(Minghui.org) I used to live in Dalian City of China where a lot of people used to do the Falun Dafa exercises in parks and squares in the morning and evening, before the onset of the persecution. Wherever you went, there were practice sites. The environment here in Japan is different. I always did the Falun Dafa exercises at home when I first moved to Japan.
I started to do the exercises outdoors since last summer. It was all by chance. A fellow practitioner once told me that she did the exercises outdoors in the morning on weekends. So, I said I would practice with her. More and more practitioners joined us as we told others. Gradually, we did the exercises outside every morning.
We put up a Falun Dafa banner when we do the exercises. Sometimes, people pass by would join us to learn.
On the way to the practice site, and on the way home, my mood was particularly good. Sometimes when I got up late and missed the time to do the exercises, I often dreamed about losing my wallet or failing to climb a mountain.
As the weather gets colder, less and less practitioners did the exercises outside. I complained about it to a fellow practitioner, and she told me not to be influenced by others’ attendance, and to just keep doing the exercises. I agreed, and changed my mindset. It would be great if there are fellow practitioners to practice together – if not, I’ll just do them by myself.
When it gets cold, I am often the only one doing the exercises at the site. I noticed that quite some people, including Chinese, stopped to watch me meditate. Unfortunately, the banner was kept by another practitioner. Otherwise, the banner would be great for spreading Dafa information.
I found the banner exuded power as well. The sun rises as we do the sitting meditation. The golden sunlight shines on the golden banner and reflects on me – I could feel the warmth and strong power.
I think it’s my mission to maintain the practice site, especially when there is no other practitioners, but myself.
The Environment Changes
There were crows making noise when I just started doing the exercises outside. Gradually, the crows stopped coming near the practice site. Instead, other birds who sounded pleasant came. At first, I was happy to hear the sound those birds made, but it became a distraction after a while. Once, I said in my heart, “Be quieter.” From then on, less birds came, and it got quieter.
Once when it was raining as I did the exercises, I pleaded in my heart for the rain to go somewhere else or rain some other time. The weather has been good since then. The worst I experienced were just some sprinkles.
Keep a Peaceful Heart
I saw many fellow practitioners from other countries posting photos of themselves meditating in the snow, and I wanted to do the same. I started to look forward to snowy weather so that I could take a picture of myself meditating in the snow. However, due to the attachment of pursuing this joy, the day when it finally snowed, I didn’t wake up and missed the meditation.
I realized that I should keep a peaceful heart and do the best of what I should do.
Although people can freely practice Falun Dafa in public in Japan, it’s hard to form an environment like how it was in China before the persecution, when practice sites were everywhere. As our practice site settled down, I experienced changes in the environment. It has a positive influence when spreading Dafa. If all the practitioners could do the exercises outside with Dafa banners and flags up, the Tokyo city environment would change. More and more people would be able to learn about Falun Dafa, and the whole environment would change, and have a positive influence on Dafa projects.
Category: Improving Oneself
