(Clearwisdom.net) On June 12, 2002, over a dozen British practitioners were at the airport, ready to set off for Iceland. (Seven others holding Chinese passports had been denied visas on instructions from Icelandic Foreign Ministry) Quite a few of the practitioners had borrowed money to buy the expensive, non-refundable air tickets. We heard that many practitioners had been denied the right to board flights to Iceland because their names were on a blacklist. What could be done? While using our divine side to steadfastly send righteous thoughts, we decided to use our human side to diligently appeal. First, many practitioners actively exposed the evil and the tyrannical nature of Jiang's regime to the media and relevant human rights organizations. They called for justice and requested that the Icelandic government lift the ban. Concurrently, the practitioners at the London airport actively sought solutions. A veteran practitioner made a quick decision to change his flight, with a detour into Iceland, even though it would be costly. The practitioners were already enduring a significant financial burden, yet at this critical moment, every one of them decided that regardless of expense, they would go to Iceland. When we finally arrived there, we sent forth righteous thoughts in close proximity several times.
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June 15 was a Saturday. Many practitioners gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy in London. From June 5, it was now 11 days since the start of our appealing at the embassy 24 hours a day. On June 7, we started to send forth righteous thoughts every half hour, sending forth righteous thoughts for 15 minutes at the top of each hour, and at least 5 minutes at every half hour. At this frequency, we sent forth righteous thoughts for a total of at least eight hours each day. As Teacher said, "Through hardships the body of gold is tempered" ("The Difficult Path to Godhood").
During this period of sending forth righteous thoughts on a global basis, we British practitioners upgraded a huge step forward as an integrated body. Each had a story of their Xinxing [ nature of the mind or the heart; moral character] improvement. Following are just a few examples. Teacher said, "Study the Fa and obtain the Fa, share in learning and share in cultivating."
One practitioner had been in London since June 1. He had introduced the idea of sitting in front of the Embassy until June 23. During this time, he set himself as an example. At night, he frequently reminded everyone to send forth righteous thoughts at every half hour. After staying outdoors for over ten days, his face became dark and sunburned. Sitting in double cross-legged position made his legs hurt while standing. But we observed that he always had a smiling countenance as he walked back and forth, handing out flyers. Another practitioner, who had just come from China, came directly to the practice site to participate in our activities, without even first getting his lodging in order. He persisted in staying in front of the Embassy day and night.
There are only a few practitioners who live near London. All the practitioners, except those at the front line in Iceland and those busy with other Dafa work, have been to the Embassy. Among our few westerner practitioners, one is a retired senior citizen. He came back and forth five or six times to the Embassy to send forth righteous thoughts with us, after driving four to five hours each time.
What touched us most was a family of a mother and son, from London. They regarded the site in front of the Embassy as their home. The child would come to the Embassy to send forth righteous thoughts after school. After over ten days, he was the best at persisting in sitting in double cross-leg position. Although only twelve years old, he is one of the veteran British practitioners. During the past few years, whenever there were activities, there he would be, with his lovely smiling face. While his mother was busy with work, he took care of himself. Each time we saw this pure and innocent boy, we couldn't help but look within ourselves, to see if we had done our best participating in the Fa-rectification. His mother was studying in London, and she also worked every day to earn a living for both of them. She even voluntarily did a lot of Dafa work. She always thought of others first and never complained. During this period of sending forth righteous thoughts, they both persisted in coming to the Embassy, from beginning until end.
On June 16, the early morning sun shone brightly, and the temperature rose quickly. Everyone meditated under the scorching hot sun, and soon became sunburned. At night we read Teacher's new article and were greatly encouraged after studying it.
June 17 was a Sunday, and sunny, as usual. The Chinese Embassy is located in downtown London, and is a good place to promote Dafa. Upon seeing our conspicuous poster boards and banners and our solemnity in sending righteous thoughts in the meditation position, many passers-by stopped to watch us. Sometimes the tour guides in tour buses even introduced Falun Gong to tourists. One afternoon, six teenagers saw us practicing the exercises and came to learn for themselves.
The practitioners who came back from Iceland brought back the local newspapers with two full-page introductory articles about Falun Gong. (The two British practitioners in the photos went to Iceland to spread Dafa a few months ago, and then found jobs there.)
At 2 a.m., we were very tired. Some practitioners fell asleep, while some others kept sending righteous thoughts all night. We were exhausted, and it was very painful sitting in the double cross-leg position. Someone suggested practicing the exercises. We had been practicing for a short while, when the wind started to blow wildly. There was continual thunder and lightning. We immediately sent forth righteous thoughts. Rain fell in big raindrops, splashing towards the ground. Dark clouds rolled in, and rain poured down until dawn.
On June 18, it was once again bright and sunny during the day, but it again became dark and cloudy in the evening. We requested an extension of our permit to sit in front of the Embassy until June 23.
During our free time between sending forth righteous thoughts, everyone studied the Fa together and developed a deeper understanding of the Fa.
Looking back on the tempering process over the past ten days, we found we had obtained new insights on how to act as practitioners during Fa-rectification, and how British practitioners could be upgraded as a whole body. We believe that we will be able to catch up in the near future.
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Category: April 25 Events
