"Through Hardship the Body of Gold Is Tempered," Part 2 -- Canadian Practitioners' Truth-Clarification Journey to Iceland At seven a.m. on June 13th, I decided to go to SAS Airlines to
clarify the truth to them once more. Bringing our statement and one AP report
about Falun Gong with me, I arrived at the ticket counter and told them we were
unlawfully denied access to our purchased airplane seats yesterday. I then asked
them to give us tickets for the first plane in the morning headed for Iceland.
The clerk at the ticket counter showed his sympathy for us, but when seeing the
explanatory note on the computer screen, he hesitated to give us the tickets. At
that moment, the airline's senior manager, Mr. Pierre Brownt, stepped into the
office. I walked towards him, telling him that we had spent the previous night
at the airport. When I showed him our statement and the AP report of Falun Gong,
Mr. Brownt asked, "Can I keep these?" I answered, "I only have
one copy. Could you please copy them?" Unhesitatingly, Mr. Brownt copied
each of them and gave me the original, saying, "Please wait for one moment;
allow me and my clerk to have a talk about this."
Then the ticket clerk and Mr. Brownt went into the office. About five minutes
later, the ticket clerk told me, "Come here to have your tickets checked at
8:15." I brought the good news to all the others and each of us was quite
encouraged. This was the brave act of kind people to resist the evil persecution
of Falun Dafa. Even though the Icelandic Ministry of Justice had already
announced a ban on Falun Gong travelers, they still performed with bravery and
righteousness in pursuit of truth.
Immediately we came to an agreement, "Don't have any attachment of
zealotry. Don't forget to send forth righteous thoughts together. In this way,
the six of us will board the same plane."
At 8:15 a.m. the SAS Airline ticket counter gave us six standby tickets to
the 10:40 plane. At 10 a.m. we arrived at the boarding entrance and happened to
see Mr. Billnie Staigson from the Embassy of Iceland. Mr. Staigson stopped us.
We showed him our tickets. He said, "Wait a moment. I have to call the
Icelandic government." From his tone, we could see that he was considering
how to let us go in an agreeable way.
The Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked, "Where have they
been?" I said that we had been to Helsinki in Finland and Copenhagen in
Denmark. Then a final question, which must have been raised by the evil, was
asked, "Are you members of the Falun Gong organization?" Without a
second thought I retorted, "Falun Gong has no membership." In fact, I
could have given a better answer with more wisdom and ease. Then Mr. Staigson
made a satisfactory gesture to let us go. In fact, in his mind he had a very
clear understanding of us.
At 10:40 two practitioners from Toronto were able to board the plane for
Iceland. Then, the airline announced that there were no extra tickets. So, four
of us were about to leave, carrying our luggage. At this time, a moving incident
took place. Mr. Billnie Staigson from the Embassy of Iceland ran from the
airport lounge, catching up with us, saying, "Wait for another moment!
Maybe there will be extra tickets." We were moved by his sincere words and
eager expectations. From his tone of voice we felt that he expected us to leave
for Iceland.
Suddenly it occurred to me that the previous announcement of having no extra
tickets was to test our firm belief in the Fa, and to test how strong our
righteous thoughts were. At that time, we did not pass the test.
At the final moment, there were two more extra tickets not claimed by anyone.
Seeing nobody claim the two tickets, I said firmly, "Those two seats should
be ours!" During the last minutes before the plane was to take off, two
late passengers hurried in and boarded the plane. Later I understood that
nothing in the human world was real and fixed; only the Fa was real. If our
belief in the Fa had been firm enough and our righteous thoughts incomparably
powerful, our abilities could have changed the unreal phenomena when the
announcement of having no extra tickets was made.
At this time, Mr. Staigson told us something very interesting in a serious
and firm tone, "There are still four tickets for the plane at two p.m.
Right now, go change your tickets for the tickets to the plane at two p.m."
So, the four of us went to change our tickets. One practitioner from Toronto and
I happened to meet two Danish practitioners at the ticket exchange counter. We
insisted that the Danish practitioners should get the tickets first and leave
for Iceland earlier. With no extra tickets, the two Danish practitioners got two
standby tickets. We also got two standby tickets. Just as we were about to
leave, another touching scene occurred. Mr. Billnie Staigson from the Embassy of
Iceland hurried towards us almost out of breath and handed me his cellular phone
saying, "One Danish TV station wants to interview you."
It turned out that the TV2 station in Denmark heard of our situation and had
been trying to interview us at the airport. Finally he found us through Mr.
Staigson. I wrote down the phone number of the TV reporter, telling him I would
call him pretty soon to arrange the time for an interview.
Then another miracle happened. Another two Canadian practitioners from
Montreal at another ticket exchange counter got two tickets. After hearing this,
Mr. Staigson hurried to us, telling the two of us, "Hurry here! There are
still tickets." Indeed, another practitioner and I were able to get
tickets. When I thought of looking for the two Danish practitioners, I asked the
clerk if there were any tickets left. The clerk answered, "No, there were
just four."
I came to realize that it was a small test for us and the Danish
practitioners. At this moment, we had a deeper understanding of Master's
teaching of "loss and gain." "You are not really asked to lose
anything materially...The key is whether you can abandon that attachment."
Seeing Mr. Staigson leaving, one practitioner from Toronto said, "Seeing
him, I felt moved to tears! I will surely call him after I go back to
Canada."
Indeed, we were moved by this man who maintained his righteous behavior under
overwhelming pressure. We were happy for such a being who could resist the evil
with wit. His righteous attitude toward Fa-rectification would surely bring him
a beautiful future. As Master said in the article "Towards
Consummation," "Everyone's behavior, good or bad, fully reflects the
outcome he will obtain."
Suddenly I enlightened to the dignity of Dafa. When clarifying the truth in
an environment full of hardship, we had to behave with Dafa's divine virtue,
dignity, and sacredness so as to earn people's respect for Dafa. Just as Master
said, "Every single sentient being reveres Dafa's saving grace."
("Foretelling the Fa's Rectification of the Human World") "The
world's sentient beings will [strive to] repay the saving grace of Dafa and
Dafa's disciples." ("The Blessings from Dafa")
At this moment four of us came to understand why we would not leave the
airport for Iceland until two o'clock in the afternoon--it was because we had
to be interviewed by the TV station before flying to Iceland. I started
preparing for the interview. At noon the TV2 reporter, Mr. Johns Lankide, and
the photographer interviewed me. They showed admiration for our behavior on the
journey.
Looking back upon our truth-clarification in the difficult situation in
Copenhagen, and upon our managing to board the planes for Iceland, we had a
deeper understanding of Master's words, "Through hardship the body of gold
is tempered." ("The Difficult Path to Godhood")
As Master said in "Righteous Thoughts and Righteous Actions,"
A Great Enlightened Being does not fear hardship
At about 3:30 p.m. on June 13th, our plane landed at the Keflavik
Airport in Iceland. The moment we got the plane seats in Copenhagen, we told
ourselves, "Before going through the customs in Iceland, let go of any
attachment of zealotry and do not slacken in our efforts to send forth righteous
thoughts." Also we became aware of the inconvenience of trying to act
together in a large group. Because two of us could not speak English, the four
of us divided into two groups. One group went through the customs successfully.
However, another practitioner and I did not go through customs smoothly. The
customs official examined our passports carefully and asked us to see the
police. Immediately, we told ourselves to strengthen sending forth righteous
thoughts. After arriving at the police office, maybe because of the power of our
righteous thoughts, the police appeared somewhat bewildered, not knowing what to
ask us. After copying one page of our passports with our photos on them, he
asked, "How long will you stay here?" Then no questions about Falun
Gong were asked and we were allowed to go through customs.
After going through customs, the four of us again united with the two other
practitioners from Toronto who had boarded the plane for Iceland in the morning.
The six of us started our Fa-rectification journey in Iceland again.
The two practitioners from Toronto told us they had already contacted the
Icelandic practitioners and were informed, "The head political scoundrel
will arrive at the same airport at about 4 o'clock. There are no other
practitioners around there, just you six."
At this moment we came to understand that this journey was so delicately
arranged by Master's great mercy. About "arrangement," in
"Touring North America to Teach the Fa", Master said, "A lot of
things are the old forces' arrangements. What's more, they arranged them in
great detail, and the manifestations are extremely complex." One
practitioner and I had the same understanding: though the old forces could have
arranged all the details of this, they were unable to arrange the Fa. Suppose
the old forces had arranged the Icelandic event. We still could thoroughly deny
the arrangement of the old forces if we behaved based on the demands of the Fa.
Simultaneously I had a deeper understanding of the words, "One's life can
be changed if one takes the path of cultivation practice."
At about 4:20 p.m. on June 13th, the national anthems of Iceland
and China were heard at the airport and we knew that the head political
scoundrel had arrived. At a place about 100 meters away from the airport, six of
us sent forth our pure and powerful righteous thoughts to the whole universe.
On the evening of June 13th, an Icelander, Mr. John, arranged our
accommodations and also the accommodations for several other practitioners. We
were touched by his enthusiasm. He told us, "At first I had no idea about
Falun Gong. But after the Icelandic government banned the Falun Gong travelers
from entering Iceland, citizens all around the country knew about Falun Gong.
All of the Icelanders support you. It is crazy of the Icelandic government to
make such a decision." Later he added, "It is said that the Embassy of
China wrote a letter to every Chinese here, asking them to welcome Jiang. The
Embassy of China has paid every single one of the Chinese here some money. If
they did not go to welcome Jiang, they would get into trouble after going back
to China."
We told Mr. John that Jiang had traveled everywhere to make a show. We also
told Mr. John our story of being stranded at the airport in Copenhagen and being
interviewed by a Danish reporter, who asked us, "Will Falun Gong be denied
entry to Iceland?" Mr. John said, "You could have given a better
answer, saying that it is Jiang Zemin, instead of Falun Gong, that should be
denied entry into Iceland." Listening to his remark, we gave him an
understanding grin.
To be continued.
Posting date: 7/13/2002 |