(Minghui.org) As a Falun Dafa practitioner in Hong Kong, I experienced first-hand how Master's strengthening and fellow practitioners' righteous thoughts resolved a difficult situation during our march in Hong Kong on July 23, 2017 to raise awareness of the persecution in China.
Continuous Interference
Master has told practitioners in Hong Kong,
“You are in the tiger’s mouth!” (“Fa Teaching at the 2016 New York Fa Conference”)
We have experienced interference of different kinds and of various degrees when we held marches and other activities related to Falun Dafa in the past. However, the interference with the march in July this year was worse than with any of our past activities. The Hong Kong government created many obstacles for our march application, including altering the location of our rally, the march route, and other details. Our local Falun Dafa association coordinators had to ask practitioners to send forth righteous thoughts several times. The application was eventually approved, but the location and other details were not in line with our original plan.
As practitioners from other regions arrived in Hong Kong, we continued to hear that Taiwanese practitioners had been stopped and repatriated. Some of them had been able to enter Hong Kong in the past to participate in activities. However, this time they were stopped, searched and interrogated at the airport, and then sent back to Taiwan. Such large-scale repatriation hadn't happened for 10 years.
Another type of interference was the weather. The day of our rally and march the Hong Kong Observatory sent out a No. 8 storm signal, forecasting a storm with wind speeds of 40-70 miles per hour. The storm had formed unexpectedly the day before our activities. Such a severe storm would cause businesses, schools, and roads to close. The police continued to pressure us to cancel our march.
Righteous Thoughts Disperse Interference
Around 5 a.m. on the day of our scheduled activities, many practitioners met at the location of the rally site to set up a large banner before the event. Around 8 a.m., the police began to pressure our organizers to take the banner down because of the potential danger from strong winds. In the meantime, we were told to cancel our rally.
Our coordinator immediately asked all the practitioners present to send forth righteous thoughts. After 45 minutes of intensively sending righteous thoughts, the police mellowed. Shortly after 9 a.m., the No. 8 storm alert was reduced to a storm watch. There was no need to take down our setup. Our group exercises and rally were held at Edinburgh Place as planned. Though it did rain, it was not heavy and there was no strong wind. We had a strong feeling of being strengthened by Master.
It was exactly as Master wrote,
“When disciples have ample righteous thoughtsMaster has the power to turn back the tide” (“The Master-Disciple Bond” from Hong Yin II) (Translation Version A)
However, interference continued. The police department sternly demanded cancellation of our march for safety reasons. It was 11 a.m., and the storm alert was still in effect. Our coordinator told the police that we still had three hours before our march, and we would cancel it if the storm alert had not been rescinded by 2 p.m. The police agreed.
A Negative Becomes a Positive
Master said,
“If it is to rain, let it rain. (All disciples laugh) Nothing is coincidental, though, and there are factors from two angles. It is here either to test you or to help you. There are two angles in any case, so think about it. There are no accidents.” (“Fa Teaching at the New York Fa Conference on the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of Dafa’s Introduction to the Public”)
The rain and wind stopped at noon, and the storm signal was downgraded from No. 8 to No. 3. The police officers who had been very stern changed their attitude. One of them said in surprise, “Falun Gong is powerful! It drove away the No. 8 storm!” Our march route passed through four different districts. Police officers in the various districts said that they admired Falun Gong.
All of our activities were held despite all the interference. We learned later that practitioners in other regions also sent forth righteous thoughts for the activities in Hong Kong. We appreciate their concern and help very much! We have personally witnessed the power of Master's strengthening and fellow practitioners' righteous thoughts.
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