(Clearwisdom.net) Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started its persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, we are no longer able to have group Fa study or do group exercises unmolested. It is an immense loss for our cultivation. We eventually set up a new Fa study group when we realized that group Fa study and group exercises are the best ways to cultivate ourselves that Teacher has taught us.
For the past nine years, practitioners from our Fa study group have taken the three things as our number one responsibility in our lives every day. We keep reminding ourselves that we are Fa-rectification period practitioners, so we are determined to take lead roles, thus fulfilling our missions well in the play that Teacher directs. The main stage of the play is in China. The content of the play is to do the three things well.
1. Study the Fa well and assimilate to the Fa
Different forms of interference, in addition to the severe persecution by the CCP, occur during the process of cultivation. False articles show up occasionally. How do we verify the articles that we receive? We abide by Teacher's instructions to read the Clearwisdom website whenever there is a big event. Teacher transmits his Fa teachings in various places to practitioners all over the world via the Clearwisdom website. Practitioners from every corner of the world have been reading information about Dafa activities all over the world and downloading truth clarification materials from this site. We download DVDs of the Divine Performing Arts and use them as one of the most important materials to save sentient beings. The website also serves as a platform for practitioners to share their experiences. Accordingly, it has assisted us not only to study the Fa and practice the exercise well, but to also correct our cultivation path and prevent us from going awry. We, on behalf of the practitioners in our city, express our hearty thanks to the fellow practitioners who have been diligently keeping up the Clearwisdom website.
We do the "three things" sometimes in groups and sometimes separately. Every week we spend at least one afternoon together reading the Fa, doing the exercises, and sharing experiences. We share our experiences after we read Zhuan Falun and Teacher's recent articles, and we have watched the Fa-teaching videos several times.
In order to understand and remember the Fa better each time, every practitioner in our study group reads, recites, and copies the Fa daily. Some practitioners are able to recite Zhuan Falun, and volumes I and II of Hong Yin. The senior practitioners who cannot recite Zhuan Falun copy it. In fact, two senior practitioners have copied it twice in six months. They started all over if they copied one word wrong. Copying the Fa has not only helped them to understand and remember the Fa better, but also helped them to assimilate themselves into the Fa all the time.
We hold Fa conferences now and then to share our experiences. We see what we have done well in, comparing what we have done with the Fa and analyzing why we haven't assimilated ourselves into the Fa as we should have. We discuss different issues and have had very good results. Take Practitioner A as an example. He said, "For some time, it was so hard to raise my left arm during the exercises. It was so painful to finish all the exercises. This lasted for a month and I developed the attachment of fear. I thought to myself, 'Now that my left arm has recovered, I hope the same thing doesn't happen to my right arm.' Wow, the next day my right arm was so painful that I was not able to move it even a little bit, as if I had had a stroke. I searched inside and realized that it was the attachment of fear, as well as the attachment of pursuit, allowing the old forces to take advantage of me and keep me from doing the exercises. Enlightened, I recited the Fa.
"If you have fear, they will grab you.
Once your thought is righteous, evil will collapse."(Hong Yin Vol II "What's There to Fear")
When I couldn't move my right arm, I used my left arm to make my right arm do the five exercises. I suffered a lot. It took two weeks before the symptoms finally disappeared."
Another example is Practitioner B who said, "Several years ago I suddenly lost consciousness while doing the sitting meditation for about an hour. All my family were worried and scared. However, I regained consciousness after ten minutes. My children wanted to call 120 (akin to 911 in the U.S.) to get me to the hospital. I refused because I thought it was Teacher cleansing my body and removing my karma from inside out. I had passed the gate between "life and death." My daughter said, "If it recurs, we'll take you to the hospital." With certainty I replied, " It will never recur." Since then I haven't gotten sick for many years. This always reminds me that if we trust Teacher and the Fa, only then can we pass whatever tribulation that may confront us.
The small scale Fa conferences encourage us to find problems within, as well as help and learn from each other. What is more important is that it makes us improve as a whole body.
2. Send forth righteous thoughts and eliminate evil interference
Sending forth righteous thoughts is a powerful method that Teacher has taught us to eliminate the evil. It is time for us to use our divine powers. Whether we can feel it or not, if we can do it well, we will be able to eliminate the evil.
Practitioners can send forth righteous thoughts at any time, in addition to the required four set times for the world.
First, we send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the interference from other dimensions whenever any practitioner is interfered with by the old forces or is confronting a serious illness tribulation.
In April 2008, Practitioner C had a serious illness tribulation, making it hard for him to breathe. We sat down in a circle to send forth righteous thoughts. After doing this for several days, he got well. A few days later, however, he was sick again. Then he got well, then he go sick again. This cycle continued, so we discussed it, shared our ideas, and eventually realized that our righteous thoughts were not strong enough. This time when we sat down to send forth righteous thoughts we also asked Teacher for help. Practitioner D, whose celestial eye was open, said, "Teacher is here. He is taking us to send forth righteous thoughts." Practitioner D saw that the dark minions and rotten ghosts fell to the ground, turned into black smoke and perishing. Practitioner C quickly got well, but this time he was refreshed and energetic. The practitioners were moved to tears.
Practitioner E shared this experience: "An aging female practitioner lives in my neighborhood. Before she started practicing Falun Gong, she was blind. And after she became a practitioner, her eyesight was restored. She is very grateful to Teacher and Dafa. Once she was arrested while distributing truth clarification materials. Undaunted, she was firm in not cooperating with the authorities. She said, 'Nothing is wrong with being a good person by following Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.' She thought, ' This is not the place where I should stay. I'll go out to distribute truth clarification materials and validate that Dafa is good.' Outside the police station many practitioners were sending righteous thoughts for her. That night, her blood pressure soared to 190. The police were afraid that they would be held responsible so they sent her home and told her, 'Do the exercises at home if you think Falun Gong is good. Do not participate in any activity outside, or we cannot help.'"
Second, send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil factors where they concentrate, such as the CCP government, public security bureaus, "Procuratorates" and the courts, the prison, and the forced labor camps. Two or three practitioners go as a group to these places to send forth righteous thoughts. We all send forth righteous thoughts if the authorities arrest practitioners or on the politically sensitive days. Several months before the Olympic Games, the CCP officers were very panicky; they monitored and arrested many practitioners. Over 20 practitioners in our town were arrested in a span of few months. Even in this situation, we were not afraid. We went to the public security department, the public security bureau, and the police station to send forth righteous thoughts nearby for several hours. We made, printed, and distributed booklets with the names, telephone numbers, and the evil deeds committed by the heads of the public security bureau, the Procuratorate and the courts. After a few days, the city was blanketed with the flyers and booklets. Because we were not afraid of any potential violence, the authorities were greatly frightened. They had no choice but to release some of the practitioners.
3. Tell people the facts about Falun Dafa and save sentient beings
Teacher told us that "Every Dafa disciple will shoulder immense responsibilities in the future." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference") We practitioners have always taken truth clarification as our most important responsibility. We have adopted different forms and ways to clarify the truth of Falun Dafa to save sentient beings for the past nine years.
a. Face-to-face truth clarification
This is the most direct way to save sentient beings. If we clarify the truth to our relatives, friends, classmates, and co-workers, we try to tell them the facts in detail, including what Falun Gong is, why Jiang Zemin's regime persecutes Falun Gong, about the fabricated cases such as the Tiananmen self-immolation incident, the April 25 appeal, the lies that Jiang's regime trumped up, the main content of the "Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party," and the corruption of the evil CCP. People can accept these arguments simply because they are all facts. Then we try to persuade them to quit the CCP. The effect is very good. We have persuaded more than 200 people to quit the CCP. If we try to clarify the truth to a stranger, how we go about it depends on the specific circumstances. Whenever we meet older people, we ask the person about his or her health. If the person suffers from various illnesses, we tell the person about Dafa's health benefits. For example, we relate that someone recovered by reciting "Falun Dafa is good" sincerely. Generally speaking, most of these people can accept what we say. Then we try to persuade the person to quit the CCP. If we are explaining the facts to those that come from countryside to the city for a temporary job, we ask about their work and who lives in their home. Working away from home is not easy, and we remind them of security problems. Hearing our kind and sincere words, they usually feel reassured and are willing to listen. That is when we ask them to quit the CCP, which they usually do. If we talk to a passerby, there is usually not enough time, so we give him or her an amulet (1) and ask him to sincerely recite, "Falun Dafa is good. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good."
b. Make and distribute truth clarification material
We make good use of whatever expertise practitioners have. Some make truth clarification materials and some print truth clarification phrases on paper money. Practitioner F is careful, handy, and has good administrative skills. She makes truth clarification materials day and night.
She makes copies of "Minghui Weekly" and other truth clarification materials in a timely and accurate manner for other practitioners to take and distribute. The truth clarification materials must be distributed to the proper places for those with predestined relationships and to serve to save sentient beings.
We adopt different ways to distribute the materials. Our target areas are the ones with dense population such as residential areas, parks, railway stations, bus stops, and large markets.
While distributing the materials, we sent forth a strong righteous thought: "Save sentient beings." No matter what, no one can ever interfere. Let the people who have a predestined relationship obtain the materials. Although we have encountered some danger and some people who didn't know the truth have reported us, with Teacher's protection, we have made it through the ups and downs of these last several years.
Note:
(1) Amulets -- In China, practitioners sometimes clarify the truth by giving people something small to wear or cherish, bearing a few words reminding them of the goodness of Dafa.
