(Minghui.org) Greetings, fellow practitioners.

Today my husband, a fellow practitioner, shared with me an incident that took place where we have group Fa study. He'd brought along a new practitioner, whom we've known for about a year when he first started practicing and studying the Fa with us. Later he moved and joined a local group practice site closer to where he lived.

My husband said that when they arrived, the assistant was not welcoming to the new practitioner, and it was a tense and awkward situation.

This reminded me of when I myself first came to Dafa, one of the key individuals did not want to disclose the location of the Fa study meeting place, and I had to ask other practitioners where it was.

I would like to remind us all that nowhere in the Fa, from what I remember, does Master say that newcomers are not welcome to group Fa study or practice sites. The first impression we give new people is especially important. There is nothing secretive about Falun Dafa; we do everything in an open and dignified manner. If there is sensitive information about projects that needs to be discussed, it can be done in small private groups.

I think it is important to understand that practitioners who come to group study only come for Dafa. There is no need to try to be in control about who comes to Fa study.

I believe this notion of control is a characteristic of the communist party, which believes that people are “sheep” that need to be tightly controlled. If not, they will absolutely not be able to handle all that freedom. This is how all communist regimes and dictatorships function – in the opposite manner from free societies that believe that individuals have rights and freedoms. There is no need to control the market; it can control itself. There is no need to control people; they can control, organize, and think for themselves.

I think if those who are strongly attached to the need to control would let go, they'll discover that the world will not stop spinning. It is actually an attachment to self-importance, to thinking, "If I do not control the situation, it will get out of hand, or people will misbehave and chaos will ensue."

In my understanding, it is not we who bring practitioners to Fa study, but Master. If Master does not want someone to attend, he will not be able to attend, no matter what. But if a new practitioner gets a negative impression, he may want to stop coming because someone made him feel unwanted and uncomfortable, and that can be a detrimental outcome.

This is my personal understanding. Please share if anything is not in line with the Fa.