By a Practitioner in Taiwan

(Clearwisdom.net) In 1992 Teacher made the Great Law of the universe, Falun Dafa, public. In April 1995, Falun Dafa was formally introduced to Taiwan. I was lucky to learn Dafa in October 1995.

Attending the international experience sharing conference in Beijing

It was near the end of October in 1996. Twenty other Taiwanese practitioners and I went to Beijing to attend a 6-day international experience sharing conference. I attended group Fa study for the first time there (later group Fa studies in Taiwan all followed the same format). Before then, I had never had the chance to meet Teacher in person; I had only seen Teacher's photo in books. When I first saw Teacher's photo, my first impression was that Teacher is very kind and compassionate.

We were new practitioners at the time that we went to Beijing. We didn't fully comprehend what cultivation is, nor did we really know whether it is good or not. We were examining for ourselves if Falun Dafa was righteous. Teacher said in China Falun Gong, "We give you so many things, but we don't want even a cent from you."

I then realized that society's standards for what is evil or righteous are totally different from the Fa's standards. Teacher's Fa teaches us how to be good people, how to conduct ourselves, and how to return to our true selves through cultivation, so it is truly the most righteous. In the beginning, we only performed the five exercises, and did not know how to cultivate. As we studied the Fa more and more, gradually we started to understand what cultivation is.

We went to Beijing in hopes of meeting Teacher. After we arrived, one of us asked the Falun Dafa Association to arrange for us to meet Teacher, but we were told that Teacher was not in China. On hearing this we let the matter go, and attended the experience sharing activities that the local practitioners arranged for us.

The first time I attended group Fa study

When we got off the plane in Beijing, some practitioners were already waiting for us with extra clothes (just in case we were not used to Beijing's cold weather). The moment I saw them, I experienced a sense of closeness, as if they were family or old friends.

Group Fa study and sharing in Hua Qiao Hotel

Group Fa studay and sharing in an open field besides Fangzexuan Restaurant

Practicing exercises in Jietai Temple

For the first two days, we attended experience-sharing conferences held in various places. The last two days in Beijing, the Falun Dafa Association organized all of us to attend group Fa study and sharing. That was my first time attending a group Fa study. Before we left Beijing, practitioners in the Falun Dafa Association prepared Zhuan Falun books, Falun badges, pictures of Teacher, banners and other materials for us to bring back to Taiwan to promote Falun Gong.

1996 International Falun Dafa cultivation experience sharing conference in Beijing

In Beijing, over the course of a few days, I met several practitioners whose names were mentioned by Teacher in lectures, including practitioners in the Falun Dafa Association. I developed a mentality of adoration towards them (which was gradually removed later through studying the Fa). They were all very kind and softhearted and we got along like a family. A Beijing practitioner noticed that many Taiwan practitioners' exercise movements were incorrect so they arranged some time to correct our movements. During our stay in Beijing, we got along very well. On the last day, practitioners from the Falun Dafa Association arranged us to have dinner at Fangzexuan Restaurant in Ditan Park.

At the dinner table, I thought this trip was perfect, with the exception being that I did not meet Teacher. About seven or eight o'clock, I suddenly heard thunderous applause. I turned my head and saw Teacher. Teacher was wearing an overcoat. He looked very young and tall, and his skin was very delicate, which gave me a strong impression.

While eating at Fangzexuan Restaurant, I heard applause as loud as thunder. I turned my head and saw Teacher.

"Finally the day has arrived to meet Him"

We sat in two halls of the restaurant. Teacher walked toward us from the middle. I happened to be sitting close to the hallway that night. Seeing some practitioners shaking hands with Teacher, I immediately stood up without thinking. I was very excited. I said, "Teacher, you've been working hard." Teacher shook my hand and said, "Good, good, good." At that moment I felt very excited. Other practitioners applauded. I did not want to let go of Teacher's hand, without thinking whether it was disrespectful or the display of bad manners. Teacher walked to the hall next to us, and told practitioners to finish their dinners and he would talk to us after we ate. We finished our meal in less than ten minutes and quickly rearranged the tables and chairs.

We were lucky to hear Teacher lecture the Fa in person

Practitioners from the Falun Dafa Association asked practitioners from mainland China to leave the first ten rows for overseas practitioners, giving us the opportunity to sit closer to Teacher. Teacher put his overcoat aside and started to talk. Teacher spoke with a clear and rich tone, which sounded very soothing and kind. That night, Teacher talked for one or two hours.

The next day on the plane back to Taiwan, several of us got together and tried to recollect what Teacher said, but none of us could recollect it completely. That was our first time listening to Teacher teaching the Fa. We didn't know how precious it was. Before this trip, all of Teacher's new articles were passed to us by Beijing practitioners, (which we then copied and gave to other practitioners). But some practitioners, including me, didn't treasure Teacher's articles, and casually put them away after reading. After this trip to Beijing, we realized how precious Dafa is. We focused more on Fa study and practicing the exercises. After we got back to Taiwan, we followed Beijing practitioners' format, and slowly developed group Fa study in Taiwan.

Teacher came to Taiwan to give lectures

The next year, I suddenly got notification of a meeting. After six o'clock in the evening, we arrived at TTV's meeting room. Nothing happened until after eight o'clock when Teacher walked in. We were all very happy and stood up to applaud. That was the first time that we saw Teacher in Taipei. That evening Teacher gave a talk, and afterwards Teacher contacted practitioners in various areas until two o'clock in the morning.

The next day, November 16, 1997, Teacher gave a lecture in Taipei Municipal San-Xing Elementary School, where about 1,000 people attended. Four days later, on the afternoon of November 20, Teacher gave another lecture at National Wufeng Agricultural & Industrial Vocational High School in Taichung City. About four or five hundred practitioners attended. Teacher spoke very long - until seven o'clock in the evening. We also had the honor of having dinner with Teacher. The next day we went to the airport to see Teacher off. At the airport departure area, Teacher used the time to teach us more Fa. We could understand some, but not all of Teacher's words.

While Teacher was teaching us the Fa, a practitioner wanted to take a picture with Teacher. Teacher saw the camera and asked if we could all be in the photo together. Teacher chose a place where the light was better.

Looking back to when I began ten years ago I can see that I started cultivation with doubts, but now, nothing can divert me from cultivation. I feel that I am extremely lucky to be able to follow Teacher and obtain the universal great Fa in this life-time. Dafa has changed my notions, improved my family life and given me a healthy body. In the last several years, I have always kept in mind Teacher's grand benevolence, and tried my best to study the Fa, do the exercises and do the three things well. I won't forget my prehistoric vows - helping Teacher with Fa rectification.

Posting date: 4/10/2006
Original article date: 4/10/2006
Category: Personal Cultivation
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/3/10/122426.html

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