(Clearwisdom.net) Upstairs over a dental clinic in Taipei, a Fa-study group meets every Sunday afternoon to read aloud. This is only one of many such Fa-study groups made up of Taiwan Falun Gong practitioners.

Fa-study is held no matter what the weather. Young or old, male or female, official or vendor, as long as you want to practice Falun Gong, you can attend any of these Fa-study groups. You are free to come or go, and no one will force or restrict you.

Group study and practice are forms cultivation in Falun Dafa. Its practitioners can share any cultivation confusions or understandings at these groups. Nobody will laugh at you. They are completely open and free occasions, and every practitioner should cherish the time to attend Fa study, regard it as a very important opportunity, and never miss it.

Mr. Wang Songwen, not yet thirty, received a PhD degree from the Institute of Information Management at National Taiwan University. He is currently serving in the army. He comes to group Fa-study on the weekends. He first learned about Falun Gong from an introduction to it by his girlfriend's mentor at Sun Yat-Sen University's Business Management Institute in June 2003. He read Zhuan Falun on the Internet and really enjoyed it. Later, he found the Fa-lecture class at Bade Road from the website and then began to practice Falun Gong.

Wang Songwen (second on left) and his mother, Peng Ruixia (first on left)

Mr. Wang said he really liked group Fa-study where he could concentrate on studying the Fa and sharing his understandings and cultivation experiences. He said, "I can only understand some Fa principles when I read alone, while I can get different and deeper understandings from communication and experience sharing." He said that he did not have a fresh understanding every time, but he still felt purified at group Fa-study. Under the guidance of Dafa, one can easily see the nature of everything and rationally judge loss and gain, right and wrong, and clearly know what to do or avoid doing. He said, "It's very helpful for me in dealing with the problems in my current life in the military."

Mrs. Peng Ruixia started practicing Falun Gong at the same time as her son, when she attended the Fa-lecture class. She said that she felt very peaceful when she was at group Fa-study. She said, "If I study the Fa at home, when I encounter problems I don't know what to do. However, after listening to experience sharing at group Fa-study, I would know how to understand it from the Fa and the problem will be solved naturally. I think this is to focus on how we study and cultivate."

Ms. Peng shared a brief incident. Her husband, who works in southern Taiwan, comes back to Taipei every two weeks. At the beginning, she felt guilty since, even though her husband did not come home often, when he did, she attended group Fa-study. Her husband did not understand. He asked, "Why don't you stay with me when I come home?" After thinking it over, she explained to her husband, "I feel very peaceful when I attend Fa-study. Don't you notice a big difference since I have been practicing Falun Gong?"

Peng Ruixia used to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, and she was issued a card indicating that she was in critical condition. Since she has practiced Falun Gong, she has enjoyed tremendous improvement in body and mind. He husband also noticed that she improved a lot after practicing Falun Gong. Through wholehearted communication, her husband changed from misunderstanding to curiosity. He gradually began to read Dafa books, and he now supports her. Ms. Peng gladly said, "I look forward to group Fa-study every time."

The owner of the building, Ms. Zhang Ruilan, who started practicing Falun Gong in November 1997, said, "At the Fa-lecture class, we always suggest that new practitioners attend group study. In fact, I plan to set up a site for group Fa-study. Not long after I had this idea, someone told me that this clinic with an upstairs was for sale. I went over to check it out and immediately said, 'It's so nice and we can have group Fa-study here.'"

However, the price was nearly twenty million NT dollars, and she did not have enough unless she sold her clinic at East Minsheng Road. The renters had just moved out, and it was convenient to proceed, so Ms. Zhang asked an agency to sell the clinic in three days. The neighbors were very surprised, since there were four and five apartments for sale in the same building, and some had been for sale for a couple years. The location of her house was not very good, but it was sold in three days. Even the agency staff was surprised.

In the beginning, there were about twenty to thirty practitioners in the group. With the addition of new practitioners and more from other areas, there are now have forty to fifty. Sometimes practitioners even sat on the stairs. After discussing this with her husband, Shen Qunjun, who is also a practitioner, Ms. Zhang spent several hundred thousand NT dollars to tear down the small storage room upstairs and expand and redecorate the facility to make it brighter and more spacious. Now, sixty to seventy practitioners can study the Fa together. Occasionally, practitioners from other countries have come and admired how convenient it is to practice and study the Fa in so many places in Taiwan, and they remind Taiwan practitioners to cherish and support their environment.

Chen Feizhen majored in dress design when she was a student, and later she held the title of brand-name manager for a foreign company. Five years ago she decided to quit her job to take care of her children full time. In August 2001, she saw an introduction to Falun Gong on the rear seat of a taxi and was interested. Then she found a nine-day Fa-lecture class from the Internet. She began to practice Falun Gong on September 1, 2001. For seven and a half years she has always actively attended group Fa-study. She said, "I cherish the opportunity very much. My family is still in south Taiwan. After getting permission from my husband, my daughter, Rourou, and I took the train at 11 a.m. to Taipei. We immediately came to this place for group Fa-study. We just wanted to study the Fa together."

Chen Feizhen (in blue) and her daughter, Liao Pingrou (the little girl)

Rourou, Ms. Chen's younger daughter, is three years old. During her pregnancy Ms. Chen took every chance to attend group study. In a sense, Rourou has known Dafa since she was in her mother's womb. Chen Feizhen said,"After becoming pregnant, I became more diligent, because I knew that, after giving birth, I might have less time to study the Fa. Ever since Rourou was two months old, I have taken her to group Fa-study." Although Rourou is very young, when everyone is reading the Fa, she often listens quietly.

Now Rourou can already recite every poem in Hong Yin and Hong Yin II. During Fa study time every evening, sometimes her mother turns a page quickly, and Rourou immediately points it out, saying, "Mom missed that poem." Before bedtime, if Ms. Chen recites Lunyu too quickly or misses some words, Rourou notices it immediately and tells her mother to correct it. When her mother wants to relax by watching TV at 8 or 9 p.m., Rourou says, "Let's study the Fa." Ms. Chen said, "This little fellow practitioner urges me to become more diligent."

Ms. Chen said that she could understand especially well at group Fa-study, saying, "Group Fa-study is very open, and everyone can express his/her point of view. I like sharing my understandings very much. I obviously feel that fellow practitioners are cherishing and supporting the environment, and I am very moved every time." She said she encountered some unsolved problems when studying the Fa at home and she planned to propose it at group Fa-study. However, with everyone studying the Fa together, all these problems disappeared.

She said, "I've heard many stories of fellow practitioners diligently cultivating, and they really encouraged me. Many problems or conflicts that I could not deal with by myself became clear. After I returned home and saw my husband and child, there were fewer problems than I imagined. I think that I am purified when I attend group Fa-study."

She shared something that had happened recently. One time she was very busy until 8 or 9 p.m. When she was helping her child take a shower, her husband came home and asked his wife to cook dinner for him. She immediately answered, "I am so exhausted today!" Her husband shot back, "Am I not tired?"

She said, "I so regretted my words: how could I think that only I was tired and not think how he was also very tired after work? Master taught us to become selfless and to think of others first. How could I not follow this rule? So I hurried to cook some food that my husband liked. Although I was busy until 11 p.m., I felt very happy." Ms. Chen added, "I was able to behave like this because I practice Falun Gong. Otherwise, I would have created a conflict and stirred up problems with my husband."