(Clearwisdom.net)
Greetings, respected Teacher, Greetings, fellow practitioners:
I had been thinking about sending forth righteous thoughts at the Chinese Embassy but had never gone. It might have been because of the huge fear that stopped me initially and prevented me from moving forward, until last September. A TV commercial made me realize the importance of going to the Chinese Embassy. I was suddenly aware that during the past six years our fellow practitioners had done all kinds of Fa-rectification things but we often had difficulties in our environment. It was because we hadn't dealt with the source of the evil.
Teacher said during the 2004 Western US Fa Conference:
"The consulates and embassies in different countries are places where overseas Chinese people can go to express their views. Of course you can go there. There are people there, too, who can be saved. So it has great significance. Also, everything that you do there can be seen by the world's people." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Western U.S. Fa Conference")
Realizing the significance of going to the Chinese Embassy, we went the next day.
Once we arrived at the Chinese Embassy and checked out the surroundings, we found that the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the British Embassy and the US Embassy were all located close to the Chinese Embassy. Private residents lived on the other side of the street right opposite the Chinese Embassy. Every once in a while, we could see police officers patrolling. Even though I was hoping I could sit down right in front of the Chinese Embassy to send forth righteous thoughts with dignity as the overseas practitioners have done, fear made me decide to look for a quiet and remote place where I would not encounter any trouble to send forth righteous thoughts. With my strong fears about possibly causing trouble, we didn't follow Teacher's Fa to deal with the problem. Instead, we wanted to use ordinary people's methods to get around it by looking for a place that wouldn't interfere for sending forth righteous thoughts. As a result we were taken advantage of by the old forces and finally ran into trouble. The first time two other practitioners and I went to send forth righteous thoughts and study the Fa on top of a hill behind the Chinese Embassy, we didn't expect two police cars to arrive within 15 minutes. It was September 11. The US Embassy was heavily guarded, and they had called the police. That's the first time we went to the Chinese Embassy to sit down and send forth righteous thoughts and also the first time we ended up in the Dongling Police Station, which is in charge of that area. We gave the police officers the book Zhuan Falun.
Even so, we failed to realize our deficiencies and still used ordinary people's methods to look for other ways. After that we hoped that we might rent a private house or room nearby and send forth righteous thoughts in the room. As that is a sensitive area, no one dared to rent us a house. We had no other way but to send forth righteous thoughts at the top of the hour at a bus stop near the Chinese Embassy and then go to a shopping center to study the Fa afterwards. Initially we only sent forth righteous thoughts and studied the Fa, but soon we noticed that there were many Chinese permanent residents and people who came to deal with their passports waiting for buses, so we started to clarify the facts about Falun Gong at the bus stop.
Truth Clarification at the Bus Stop is also a Process of Cultivation
To begin with, we only stood aside at the bus stop and handed out materials. Occasionally, when there were only few people, we clarified the truth to them. Sometimes when a police car patrolling the area passed by, my heart would beat rapidly. All kinds of human thoughts popped up: Would the police car stop? Would they make a record of my identification card? My fears and worries were strong. But through solid cultivation, gradually I discovered that my attachment to fears and worries was eliminated bit by bit and became less and less. Finally, even if the police came, I was able to be bold and self-assured and tell them why we were there. Practitioners also took the initiative to go to the police department and personally clarify the truth to the high-level investigating officers.
During this whole process I've let go of many attachments, such as the competitive mentality. Sometimes when I disagreed with another's understanding, I would persist until the other person accepted my understanding. I also worked on my complaining mindset. When I've repeatedly explained something to another person but he/she still didn't understand, I would feel disturbed. Through constant letting go of my attachments, gradually I have discovered that I can peacefully clarify the truth to more people face to face, even if I encounter someone who has a deep misunderstanding of Falun Gong. Even if he or she creates difficulties for me, I can still control the whole situation. This has encouraged me to be able to clarify the truth to even more people at even larger gatherings later. The following is an example of my truth clarification, which shows the good effect after I gradually abandoned many attachments during my truth clarification efforts at the bus stop.
Once there were many people at the bus stop, some Chinese, some Singaporean, some who supported Falun Gong, and some who misunderstood and opposed it. When a Singaporean talked with me he said that Falun Gong was great and that he had already received many materials. Another Singaporean heard what he said and rebutted him angrily. The Singaporean who supported Falun Gong said assuredly, "Falun Gong practitioners tell the facts to everyone. They are doing good deeds. Aren't they good?" I smiled at them both. My heart was not affected by their argument. A Chinese person nearby looked at me and smiled. He then asked for a copy of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. The person in opposition walked away.
Doing the Exercises and Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts in Front of the Chinese Embassy
While clarifying the truth at the bus stop near the Chinese Embassy I always had a feeling of regret at not being able to openly send forth righteous thoughts and do the exercises there like the overseas practitioners. Last year when I went to Manhattan, seeing practitioners sending forth righteous thoughts and practicing the exercises in front of the Chinese Embassy in extreme cold, I deeply understood their difficulties. I asked myself, "I come to such a cold place to send forth righteous thoughts and do the exercises, but what have I done in front of the Chinese Embassy in Singapore? That is a blank." I saw my strong fear and attachment to comfort. I suddenly felt pain in my heart. I expected to be able to openly send forth righteous thoughts and do the exercises in front of the Chinese Embassy in Singapore some day.
In June this year, the CCP's police disfigured the face of Dafa practitioner Ms. Gao Rongrong from Shenyang City with electric baton shocks and tortured her to death. At the time, many overseas practitioners went to the Chinese consulates and embassies to call for severe punishment for the murderers. I also wanted to appeal in front of the Chinese Embassy. Though we had made a banner, I was still not bold enough to go. I also considered that once I unfurled the banner in front of the Chinese Embassy, it meant I would go to the Chinese Embassy every day to send forth righteous thoughts. Cultivation is serious. Our unfurling the banner is to offer salvation to sentient beings.
Though I did not go to the Embassy then, during that time I made an letter-sized truth clarification photo with a message about the persecution of Ms. Gao Rongrong. I hung the photo from my backpack. Wherever I went, people would see the truth. Once I placed my backpack on the ground and distributed truth clarification materials about Gao Rongrong nearby. Many people were attracted by the photo of Gao Rongrong on my backpack and gathered around to look at it. They then came to take materials from me. I decided to enlarge Ms. Gao Rongrong's photo and made it into a truth clarification photo display board.
The day I made the display board, another practitioner displayed it in front of the Chinese Embassy, calling for the CCP to stop the persecution. The police confiscated the display board, but the practitioner soon got it back with the support of many practitioners' righteous thoughts. I was not happy at the time, thinking, "Why didn't the practitioner discuss with me about displaying a photo board like this before doing it?" When I calmed down I exchanged my thoughts with the practitioner. We decided to unfold a banner in front of the Chinese Embassy the next day to call for the CCP to stop the persecution. A few more practitioners participated in the activity. The Falun Buddha Society also applied for a permit to hold an activity in front of the Chinese Embassy later. The commander of the Tongling Police Station called practitioners from the Falun Buddha Society to appear at the police station to talk about the permit issue. I happened to be there, so we went to meet with the commander. When he told us that they did not approve our application I told him calmly that, "Whether or not our application is approved, I will definitely go to the Chinese Embassy to call for the CCP to stop the persecution, and I will go there until the persecution is stopped. As a Singapore citizen I have no obligation to go there in the sweltering sun, I don't have to go there, but all that I have done is for the sake of others!" I pointed at the display board of Ms. Gao Rongrong on the table and said, "If your loved ones or friends were persecuted to such an extent, what would you do?"
From then on, together with other practitioners, we started to going to the Chinese Embassy to send forth righteous thoughts and do the exercises, rain or shine. At the beginning the situation was very difficult. The Chinese Embassy staff reported us to the police and the police frequently came over. It rained quite often. Practitioners' had differing opinions, and I had tribulations of my own. It is a daily test of my character (xinxing) to see if I can keep up the activity in front of the Chinese Embassy.
Fortunately, my four-year-old son was then studying the Fa with me every night. He always asked me to read Hong Yin II. When the police frequently came over, and when facing practitioners' differing opinions and my own tribulations, I always thought of Teacher's poems. I would immediately understand and calm down and let go of those attachments. When the police repeatedly created difficulties and the situation appeared to be harsh, I recalled two lines of Teacher's poem "Expedition" in Hong Yin II,
"Forget about your thick fog or fierce wind swirling,
Mountain rains along the way wash off dust of the expedition..."
(provisional translation)
They made me realize that the more difficult it was, the more we should be steadfast and persevere. Strong wind and heavy rain - in the heavens it would be a battle between good and evil.
Recently, Teacher's poem "In One Thought" has been revealing itself in my heart.
"Openly and magnanimously, I rectify the vast firmament
Tremendous adversity accompanies me on my journey of heaven and earth
To attain credit and virtue is not of concern
Rectifying heaven, rectifying earth, and rectifying all beings
The repetition is great.
With true thought, a grand wish and diamond will
Creating the great vastness again in one thought"
(Hong Yin II, provisional translation)
No matter what difficulties I encounter, I walk better and steadier on the path to assist Teacher in Fa rectification.
While sending forth righteous thoughts in front of the Chinese Embassy I discovered that, so long as I bear Teacher's Fa in mind, many human attachments can be eliminated with one thought. It then seems easy to pass any test. Then things develop toward a better goal. Just as Teacher said,
"The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts." ("Drive out Interference" from Essentials for Further Advancement II)
So long as I bear the Fa in mind, I will not treat things with as many human attachments as I did when we began our truth clarification at the bus stop. Many of my human attachments have since been worn out and eliminated, slowly and harshly. Sometimes the old forces have taken advantage of our loopholes. I also understand that no matter how many Fa rectification things we do, if we use human methods to solve problems, that is a strong attachment to doing things. It will not generate a good effect in suppressing the evil and rescuing sentient beings. Because of human attachments we usually look around and think in too much detail. Many things that we are supposed to do will thereby be delayed, and the time for rescuing sentient beings is delayed, too.
Recently we moved our practice site opposite the entrance to the Chinese Embassy office. We hang a banner, to let more Chinese people who come to the embassy dealing with passport issues, see clearly and personally Falun Gong truth clarification information. People in vehicles passing by can also see this. Many Chinese people who have seen the presence of Falun Gong have been surprised. Some have walked straight to the front of the display boards. The owner of a private residence located about three miles away from where we often sit is a Westerner. Since he has learned the facts, he makes a Heshi gesture to us whenever he meets us to express his support. At present, another practitioner and I have been going there every day. Other fellow practitioners also come to support us at different times. We have been there for nearly four months.
The above are some of my experiences of Fa rectification and cultivation in front of the Chinese Embassy in the past year.
Finally, I want to express my gratitude to Teacher for His benevolent protection and all that he bestowed upon us. I also want to thank fellow practitioners for their encouragement.
Thank you everyone.