(Clearwisdom.net) After July 20, 1999, our group Fa study environment was devastated by the evil CCP. The practitioners were all very sad. Although we wished to recover our group and practice again, we had the attachment of fear and were under a lot of pressure. What could we do next? We found our answers by studying the Fa.
Through Fa study, we realized that being afraid is selfish, which is an attribute of the old cosmos. The new cosmos will be all-harmonizing, perfect, and selfless. Teacher asks us to become selfless and consider others first. There are vicious elements in any environment. Teacher said,
"If a cultivator can let go of the thought of life and death under any circumstance, evil is sure to be afraid of him. If every practitioner is able to do this, evil will of itself no longer exist." (from "Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s)" from Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Dafa practitioners should only follow the road arranged by the Teacher.
After the fall harvest season in 2003, we finally set up our Fa study group, and we knew we should treat Fa study righteously and seriously. We hung up Teacher's portrait and Falun pictures on the wall. In order to study the Fa with calm minds, we take turns reading the Fa aloud. Each person reads two to three paragraphs. After sending forth righteous thoughts, we go home. (We also participate in the morning exercises that are held country-wide.). More and more people are joining us in the practice, including some newcomers, and we now have three Fa study groups.
There is a new practitioner in her thirties who set up a group Fa study in her home. Those who are attending are older practitioners who had not come forward before.
One older practitioner, 86 years old, had a lot of illnesses. After practicing Falun Gong, she no longer needed to take any medicine. One time she fell down in her yard. Her family members were worried and wanted to take her to the hospital. She said, "No, no problem." Then, she slowly got up and went to attend the group Fa study. She told a fellow practitioner that her legs hurt. She was told that she should have great righteous thoughts and think of herself as a divine being who has no illnesses and deny the pain in her legs. Through looking inside, that older lady began to realize she had not let go of the attachment for her family members, and this allowed the to evil take advantage of her. When she let go of that attachment, she recovered in two days.
Another practitioner was helping people to demolish a house. A wall fell down on his foot. He thought to himself, "I am a practitioner and there is no problem." He adjusted his foot by himself, but the pain would not go away. He continued participating in the group exercises and study and discussed his problem with fellow practitioners. Looking inside, he realized that he was not diligent in Fa study and exercises. He did not do the three things well, acted like an ordinary person, and let the evil take advantage. Upon realizing the problem, his foot recovered within seven days.
The above shows how group Fa study really can provide a genuine cultivation environment. Practitioners can exchange their understandings of the Fa and talk about their experiences and lessons learned in doing the three things. Practitioners can share with each other and improve very quickly. That group environment requires each practitioner to be strict with themselves, to view conflict as a good thing and look inside, to expose bad thoughts and eliminate them, and to rise to a higher level. Most of the villagers and the village officials have consequently withdrawn from the CCP and its related organizations.
A fellow practitioner from elsewhere said, "Comparing your situation before July 20, 1999, to the present, your village cultivation environment is the same except that group practice is not outside." We told him that Teacher told us that we should develop the practice environment by ourselves. We still have a lot to improve. There is some distance between us and Teacher's requirements. The evils have not yet been completely eliminated, so we should not relax. We should be strict with ourselves and follow Teacher's Fa- rectification process, steadily progressing step by step. We should do the three things well, and try to upgrade quickly.
To my fellow practitioners: Please step forward quickly. Teacher worries for us.
August 18, 2007
