(Clearwisdom.net)

1. Before Setting Off

Just before setting off for Houston, I read an Internet article written by a young practitioner about how the gods in other dimensions often do things together. They don't have any conventional concepts on who is older or younger or who is more powerful or honorable. They focus on coordination and how to perfectly harmonize with other living beings. The article inspired me greatly. Recalling what I had been through in my own cultivation during the Fa-rectification and the fact that all the successful activities in clarifying the truth and in spreading the Fa in different regions of Australia were due to good coordination among fellow practitioners, I realized that the final cultivation was to cultivate coordination and harmony, and to become the kind of practitioner who always considers the well-being of others. The fewer attachments there are and the lighter one's concern for fame, material interest and sentiments, the more capable one is of cooperating with others. In other words, when one truly becomes a particle of the Fa, "the Fa is all-powerful, and with everything It is perfectly all-encompassing." ("Dafa Is All-Encompassing," Essentials For Further Advancement II)

October 22 was the first day that the head evil arrived in Chicago. Around 8 a.m., our particular group of Australian practitioners came to the 10^th floor of a hotel building diagonally facing the hotel where the head evil was staying. We started to send forth righteous thoughts in an intensive manner. There were many practitioners outside around Jiang's hotel.

After sending forth righteous thoughts for more than 10 hours, we had a brief sharing of thoughts among practitioners. Most practitioners said they started to feel pain in their legs, and some individual practitioners felt that the pain was too intense to bear. I realized that this was interference from the evils as they tried to distract us from sending forth righteous thoughts. I shared my thoughts with other practitioners and some of them admired my understanding. But the problem of their pain still remained.

Seeing that almost all of the fellow practitioners had varying degrees of pain in their legs, I began to wonder. I thought that it would not be of much help if I required others to do things according to my state, so I suggested that we all look inward and check out xinxing [mind and heart nature]. Although there was interference from the evil, I believed the problem was caused by our own human notions. I recalled what Master said, "As for a cultivator, the higher the level he cultivates to, the greater his abilities. This is because the more levels of cosmos he breaks through, the less and lighter matter's weight on his being is, the stronger his innate abilities (supernormal abilities) are, and the greater the number and the more comprehensive are his abilities that are freed. I have taught in the Fa that in Dafa cultivation one's supernormal abilities are developed the most comprehensively because Dafa disciples are to cultivate to higher levels -- the higher the level one breaks through, the more he is freed from matter, and he will thus fully demonstrate his innate abilities (supernormal abilities). Dafa disciples have already been bringing their supernormal abilities into full play in Fa-rectification." ("What Are Supernormal Abilities," Essentials For Further Advancement II)

I realized that the reason I was not powerful enough was because my innate abilities (supernormal abilities) were blocked by human mentalities and therefore could not be released. Then what human mentality was it? It was time for sending forth righteous thoughts again and the pain in my legs returned. I was wondering if I should loosen my legs so that I could concentrate on sending forth righteous thoughts. As soon as this thought occurred in my mind, the pain suddenly increased dramatically, as if forcing me to loosen my legs immediately. This however helped clear my mind: Am I going to step back and compromise during the battle between the righteousness and the evil? Is this righteous thought? I heard Master saying, "As a Dafa disciple, your steadfast, righteous thoughts are absolutely unshakable, because your renewed being is formed precisely amidst the Fa-rectification." ("Dafa is Indestructible," Essentials For Further Advancement II) I should actively eliminate the evils and there is no way they could force my legs down. As soon as this thought occurred in my mind, I found my legs suddenly became as solid as a rock, with the pain diminished simultaneously. Once again, I experienced Dafa's mighty power.

Around 7 a.m. on October 24, more than a thousand practitioners from all over the world, regardless of their fatigue from days of traveling, drove to the Bush Library at Texas A&M University, about 70 miles away from Houston, to continue their peaceful protest against Jiang. On the bus, we attentively sent forth righteous thoughts every half hour to clear ourselves as well as the environment. I saw in other dimensions that we were all sitting in a transparent spacecraft, speeding to our destination. When we encountered enormously high mountains on the way, they would automatically split neatly to open a way for us to pass through. As for those mountains that didn't open up, we just flew through without feeling any obstruction. We then flew from valleys to hilltops, feeling the mighty power that could blast cliffs and make roads! I suddenly became solemn-minded, thinking of the evils' persecutions of Dafa, Dafa practitioners and the world's people. I thought of Master's words, "Dafa disciples are now sentient beings' only, sole hope for salvation." ("Righteous Thoughts") What is the significance of this unprecedented decisive battle between the righteousness and the evil in the universe? Just then, I suddenly felt there was something wrong with the bus. It kept jolting and had difficulty going forward. I imperatively said to the practitioners nearby, "Danger! Let's send forth righteous thoughts!" Once the words came out, I immediately realized it was wrong. How could we have any danger? Only the evils have danger. I started to eliminate this incorrect thought and then to eliminate any attempts and interference to obstruct us from going to the library. The driver said a belt was loose and he stopped the bus to fix it. All the practitioners on the bus kept sending forth righteous thoughts. A few minutes later, the bus was on its way again.

Around 8 a.m., we arrived at the Bush Library. The police assigned us a large open area for appealing, directly opposite the library. On our left was the "welcome-group." [paid for and organized by the Chinese consulate] It was drizzling when we first arrived. Practitioners were wearing yellow raincoats and stood in orderly lines. Those who stood in the outer line held hundreds of bright yellow banners. We kept sending forth righteous thoughts in silence.

A little after 9 a.m., Jiang's motorcade, which consisted of motorcycles, ambulances and prestigious black cars, turned into the road leading to the library from the highway. The drizzle suddenly turned into a torrential rain, with black clouds covering the sky, and thunder and lightning.

Despite the pouring rain, practitioners stood nobly, still and focused on sending forth righteous thoughts. Around noon, the rain diminished. I tried to move my feet a little after standing for so long and found that I had to pull them out of mud. Soon, practitioners from Australia were informed that they should leave a bit earlier than others. I was puzzled: It was just a little past 1 p.m.; the head evil hadn't left yet. After boarding the bus, I learned that the bus was only rented until 1 p.m. and the driver had refused to extend the rental period. I didn't want to act as in the past, questioning the details or trying to discover who was responsible. I just wanted to send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the interference toward fellow practitioners and to us as a whole. "No matter how wild the evil gets, it won't last." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston")

The evils in other dimensions that we aimed to eliminate were all swarmed around the head evil; therefore our target for sending forth righteous thoughts was very clear. We were informed on the evening of the 24th that Jiang would go to meet with President Bush at 9 a.m. the next day at Mr. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. As there were only two buses available for Australian practitioners, nearly one-third had to remain in front of the InterContinental hotel to send forth righteous thoughts. I wondered, why didn't we book another bus in the first place? Practitioner A, in the same room with me, said that maybe we should stay at the hotel and let other practitioners go. I disagreed immediately and said, "It should not be this way, because this is not for personal benefit. We should not pass on to others the elimination of the evil." Later, we found extra seats. I asked a practitioner whether he wanted to go to Mr. Bush's ranch. To my surprise, he said "No" and that he would rather stay in front of the InterContinental hotel to send forth righteous thoughts. Seeing his determined attitude, I suddenly realized that Jiang would not be leaving the hotel at midnight to go to the ranch and it was necessary for some practitioners to stay and keep on sending forth righteous thoughts. I realized that when I focused on what I thought, I confined my thinking to my own limitations. It was no accident that we only rented two buses. Everything looked accidental because we were in the maze. At that moment, I reminded myself: As long as I always bear in mind that I'm a Dafa practitioner, everything will fall into the orderly arrangements of Master.

When we arrived at Crawford, there were already more than 1,000 practitioners gathered there. A U.S. practitioner drove two of us Australians to an intersection to hold up banners, where more than 20 practitioners already stood. We had just taken out the banners when a wild gust of wind suddenly struck. It came from behind, bending the rubber sticks supporting the banners to 90-degree angles. Along with our sending forth righteous thoughts, the rubber sticks were blown back and forth. I really admired the foresight of fellow practitioners, because if they had used wooden sticks, they would have been quickly broken. By then, a cold rain had started to fall, yet none of the fellow practitioners was distracted, and they steadfastly sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil. I couldn't remember how long it had been by the time the wind and rain died down. Then we heard that the head evil had arrived at the ranch.

At about 2 p.m., a female U.S. practitioner heard news that Jiang would hold a press conference in a building between a nearby church and school. Eight practitioners, including four from Australia, two from Taiwan and two from the U.S., boarded a van and slowly drove to the destination. We parked the van in the parking space closest to the building and started to send forth righteous thoughts in the van. However, as soon as I erected my hand, I unconsciously fell asleep. Then I heard the female U.S. practitioner saying, "Don't sleep. You have waited for thousands of years. What a pity if you came here to sleep!" I woke up suddenly and felt ashamed. Then she added again, "The effect should be the same with our eyes open or closed. This is what our Master said." I was very grateful for the timely reminder from this fellow practitioner. But I still found it extremely difficult to focus, and my head was not very clear. I even had difficulty reciting the Fa-rectification formula. Except for that U.S. female practitioner, all the rest of us were dozing off in the van; this was clearly interference from the demon of fatigue. I thought, "I must remain indomitable." I started to recite the formula word by word, one time after another, and my mind became more and more clear. Looking at others, I saw that they became more clearheaded as well, and everyone was sending forth righteous thoughts silently. We stayed there until 3 p.m.

We shall keep sending forth righteous thoughts until all evils in other dimensions that persecute Dafa are eliminated.