(Clearwisdom.net) In the last few years, during our cultivation, fellow practitioners have given me a lot. Whenever there is a conflict and I have a hard time letting go of human attachments, I look back on the journey we have shared, cherish our time together, and feel more tolerant and understanding. I am able to look inward for my own shortcomings.
Establish a Group Study Environment
In 2002, I was forced to leave my house and stayed with others to escape the police. Sometimes practitioners were able to get together to study the Fa. However, there was no set schedule for group Fa study. Later, I thought, “If only I had a house, then all of us could study the Fa together.” Pretty soon, Master arranged for me to have a new apartment. (I will not go into the details here.) The day I moved in, a practitioner suggested that we study the Fa together at my home. From that point on, we established a Fa-study group in my home. Our group grew from three to a dozen. Occasionally there were more than 20.
When there got to be seven or eight of us, one practitioner said it wasn't safe for us to all meet together. My husband, also a practitioner, agreed that we shouldn't study the Fa at our house. Thanks to the righteous thoughts of another practitioner, our notions were changed. We realized that, although we were the occupants of the house, it was bestowed upon us by Dafa. We practitioners had a right to use it in an upright matter. At that time, my understanding was also not very clear. The only thing I knew was that it was precious to have an opportunity for us to all study the Fa together. I felt a sense of pride and sacredness. I realized hosting Fa-study was a form of validating the Fa, and I could not turn it down. At the same time, I was worried that I was doing something wrong and possibly causing loss to everyone. Just as I was lost in confusion, Minghui Weekly published articles regarding group Fa-studies in several issues in a row. They inspired me and gave me more righteous thoughts. During group Fa-study, the Fa principles also continue to manifest themselves to me.
The practitioners in my area realized that group Fa-study is a form that Master has left for us. Since the persecution began in 1999, our cultivation environment has been damaged. Our current Fa-study group is exactly what Master wanted. We are resisting the persecution and the arrangement of the old forces. During Fa study, we feel that we improve very quickly. Just like Master said in “Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference in Australia:”
“Also, as you practice in a group and while you are together, what you say, think, and do are all out of benevolent thoughts, and you’re able to consider others as much as you can in whatever you do. That is a very pure and clean environment, a piece of peaceful, harmonious, and pure land. Then as cultivators in those surroundings, you will be nurtured by this compassionate force within that environment. That’s for sure. So there’s a reason I tell you to practice together. The people you come into contact with in that environment are all good people. Their words, actions, and deeds just aren’t the same as those of people in ordinary society, so this environment can’t be lost. But there are a few areas where there are not so many people studying Dafa, just one or two people, and they don’t have such a good environment. In that case, then, one has to rely on oneself. There really are students like that—truly studying quietly, cultivating quietly, and progressing diligently. Truly remarkable! I’m saying here, though, that a group cultivation environment is essential and very good. You shouldn’t lose that environment. That environment tempers people. ”
We've passed many tribulations along our path. The first group of practitioners in our study group have almost all hosted Fa-study groups or established home-based material centers. They have all played a role in assisting Master in the Fa-rectification and saving sentient beings. The group Fa-study environment still exists today, though the practitioners are always coming and going. Every practitioner in our area has a group Fa-study environment. In the process of studying the Fa as a group, some have experienced interference from human attachments and xinxing conflicts. They were all tests for us. As long as we had strong faith in Master and the Fa and could look inward, our paths became brighter and brighter. Having come this far, we are very clear in our minds that “The cultivation is up to you, gong is up to the Master.” (Zhuan Falun) Master is arranging our paths based on our wishes and helping us establish mighty virtue based on our xinxing standards.
Coordinate with Each Other; Save Sentient Beings
At our Fa-study site, most of the practitioners are relatively young. Many are married couples with young children. Everyone has his or her strengths and shortcomings. One younger female practitioner often partners up with several other female practitioners who bring their children along to distribute fliers and put up stickers and posters. They all help one another. Sometimes we would distribute fliers at night together, leaving one person home to take care of the children. For a period of time, several practitioners in my area were arrested when clarifying the facts in other areas. We realized that we needed to clarify the facts about the persecution in that area to the residents there. So we formed four groups of two, got on our motorcycles, and distributed materials near the police station where the practitioners were detained. Another practitioner stayed home to take care of the children and send forth righteous thoughts. After we were finished with the distribution, we met up again. Only one group didn't come to the meeting place; my husband was a part of this group. I looked inward and realized the situation was created by our emotions and worries. They returned soon after we realized this and eliminated the attachments.
We often cooperate with each other and support each other in various ways. Once we went out in groups to hang banners. When we were finished, we ran into another group of practitioners and learned that they were unable to finish hanging their banners due to interference. They wanted to finish the banners by themselves. We shared our thoughts briefly and thought that it was Master's arrangement that we met. We had the responsibility to finish the task together.
Recently, I felt that I was doing worse at clarifying the facts to strangers. My biggest attachments were shyness and fear. When a few elderly practitioners saw this, they went out with me to help me. They would stop people on the street and leave it to me to clarify the facts. Within a short time, we were able to persuade more than 20 people to quit the Chinese Communist Party. We also gave them videos of the Shen Yun Performing Arts shows. We ran into a person who had never joined any Communist organizations. He raised both hands and shouted several times, “Falun Dafa is great!” Even as he walked away, he kept waving at us.
In the process of validating the Fa and clarifying the facts, we can feel that our cooperation is very powerful. Just like “Master's Comment on a Student's Article” on February 16, 2003, said,
“Each person's cultivation path is different, the way in which each validates the Fa is different, their social statuses are different, their occupations are different, and their surroundings are different, but they can all cultivate nevertheless. This is the path Dafa presents to its cultivators. Dafa disciples are one body, and I affirm everything they have been doing during Fa-rectification-they are all doing what Dafa disciples should do. Different approaches are in fact the all-encompassing way in which roles are dynamically distributed in the operations of the Fa, and the Fa-power is a reflection of the one body.”
Improve Through Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts as a Group
In August we formed a group to send forth righteous thoughts together. We have been meeting twice a week, two hours per time. We have all gained a lot through this process. Practitioner A said we are now more of a group. Practitioner B said that the group helped him pass xinxing tests and enabled him to make breakthroughs in saving sentient beings. Practitioner C, an elderly practitioner, said that when he first sent forth righteous thoughts with the group, he felt as though sand was rubbing against his eyes, and it hurt a lot. But the next day, he felt his eyes were very bright, and the eye problems he had in the past seemed to have been healed. Practitioner D, who is also an elderly practitioner, said that before she had not been able to reach tranquility when sending righteous thoughts. Now, she can send righteous thoughts for an hour without losing her concentration. She felt that her energy field was very strong.
Practitioner E said since we began sending forth righteous thoughts as a group, the effect of our fact-clarification efforts has also improved. Before, at her job, she could clarify the facts to at most four to five people a day. Now she can sometimes reach seven to eight people. Practitioner F used to dislike working with others. Since he began sending forth righteous thoughts with the group, his mentality changed entirely. Now, when the time for group sending forth righteous thoughts comes to an end, he doesn't want to stop. For me, I also feel that the effect of sending righteous thoughts as a group is great. Our energy field is very strong, and it is easy to calm my mind. My thoughts are also more clear. Before, I didn't have a good understanding about sending forth righteous thoughts, so I didn't take it seriously. Most of the time I was going through the motions. Now, after reading some articles by practitioners whose celestial eyes are open, and after sending righteous thoughts with fellow practitioners, I feel that I can enlighten to more Fa principles during Fa study. I realized the importance of sending forth righteous thoughts. This is our responsibility and is a need during the Fa-rectification. We must do it well. Now, whenever I have free time, I send forth righteous thoughts.
In addition, we also do the exercises together as a group once a week. I feel that the energy field is very strong, and there is a sense of sacredness and solemnity. The process of organizing group Fa study and exercises is also a process of cultivation. “The cultivation is up to you, gong is up to the master.” (Zhuan Falun)
Even today, I know I have many human attachments that I haven't eliminated, including the attachment to profit, competitiveness, zealotry, vanity, and the lack of cultivation of speech. In the face of conflicts, I often cannot maintain my xinxing. In addition, I also have a strong attachment to leisure, and cannot always participate in the morning exercises. Sometimes I am unable to understand Fa principles well, and fall into the trap of self-importance and am unable to measure up to Master's requirements. I think that, to save us, Master will continue to give us wisdom from Dafa, and to save us from the old principles of formation-stasis-degeneration-destruction. With Master and the Fa here, we will continue to do better on our path. As Master said, the future of Dafa disciples is bright.
