Persisting in Group Fa Study Despite the Pandemic

(Minghui.org) I started to practice Falun Dafa in 1996. I would like to tell you about my experiences of resuming meeting with other practitioners to study the Fa teachings during the COVID pandemic in 2021.

Tong came to visit me in late February. In the past, he was persecuted and imprisoned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). We discussed our cultivation experiences, and he said he read the Fa and did the exercises every day. He sincerely pointed out some of my shortcomings. I was shocked and realized I must be more diligent and improve my xinxing (character). I got up at 3:30 a.m. the next day to practice the five sets of exercises. I also decided to contact the other practitioners and resume group Fa-study in my home so that we could improve as one body.

Local practitioners met in my home before the persecution began in 1999, and we read the Fa three times a week. In those first seven or eight years after the persecution began, I was illegally detained and had to stay away from home to avoid being persecuted. After I was released from prison, we moved from our home to an apartment building. In 2014, the situation became relatively stable, and practitioners resumed meeting in our apartment. In 2016, we moved back to the old house. Initially, only four of us met to study the Fa. More practitioners joined us later. In 2019, we were preparing to renovate the house, so we stopped meeting. The pandemic soon broke out and, due to the restrictions, we could only study the Fa by ourselves.

My son got married in the second half of 2021. I originally planned to wait until after the wedding to resume group Fa study, but I felt what Tong pointed out was a hint from Master Li that we should no longer wait. I immediately contacted the other practitioners, and we resumed our weekly group. During our first meeting, we agreed to continue to study the Fa together regardless of any interference. We would all examine ourselves to identify and eliminate our attachments and strive to improve as a group.

There are many opportunities for improvement when we read the Fa together. For example, my son installed a camera facing the outside when we renovated the house. After being reminded by fellow practitioners, I turned the camera off before the other practitioners came. But I sometimes forgot and finally decided to just leave it unplugged. I’d practiced Falun Dafa for so many years and had no personal belongings that I was afraid of losing. Studying the Fa is most sacred, and fellow practitioners’ safety is important. I must be responsible to fellow practitioners, so I felt that protecting them was part of my cultivation.

Practitioners paid attention to mobile phone security and did not bring their phones to my home. It would have been convenient for one practitioner to come to my home directly from work, but he always went to his house first, left his phone there, and then came to the group. However, I did not pay enough attention to security and used various excuses to cover up my attachments. This young practitioner often reminded us of safety issues. At first, I put my phone in the room adjacent to where we studied the Fa, but I knew we could still be heard. Another practitioner reminded me that it was too close, so I put the phone in a room at the other end of the house. When I examined myself, I realized I was only concerned about safety on the surface. I was moving my phone for show instead of being truly concerned about safety. “Doing it” and “doing it well” may seem similar, but to practitioners, there is a world of difference. This incident also exposed my attachments to being afraid of trouble, laziness, and comfort. I must resolutely get rid of these attachments, and my behavior must meet Dafa’s requirements.

In our Fa-study group, every practitioner is solemn and respectful. When we read the Fa, we all sit upright and do not move around. We hold the sacred Falun Dafa books with both hands and carefully pronounce each word. If someone misreads something, the others correct him, and he reads it again. We then discuss our cultivation experiences after we read the Fa. If someone sees an issue, he or she calmly and kindly points it out. No one argues or tries to defend themselves. We all listen to suggestions with open and humble minds.

When the pandemic worsened in Beijing, communities began to close down again. But we were not affected. Practitioners broke through the interference and continued to attend group Fa study.

March 2021: Resuming Fa Study in a Mountainous Region

In early March 2021, I remembered a practitioner from a mountainous region who was persecuted in prison along with me. Tong and I decided to visit that region the following week. That night, the two of us met with six practitioners there, and we all discussed our experiences in studying the Fa and doing the exercises. Tong talked about his recent cultivation experiences, and those practitioners said they were greatly encouraged.

They used to study the Fa as a group twice a week, and they became resolved to resume. Just like that, the group Fa study that had been paused for a year and a half was once again held. Through contact with these practitioners, I looked inside and found many of my shortcomings that I was not aware of before. I felt every region had its own difficulties and how to eliminate this interference was what Dafa practitioners should think about. As long as we follow Master’s requirements, we can do it well.

After these experiences, I realized the biggest obstacle that prevents us from forming one body isn’t being isolated due to the pandemic; it’s our inability to let go of human attachments and concepts, which have been formed in our bones for thousands of years. These include attachments to oneself, jealousy, the competitive mentality, not wanting to cooperate with others, not liking something or someone, and so on. We must place the Fa first and be responsible for our actions. Master said, “The environment is created by you, yourselves, and it, too, is essential for your improvement.” (“Environment,” Essentials for Further Advancement) The Fa-study group is a good environment for us to help each other improve together so we can save people. Dafa disciples in the Fa-rectification period have the responsibility of creating a good environment.

March 2021: Forming a Fa-Study Group in the City

I went to another district on business in late March. An elderly practitioner who lived there took me to two practitioners who were sisters. They then took me to the home of a practitioner couple. I felt their cultivation states were very solid, and I suggested they form a Fa-study group. They happily agreed. When the first meeting was held, the elderly practitioner didn’t show up. But we were not concerned, and we read the first lecture of Zhuan Falun. At first, I thought this practitioner had fear, but it turned out he didn’t remember the time due to interference.

The next time we met, the room upstairs was being renovated, and it was very noisy. We felt this was interference trying to prevent us from reading. The noise persisted for over an hour, the entire time we read the Fa. As soon as we began reading, the noise intensified, and we couldn’t hear each other clearly. But no one complained, and we just calmly continued reading. When it became even louder, we decided to read aloud together instead of individually. As soon as we finished reading, the noise stopped. After this experience, everyone felt confident that we could eliminate any interference.

Another couple soon joined us. The wife came first. She got to know Falun Dafa when she was in prison in 2000. The police wanted her to persuade practitioners to give up the practice, but she was inspired by the goodness of Dafa and resumed practicing herself. She wrote a message to wish Master Li a happy birthday, and it was published on the Minghui website on World Falun Dafa Day (May 13). The message inspired many people. Her husband also joined us later on.

When Minghui called for submissions for World Falun Dafa Day, I encouraged everyone to write something. The next week, I arrived early to help them. The wife hadn’t started, so I helped her first. She talked about her family’s situation. The couple had been fired from the factory because they appealed for justice for Dafa. Despite the challenges, they refused to stop practicing and, afterwards, everything went very smoothly. The husband hadn’t finished writing, and I also helped him. The two sisters wrote articles as well.

When I went home and began organizing the couple’s articles, I felt it would be better to write from another angle. The husband previously told me about his encounter with Master Li at the Oriental Health Expo in 1993. After I revised what they wrote, I went to their home and read the papers to them to make sure I didn’t misunderstand anything. He thought it was good. Unexpectedly, on the first day the May 13 celebration papers were published on Minghui, the top article happened to be this paper. I was so happy. I knew it was Master’s encouragement for our newly formed Fa-study group. I later brought them the Minghui Weekly and the Minghui radio podcast containing his article. We listened to it together and were all inspired.

April 2021: Resuming Fa Study in the Countryside

Another practitioner and I went to a mountainous village in mid-April. Years ago, we went there every week to study the Fa with practitioners who lived there, as well as those who came from surrounding villages. We all quickly improved. We also participated twice a year when the Minghui website called for cultivation experience papers and held local Falun Dafa conferences. Those practitioners expressed their gratitude to Master, their firm belief in Dafa, and their compassion for people in the most heartfelt terms. What they said was deeply touching. However, the practitioner who provided the place for us to meet was persecuted to death, and the meetings were not held for two years.

When we went there recently, we were all happy to see one another. We discussed resuming the group Fa study and decided to meet three days a week. However, some practitioners encountered various difficulties and couldn’t make it. Sometimes, only one or two came. A practitioner from a nearby village who was taking care of his grandson in the city heard about the group and told everyone, “We should persist and meet to read the Fa. I will come every Saturday.” When he said that, the practitioners said they were determined to continue meeting.

We have all felt that the opportunity to study the Fa together, discuss our cultivation experiences, and improve together is precious and should really be cherished.

Master introduced Falun Dafa to the world 31 years ago. The upcoming new era of mankind will be beautiful. I feel I have not cultivated well, and I feel ashamed. I hope that I can cherish the time I have, cultivate diligently with fellow practitioners, and help Master save more sentient beings. Thank you, Master!