(Minghui.org) I am originally from France. I began practicing Falun Dafa 12 years ago.
For some time I was fortunate to live in Singapore and it was a very happy time in my Falun Dafa cultivation and practice. I was not working, and my child was in school for the whole day so I had plenty of time to practice the exercises, study the Fa and clarify the truth. Because I spent a lot of time taking public transportation, I studied the Fa or listened to the audio lecture series of Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa, for several hours every day. I read all of Master's Fa during those months in Singapore. I am a slow reader so this was quite an accomplishment. I also became more focused as I studied the Fa more, no matter where I was, even if it was rush hour and the tram or the bus was packed.
Because I was so immersed in the Fa, I clarified the truth to everybody I met.
After I arrived in Singapore I went several times a week to a practice at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. It is a beautiful practice site on a belvedere with a view of the Gardens, facing the main entrance. The practice site has been established for about 20 years. One could hear the beautiful music of the exercises in the quiet night. We started the practice before 5 a.m. each morning
An hour later a Chinese woman dressed in white and practicing some kind of martial art or qigong would set up next to us to do her warm ups with her loud music. The first time this happened I admired how calm and tolerant the local practitioners from our group were. Then after a few times I found that I had a hard time focusing on my practice when she would come. Even though the Botanic Garden is very large she would come within 1 or 2 meters behind us and vigorously swing her arms and legs for one hour. The more I thought about it, the more I thought this was not right. Even though she was intimidating, I thought that with the help of Master I could try something. So one day after our practice, I talked to her. She pretended not to understand English but I told her anyway that her music was too loud, that what she was doing was not respectful and not good for herself either.
After that I went to another practice site because it worked better with my family's schedule.
One day I met a practitioner who goes to the Singapore Botanical Gardens practice site. I told her that I had talked to the disruptive lady in white. The practitioner then said, “That is the reason! This woman had been doing this for 10 years but not anymore.”
Local practitioners had asked me several times to join them at this other practice site. Since I was the only Westerner practicing in Singapore, they said it would be good to show the Chinese tourists that people in Europe also practice Falun Dafa. This practice site has a beautiful view of the South China Sea and there is a continuous flow of buses bringing mainland Chinese tourists there. Practitioners are there every day and wear the yellow Falun Dafa T-shirts with the website address on them. However because of pressure from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), practitioners are not allowed to talk to the Chinese tourists to clarify the truth or hand out Falun Dafa material to them.
Some practitioners told me that the Chinese tourists often commented, “People also practice Falun Dafa in Europe?” when they would see me. At first I found it uncomfortable to do the exercises only 1 or 2 metres away from the tourists' walking path.
It was also unpleasant to have the distinct feeling of being spied on by a man pretending to be a tourist but whom I saw repeatedly. It was also a reminder of how easy it is for us practitioners living outside of China to practice openly and freely. As Westerners we do not have any idea how hard it must be to live with constant pressure from the CCP. This strangely-behaving person at this tourist site gave me a glimpse of this and reminded me to cherish our cultivation environment. We can practice in the open and clarify the truth without having to watch our back. This reminder also helped me to be more diligent.
I realized that my non-Chinese face had an important effect on the Chinese tourists, so eventually, I went to this practice site almost every day to exercise, which in fact had the power of clarifying the truth.
As it is said in this article: “Western Practitioners: An Unprecedented Opportunity”
“Our non-Chinese faces have the potential to immediately shatter layer upon layer of the Party propaganda that poisons the minds of so many people.
Isn’t that what we’re here for, after all? To help Master save more sentient beings?”
When Chinese tourists saw me, it made them think and they would start talking among themselves. When they go outside of China and visit tourist sites they often see practitioners and even non-Chinese practitioners! It shatters the lies that they are told in China.
Of course there were sometimes negative reactions but not that much. It was mostly surprised reactions from seeing practitioners and a non-Chinese practitioner. Because I was curious, I sometimes opened my eyes to see what was going on while doing the exercises and the tourists were even more surprised to see my blue eyes. I saw a lot of people giving the thumbs up, smiling at me, pretending to take pictures of flowers, but taking pictures of us Falun Dafa practitioners. Often they would pose in front of us for their pictures. Some would hang around us as long as possible before going back to their tour bus, or wait until the others were far enough away to show their support. Once, a family of four gave us the thumbs up and when the other tourists were far away, the young man shouted at the top of his lungs “Falun Dafa Hao!” twice. Another time, when we were doing the sitting meditation, a woman and her adult son were standing in front of us the whole time, with their hands in the Heishi position (palms pressed together in front of the chest), a calm smile on their faces. I was very moved.
A free newspaper was delivered to my front door every day. So I read it in order to better understand my new environment in Singapore and to better clarify the truth. One day I learned that Prince William and Duchess Kate would come to visit Singapore. My first thought was: if I received this information, then it is for a reason. So I met with a local practitioner to discuss what would be the best way to get in touch with the royal couple. When we parted she told me not to put too much energy into it. She probably thought the chances of actually meeting them were very slim.
The next day I was waiting in the middle of a crowd of British fans hoping to get close to the royal couple. The sun was very hot. I was surrounded by people excitedly holding little British flags. There were 8 rows of people between me and the security fences. I was seriously questioning my good sense and thought of giving up and going home. Then I asked Master for help.
When Prince William and Duchess Kate finally arrived, the crowd pushed me from behind and there were only 3 tight rows of people in front of me. The royal couple got out of their carriage and they both had some kind and personal words for many people. They walked slowly and close to the crowd, so I had my arm stretched out with a Falun Dafa flyer. Prince William walked by without taking it, then Duchess Kate came by and she took the flyer. I maintained righteous thoughts for Prince William and Duchess Kate to later read the flyer. Thank you, Master!
The local practitioners were always proud to help me understand traditional Chinese culture and very willing to explain the local environment to me, to provide me with material and to explain the best way to approach people. When clarifying the truth I had to learn to recognize quickly the country of origin, the ethnic group and the language of the people to know which materials to give to them and how to address them.
There is a lot of variety in the population in Singapore. Some people come every day from Malaysia to work there. I could usually speak English to them but I had to be aware that they were probably Muslim and less willing to listen, but I would get better with time. Once, we were at a casual restaurant on the beach. Our waitress was a young woman. Her head and body were covered. I handed her a flyer and talked to her about Falun Dafa. She was enthusiastic and outgoing and even asked me to show her the exercises. Next to us was also a table of tourists waiting to order so I invited them to join us and we practiced the 1st exercise with the young waitress while her young colleagues, also veiled and fully covered, were watching us and laughing. Since she was working, our waitress left, but then came back after a few minutes to continue the exercises.
I took the bus several times a day when I lived in Singapore. I always gave truth-clarification materials to the driver. Lots of them come from mainland China. Once, I was ready to alight from the back of the bus when the bus driver stood up from his seat, waved to me and shouted loudly and happily, “Thanks!”
There are a lot of very large construction sites in Singapore. Most of the workers are from mainland China or India. I tried to observe when they were changing shifts and I would stand near the entrance to hand truth-clarification materials to them.
Sometimes the Chinese workers would wait in line to receive the materials. Both the Chinese and Indian workers were not only happy to receive the information but even eager to receive it and very thankful. These are hard working people and the most receptive part of the population I came across in Singapore.
I also joined the local practitioners who distribute material and clarify the truth to the people at a metro station once a week when there are lots of Chinese migrants from mainland China on their day off.
My family also traveled to different countries in Southeast Asia. So I would arrange in advance to get materials in the appropriate language and when possible, I would meet with the local practitioners upon arriving in the country. We were all happy to share our experiences and my fellow practitioners were always welcoming and very willing to help me understand the local environment. Vietnamese practitioners are mostly young educated people who have recently learned about Dafa over the Internet.
It was such a joy to get to meet all these people, fellow practitioners and non-practitioners alike. I had the strong feeling of walking the path that Master had arranged for me and to bring the Fa or to clarify the truth to the many people I came across. I did so with great enthusiasm and joy in my heart. It was easy. I just walked the path that presented itself. I considered that every person I met was supposed to hear about Dafa and the persecution.
We have the luxury of being free to act in a secure environment and we need to take full advantage of it. This is something to be cherished.
Now that I am back in Europe I often go out on the street with a fellow Chinese practitioner to hand out materials to Chinese tourists. She does the talking and if they can speak English I also talk to them.
We often comment about how much easier it is to meet with the Chinese tourists when the two of us are together. It feels that one plus one is much more than two when we work in a pair.
Before I practiced Falun Dafa I had tachycardia problems; my heart would suddenly beat at 240 beats per minute for no apparent reason at any possible time and often for 2 or 3 hours. That was uncomfortable and exhausting. I would have to lie down and wait for my heart to calm down.
After I started to practice Falun Dafa this happened less and less often. Once a year I go hiking with my husband in the Alps. Last year we were already several hours away from any roads when suddenly I dropped to the ground and my husband got scared. My heart was racing.
My husband is not a practitioner but he ordered: “Do your meditation!!” First, I sent righteous thoughts, but I realized that I should do the 5th exercise. This is one of the few times when not only did my legs not hurt but I was in this very beautiful state of peace. I felt in a safe place. I just had to trust Master and believe in Dafa. My mind was incredibly quiet. I did not feel any symptoms of the tachycardia at all. Only when I concentrated on my heart beat I realized that yes indeed it was still beating very fast. I sat in this wonderful state for one hour and just 2 minutes before the end of the 5th exercise I suddenly felt my thoughts racing again so I knew that my heart had just come back to its normal rate.
During this one hour I wanted my husband to know that everything was fine and not to worry (he was thinking of calling a helicopter) but I also knew that it was more important to stay in this state of calmness. After this I got up and continued walking. Instead of feeling exhausted, like in the past after such symptoms, I was refreshed with a sharp mind, feeling calm, energetic and full of gratitude for Master and Dafa. This test was truly a gift.
Not long after this experience, I started to experience cramps in my legs during the 3rd or 4th exercise and that would interfere with doing the 5th exercise. Then one day during the 5th exercise this thought came to my mind, “I am a practitioner and you are not going to disturb my practice.” Surprisingly, the cramps were no longer a part of me anymore. They came maybe twice and vanished during the 5th exercise but they did not affect my practice.
These two events were really to test how much I consider myself a practitioner and how much I believe in Dafa.
I know that my ego is still very big and I still have a lot of attachments to eliminate. I also try to reject negative thoughts and try to remember when they come to not consider them as part of me. All this is going better since I have been able to read one lecture of Zhuan Falun – or the equivalent – per day for one year now.
Thank you, Master!