Group Study Helped Me to Truly Cultivate

(Minghui.org) Master said:

“Group Fa-study is an environment I created for you and a form that I've left for you. I think you should still participate. That's because it has stood the test of experience, and cultivating that way allows our students to improve the fastest. When you cultivate on your own, you miss out on factors that help you improve. And haven't you, as Dafa disciples, said that you would do as your Master says? Haven't you said that you should walk straight on the path that a Dafa disciple should take?” (“Teaching the Fa at the Meeting with Asia-Pacific Students,” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. VI)

I recently went through a fundamental change in my cultivation state after studying the Fa with a fellow practitioner. I want to share how important it is to create an environment to study the Fa with fellow practitioners.

It’s Difficult to Improve by Cultivating Alone

Someone in our village gave me a copy of Zhuan Falun before the 1999 Chinese New Year. After the New Year, I started to study the teachings and did the exercises. Several practitioners in our village did the exercises together in the evenings, but we never studied the Fa together, since we did not realize the importance of Fa study.

Falun Dafa practitioners appealed peacefully to the central government on April 25, 1999, requesting the release of detained practitioners in Tianjin. After that, the situation intensified. We could no longer do the exercises together, so I practiced by myself at home.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched its persecution of Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) on July 20, 1999. Since I did not study the Fa well and could not communicate with other practitioners, I was confused and stopped practicing. In 2000, after careful consideration, I decided to return to the practice.

I was arrested for distributing fliers that clarified the truth about Falun Dafa in 2000 and held the county detention center for more than three months. I signed their guarantee statement against my will so that I would be released. After I was released, I stopped practicing for over a year.

In 2003, I was illegally detained for delivering copies of the Minghui Weekly to fellow practitioners. I was released early because I was able to maintain righteous thoughts and actions.

Through continuous Fa study, I realized that my fundamental attachment was that I thought Dafa was in line with my own understanding of science and agreed with my own code of conduct. But in the face of the brutal persecution, I was afraid to lose what I had. So I practiced Dafa alone at home and could not do the three things that we are expected to do well.

For many years, I did very little when it came to clarifying the truth about Falun Dafa. Although I studied the Fa, I did not improve. I felt ashamed and was depressed after reading fellow practitioners’ articles about diligently advancing. I could not calm down to study the Fa and do the exercises every day. My palm would not stay up when I sent forth righteous thoughts. The attachment to seeking comfort was quite strong. I was confused.

Group Study Is Beneficial

We had several local practitioners but no group Fa study. We had several sharings, but the results were not good. One fellow practitioner was in the same situation I was. We both were anxious to keep up with the progress of the Fa-rectification.

I had two weeks of vacation in April that year. So I agreed to study the Fa with this practitioner every day. We took turns reading. After finishing one lecture, we sent forth righteous thoughts. Then we started another lecture until it was time to send forth righteous thoughts at noon. In the afternoon, I worked on memorizing Zhuan Falun, which I had stopped doing last year.

Through our group Fa study, I improved a lot. I realized I could improve only by following Master’s requirements. I had wanted to study the Fa more, but I lacked perseverance. When we studied the Fa together, we did not chat: We sat up straight and read the Fa with our full attention. Our understanding of the Fa and cultivation improved a lot. We gained a clearer understanding of cultivating in the Fa-rectification period.

While reading The Great Way of Spiritual Perfection, the other practitioner pointed out how I could correct my exercise movements. I thought I had been doing the exercises correctly. Now, I like to do the exercises and do not feel that doing them is a task—it has become part of my daily routine. In the past, I often skipped the exercises if I got up late or if I was tired. Now, I find time to do them, which did not seem possible before.

When we sent forth righteousness thoughts together, the other practitioner pointed out that my hands in the lotus position were falling inward. In the past, I knew that I had stray thoughts or was muddle-headed when I sent forth righteous thoughts. I didn’t realize it was that serious. We studied “Editorial: The Essentials to Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts and the Schedule for Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts at Set Times Around the World (Update 2)” on the Minghui website. The effect of my sending forth righteous thoughts became better and better.

After we did well with Fa study, we naturally realized our responsibility as disciples in the Fa-rectification period. Our human notions could no longer interfere with righteous action. Nothing could stop us from walking on the cultivation path. It was not difficult to clarify the truth about Falun Dafa, and it became very natural to tell others the truth.

After studying the Fa together for over 10 days, the other practitioner and I agreed to study the Fa together once a week and listen to Master’s recorded lectures in the evenings. We’ve read together twice since then. I think that the benefits of group study are really not something I could have gained by studying the Fa at home alone.

I started to practice in 1999, and only now do I feel I’ve entered the door of true Dafa cultivation. Twenty years passed in a flash, and I regret my poor enlightenment. How much time has been wasted? If it were not for Master’s mercy and delaying the end of Fa-rectification, I would have missed the opportunity. I know that some practitioners have fallen short of Master’s requirements and the expectations of sentient beings due to attachments. Fellow practitioners, let us be diligent!