(Minghui.org) I was involved in some coordination efforts of the entire region in recent months and had the opportunity to visit a few neighboring counties. After spending a few days with the Falun Dafa practitioners in these counties, I was extremely impressed and inspired and decided to do better in my own cultivation.
By sharing what I learned and experienced, I hope to inspire others, particularly practitioners in our area. I have long been worried about our cultivation state as one body and hoped to find a way for us to improve as a group. We are desperately in need of an overall change. However, I understand that I should start with myself, and set a good example by cultivating solidly, so I could achieve that.
I visited a coordinator in one of the counties and joined their Fa study group. They met at 2 p.m. and recited the Fa until dinnertime. They all went home to have dinner and returned in the evening to study the Fa together. The practitioners usually went out in the morning to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa and get involved in other Dafa projects.
I was truly impressed with how well these practitioners utilized their time to study the Fa. Even those in their 40s and 50s, the busiest ages in life, in my opinion, are able to keep up with their Fa study. From their calm manner, I could tell that they have placed Fa study as a top priority. They must have let go of their attachments to self-interest to have achieved this.
This reminded me of Wei (alias), a practitioner in my area. He owns a small business, has a few employees, and used to be busy all the time. In his own words, “I have jobs lined up waiting.” Han saw how Wei’s work kept him from studying the Fa and offered to study the Fa with him once a week.
Although Han had to travel a long distance to meet Wei, Han went there every week to study the Fa without complaining. Sometimes, he had to wait until after 9 p.m. before Wei finished work. Han didn’t give up and showed up week after week. Wei felt bad and tried harder to be home before 8 p.m. on their Fa study days.
Han kept their weekly meeting going for a year to help Wei stay on track with Fa study. With consistent Fa study, Wei realized that he should cherish the other practitioner’s efforts and Master Li’s (Dafa’s founder) arrangement. Wei started a small Fa study group at his home where several practitioners met and studied the Fa together every night. Given the diligent Fa study, his xinxing improved quickly. He started to wrap up the day’s work early, sometimes even before sunset, because he didn’t want to cut into his time for Fa study.
One of Wei’s clients asked him to work overtime to get something done and offered to pay extra. Wei told the client, “There’s always money to be made. You’re not in a big rush anyway. How about we’ll take care of it first thing in the morning so you don’t have to pay extra?” The client agreed. Wei told us that if it cuts into his Fa study time, he wouldn’t take on extra work for any amount of money. We were truly happy to see his improvement.
Wei’s still had jobs lined up, but his mindset was different. He was able to manage his time better, balancing it between work and cultivation. He was also less stressed. Sadly, when the group Fa study stopped meeting at his home after a few years, he became increasingly busy again and started to slack off in his cultivation.
Fa study is the foundation of our cultivation. The practitioners I met in the first county placed Fa study above all else and were able to balance family, work and cultivation well. They get more done and still have flexibility with their time. Their mindset determined their cultivation environment.
The coordinator told me about other Fa study groups in the area where the practitioners were just as diligent, if not more so. They use their time wisely and study the Fa well. Everybody seems to have a sense of urgency and thus tries their best to do the three things well and not waste time.
I joined a group Fa study in another county. The practitioners there usually meet around 7:30 p.m., varying slightly between seasons, to study the Fa, do the exercises, and send forth righteous thoughts together until 11:10 p.m. The coordinator there told me that he has kept this schedule since he started practicing Falun Dafa over 20 years ago and has never skipped a day. When the persecution first started and was especially intense, he locked the door, covered the windows, and studied the Fa.
The practitioners there impressed me in many ways. First of all, nobody was late for Fa study—everybody was there early.
I visited there this past summer and stayed with a local practitioner. My host told me that Fa study started at 8 p.m. Since she lived so close to where the group met, I thought I had enough time so I started doing the one-hour version of the second exercise. However, when I had about five minutes to go, I heard a knock on the door to my room, and my host said, “Let’s go.” I didn’t respond, assuming that she could hear the exercise music.
Two minutes later, she knocked again, repeating her words, “Let’s go!”
I thought we had enough time and replied, “Two more minutes,” and finished the exercise. When I went out, I found her already sitting on the pedicab waiting for me outside. Neither of us said anything on the way there.
When we arrived at Fa study, it wasn’t eight o’clock, but the other practitioners were already there—we were the last ones. I realized then why my host knocked on my door twice—she wanted to get there early.
I regretted it immediately when I saw other practitioners waiting to start. Why did I have to insist on finishing the exercise? Why couldn’t I just finish when my host knocked on the door? I made my host and the practitioners wait for me.
Nobody said anything unrelated to the Fa during more than three hours of studying the Fa, sending forth righteous thought, and doing the exercises. Everyone was so well disciplined as if they were in the military, but it was all voluntary.
We started Fa study as soon as we got there. After reading for almost an hour, someone played the music for sending righteous thoughts at 8:55 p.m. and we sent righteous thoughts for 15 minutes. We resumed Fa study and sent righteous thoughts again at 9:55 p.m. Then, we did the standing exercises for one hour, starting at 10:10 p.m.
Those who sat on the bed during Fa study quickly got off. I was stunned at how fast and effortlessly the practitioners transitioned from sitting to standing—they unfolded their legs and without pausing pushed themselves off the bed in one continuous motion. There was no exchange of words. Some practitioners went out to the yard and some stayed in the house to do the exercises. When the exercises ended at 11:10 p.m., the practitioners walked out of the yard and left.
Nobody talked and everyone went through the routine in an orderly manner. Even at the end of the night, nobody talked much, and everybody just left. The practitioners meet at different times to share so it doesn’t cut into their group Fa study time.
Another thing that struck me was how the group as a whole endured physical discomfort without complaining. I was there during the intense heatwave, and there were a few days when one would sweat profusely even without doing anything. The temperature was consistently over 40º C. The coordinator doesn’t have air conditioning in his home and they didn’t even use a fan. It was so hot, but many still chose to do the exercises outside in the yard. A practitioner said the sweat got into his eyes and stung badly, but the group finished the exercises without complaining.
I joined the group in doing the exercises in the yard. This was in the countryside and many people keep animals which attracted a lot of mosquitoes. During the second exercise, I felt a swarm of mosquitoes attacking me and sucking on my blood. The discomfort was unbearable.
At home, I do the exercises in an air-conditioned room with hardly any mosquitoes. It was the first time I encountered something like this, and I felt truly grateful for the experience. I only had to do it one time, but the practitioners do this day after day. They do the standing exercises together as a group, then each does the sitting meditation and the one-hour version of the second exercise on their own. Everyone does three hours of exercise every day.
I met another coordinator in the same area, who was in her 60s. She was very energetic and seemed much younger than her age. She climbs up 28-floor buildings to distribute truth-clarification fliers. She goes all the way to the top, then walks down leaving fliers for residents on each floor. She can cover two of these high-rise buildings, or eleven 5-floor buildings in one go.
I’ve tried it before, but after climbing five or six five-floor buildings, I was tired and could barely keep going. She told me that when she distributes fliers, she doesn’t harbor any negative thoughts and doesn’t deviate from her plan. It doesn’t matter how many buildings she plans to cover, she sticks to it and finishes all of them.
Another practitioner in this area can’t help with other Dafa projects due to personal reasons, but he has created his own path of clarifying the truth. He consistently goes to the market to spread the truth and goodness of Dafa. He sets up a stall and displays all types of truth-clarification materials, and welcomes the market-goers to pick whichever one they’d like to take home and read.
The practitioners in this area cultivate really well as a whole. A practitioner asked me to teach him a skill so we set a date for him to come over after work. When he came, I was working with another practitioner so I asked him to wait a little bit.
If I were him, I’d use this time to study the Fa because he would have to miss the first part of his Fa study that evening since our meeting was delayed. But, he surprised me by going into the yard and cleaning and taking out the animal manure. When the coordinator told him that he didn’t have to do that, he responded, “No worries! I’m not doing anything right now anyway.” This is the realm this practitioner is in – always thinking of others first.
I only thought about doing my own Fa study and not losing my time. But this practitioner didn’t think of himself, instead, he used the time to help the coordinator with whatever he could while waiting. Our state of cultivation is reflected in each thought and action.
The coordinator told me that this practitioner is very diligent. Despite having a busy work schedule, he never lets it cut into his Fa study time. He lives in a different village, works all day, travels a long distance for Fa study, and still makes time to distribute truth-clarification fliers late at night. He sleeps very little and has kept such a schedule for many years. This practitioner doesn’t talk much. He only spoke once when we shared experiences, but what he said left a big impression on me. He said he considers each tribulation as a stepping stone in his cultivation.
The practitioners in this area have strong righteous thoughts and righteous actions. The coordinator often reminds everybody to do things in an “upright and dignified” manner, just as Master has taught us.
The coordinator of another county is very strict with himself and has a tight schedule. Nobody else in this area has the technical background so he had to learn and take care of all technical aspects of the area’s truth-clarification projects, on top of his responsibility as a coordinator. He is in charge of the installation of satellite dishes, printer maintenance, purchasing paper, and many other things.
This coordinator is a chef at a busy restaurant. He has a couple of hours for a lunch break in the afternoon and doesn’t get off work until 9 p.m. He told me he usually stays up until 1 or 2 a.m. to repair printers and sometimes he is even up all night. He learned everything on his own by trial and error, as he didn’t have a computer nor access to the many printer repair tutorials available on the Minghui website. It took him a long time to figure things out.
A practitioner from another county usually helps practitioners there set up the computer system. During the pandemic, the practitioner couldn’t travel back and forth due to the lockdown. So I helped him purchase a computer and taught him how to log onto the forums to look up information and ask questions, as well as how to log in to the mailbox and stay connected with other practitioners.
He was eager to learn so I decided to teach him how to install the operating system. I quickly found out that he didn’t even know the basics of computers. To someone like him who has no prior knowledge about computers and very little experience using one, the difficulty he faced was tremendous. He took a day off to work with me and at the end of the day, he said it was a lot for him to process and retain. Still, he was not the slightest discouraged and kept going. He eventually learned how to install the operating system, and how to make truth-clarifying cards.
This practitioner is the coordinator of the entire county and takes care of all technical needs of all the area’s Dafa projects. With all his responsibilities and a busy work schedule, he has never skipped a day in doing the exercises. In his own words, if he didn’t do the exercises that day, he wouldn’t be able to do a day’s work cooking as a chef. Doing the exercises helps him feel energetic throughout the day. He tries his best to study one lecture of the Fa a day. He said his legs would hurt if he reads less than a lecture, which reminds him to not slack off.
What is most admirable about this practitioner is that with so much work and so much going on, he still makes time to distribute truth-clarification materials once a week. He’s been doing it for years and has covered a large region. He said sometimes he’s out all night and doesn’t come home until the next morning. The truth-clarification fliers sometimes glowed in the dark, shimmering like gold. He knew Master was encouraging him.
Other practitioners told me that besides work and Dafa projects, the coordinator is the eldest in his family and shoulders the responsibility of taking care of his elderly parents. He works his parents’ field and tends to many family affairs. What a respectable practitioner. He wears a big smile and is always kind.
Another practitioner told me that she goes out to clarify the truth every morning. She cherishes Dafa resources very much, and before giving out a Dafa amulet, she always checks whether the recipient has received something similar in the past. If the person says yes, she tells them, “It doesn’t matter which one you have, they all have the same power as long as they have on them the phrases ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.’ You don’t need more than one.”
If the person says no, she reminds them, “This is very precious. You have to cherish it. If you don’t and leave it at a random place, you’re better off without it. It is not good for you.”
Some people take it and promise, “I’ll cherish it.” Some will leave it. She said it is to make sure that Dafa's resources are not wasted.
I met many diligent practitioners in these counties. They are busy, but still make time to do all five sets of exercises every day, and study the Fa.
I was deeply touched and inspired after spending time with amazing practitioners from these counties. The practitioners in my area have a long way to go to catch up with them. After coming home, I eagerly shared what I’d seen and learned during my trips. My fellow practitioners and I encouraged and reminded each other to be diligent. We try to do better in our cultivation and hope to bring positive changes to the group. I feel the pressure, sense of urgency, and responsibility.
The majority of practitioners in our neighboring counties are diligent cultivators, with very strong righteous thoughts. They cherish the time and know the importance of saving sentient beings.
Seven Dafa practitioners in the first county I visited were arrested this year. The police went there during Fa study, arrested the entire group, and confiscated truth-clarification materials. During the two days these practitioners were detained, the police tried to deceive and entice them to reveal the source of the materials. None of them fell for the tricks or signed any documents. They all acted in an upright and dignified manner and were soon released. They weren’t scared when the police came knocking on the door, or when being held in police custody.
I hope those who haven’t done their best in cultivation will recognize that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and truly cherish it. We all need to examine our own cultivation state with a clear head and know that time is running out. We can’t make any excuses for ourselves.
Of course, those who are still cultivating diligently are all remarkable. As long as they cultivate in Dafa, they are the hope of sentient beings, but we should really cherish Master’s compassion, be more clear-headed in recognizing our responsibility, and remember our mission. Let’s catch up with diligent practitioners and hold ourselves to the high standards of the Fa.
“Fa-rectification period Dafa practitioners” is the most coveted title in the universe, but is what we do worthy of this title? Do we live up to the Fa standards? We truly have to do the three things well and cultivate ourselves solidly.
We have all sent our holiday greetings to Master this Mid-Autumn Festival and promised to cultivate even more diligently. I hope we keep our promises and truly make Master proud. We should start with ourselves and cherish the honored “Fa-rectification period Dafa practitioners” title Master gave us.