New and Veteran Practitioners Cultivate Diligently as a Team

(Minghui.org) Master said:

“Veteran disciples should also pay attention to this matter. As more people study the Fa, you should pay more attention to guiding new students to actually practice cultivation. Meanwhile, you yourselves should not slack. If circumstances permit, you can increase the time spent studying the Fa and doing the exercises. Maintaining Dafa’s tradition, upholding Dafa’s cultivation principles, and persevering in true cultivation are long-term tests for every Dafa disciple.” (“Abandon Human Attachments and Continue True Cultivation” from Essentials for Further Advancement)

Many of our new practitioners started cultivating in Dafa after they received truth-clarification materials during the past few years. More than half of some Fa-study groups are new practitioners. So, how can experienced practitioners help new ones to cultivate diligently? I would like to share my relevant experiences as a veteran practitioner who began practicing Falun Dafa in 1994.

Studying the Fa Deeply and Achieving Improvement

Master said:

“In order for Dafa disciples to walk their paths well and do the three things well, they must study the Fa well and take Fa-study seriously.” (“To the Australia Fa Conference” from The Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol. III)

There were six new practitioners in the Fa-study group I attended. They began to practice Falun Dafa after 2007. They met with all kinds of cultivation problems that were connected with the cultivation states of veteran practitioners. Some new practitioners looked outside whenever problems occurred, and some were busy with Dafa projects and did not focus on cultivating xinxing. Thus, these practitioners' cultivation deviated from the Fa’s requirements.

Some new practitioners did not attend group study regularly, and some were always late. Some drank water or went to the bathroom, or did not sit politely and had to move their legs around to get comfortable. Others were so bothered by this that they could not pay attention to studying the Fa. I told them about the following passage from Master:

“Back then school students put value in meditation, they emphasized good posture in sitting, and it was considered important to control the breathing and direct qi when they picked up their brush-pens. People in every line of work made a practice of clearing the mind and adjusting the breathing, and the whole society went by that.” Zhuan Falun

I reminded them that studying the Fa was holy and equal to listening to Master’s Fa-lectures in person. We had to be very serious because Master and all the Gods are watching.

I suggested that everyone sit down with both legs crossed while studying the Fa. New practitioners could cross one leg or sit a bit casually, but shouldn’t bother others. And they should use the bathroom ahead of time and not leave during the reading. Bad behavior no longer occurred after everyone adjusted their thinking about Fa study.

Our Fa-study team began hand-copying and reciting the Fa. When Master’s new Lunyu was published, all of us, a dozen practitioners, memorized it. Some also memorized Hong Yin, Essentials for Further Advancement, and other articles by Master.

We started to use the Fa consistently to make decisions, and our realms elevated.

Cooperating Well to Expose the Persecution

In terms of clarifying the truth to save people, we supported one another’s efforts and helped each other to meet Master’s requirements. There were around nine Fa-study groups nearby. Both new and veteran practitioners from our Fa-study group supplied the other groups with Dafa materials.

Three to five practitioners formed a team to distribute Dafa materials in some residential areas. For safety, one practitioner checked the area and sent righteous thoughts toward it before we started to work. Every team member then gathered at a set time to hand out hundreds of brochures or DVDs, door to door. Each trip went smoothly because of plentiful righteous thoughts.

Two new practitioners went to a residential area to hand out materials nearly every day. They said they had formed a good energy flow, so they had to go out daily.

Our Fa-study team was also good at clarifying the truth face-to-face. New practitioners consulted veteran practitioners, and the veteran practitioners showed the new practitioners how to speak to strangers about Dafa. They talked to taxi-drivers if they were taking a taxi; they talked to salespeople if they were shopping. If they were in the park, they talked to the elderly.

Most people accepted our truth clarification materials and agreed to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). We all focused on clarifying the truth to our friends, relatives and colleagues.

A veteran practitioner attended his former military colleagues’ reunion in a remote northern city, bringing two new practitioners with him. They handed out three large boxes of truth-clarification materials to the attendees and helped over 20 people to quit the CCP. The whole effort went smoothly.

Improving Together Through Doing the Three Things Well

Shaw (an alias), in our Fa-study group, first learned about Dafa in 1994, but stopped practicing when the persecution started. He resumed his practice in 2012 and really enjoyed working on Dafa projects. However, he had some xinxing issues. He lived with a woman who was separated from her husband, but she had not yet divorced.

I told the practitioner that what he was doing was against Dafa’s requirements. I printed out some articles published on the Minghui website about severing lust and desire and gave them to him to read. However, he did not correct his behavior and his body smelled bad.

Other practitioners did not like Shaw and suggested that he should not come to our Fa-study for safety reasons. They recommended that he stay home to study the Fa by himself. However, I knew that group Fa-study is the best environment for improvement and that losing such an environment would make it harder for him to correct his mistakes.

Master told us:

“So when you look at it from history, or from higher dimensions, a person’s desires and lust, these things, they play a huge role in determining whether someone can cultivate. That’s why we should really take these things lightly.” (Zhuan Falun)

I recited Master’s words to Shaw and said: "I think that the old forces look down the most on practitioners who have a lot of lust. In the past, no master in either school would take such disciples. Our Master is so compassionate that He keeps giving you opportunities to correct yourself and hopes you will do so soon."

Shaw felt embarrassed and complained to a practitioner in another Fa-study group. That practitioner told Shaw that it was good of me to try to help him improve his xinxing and that he should value his predestined relationships with other practitioners.

Shaw finally stopped living with the married woman and sent righteous thoughts to remove lust whenever he sensed it. Soon afterwards, his body odor disappeared, and his face was glowing and healthy.

Our team did well with clarifying the truth, so the attachments of zealotry and showing off appeared. With elation, we talked about how many copies of materials we handed out, how many people we had helped to quit the CCP, and so on. Studying the Fa helped us to see that this attachment had arisen. And we saw that it would be dangerous for us to continue on like that.

Master said:

“In the process of cultivating in other settings, too, you have to be careful that you don’t get too engrossed. Demons will probably manipulate that kind of attachment.” (Zhuan Falun)

Sharing cultivation experiences made us realize that what we achieved was all arranged by Master and only possible through Dafa’s mighty power. Master’s Fashen was doing everything. We just carried out our part of the mission.

Some negative examples of not improving xinxing occurred in another Fa-study group. A practitioner there did not remove his attachments to zealotry and showing off. Other practitioners pointed this out to him, but he did not pay enough attention. The evil snuck in. He and two other practitioners who clarified the truth in public were reported to police. They were arrested, and their homes were ransacked. One of them wrote a {{guarantee statement},} and he was not able to resume his cultivation afterwards.

Looking within made us realize that righteous thoughts and compassion, which is needed to clarify the truth to save people, comes from solid cultivation. As long as human notions exist, we will struggle to have righteous thoughts and compassion, and our ability to save people will be limited.

Master said:

“If you are able to succeed in improving yourself this way, what you do then, with a pure heart, will be the best and most sacred.” (“Further Understanding” from Essentials for Further Advancement)