(Minghui.org) Greetings, Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I am a Falun Dafa practitioner from Taoyuan. The first time I went to Hong Kong was on July 1, 2007, the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to China. My latest visit to Hong Kong was during the 2020 New Year during the activities opposing extraditions to mainland China.
I’ve always felt a sense of responsibility towards Hong Kong, which I find hard to explain. This connection kept pushing me forward. When we could not go to Hong Kong, the scenes of my participation in the Hong Kong parades and clarifying the truth at tourist attractions often appeared in my mind. I wondered, “Why don’t I have the same urgency to save people in Taiwan as I do towards people in Hong Kong?”
Becoming a Group Leader
Master said, “Whether you can cultivate all depends upon whether you can endure, sacrifice, and suffer. If you can commit your mind, no difficulties can stop you. I would say that there’s no problem.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun)
Whenever I was in Hong Kong, Master’s words often appeared in my mind, encouraging me to go on. I’ve lost count of the number of times that I’ve gone there. I seldom missed the parades, and I even used my annual leaves and vacation leaves to take short stays in Hong Kong to clarify the truth. Sometimes, just a week after returning to Taiwan, I flew back to participate in a parade.
I never thought about how much I spent making these trips. Why not? I felt it would be like calculating the amount of money I spent on food since the day I was born. I am not sure if it was because of my attitude towards my truth-clarifying activities in Hong Kong, but my entry permits were always approved and I was able to successfully pass through airport customs.
I am a civil servant. When my child was young, I brought him with me. Thus for the first few years I needed to be very thrifty in order to be able to keep going to Hong Kong. Later, after my child went to study in Yunlin, as I only needed to pay for one air ticket, the burden on my finances became lighter and I was able to go to Hong Kong more frequently.
When I first began traveling to Hong Kong, I was worried that I would be refused at customs, so I did not want to become a group leader. I later accepted the responsibility of helping practitioners to buy cheap air tickets online to relieve their financial burdens and guide the elderly to the washrooms. I became like a tour company’s tour guide leading other practitioners to take trains to different parts of Hong Kong to clarify the truth.
Clarifying the truth in Hong Kong is like being on a battlefield–we could not relax. A lot of preparation needed to be done before the parade, and we had to remind other practitioners to send forth righteous thoughts, lead the waiting practitioners to memorize and recite “On Dafa,” etc. There was a group of crew members who very efficiently cooperated and helped us with every parade, including looking for suitable male and female practitioners to carry the big flags, changing clothes and queue in lines, coordinating the exercise demonstration groups, maintaining the distance between rows of practitioners in the parades, communicating with the Hong Kong policemen, etc. Every experience was a stepping stone and a cultivation opportunity.
Before a parade started, I usually developed a stomachache. The pain was hard to bear, but there was a long line of practitioners outside the toilet. When I finally got there, I did not dare to take too much time as there were many practitioners waiting behind me. I told my stomach, “It’s okay, you are fine. There is no problem.” I sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate any interference.
One time, I felt unspeakable discomfort. The weather was very hot; my head felt heavy while my feet felt light. I could not take in even one mouthful of food, but I knew I had to eat something as I needed energy to walk the parade. I poured water into my box of rice and told Master, “Master, I need to eat something,” and I ate a mouthful of rice. I slowly kept asking Master for help and eating one mouthful of rice at a time. In this way I managed to eat the entire container of rice. I let go of the thought that something was wrong. Indeed, nothing happened and everything was fine.
During every parade, I hanged a video camera around my neck. This way, accomplices of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) along the road were more restrained. At the same time, I also needed to carry a speaker, wear a walkie talkie, carry water for other practitioners to replenish, make sure that the front and back rows maintain their distances along the way.
Because many practitioners came from other countries, I also needed to carry signs in different languages to request their cooperation. We resisted attempts by the Hong Kong police to reduce the width of our parade column. I also needed to remind practitioners not to walk too close to each other, or passersby would not be able to see the banners clearly and the media would not be able to take photos of the information written on our banners. In the face of emotional tests by the Hong Kong police and other practitioners, I realized that the perseverance that I had managed to maintain often became a big and important cultivation opportunity for me.
Helping in Hong Kong Is My Cultivation Opportunity
While participating in activities in Hong Kong, I did not analyze what I was doing or had any attachments. Even if I took up many tasks at the same time, I could complete them surprisingly quickly. My heart to cooperate with other practitioners was very pure. When Hong Kong practitioners asked our group to go to a certain place to distribute newspapers, I first assigned the elderly to stand at one location permanently so they wouldn’t get lost. During the parades, I assign experienced practitioners to look after the newer practitioners. I recorded where the vacancies were and how many practitioners participated. I stood at the last stop to lead the practitioners back to the gathering point at the end.
When we arrived at the end of a parade, there were usually fewer spectators. I strengthened my righteous thoughts and began distributing newspapers. I reminded myself of Master’s Fa and looked at people benevolently. I reminded myself that they were sentient beings waiting to learn the truth. When I saw a group of people from afar, I sent forth righteous thoughts towards them. Many people were willing to accept the newspapers. Sometimes people seemed not to see me as they walked by, but then they would suddenly ask for a newspaper.
There were also people who put their palms together (in a traditional gesture of gratitude) and ask for a newspaper. Some Chinese tourists asked for more copies to pass to their friends and relatives. After the Chinese New Year, most practitioners went back to Taiwan and there was a lack of manpower. I started distributing truth-clarifying materials from 1 to 7 p.m. When my righteous thoughts were strong, I could give out many materials, but when my righteous thoughts were insufficient, it was hard to distribute materials. All these were tests of my cultivation level.
Master said,
“It’s different if a being was able to act in a positive way at the start of the persecution, when things were exceedingly harsh, versus doing so when circumstances have eased up.”(Fa Teaching at the 2015 West Coast Fa Conference)
As I read this sentence, my own understanding was that while the Hong Kong environment was stringent and hard, being able to participate in truth-clarifying activities there was an opportunity that Master gave us. Therefore, I kept encouraging fellow practitioners to join me in going to Hong Kong.
When I was working, I usually didn’t do the three things so thoroughly, but every time I went to Hong Kong, I felt it was an opportunity to recharge myself. Apart from studying two lectures of the Fa with other practitioners, I also read Master’s other lectures on my own. I treated Hong Kong as an opportunity to improve my cultivation.
Identifying Negative Thoughts Caused by Human Attachments
During these last two to three years, many practitioners’ Hong Kong entry permits were denied or they got repatriated. This includes the work crew members. I understood that this persecution of fellow practitioners is also a persecution of me, as the assigned crew members all have their designated roles. After working together for so long, we cooperated well. When these practitioners suddenly could not enter Hong Kong, we needed to cover their roles. Luckily, under Master’s protection and care, we accomplished this.
When I did not have sufficient righteous thoughts, I was also affected by the bad experiences of being repatriated. Last year, I participated in both the April 25 and May 13 parades in Hong Kong. On April 16, 2019, I had few thoughts. I just sent forth righteous thoughts as usual and passed through customs with the other practitioners. My mind was very pure, so I cleared customs quickly.
However, that day and the next day, some practitioners were repatriated to Taiwan. Some practitioners who were supposed to participate in the May 13 parade did not get their entry permits approved. Thus, I had some emotional thoughts. On May 11, 2019, when I reached Hong Kong, a strong sense of fear that came from nowhere suddenly loomed over me. I worried whether I could pass through customs.
I recalled a practitioner’s reminder to memorize and recite Master’s teachings, such as “What’s to fear?” in Hong Yin Vol. II and “Righteous Thoughts” in Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol. III. I also kept sending forth righteous thoughts.
While queuing for customs, I saw that other people in line were all very happy. I thought to myself that I should also be happy because I was traveling to Hong Kong to participate in an event to celebrate Master’s birthday. I would definitely be able to enter Hong Kong—what was I afraid of? I should be happy!
After changing my thoughts, I immediately relaxed. At this time, two custom officers came and guided me and my son to the outermost lane. Both of them looked very amiable and young, and we quickly cleared customs.
During the process, I realized that my human attachments had surfaced. When I recall that day, I realize that a portion of the fear that I felt when I was passing through customs on May 11, 2019 was caused by my attachment to validating myself. I felt that we were work crew members, so we must enter Hong Kong. I understood that the panic and fear was actually my attachment.
Conclusion
After the forced implementation of the Hong Kong extradition law, we could no longer go there to clarify the truth. I felt lucky that I made good use of the opportunities that I had. Unfortunately, I could no longer summon the diligence I had in the past. I needed to think about how I could find that diligent attitude I had in Hong Kong. There were still opportunities to save people, but the time was tight. We had to make good use of the remaining time as there were many people we needed to save.
However, as I didn’t study the Fa enough, my righteous thoughts were also weak. Although I understood this point, I found it very hard to do enough Fa study. When I was in Hong Kong, through large amounts of Fa study, my cultivation state improved and my truth clarification had good results.
I found some practitioners to study the Fa with every weekend. After studying, we made truth-clarifying phone calls. On weekdays, after I finished making phone calls and listening to other practitioners share their experiences on the platform, I continued to study Master’s lectures from other areas on the platform. I have been doing this for a few weeks, and my cultivation state has improved a bit.
By increasing the length of Fa study, I’ve eliminated the hatred that I had had for years. I kept trying to eliminate this attachment, but it was just so stubborn. When my righteous thoughts were not strong, it surfaced and disturbed me. Only through studying the Fa more have I been able to get rid of it.
In conclusion, I would like to share Master’s words as encouragement:
“In order for Dafa disciples to walk their paths well and do the three things well, they must study the Fa well and take Fa-study seriously. The regions that have done well saving sentient beings and validating Dafa, and where great changes have transpired, are always places where people have studied the Fa well. And the Dafa disciples who have improved quickly are always those who have made Fa-study a priority.” (“To the Australia Fa Conference,” The Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol. III)
If there is any room for improvement, I hope fellow practitioners can kindly let me know.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
(Presented at the 2020 Taiwan Fa Conference)
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