Precious Memory from Nanjing

Precious Memory from Nanjing

I am a Falun Dafa practitioner from the city of Nanjing in Jiangsu Province. I started practicing Falun Dafa in 1996. Teacher did not give lectures in Nanjing, so practitioners there had always wanted to meet Teacher in person. Shortly after I learned Falun Dafa, I attended an experience sharing conference. In the conference, an engineer I'll call "T" from Jiangsu Province talked about his experience of meeting Teacher on an airplane when he went overseas for a visit. I am writing his experience from my memory to share with everyone.

***

I went to visit America and met Teacher Li on the airplane during my return trip. In fact, Teacher Li was also on the same flight I was on when I went to the U.S., but I didn't see Teacher then. When I was on the flight back to China, I saw a tall middle-aged man walk in shortly after I got into the flight. My eyes lit up and I thought, 'Isn't this Teacher Li?'"

I knew that Dafa was good and also respected Teacher Li very much. I thought to myself, "I should not miss this good opportunity." Therefore, I went up and asked, "Excuse me, may I ask if you are Teacher Li?" Teacher Li said with a smile, "Yes." After Teacher Li sat down, I wanted to sit next to him but the practitioner who accompanied Teacher did not agree and said, "Teacher is very tired, and needs to rest." Teacher understood my feelings and told that practitioner, "You two switch seats for a while. Let him sit by me." Thus, I was fortunate to sit next to Teacher. I wanted to talk to Teacher but didn't know what to say. Teacher didn't talk either. He picked up a newspaper, started reading, and handed me another newspaper. I sat quietly, but I couldn't concentrate on reading the newspaper; I wholeheartedly wanted to ask Teacher Li some things. After remaining in such a conflicting mood for about half an hour, I decided to talk. I said, "Teacher Li, I have heard about the Falun Gong you have taught. I also respect you very much." Teacher smiled, but didn't say a word. I also said, "I also want to learn Falun Gong, but I have never attended Teacher's lectures. I wish Teacher would give me a Falun."

Teacher Li looked at me and laughed, like an adult looking at a young innocent child. Then he said, "Read the book, read the book more." My face turned red. I knew that my question had been very naive.

After a little while, I had to return to my own seat at the repeated requests of the practitioner. But after I sat in my seat for a while, I wanted to ask Teacher more questions, and so I went and sat next to Teacher one more time to ask some more questions. Then I was again asked to leave by the practitioner.

The third time, Teacher Li asked the practitioner to call me over and sit next to him. Teacher asked me to look out the window. I suddenly saw a very big, colorful light ring underneath the wing of the aircraft, and it was very beautiful and spectacular.

Before I said goodbye to Teacher Li in Beijing, I said to Teacher, "Nanjing Dafa practitioners wish that Teacher will come to Nanjing to give a lecture." Teacher Li said, "We will need to wait for the right opportunity, this year's schedule is already full." I also said, "Teacher, could you give a few suggestions to Nanjing Dafa practitioners?" Teacher Li said, "You all should read the books more, read the books more, and read the books more."

I passed on the message, and practitioners in Nanjing began to read the books and study the Fa more.

42. Unforgettable Teaching

In April of 1994, my little sister told me that a Falun Gong class would be taught in Jingzhou City. She urged me to attend. I found an elderly Buddhist nun that I knew and asked her about it. I said, "Falun Gong is going to have a class and it teaches the Buddha Fa. Have you ever heard of the Buddha Fa in all these years that you've been a nun?" She replied, "I haven't heard of the Buddha Fa. I have no idea what that is." So she and I planned to go to the class together. On that day, a lay Buddhist came to the nun asking to also become a nun. She did not know that we were on our way to the Falun Gong class. Implying that we should take the newcomer along, the nun asked me, "What about her?" "Let's follow the predestined relationship," I replied. As soon as I told the lay Buddhist about the class, she immediately expressed that she also wanted to attend. Because I had many health problems (including throat cancer for 7 years), I had lost the sense of thirst and had not sweated for years. However, as soon as I got on the train, my hands and feet started sweating a sticky substance. Later I realized that Teacher had begun purifying my body even before I saw Him.

Upon arriving in Jingzhou, we went straight to the class. When Teacher appeared at the rostrum, I was so excited. The nun sat beside me. She said to me, "I just saw Bodhisattva Avaalokitesvara, appearing as a 13 or 14 year old and wearing gold earrings. She is so solemn and magnificent! The Bodhisattva appears wherever Teacher speaks. When Teacher talks about Buddha Fa, the image would be that of a Buddha. When Teacher talks about Bodhisattva Avaalokitesvara, the image would appear as Bodhisattva Avaalokitesvara, with hands constantly emitting colorful lights. So many Falun have filled the room, like snow flakes." That nun had been told at an early age that she would be able to see Bodhisattva Avaalokitesvara if she became a Buddhist nun. I suppose it was the Buddha that had led her to Dafa. Later she told me, "I am not going to be a Buddhist nun any more. I will only practice Falun Gong. Teacher is a Buddha. He came to the world to save people."

After two lectures, the nun already understood that Teacher was teaching the Buddha Fa and cultivation. Feeling that she had been a Buddhist nun for so many years without truly understanding what school she had been practicing, she could not help but cry. On the last day of the lecture, Teacher was answering questions from students. Because the nun was still crying and there was not much time left, I went to ask Teacher about it. At that moment, Teacher was sitting on a sofa near the right hand side of the rostrum. He looked at me kindly. I walked up before Him and said, "Teacher, there is a nun, she does not know what to do. She is crying." Teacher told me, "Go and tell her, it is the same." I was just about to walk away when Teacher said, "Come back, go bring her here." I went to find the nun and we both walked toward the rostrum. When we got somewhere within a distance from the rostrum, the nun suddenly knelt down and bowed her head down with tears falling. Teacher came down and helped her up, saying, "Don't be this way." He helped the nun up to the sofa. She was unable to say a word because of her emotions. She simply asked, "What should I do?" Teacher looked at her and pointing to the rostrum told her, "They are all here. Bodhisattva Avaalokitesvara and Sakyamuni are all here." Hearing Teacher's words, the nun was filled with happiness. She understood that the Gods and Buddhas from the heavens had all come to assist Teacher in spreading the Fa and saving people! She felt so fortunate that she had the opportunity to hear Teacher's instruction and obtain Dafa! Indeed, how fortunate!

One day after class, it was 9 p.m. We sat in the last row and were the first to exit. It was raining outside. We walked far away from the lecture hall and then I saw Teacher coming up from behind us in the rain. I then shouted loudly, "Isn't this Teacher?" Teacher heard my voice and turned around to greet us with a smile. I watched Teacher's back fading away in the rain as He walked. At that moment, I wondered, almost feeling to blame, why the local practitioners had not arranged a car for Teacher. How could we let Teacher walk in the rain? All those other qigong masters always had cars to go back and forth in, but our Teacher just walked in the rain.

This unforgettable experience is vivid to this day. It feels like it was just yesterday. Cherish today's opportunity—we have been waiting for it for thousands of years. Don't let this opportunity pass!

43. 
    Commemorating the Anniversary of Master Li's Teaching the Fa in Jinan City, Shandong Province
    

A group photo of Teacher and some practitioners from the South Licheng District, Jinan City

Under Master's compassionate teaching, Falun Dafa rapidly spread throughout Jinan City and Shandong Province. As of April 1999, there were nearly 500 practice sites in Jinan City with an estimated 40,000 to 80,000 practitioners. The people in the Shandong area warmly welcomed Falun Dafa. However, in July 1999, the Jiang regime started the brutal suppression of Falun Dafa, ruthlessly persecuting millions of kind and honest people. In the city of Jinan alone, over 300 practitioners were illegally sent to forced labor camps with terms as long as three years. Dozens of practitioners in Shandong Province have been tortured to death for refusing to give up their beliefs.

"How much longer can the evil run rampant? Every being's volition is fully revealed." ("Rectifying the Colossal Firmament" from Essentials for Further Advancement II)

This is just the death struggle of the evil before the dawn. Let all of our practitioners in the Shandong area redouble our efforts to assist Teacher in rectifying the Fa and welcome the Fa-rectification as it enters the human world.

Glossary