May 12, 2004

It has been eleven years since the first time I saw the words "Falun Gong" in 1993. I'd like to share some of my most treasured memories.

In 1993, I was attending college in Wuhan City, Hubei Province. I read an article in a magazine introducing Falun Gong. I was immediately attracted by it. I didn't know why, but I felt an indescribable joy and excitement. In August, I finally found the practice site in Hankou District, Wuhan. Thinking back, when I received the first copy of Falun Gong from the practice site's volunteer assistant, I did not truly know what I was really obtaining.

About a month later, on September 25, 1993, I attended Master Li's lecture held at an auditorium in Zhongnan Economics University.

It was an eight-day lecture and it was my first time seeing Master Li. My impression was that Master Li was very kind and dressed very simply. He was wearing a short sleeve white shirt and long pants. Master Li lectured continuously on the stage. I still remember my feeling when listening to the Fa. Master Li talked about many things that I had never heard of before. I understood some but not all of it, and believed some but not all of it. However, in my mind I did have one thought: Falun Gong is good and I will cultivate diligently. Every day after lecturing on the Fa, Master Li taught or reviewed the five sets of exercises. He also went off the stage to personally correct the practitioners' movements.

I remember that in one lecture, Master Li wanted to let everyone experience the spinning of the Falun. He asked us to put our palms in front of our chests and then I saw Master Li waving his hand on the stage towards us. I felt something rotating at the center of my palm. The feeling was really wonderful.

The process of purifying the body was not very intense for me. Maybe it was because my body did not have too many problems. But during the second half of the eight-day seminar, I had severe interference from thought karma (of course I found out what it was afterwards). In my mind, doubts about Dafa and Master Li constantly came up. It was as if they could not be suppressed no matter what I did; however, they disappeared as soon as I entered the auditorium.

On the last day of the seminar on October 2, I saw Master Li do the greater mudras, and I had an indescribable and wonderful feeling. We all wrote down our experience from the seminar and handed them to Master Li.

In the afternoon of October 3, Master Li wanted to come by and take pictures with all the practitioners attending the seminar. Outside of the auditorium, we divided up by practice sites to take pictures with Master Li. I have kept this precious picture by my side all this time.

I was fortunate enough to attend Master Li's seminar one more time in June 1994 in Ji'nan. At that time, two other practitioners from my practice site and I took the train from Wuhan to Ji'nan. We started the trip a bit late but on the train we met many other Wuhan practitioners. When we were together, we felt warm and at ease. We were constantly sharing experiences. When there were no seats, we stood up and talked; when there were seats, we let the elderly and children sit. Finally we arrived at Ji'nan on the day the seminar started. We did a count and that train had over 100 practitioners.

The seminar I attended was the second Falun Gong seminar at Ji'nan. It was held in a sports stadium that could hold a few thousand people. We can still see the scenes from that time in the published videotapes of Ji'nan lectures.

Being able to attend the seminar and listen to Master Li's lecturing on the Fa, I felt warm and knew it was precious. During the seminar, I experienced my body being cleansed one more time. This time I felt it. I had the symptoms of fever and common cold, but I was fine after the seminar was complete. There was a small episode during the seminar that I can still remember clearly.

While lecturing, Master Li asked the practitioners who used fans to stop fanning. At that time, Ji'nan's weather was hot and there were a few thousand practitioners sitting there. It was really a bit stuffy inside the stadium and the temperature was not low either. Therefore, there were quite a bit of people using fans. However after Master Li finished asking people to stop using the fans, a cool breeze blew over us and it was very comfortable. The stadium had so many people, and all the doors and windows were basically closed. At the time, I really wondered where the cool breeze came from.

By now I have walked my path of cultivation for eleven years. During this time I have taken many detours, but I always felt that Master Li had never given up on me, and always guided me and watched over me. On the path of cultivation, even though I have been tripping and stumbling, please rest assured, Master Li, that I will walk every final step well and will not let you down.