(Clearwisdom.net) We lost our group cultivation environment when the persecution of Falun Dafa began in 1999. This caused many fellow practitioners to become lazy, switch to other qigong practices, or even be hospitalized when their illnesses reappeared. Having seen these things take place, I was so saddened that I thought of setting up an exercise site so that we could resume our group Fa study and exercises. I went door-to-door visiting fellow practitioners. Some were scared to death when they saw me and said, "I quit cultivation." Some of their family members even said, "I'll have you reported to the authorities if you come again." During this time, officers from the local police station often came to my home to harass me. Some fellow practitioners even said, "Who would dare go to your house? What if we are arrested?"
Building our Practice Site from Scratch and Growing Bigger and Bigger
Encountering pressures from all sides, I thought about one of Teacher's poems in Essentials for Further Advancement II.
True Nature Revealed
Steadfastly cultivate Dafa, the will unflinching
The raising of levels is what's fundamental
In the face of tests one's true nature is revealed
Achieve Consummation, becoming a Buddha, Dao, or God
As the saying goes "where there's a will there's a way," so I went to see a fellow practitioner who had traveled with me to Beijing some years back. I encouraged her to come to my house to study the Fa and do the exercises. She agreed to participate, and we thus established a Fa study group. After a period of time, two more practitioners joined us, and gradually the Fa study group expanded. By 2004 there were at least ten regular practitioners in the group.
We were able to help one another when someone had difficulty of any kind or in the area of Xinxing conflicts. One time, a practitioner did not attend the Fa study, because she was busy looking for a loan of 1,000 yuan to purchase the fertilizer she needed. She had failed to get a loan and was quite anxious about not getting the fertilizer. Knowing her problem, I sent her the money right away. Her non-practitioner husband was greatly touched, "It's the kind-hearted Dafa practitioner after all who helped us! You'd better cultivate more diligently from now on!"
At the Dafa practice site, whenever a problem showed up, I took the initiative to look within and solve the conflict. Therefore, everyone felt that our practice site was a pure land, and was willing to participate in group Fa study and the Falun Gong exercises. We even squeezed in time to recite Hong Yin and Teacher's new Fa lectures. Now, most practitioners, regardless of age, are able to recite Hong Yin, and some have recited Zhuan Falun dozens of times.
Because of our steadfast group Fa study, all of us are clear on doing the three things well.
After Teacher's lecture, "Let Go of Human Attachments, Save the World's People" was published, we studied it diligently and took action immediately. We walked from door-to-door telling people to remember that "Falun Dafa is good! Truth-Compassion-Forbearance is good!" This laid the foundation for the forthcoming Fa rectification.
When Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was published, we all felt the urgency to save people--some distributed copies of the Nine Commentaries, some sent forth righteous thoughts at home, and some explained about the importance of quitting the Communist Party. Due to good coordination, we were successful in saving sentient beings. Our Falun Gong practice site was growing bigger, and more and more practitioners were joining. Due to the rapid advancement of Fa-rectification, those who had been afraid of coming out joined our Fa study group. Some practitioner said with tears in their eyes, "Seems like going back where we were before the persecution. Group practice is really great. I won't stop coming, and I have to work hard in cultivation."
One practitioner missed group practice because she had to look after her grandchildren as well as the pigs on the family farm. Her three-year-old grandson wouldn't let her go out to study the Fa in the evenings. She realized that it was her own barrier and tribulation. To address the situation, she made sure that all of her chores were completed so that she could do the three things well, while making her family peaceful and her grandson quiet. She made it possible to join the group to study the Fa and practice the exercises every day.
Since her family was building a house she needed to be available during the day. She went to the practice site at 2:00 in the morning so her household duties wouldn't interfere with her cultivation. I was quite moved by her dedication. I said, "You and I can do the practice together first. I'll do it again a little later when others get here." From then on, we had two groups regardless of rain or stormy days. One morning there was a heavy storm and the power went out. I thought that some practitioners might not show up, but when 3:50 a.m. arrived, everyone in the group was there and said with smiles, "Practicing during a stormy morning can eliminate the sleep demon and lighten our bodies."
Not only did fellow practitioners join our exercise and Fa study group every morning, but also attended weekly Fa study with the whole village, and biweekly country-wide Fa study. Fellow practitioners raised their levels quite quickly through learning, comparing, and looking within.
One time, a practitioner from another city, who was visiting us for cultivation sharing, said, "You have Dafa banners everywhere, don't the local police care?" I told him, "As long as we have a righteous field, no evil can interfere with us."
On December 27, 2008, when I just got home from an outing, a relative, looking very pale, dropped in to see us. He was stooped and dragging his feet. I asked, "What's wrong?" He said, "I have a tumor and for about two weeks the pain has been unbearable. I plan to have surgery tomorrow, which will cost about 4,100 yuan." My son helped him into the house and I asked him to stay for dinner. While I prepared the food in the kitchen I thought about how much he was hurting. I was quite depressed and remembered what Teacher said in Zhuan Falun:
"The Buddha School emphasizes cultivating Shan of Zhen-Shan-Ren. Because the cultivation of Shan can generate great, benevolent compassion, and when compassion develops one will find all beings suffering, the Buddha School thus develops an aspiration to offer salvation to all beings."
When I asked him, "Do you believe in Falun Dafa?" He said, "I believe." I asked him to sincerely recite "Falun Dafa is good, Zhen-Shan-Ren is good." I also told him about Dafa practitioner's miraculous stories, and reminded him to recite "Falun Dafa is good" and "Zhen-Shan-Ren is good" in his mind. I accompanied him home after dinner.
He came back at about 3:00 p.m. on the following day. This time his back was straight and his face looked rosy. He was an entirely different person. I said, "You look good." He said, "Unbelievably magical! The tumor disappeared overnight. My wife wasn't sure so she touched my body and it was gone! I went to the recreation building this morning and everyone was surprised at my recovery. They asked me how I was cured when I hadn't gone to the hospital. I told them about the process of silently reciting 'Falun Dafa is good.' They all said that Falun Gong is really magical. You've saved a few thousand yuan! You should thank your relative with a few hundred yuan." I said, "You should thank our Teacher. Our Teacher looks after all Dafa practitioners in the world and took away their sicknesses. Our Teacher saved you! Our Teacher is here on earth for saving sentient beings. What you see on television smearing Falun Gong is all lies, which is cheating people. You've got to tell people about what happened to you."
Since then, he uses every opportunity to talk about the miracle of Falun Dafa. He also encouraged his wife to practice Falun Gong. Seeing what happened to him, many people changed their perspective about Dafa. There have been people asking for information about Dafa, including a retired police officer who had ransacked my home quite a few times. He even came to join group Fa study in my house. His change in attitude has greatly influenced local people in understanding Dafa.
The number of practitioners taking part in group Fa study has increased dramatically. Therefore, for the sake of doing the three things better, we have developed three Falun Gong practice sites. Even so, we had little interference during sensitive dates and police raids to confiscate satellite dishes [that receive New Tang Dynasty TV programs]. Our righteous thoughts eliminate all interference in this area, enabling the world's people to know the fast advancement of Fa-rectification, in preparation for sentient beings to obtain the Fa.
We Dafa practitioners now focus on doing the three things. Some advise people to quit the Party, some teach new practitioners to study the Fa and learn the exercises, some clarify the truth about Dafa in open markets, and some pass out Shen Yun DVDs, bringing the beauty of Dafa to people. Every one of us is working hard based on what Teacher and Dafa require, walking well the path of our cultivation.
