(Clearwisdom.net) Part 4 of 4
Part 1: http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2011/5/23/125468.html
Part 2: http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2011/5/25/125524.html
Part 3: http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2011/5/26/125539.html
8. June, 1994: Jinan, Henan Province
After the class in Zhengzhou, Master went to Jinan on June 21, 1994. The location was Huangting Stadium, and more than 4,000 people participated. The organizer was the Shandong Youth Science Cultural Service Center. Many practitioners from other cities followed Master there. Since the Jinan class, it had become difficult to buy tickets to the class because more and more people wanted to enroll.
Some practitioners recalled, “When Master entered the stadium, he always came in from different entrances to shake hands with students. There were so many people. How exhausting it must have been to try to shake hands with everyone!”
June 28, 1994 was the day of the first lecture in Jinan. Master told everyone several times, “Practitioners who are going to the Dalian class, please remember not to fly there. Instead, please take a train, a bus, or even go by boat.” We realized later that the flight met with a storm. After the class, Master waited for students by the door and then asked the drivers to take them to the train or bus stations.
9. July 1994, Dalian, Liaoning Province
Local practitioners went to the Dalian wharf to welcome Master in the morning on July 1, 1994. When we arrived many practitioners were already waiting there quietly, some holding welcome banners, some holding flowers. The boat Master was on reached the wharf around noon. He received a warm welcome from practitioners. Master smiled and got ready to get into a car. Practitioners surrounded Master, greeting him and giving him the flowers. People working there asked with surprise, “Who is this person that receives such a warm welcome!”
More and more practitioners enrolled in the class. The workload of making certificates became very heavy. Because we needed to go to Lushun at 7:00 a.m. the next morning, we had to work overnight. There was nothing left to eat that night, only one bag of instant noodles, which was Master’s breakfast for the next morning. At 6:00 a.m., Master arrived with a bowl of instant noodles in his hands. He smiled and asked quietly, “Did you stay up all night?” One practitioner answered yes. Master then put the bowl of noodles on the table and smiled, “Hurry up and eat some.” Then he turned around and left. The four or five of us took turns eating the noodles with tears in our eyes. That day Master didn’t eat anything and went to Lushun on an empty stomach with the staff members.
10. December 1994, the Last Class and the Last Seminar in Mainland China
The fifth series of lectures held in Guangzhou was held in the Guangzhou Stadium on December 21 to 29, 1994. More than 6,000 people participated. The host was the Guangzhou City Human Body Scientific Research Center. There were people there not only from Mainland China, but also from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and overseas. This was the first international class.
During the first day a woman practitioner from Hong Kong came directly to the class with her luggage. A Western practitioner who did not understand Chinese very well but knew that Dafa is good tried his best to listen to Master's lecture. While he listened he sat in the double lotus position. He had brought along his wife and his 2-year-old daughter.
The six thousand tickets were sold out. There were still several hundred people who wanted to hear the lecture, but had no tickets. Veteran practitioners from Guangzhou and other areas gave up their tickets to close to 200 of them. A practitioner from another city came to Guangzhou ahead of time and got only ten tickets via different channels, which was still far from enough. But she still did not have a ticket for herself. The Guangzhou coordinator saw that and helped get her several more tickets. In the end, she had 32 tickets in all. But she still did not keep one for herself and instead, watched Master’s lecture outside of the main lecture hall, on television.
On the first day 70 to 80 practitioners stood outside the main lecture hall to listen. They learned the exercises outside as well. After Master was done teaching the lecture he went out of the lecture hall to meet the students outside and said, “Too many people came. The organizer is still trying to resolve the issue. The students outside are the same as the ones inside. You will also get what you are supposed to get.”
Master himself discussed this issue with the organizer and the stadium management. The next day they set up a second hall so practitioners there could watch and listen to Master on television. The stadium staff could not understand it and said, “We have hosted so many events here. We have never seen people this devoted. Several thousand people listening to the lecture so quietly that you can even hear a pin drop. It’s so moving, so moving!” Everyone remained courteous and well mannered during the 10-day class.
Some practitioners had brought homemade pancakes and pickled vegetables from their hometowns in remote villages in the north. An elderly male practitioner said excitedly after he listened to Master’s lecture, “I came all the way from Jiamusi, 4,000 kilometers north of here, just to listen to Master’s teaching. I am so fortunate to have learned Dafa!”
Master came to the second hall during a break to meet students, which was a surprise to everyone. Students cried. Master’s eyes were moist. Master shook hands with everyone and said, “The students outside of the main hall are the same as the ones inside. No one will be left behind.” One student even sobbed loudly.
At the end of the class Master said,
“There are more than three thousand people who came from great distances, the farthest being from Heilongjiang and Xinjiang, which are four to five thousand kilometers, or more than eight thousand li away. It’s a long way to get here, and you endured a lot of hardships. Some people don’t even have enough money, and every day they eat instant noodles or even crackers.” (“Teaching the Fa and Answering Questions in Guangzhou”)
Master considered that some practitioners were poor, so he reduced the class to one day less than the original planned schedule and extended the lecture time each day.
The day the class ended Master walked around the hall. Many practitioners came up to shake hands. Master saw a farmer who seemed to be humble and shy and tried to hide behind people. After Master had been photographed with everyone, he came up to the farmer and shook his hands and said benevolently, “I know you come from a village. You came all the way here just to obtain the Fa.” This practitioner came from a remote village and had practiced Zen Buddhism for eighteen years and was now looking for a new Master. He suddenly felt a warm current throughout his body.
Return train tickets were hard to get. One elderly practitioner wanted to buy 12 tickets. But there was a policy at the station--only one ticket per person! The ticket agent asked, “Do you have any special identification?” He said, “Yes, I do.” He then showed the agent Master’s picture. The agent them sold him 12 tickets.
The fifth lecture series in Guangzhou ended on December 29, 1994. This was the last lecture series given in Mainland China.
The last speech Master gave in Mainland China was in Dalian. The coordinator did not notify the practitioners ahead of time, but many practitioners went spontaneously to the airport to welcome Master. In order not to get in the way of other passengers, practitioners stood along the two sides of the hallway next to the gate, extending their line from the gate all the way to the square. Many passengers asked, “Who is coming here today? How come there are so many people here to welcome this person?” Practitioners answered proudly, “Our Master is coming!”
An auspicious orange cloud appeared in the blue sky, very thick. A plane went through it, and the cloud disappeared. Ten minutes later Master, wearing a black jacket, walked out of the hall with flowers in his hands.
Master spoke at Xinghai Stadium in Dalian on December 31, 1994. It lasted for three hours, and 6,600 people attended. This seminar marked the end of Master’s teaching the Fa and the exercises in Mainland China. The same day Master wrote the poem,
“From the Cosmos so boundless and vast,
Radiated an arc of golden light.
Unto the world descended an Awakened One,
And Heaven and Earth did align.
Bright does the whole universe glow,
Melding into the light of Fa.
With Consummation, in flight you will ascend,
Together returning to Paradise.”
(“Assimilation and Consummation,” Hong Yin)
When Master finished the seminar, the hall erupted with applause. All practitioners stood and looked up at Master. Master was turning the big Falun on the stage! Master walked down the podium and around the hall and waved to practitioners. Everyone felt a warm current flowing by.
After that Master walked slowly out of the stadium. Practitioners knew that Master had received an invitation from France, and he would soon go abroad. So everyone followed Master out of the hall. Master looked around and quietly said goodbye. He walked forward. Practitioners still followed. They walked and stopped quietly for over ten minutes. Just then, a 12-year-old boy who came from Northeast China shouted fervently, “Master! Master!” Master turned around and touched the boy’s head and said kindly, “Cultivate diligently.”
Master did not immediately get into a car. Practitioners still surrounded Master. It was like a lotus flower under the winter sun: Master was the golden stamen, and practitioners were the pedals. The practitioners showed deep reverence for Master. At that moment the air was as if frozen. Everybody looked at Master quietly and wanted to engrave Master’s features, look, smile and voice in their memory. Many practitioners shed tears.
Concluding Remarks
Master’s benevolence awakened us. The teachings in Zhuan Falun are what we have been looking for! It has all the heavenly secrets; what a precious book! Just like Master said,
“Oh how many the years, looking for the master,
Finally the day has arrived to meet him.
Cultivate and return, the Fa now gained,
And follow your master to return, consummated.”
(“Destined Return for the Holy Fruition,” Hong Yin)
The principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance exist in everything in the universe. If we use our hearts to feel, we will be able to come to understand its mysteries. Please, treasure this precious opportunity!
