(Clearwisdom.net) The Fa study and exercise site in our area was established in February 1996. More than 80 practitioners, divided into five Fa-study groups, were regulars at the site before the persecution began on July 20, 1999. We gathered daily at the site, doing the exercises at 4:30 a.m. and introducing Dafa to the public. We would return at 7 p.m. to study the Fa and exchange experiences and understandings, which would continue until 9 p.m. Within six months, we experienced tremendous physical and mental changes. We learned to regard the Fa as teacher and looked inward in everything on the path of cultivation. We learned how to assimilate to the Fa. Some practitioners were cured of chronic silicosis, fungal nail infection, heart disease, lower back pain, leg pain and migraines. Veteran practitioners strove forward ever more diligently, as an increasing number of new practitioners joined us.
After the Communist Party began persecuting Falun Gong, 610 Office agents, national security agents, and police and secret agents were everywhere. Police cars ripped through alleys and streets at all times of the day and night, arresting practitioners. They destroyed truth clarification material sites and confiscated Dafa books. They tapped practitioners' home phones and cell phones, monitored the practitioners' homes and followed them everywhere. We constantly faced the dangers of being arrested, detained, beaten, tortured, brainwashed, imprisoned, sent to labor camps, and even killed. Very few people then continued with Fa study and doing the exercises. Only a dozen veteran practitioners in our area persevered, but we lived in scattered locations, so it was difficult for us to get together. One former volunteer assistant was studying the Fa at 11:00 p.m. The police called her and asked, "Why is your light on at eleven at night?" She was so frightened she dared not study the Fa at night any longer. When we met, we could not talk much, as Party officials had all the public places under close watch.
Soon, after some independent thinking and through Fa study, doing the exercises and establishing materials sites, practitioners overcame the wave of terror and printed flyers to validate the wonders of Dafa.
Recovering and reorganizing a Fa study group
We had to re-establish a Fa study group if we wanted to continue on the path of cultivation. After a few practitioners held discussions, we agreed to have Ming Yu, Jin Shan and Qing Yu, who were highly capable and studied the Fa well, to contact other practitioners. It was difficult at that time to organize a group Fa study session. When Ming Yu spoke with veteran practitioners, the first problem he encountered was that certain practitioners' families would not let them study the Fa. A few family members called Ming Yu and said, "Did you ask my wife to practice Falun Gong [again]? Everyone has a family; if anything happens to her, will you take responsibility for it?" A man told Ming Yu, "Stop calling my wife. You know, my son tried to go to your home and make trouble, but I stopped him!" Once, Ming Yu called a practitioner and talked to her about Fa study and doing the exercises. Her sister overheard their conversation and grabbed the phone, saying to Ming Yu, "My sister has quit practicing. Stop calling her. Who knows what the Communist Party will do next?" A few practitioners who did not have a deep understanding of Dafa were terrorized, and they dared not continue practice the cultivation. Nevertheless, several older practitioners stepped forward and re-established Fa study groups. At first we met at various times. Whoever made it to the practice site studied together. Gradually, three to five people met weekly to share their experiences. We also had irregular Fa study sessions, during which we also did the exercises and sent righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil.
Establishing a truth clarification material production site
After our Fa study group was re-established, the next problem was how to obtain Dafa materials. Once we had overcome various hurdles, we finally got in touch with two volunteer assistants at the city-level practice site, through whom we obtained some of Master's articles and other materials.
At the end of 2000, the two assistants were arrested and sentenced to prison. One was sentenced to 18 months, and the other was sentenced to two years. We were again cut off from Dafa materials. We decided to establish our own material sites. The two major setbacks we faced were lack of funds and lack of technical computer support. None of us knew anything about computers or the Internet. We were either laid-off workers or retirees, and our monthly incomes were barely enough to pay the bills. We volunteered to donate our money. One retired practitioner gave 5,000 yuan, which was all of her family's savings over the years, and in the end we pooled 10,000 yuan and bought a computer, a printer and some accessories. We also asked young, working practitioners to produce the materials; the rest of us were responsible for distributing the materials. Our production site was finally born in the midst of a dangerous environment. From then on, materials were produced in large quantities to rescue sentient beings.
Explaining the facts, sending righteous thoughts, eliminating evil interference
Practitioner Xu Lan was the sole breadwinner in her family. Her husband was laid off, her two children were in middle school, and her family lived off her 800-yuan monthly salary. In 2000, her superiors tried to coerce to her to write a guarantee statement and threatened to send her to a brainwashing center in the city prison if she did not comply. She talked to her boss many times and explained to him about the improvements she experienced after she began practicing Dafa, but he would not listen. He said, "The 610 Office told me to do this." Someone advised her to leave home and hide for a few days, but she was worried that she might be fired and the livelihood for her entire family would be cut off. All of the practitioners gathered and sent righteous thoughts.
The Chinese New Year was approaching. Xu Lan's boss again threatened her, saying, "You must write the guarantee statement before the Chinese New Year, or we'll send you away [to prison]." Just as she was feeling the pressure, practitioner Ming Yu gave her a flyer that explained the facts about Falun Gong and said to her, "Give this to your boss and explain to him your understanding of Dafa."
When she went to work the next morning Xu Lan said to her boss, "I've never asked you to do anything for me in the ten years that I've worked here, but now I'll ask you for only one thing: please read this flyer, because this is what I want to say to you." At the same time we continued to send righteous thoughts.
Her boss did a 180-degree turn-around the next day. He said, "We won't send you to the brainwashing center. You've convinced me, but the Party Committee Office head will talk to you, and he's pretty hard-nosed. You better be prepared." In the end, he never even talked to Xu Lan.
Practitioner Jin Shan cultivated diligently after he started practicing Dafa in 1995, and his xinxing improved rapidly. After the persecution began, he was among the first to step forward because of his powerful righteous thoughts. He went to Tiananmen Square to validate Dafa and often wrote letters and sent Dafa materials to the local police and certain officials who did not know the truth. Officials at the local 610 Office, from the police department, and from the street administration committee listed him as a primary subject for intense surveillance. They did not have any evidence, but they suspected that he wrote all the letters.
We had an older couple in our Fa study group. The husband gave up Dafa practice out of fear after July 20, 1999. The old forces took advantage of his gap. He lapsed into an apparent sick state and was diagnosed with brain stem infarction. The doctor predicted he would die in a few days and told his family to prepare for his funeral. He could not talk and could not take care of himself. With much difficulty, he wrote down the word "euthanasia" on a piece of paper. His wife was exhausted from taking care of him. She didn't see any hope for him to ever recover, so she thought, "Just let him die quickly." As this wrongful thought emerged, the old forces took advantage of her gap, too, and persecuted her. She suffered from severe migraines, could not eat for two weeks, and could only drink a little water. When we learned about it, two practitioners talked to her. She realized her thought toward her husband was wrong and was what caused her migraines and escalated her husband's tribulation. She also understood that helping her husband would not affect her own cultivation. She corrected herself, and instantly her head stopped hurting and she could eat again.
Concurrently, one of her husband's relatives went to visit the husband and recited Lunyu for him. Several days later he began to recover. After six months of Fa study and thorough care, he was able to feed himself. By the time he was about to leave the hospital and to go home, however, his family had ran out of money. They did not even have money to buy food, as they had no other source of income except her severance pay, which had already been used up. It was snowing and cold inside their home, because they could not afford to heat it. Despite the difficulty, the couple persisted in cultivation. They continuously improved their xinxing. A miracle happened when no one expected it. Her workplace suddenly issued a policy, saying laid-off workers should be guaranteed the most basic living standards. Surprisingly, five of the standards listed in the policy were custom-made for these two practitioners. They started to receive money on a monthly basis. Although the heating device was turned off, their room temperature miraculously stayed around 16 0C and 18 0C [610 F to 64.4 0F].
During Fa study, validating the Fa, and explaining the facts to others, we followed Master's instructions and looked inward to improve our xinxing. The miracles we have witnessed validate Master's compassion and the amazing power of Falun Dafa! We will strive forward diligently in the last phase of Fa rectification, cultivate ourselves by looking inward, and assimilate into Dafa. We will fully utilize the wisdom and ability of the Fa study group and rescue more sentient beings by doing the three things well.