(Clearwisdom.net) Part 3 of 4
Part 1 published: http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2011/5/23/125468.html
Part 2 published: http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2011/5/25/125524.html
6. May-June 1994, Chengdu, Sichuan Province
The Chengdu Falun Gong class was held from May 29 – June 5, 1994. The class was hosted by the Sichuan Province Qigong Research Association and held in the hall of a hostel.
Although the hall was not full during the first lecture, practitioners felt that the content of Master's class was different from others and word quickly spread. Over 800 people were in attendance by the end of the lectures, many of whom hurried over from Chongqing, the northeastern parts of China, Beijing, Hubei, Guizhou, Guangdong and Hong Kong upon learning about the class. People were very excited after the lecture ended each day and had many experiences to share.
On the afternoon of June 2, 1994, as staff members were preparing the graduation certificates, a student knocked on the door and walked in, saying, “Just sit down and do nothing. Master is in the next room and he is going to open your celestial eye.” The students shut their eyes and instantly felt their whole bodies warming up. They felt a tight sensation between their eyebrows and everyone felt a very strong energy field.
A moment later, Master walked in. Several students rushed up to Him and said, “Master, we will follow you forever. You must bring us along, we want to be with you in heaven, too.” Master pointed at them, one by one and smiled compassionately, “All of you have your own kingdoms in heaven; you are kings in that world. When the time comes, you will not follow me even if I ask you to.” This silenced everyone. Some students were still muttering, like children, “I want to follow, I want to follow.”
Master visited the Leshan Buddha statue on June 7, 1994. Looking across the river from the ferry terminal, the Wulong and Linyun mountains together seemed to form an image of a huge, recumbent Buddha.
The boat went around the head of the Buddha, which resembles an island, to the other side of the mountain. What a huge Buddha statue! The Buddha sat straight, with both hands on his knees, looking very dignified. The giant Buddha in Leshan is a sculpture of Buddha Maitreya and is the world's largest Buddha statue.
Master stood next to the railing the entire time, looking ahead. As the boat moved closer to the giant Leshan Buddha, with his opened third eye a student saw that the Leshan Buddha was crying sadly. The muscles in his face, chin, and entire body were shaking dramatically. The student told Master, “Master, Leshan Buddha is crying!” Master replied, “Indeed, he has waited here a long time for me.”
The boat came ashore and we walked along a very narrow, steep path. Master let the others walk in front and He followed behind. Master was always considerate of others. When Master reached the Buddha statue, the student saw the Leshan Buddha smiling happily, tears still on his face. The student said to Master, “Look, the Leshan Buddha is smiling.” Master smiled, too.
7. June 1994, Zhengzhou, Henan Province
The next class was in Zhengzhou, and we managed to get sleeper car tickets. It was a very hot day when we boarded the train and it was packed. Like us, Master held on to His belongings, covered in sweat. We were in the last car of the train. It was an an extra car that didn't belong to the Chendu Railway Bureau that ran the rest of the train. No water or other services were provided in this section of the train, and the door leading to the other sections was locked. I saw two students holding a water jug and cup jump off the train when it stopped to go get water from the front carriage. Before they could get back to their carriage, however, the train moved and they had to wait till the next stop before they could return to their seats. The water they got was just enough for Master to make a bowl of instant noodles. When we boarded the train, students in Chengdu gave Master a bag of large peaches, but Master gave them all to us.
Our carriage was in the last section of the train. When the train went past Huashan Mountain, Master stood at the end of the train for a long time. Pointing at the mountain from afar, He said to us, “That is Huashan.” We looked to where He pointed and saw many who practiced cultivation on the mountain coming down to see Master. Some of them followed the train and some of them followed all the way to the class in Zhengzhou. Master said to them, “What do you think of my disciples?” Some of them had practiced cultivation for a very long time. They said that few of them could compare to Master's disciples. Later on, Master talked about this incident during the lecture. Some practitioners saw many cultivators dressed in ancient costumes, kneeling and bowing to Master on the mountain.
Compared to the other classes, the conditions for the Zhengzhou Falun Gong class were among the worst. The host, the Zhengzhou City Qigong Research Association, found an abandoned sports stadium to hold the class. The wooden floor in the stadium was worn-out and broken, the spectators' seats were made from bricks that had pieces missing. Some of the windows even had no glass in them. The classes were held from June 11-18, 1994. Approximately 1500 people from all over the country attended, including groups from Guizhou and the northeastern parats of China, 110 students from Zhengzhou City, about 90 from Henan Province, about 300 from Shandong Province, 400-500 from Hubei Province, about 100 from Hebei Province, about 200 from Beijing, and some from Hong Kong.
Master took into consideration the expenses incurred by students and shortened the duration of the class from 10 to 8 days. On two days, the lectures were held twice a day, one in the afternoon and one at night.
Several days later during the weekend, an incident happened during the class. It was four o'clock in the afternoon when the class started that day, and the sun was shining. Suddenly, during the class, the sky turned dark with storm clouds all over the sky. A strong wind blew and then the rain began pouring down, followed by hail. The hail hit the roof, making noise, and from time to time, some fell into the hall through the gaps between the roof tiles. Suddenly the lights went out in the hall. Rain seeped in from the ceiling onto the table where Master sat to teach. Master moved the table aside and then the rain from the ceiling followed, which caused a disturbance among the students. As he moved the table, Master said humorously, “Now, we can have some respite from the heat.” Everyone laughed. Master continued with a story about how Sakyamuni's disciples remained calm despite demons interfering as he was giving lectures. Very soon, students calmed down and it was a scene of sacred solemness. Master sat on the podium and did a set of large hand gestures. He then opened the water bottle on the table, extended His right hand, pulled and gripped in the air. I saw Him catching a huge strange creature that looked like a hippopotamus. Its skin was very rough and it looked very old, with wrinkles all over its face and neck. Master did a hand gesture and the creature became listless and diminished. Master dropped it into the water bottle and closed the lid. He smiled and said, “Some people say if a Tao is one foot tall then a demon is one yard high. There is no such thing as that. I have done a huge thing for all of you, removed many things.” Everyone applauded for a long time. Just then, the wind and rain stopped, the lights came back on, the sun came out again, and class resumed.
When we went outside after the class, the stadium was surrounded with water and quite a few trees on the street near the stadium had been struck by lightning. An elderly lady selling popsicles pulled a student over and asked, “What happened just now was aimed at you, isn't that right?” The student was astonished. Even everyday people knew such things. The local papers and TV station reported on this sudden disaster, stating that trees were struck down and roofs of houses were lifted off by the thunderstorm.
Master only had a bowl of instant noodles after the class every night around 9:00 p.m. One day, Master was concerned that practitioners helping out with the class were working too hard and took them to a small shop for a meal. While waiting for our meal, we saw a young man standing at the door for a while. Finally he walked in and knelt in front of Master, saying, “Please take me as your disciple.” Master immediately stood up, took half a step back, and lifted him up, saying, “We don't go into these formalities. If you want to be my disciple, just be diligent in the practice and in cultivation. I treat all students as my disciples.”
At the end of the class, a representative of the host said excitedly to all the students, “The microphone was not working during the morning lecture held on the first day. Consequently some practitioners could not hear what was said clearly. During the afternoon break, your teacher repaired the microphone. He did not have lunch or have a break that day. He silently did our job and said not a word about it.”
Many students presented Master banners to show their appreciation at the end of the Zhengzhou class. The largest banner had an enormous character “Buddha” written on it and was given by the students from Hubei Province.
A young Tao cultivator started practicing Falun Gong in 1993. He attended the class in Zhengzhou and personally heard Master's teachings. He experienced Master's mighty virtue and insistently asked to have a photo taken of himself alone with Master. On the last day of the lecture, Master had a photo taken with him. The young man was dressed in a new Tao gown and his long hair was tied into a tidy knot. He said emotionally, “How happy I am!”
(To be continued)
