(Clearwisdom.net) An article recently published on Clearwisdom recalled Teacher Li Hongzhi's lectures in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province. One paragraph said:
"New students arrived every day of the class. At first they brought flowers and bottles of water and put them in front of the podium, because they were told to do this in other qigong classes. Initially they sat in the back and over time moved up front. Practitioners from Guiyang tried to stop them because they did not want any distraction for Master, but Master allowed them to move to the front row seats. Not many people knew about Dafa at first and thus there were not many that registered before the class. They simply came out of curiosity. Following the first class session, many registered for the class. Listening to the lectures, they understood that Master was teaching the Fa of the highest salvation and it was nothing like what other qigong classes were giving." (http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2010/7/6/118365.html)
The behavior of the new students described in the article may seem familiar to many of us. When people are interested in a speech, they unconsciously gravitate towards the speaker. It was the same in Teacher's classes.
As people gained a better understanding of Dafa, they saw that it was the real Buddha Fa that Teacher was imparting and that this rare opportunity does not come easily. Naturally they told their friends and family to attend the lectures. Also, they knew that they should not fight for the seats with those who did not know about Falun Dafa. They sought to act based on Compassion and gave precedence to the new students so that new people could learn the teachings. They based their behavior on Tolerance and did not fight with the newcomers for the good seats!
This courtesy of giving precedence to others became more touching as the practitioners understood the Fa even more. An overseas practitioner wrote an article ("Following Teacher for Thousands of Miles Around China") about the classes she attended when she was in China:
"The class was held at Mingfanggong [an auditorium], within Jilin University. Because many practitioners came from other cities, Master held two classes - one from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.; the second from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. I bought a ticket for the morning class but could not get a ticket for the evening class. After the class, I was saddened as I went back to the hotel. The next day, I stayed on the lawn outside of the auditorium and waited until the evening class began, hoping to get a return ticket. Suddenly, a practitioner next to me said, 'Who wants a ticket?' I immediately took the ticket and gave her the money, and I walked into the auditorium in a great mood. Just as I was going to sit down, a familiar veteran practitioner ran up to me and shouted, I was looking for you. I thought, 'This is it. I won't be able to keep the ticket.' Just as I had expected, she told me that a practitioner from Qinghai Province went to the class for the first time and did not understand Mandarin well. She wanted to listen to the lectures again and inquired of me, as I was a veteran practitioner, if I might give the ticket to her. I reluctantly gave her my ticket and walked out of the auditorium. The place was filled and the class had begun, yet, practitioners without tickets like me were still standing outside. At that time, in the Mingfanggong, there was a dance party in the basement. Anyone could enter the lecture hall where Master taught, through a side door, if they were to buy a ticket for the dance party, but no one did. A young man from Tianjin City said, 'If we involve ourselves in such trickery, we will not be able to get anything even if we get in.' Later I heard that the ticket checker at the door was so moved by practitioners' perseverance that he let them all in." (http://clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2002/10/15/27589.html)
I have read her article many times, and every time I read this paragraph I could not help but cry. I cried because the practitioners were truly yearning to listen to the Buddha Fa. I also cried for the true natural courtesy that the practitioners showed. Who would not want to listen to Teacher's lecture live? However, the senior practitioners had already attended the lecture before. Those who had never heard the lectures and those who had a hard time comprehending Mandarin needed the tickets even more.
When the Buddha Fa is widely spread, the mind of mankind rectifies. In order to listen to the once-in-a-lifetime lectures, many follow Teacher and travel around the country. When thousands gather in one auditorium, it is not crowded because true practitioners give precedence to others. Practitioners help one another with their purest heart natures--it is the real manifestation of people acting compassionately from the real Buddha Fa being taught in the world.
The author further talks about Teacher's last lecture in China and describes how real practitioners conduct themselves:
"On December 21, Teacher's Fifth Fa Lecturing Session in Guangzhou City (in Guangdong Province) began. This was the last Fa Lecture Session held in China. At that time, Falun Gong was already very widespread and people came from all over the country to attend the seminar, even from as far away as the northeastern provinces and the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. They came to obtain the Dao (the Way), which they considered the greatest event in their lives. There were many moving stories. Some people came too early and had only brought a little sum of money for their living expenses. So they reduced their daily food expenditures to two yuan apiece, which, in a city like Guangzhou, is too little to fill one's stomach. Therefore, some practitioners from Beijing gave them each one hundred yuan. A girl from Northeastern China had no income since her state-owned company (along with some large and medium industrial companies), had declared bankruptcy. She went out selling vegetables to make a little money to attend the Fa lectures, and with that little money she helped other people attend the Fa lectures, too. Two brothers, who came carrying their bed quilts, survived like vagabonds on the food people donated and slept outdoors exposed to the uncertain weather." (http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/10/26/27760.html)
"It was said that more than five thousand people had come and that those who came later were not able to get tickets to the lectures. Long before the first lecture had started on the morning of the first day of the seminar, in the square in front of the gymnasium, there was already a sea of people. Among them, about 500 people were without tickets. Some Beijing practitioners gave their tickets over to the empty handed. As they passed on their tickets, others in the vicinity had tears of warmth in their eyes. After the lecture started, people without tickets still stayed in the square in front of the gymnasium. Their perseverance deeply touched the workers at the gym, who then made an exception and opened an adjacent building where they set up a TV connected to a synchronous videotape recorder so that these cooperative people could watch the lectures." (http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/10/26/27760.html)
This grand occurrence took place at the last lecture. It was only two years after Falun Dafa was first taught in China. It was the most precious two years for those who had the opportunity to listen to Teacher in person. Those two years were what all beings in the cosmos yearned for, respected, and praised. The practitioners listened to the Buddha Fa, and the beauty of the Buddha Fa manifested in them.
