(Clearwisdom.net) Master came to Guangzhou City five times to give the lectures. I attended three of them and always remember Master's benevolent smile and patient instruction. Despite the evil's full-scale persecution, my righteous faith in Dafa has never been shaken.
Attending the 3rd Class in Guangzhou
I attended the 3rd class at the General Labor Union's Assembly Hall on January 6, 1994. I had practiced qigong in the past prior to attending this class and had attended several qigong classes that I found to be more or less the same. I had many questions that conventional qigong masters couldn't explain, so I gave up practicing qigong and practiced martial arts.
Several friends encouraged me to attend Master's lectures. A veteran practitioner told me that his celestial eye opened the same day he went to the lecture. He was excited to see a Falun. Perhaps the time was right--I told them that I had seen Master's photo and the introduction to Falun Gong in a qigong magazine, and with that I had decided to attend the class.
I rode my bicycle the first day of the class held at the General Labor Union's Assembly Hall. Many practitioners had already arrived when I arrived and were walking into the auditorium. At the entrance practitioners from the Beijing Falun Dafa Research Association sold the book Falun Gong. Just then Master walked into the hall; it was my first time to see Master. I was so surprised! I was 27 then, but Master seemed to be younger than I was. At that moment I had the feeling that Master's level must be very high, and I had a strong feeling that I wanted to follow him.
Master sat down at the desk and began the lecture. He never used any notes when he presented a lecture. He started from the basic level of qigong and gradually began to teach us high-level principles. And he made it clear that cultivation is to improve one's xinxing level. The stories Master told were very pleasant to hear and I felt very comfortable.
During the lecture I felt a wheel like a big windmill rotating very quickly above my head, with a whistling sound, but when I tried to touch it above my head, I couldn't do it. And then another two wheels moved from the top of my head to beneath my feet. I also felt one on my palm, and one turning at my lower abdomen. I didn't know at the time that they were Falun. An older lady asked me whether or not I saw a Falun. I said no. She told me that she saw a huge light column on top of Master's head and Falun were everywhere.
At the end of the first lecture my whole body and mind were "empty." All the pursuit of affection, recognition, prestige and personal interests, and even talks between practitioners became irrelevant to me. I felt I was the only one there; everything else seemed far away. I stood there for a long time. At that moment, those questions I asked when I was young, such as why did we come to this world, and what did we live for, suddenly came up all together but went away immediately. My thoughts were unable to wander as usual and my mind was a blank slate.
I had never felt physically so light on my way home when riding my bike. My legs were moving automatically, and a force was pushing me. The powerful energy mechanisms were rotating within the great heavenly circuit, so I didn't feel tired at all. Even if I was working the over-night shift, I felt that a Falun was rotating, and I didn't feel sleepy. The next day, I continued to attend the lectures. During the ten lectures I had the same feelings all the time. Falun Gong was really amazing!
At the conclusion of one lecture a curious practitioner followed Master backstage. This curious person returned soon and told the practitioner next to me, "It's so strange. I was following Master, and as soon as he went backstage, He disappeared. How magical it was!"
Leaving the lecture hall, I saw many practitioners asking Master to autograph the book Falun Gong; I also wanted to do so. Then a practitioner told us how attached we were to ask for signatures from Master. I realized that I shouldn't be so attached to this, so I gave up on trying to ask Master to sign my book.
One day on the way to work, a panhandler was very unreasonable with me and hit me with a stick. I smiled at him and didn't fight back. I remembered Master's teaching - that as a practitioner, the first thing was not to fight back when beaten or sworn at, and to discipline oneself by high-level standards. I knew all the conflicts [we encounter] were to eliminate karma. Some of my workmates were surprised to see this: I had previously often fought and competed with people; how come I didn't fight back this time?
After attending Master's 3rd class I understood what cultivation means. At least we should become a good person who does not fight back when beaten or sworn at.
Attending the 4th Class in Guangzhou
In July 1994 Master came to Guangzhou for the 4th class. This time Master stayed at the Huayuan Hotel.
The 4th class was held at the military zone's hall; about 1,000 attended the class. I helped to sell Dafa books at the hall. This time I had a deep impression. In the 3rd class, Master gave lectures based on qigong and told us lots of stories from Buddhism. But this time it was different - Master explained he was guiding people toward high levels from the beginning and offering people salvation, and he was teaching the Fa systematically.
Practitioners were reluctant to leave at the conclusion of the 10th lecture. A coordinator asked several practitioners, including me, to go to the platform from which Master taught. Master walked down from the platform and told us to form the Guangzhou assistance center and encouraged us to assist practitioners with their cultivation.
At night Guangzhou practitioners invited Master to have dinner at a restaurant near the train station. We saw Master and practitioners from the Beijing Falun Dafa Research Society off after dinner. We stood by Master quietly on the platform. I felt so blessed and didn't know what to say: my heart was full of joy. Once Master got on the train he stood by the window and waved goodbye to us.
Attending the 5th Class in Guangzhou
The 5th class was sponsored by the Guangdong Province Qigong Association. They sent out invitations and rented the lecture site. Because of the rapid spreading of Falun Gong, many people who used to be very sick were healed once they began Falun Gong and became good persons. As a result, the Guangdong Province Qigong Association wanted the Guangzhou Falun Gong assistance center to be affiliated with their organization.
Master decided to hold the 5th class in Guangzhou that was in the schedule, many practitioners from everywhere in the country rushed to Guangzhou. The Guangzhou Assistance Center formed several reception teams to coordinate ticket selling and other issues related to the lectures. That was the last Fa-teaching lecture Master held in Mainland China; many practitioners arrived without a ticket. There were more than 5,000 people; even the field of the indoor stadium was full of people; many practitioners were still waiting outside of the lecture hall. Finally, the coordinating practitioner spoke with the stadium manager. They agreed to lend us the martial arts gymnasium, to broadcast Master's live lectures.
The day of the lecture was December 21, 1994. Many veteran practitioners offered good seats to people who had never attended Master's lectures. The veteran practitioners went to the martial arts gymnasium to watch the broadcast. As Master knew about this, he went out to see the practitioners in person.
Four young people sat in the second row in front. They were controlled by spirit possession and were making all kinds of strange gestures. I was afraid that they would disturb other practitioners. I told Master about this as soon as he arrived; Master smiled and said, "I know," and went to the platform. I was still worried about this, so I asked another practitioner for help. She looked at them for a while; one of them was better behaved and waved at us. Later on, when a local practitioner knew about this, he arranged for a practitioner who was a senior police officer to sit next by those four teenagers. By the third day of the class Master had removed the spirit possession from the four people. They acted normal and sat there quietly, listening to Master's lectures.
One morning a local practitioner took several other coordinators and me to the Hutian Hotel, where Master stayed. He wanted to invite Master to the morning tea, a local tradition. But when the practitioner saw him, Master had already made instant noodles and invited us to his room upstairs instead.
At the conclusion of the last lecture, when Master answered all the questions, practitioners from all over the country presented Master with flowers and banners. That scene was so touching. Practitioners applauded like thunder to show their appreciation. Master used many hand signs. Many practitioners were reluctant to leave, stood there, and watched Master walking away, with their eyes blurred with tears.
The last day Master went to the airport surrounded by practitioners. Even the police on guard were surprised to see Master, who was so benevolent and different from other people. Some high military officials from the military zone even came to send Master off, realizing that he must be an important person. Practitioners who were checking in at the airport saw Master and came to have their photos taken with Master, which lasted for several minutes. Master said they should stop taking pictures, and they finally put their cameras away. Another practitioner and I were standing far away; we didn't want to disturb Master. But Master walked toward us and said, "You have done a lot of things." Hearing this, I choked back tears. I didn't know what to say. I just stood there and watched Master walking toward the departure lounge. Master looked back and waved at us several times.
This was 16 years ago. I didn't know initially what cultivation was; I just felt very happy to practice Falun Gong. Fa-study let me begin to comprehend the Fa more rationally and also the deeper meaning of cultivation. Each time I remember the days when Master spread the Fa in Guangzhou, tears flow. We can't thank Master enough for what He has done for us! All I can do to repay Master is to cultivate more diligently and not to let Master down.
