faces were strangers to my eyes but smiles welcomed me and hearts sent greetings as we read Master's familiar words and our exercise practice together joined us as one Falun Dafa family in the Fa. Even though the scenery and buildings were unusual to my eyes and what I had only seen before in pictures, and the parade was the longest I had ever been in, and the candlelight vigil glowed with amazing Taiwan light-sticks, we still were one with the Fa and our hearts glowed into the Universe as one huge family dedicated to Falun Dafa.

During a side-visit, all of Hong Kong welcomed us in our golden-yellow shirts and we simply followed kind-hearted practitioners who took us to exercise on a certain street corner. The next day we visited Lantau Island and the big Buddha, which Teacher writes about in Zhuan Falun. We didn't speak very much-- I only know a few words in Mandarin--but we smiled and laughed a lot at each other's tears of joy. The practitioners showed us a special place where Master had also visited and we exercised together there too.

It's so amazing to meet practitioners and to exercise all over the world. At each airport the exercises introduced the Fa energy to all who passed through. One time a man sitting next to me on the plane said he was so glad to have seen the exercises in the airport and now felt excited to be able to look up Falun Dafa on the net for himself. I had a moment of sadness for all the others I wasn't sitting beside and couldn't give information cards to.

Experience-Sharing Conferences are so precious and special. Not only the travel and sharing the Fa with everyone you meet from everywhere, but also our own sharing of experiences -- so similar to each other yet so uniquely different because each of our lives and environments are so different. But our understanding is combined together by reading the one precious book, Zhuan Falun, and we all share sacred silent time together when we exercise, each in our own country and at our own exercise-site, but united as one with Teacher's voice and that cherished music. I think in other spaces we are all together, with no land or water or time or space separation.

Each time I open my eyes after exercising it's as though I have been reborn. I feel brand new and I have a fresh start to face whatever comes next. I watch every other practitioner blink their eyes open to their own newness and we only smile at each other, knowing of something beyond what we can comprehend at the moment.

At the Orlando Florida Conference in January the cab driver said they were experiencing the coldest winter they had ever seen. Falun Dafa brought the sun and the Conference blossomed outside next to a shimmering lake with swans floating by. Golden t-shirts glowed with golden daffodils and dandelions all over the hillside. It overflowed my heart and healed all my loneliness. So many Western practitioners shared their love of the Fa, and I knew I was not alone in my dedication and joy.

In February at the Los Angeles Conference, I was off-stage helping with translations. One of the speeches not presented was from Taiwan practitioners who were not allowed to go past customs to attend the Hong Kong Conference. They expressed how they did not allow the evil to get away with this interference. They were not quiet about the police breaking their own laws until the police Commissioner came and apologized and promised not to treat Falun Dafa the way Mainland China does.

Next in Geneva, we were briefed about 500 Chinese sent by Beijing to interfere with our Conference. I was also told some of them would bomb themselves to kill us too. We smiled with determination and devotion to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance and calmed ourselves in the Fa. A few minor incidents were stopped with firm kindness. Falun Dafa teachings were validated by wonderful speeches and two heart-warming exercise practices on the grassy land in front of the United Nations, even in the rain. So many people from around the world were touched by the sincerity of these thousand peaceful practitioners representing so many different countries and cultures yet braving everything for Falun Dafa: Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance--and to let the world know about the Crimes against Humanity going on in China against Falun Dafa.

After my return to Toronto I was soon back in Geneva, Switzerland. Major disruptions were on the verge of exploding almost every day. Reading Zhuan Falun and exercising as often as we could kept the environment calm. Despite 18 legal restrictions placed upon our gathering once again in front of the United Nations, we all co-operated and created the most awe-inspiring manifestation anyone has ever seen in Geneva. This time there were 600 Falun Dafa practitioners, all dressed up in everyday dresses and suits, totally in silence with huge picture banners declaring the tortures going on in China. Held high on poles, smaller portraits of those persecuted to death were garlanded with flowers and hand-held by ladies in white. The scene produced a visual impact and clearly brought awareness of the Truth. All were standing in circles radiating out from and away from the giant Chair: symbol of grief and atrocity --all faces looked outward with firmness and determination supporting our banners which shouted words of "Stop Killing in China" "China Stop Human Rights Abuses." Everyone knew we were Falun Dafa practitioners there for all the world to see.We stood silently for 3 hours. Our power was visible. Our silence was golden. We kept our thoughts in the Fa. Our goodness radiated out to all four corners of the earth and up and down the universe. Everyone who saw it was changed.

The Red Cross granted the hill across from the United Nations for our Candlelight Vigil. Another hill across the lake facing the United Nations came alive with golden yellow t-shirts shimmering and flowing in time to the exercise music 2 days in a row. Berne, the capital of Switzerland, was moved to grant yet another parade for Falun Dafa. I think it was tears of joy from Heaven that rained all that day. Even though only 14 countries were not afraid to vote to talk about China's gross Human Rights abuses, many officials from all the countries declared their support for Falun Dafa and many news reporters took back proof of the sickening lies spread by China to show their homeland the Truth about their own experiences with the goodness of Falun Dafa.

What I learned from all these gatherings is: no matter how many rumors or restrictions or tricks, Falun Dafa teachings lead practitioners to rise to a higher understanding in all situations and nothing can keep us from the Fa.

A former notion that kept me from understanding more of the Fa was my idea of Ren. To me Forbearance, Endurance, Patience, Tolerance was all encompassing and whatever happened was OK--just find the joy in the tribulation. When China cracked-down on Falun Gong I saw it as the chance to let the whole world know that in this day and age such wickedness was alive and happening in China and the contrast of the peacefulness of the practitioners would show the goodness of Falun Dafa. Then Teacher wrote "Beyond the Limits of Forbearance"- "Forbearance is absolutely not giving free reign without limit, which enables those evil beings who no longer have any human nature or righteous thoughts to do evil." His words really shook my notion.

Master showed a compassionate correction for me in my garden. My duty as a resident in the household where I live is the gardening. Before I met Falun Dafa I rearranged colorful plants into a rainbow of beauty and weeded out whatever grew to disturb that beautiful arrangement of delicate blossoms. When I began Falun Dafa I decided weeds were also growing living things so I let the weeds live and enjoy their lives too. Last year one weed after another battled to take over the whole garden. Organizations of strangling vines interlaced and tried to choke the life out of each other. Huge leafy fast growing wild things sprang up everywhere to drown out the sunlight from all other life forms. Prickly thorny stalks of giant woody weeds invaded to crush everything else. Over and over, offshoots repeated attacks against all other growing things even themselves. My garden was turned into a messy battleground of tangled, thorny, ugly rampant destruction and fight for supremacy. All the gentle flowering bushes and scented blossoms tried to fulfill their delicate seeds of life but were continually dwarfed out and crushed by the overpowering massive struggling of those weeds who wanted to be "the only King-of the garden." The rampant fighting drained away food supplies, water, sunshine and space to unfold scented petals and to spread next year's seeds of beauty. Bumblebees and butterflies couldn't even navigate through the tangled mess. Hummingbirds and other bird species didn't visit. It sure proved something was wrong.

Master's words took root in my heart. I realized I must face the truth. Allowing the weeds to destroy and kill off other more gentle ways of existence with their proven evil habits was not to be tolerated. This year I've cleared the weeds away from the flowering plants so colors and perfumes will mingle again, each happy and free, growing within its own root structure not encroaching upon another's space but complimenting the fulfillment of the true promise of nature. Now all those creatures that support, nurture and appreciate life will be welcomed back so they can thrive too.

I also now realize how necessary it is to pull out those evil weeds strangling Falun Gong in China. How necessary to be strong minded and determined to free all those gentle flowering practitioners from the overpowering weeds whose destructive nature only knows how to kill and crush and struggle mercilessly against all others. I think it is the highest compassion to stop them from harming others and themselves. Their past actions judge themselves as killer weeds. I don't think human beings were meant to be weeds or to kill other human beings. Our Teacher says to use righteous thoughts and actions so I drew up a petition of Conscious Vow and Intention to call on all of my Whole True Being so it will gather and focus righteous thoughts and actions to help the evil weeds in China not to harm anyone else, but to feel their own evil intentions and actions themselves and know this is pure self-justice because they have harmed the great Law of the Universe taught in Falun Dafa. I also call on my Whole True Being to focus righteous thoughts and actions so all the true nature of every human being will awaken to the FA and know the glorious Gift our Teacher's presence on earth at this time truly is.

Another proclamation- this one from the city of legends, the "Far East" of Canada: Newfoundland. Directly across from 0 mile of the Trans-Canada Highway in Mayor Andy Wells' City Council Chambers, Falun Dafa was honored with a Falun Dafa Week. When Mayor Wells saw the pictures about the sickening tortures going on in China against the practitioners and heard even Canadians were being locked up and beaten and that all levels of government throughout the world, even in Canada (and we named a few), were being coerced to hate or be suspicious of Falun Gong, he was so moved he declared the original Falun Dafa Day he had promised to become Falun Dafa Week. He also read the words President Bush said and agreed with them. A Councilor stood up and spoke from his heart about the best of the East coming West to join with Canada's best of the East there in St. John's Newfoundland. Everywhere we went the true nature of the good people of St. John's smiled at us and gladly took all the information we had to give. One lady said she would be the contact person. Another said we would be back soon with the 9 day class because she knew so many others who will want to do Falun Dafa. It was very exciting in Newfoundland with such kind-hearted people everywhere.

Falun Dafa has certainly made living exciting. Of course I know it is simply the Fa enriching my life. Before the Fa I was so exhausted I spent most of my days taking naps. Now I'm doing things I never dreamed of. For example, I always hated traveling because I always got sick. Now I go everywhere and I'm never sick. I promised myself when I was 16 years old never to give another speech. Now I seem to be giving them all the time because things are happening to me all the time-things that prove that what our Teacher has written in the book Zhuan Falun is all true. Just reading this book each day and doing the 5 exercises has re-energized my body and my mind and rejuvenated my spirit.

Falun Dafa is not a religion: we worship no one, but our faith and trust in our Teacher's words and our own understanding heals our bodies and our minds and develops us in ways and abilities we could only dream of. Falun Dafa has no fame or gain. It's only our hidden natures developing and evolving into the true expression of really becoming genuine human beings. I always felt that becoming enlightened didn't mean to do computers, but to communicate with all my family all over the world I will do it. My fear of Aliens programming my mind with the computer has dissolved into my deep trust of Teacher's profound protection. Falun Dafa is not political. When we bring awareness of the truth about what is happening to us in China, politicians feel inspired to do their jobs better. Falun Dafa is not an organization. We all voluntarily want to share the fantastic benefits we are getting with everyone. When we do get together and co-operate we arrange the most magnificent conferences, parades and events.

Just last week I co-hosted an all day outdoor event. It was a Multi-Cultural Day to Celebrate Truth-Compassion-Tolerance. What a miraculous day! It was May 13^th -- the day our Teacher presented Falun Dafa to the public. All around the world Falun Dafa practitioners gathered to honor this most auspicious occasion. It was also Mother's Day and my son gave me the gift of co-hosting with me. How appropriate for Mothers to take part in Truth-Compassion-Tolerance Day because all Mothers hearts wish these noble traditions to be a part of their children's lives. The weather was wonderfully warm, the balloons were vibrantly colorful, the banners were splendid in professing "Truth-Compassion-Tolerance Day." Everyone was smiling in celebration.

The dancing was amazing, the costumes were splendid and so beautiful, the singing was heart-warming, the music was lively and mellow, the booths were filled with all sorts of fun and thought provoking materials; people kept gathering and enjoying the sights and sounds. The Falun Dafa exercises never looked so touching and spiritual, the music never so hauntingly fresh. The Program went so smoothly with time for everyone who came to join in. Even the brilliant sun surrounded by a fluffy light purple cloud expressed the momentous moment with a most remarkable giant round rainbow and a golden wheel around that. It was unbelievable. We told them it was Falun the golden Law wheel of Falun Dafa. This golden wheel stayed above our festivities for over 5 hours. We all felt so blessed. Our feet hardly touched the ground we were so happy. As a joyful parade ended the program, many congratulated us on our hosting but I knew something was missing. I realized I didn't say Thank you to all the faithful practitioners who tirelessly devoted their time and energy to arrange such an amazing display of celebration and merriment that we could participate in and enjoy but something else was still missing.

The next day in Meditation I knew what a great loss I had incurred. I had forgotten to say Happy Birthday to Master Li. If it were not for Master Li I wouldn't have been able to do what I did all that day. If it were not for Master Li there wouldn't have been such a Celebration Day. If it were not for Master Li there wouldn't be Falun Dafa here on the earth. If it were not for Master Li, I wouldn't know any of you and you wouldn't know me. If it were not for Master Li, Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance would be lost to this world and it would be a horrible tangled mess of evil, with wild weeds choking all goodness to death.

I hope my last attachment will be the two words "Thank You". Master Li, for this precious gift of Cultivation and all it encompasses and offers--my Heart says Thank You, my Body says Thank You, and I say Thank You. And Master Li, Please accept my belated wish of Happy Birthday to You. Thank you everyone for being here and letting me share my heart with you. Zaijian.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.cc/mh/articles/2001/6/17/12179.html

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