October 28, 2003
(Clearwisdom.Net) Several elderly Falun Gong practitioners in my area studied the Fa very slowly and did not have a good family environment. They rarely studied the Fa because they feared being persecuted. As a result, they were unable to do the three things well as required of Dafa disciples during this period of Fa-rectification. Teacher Li points out in his article, "Drive Out Interference":
"The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts."
I realized that I should help them. Towards the end of 2001, I suggested that they come to my home so we could study the Fa together, as this was the cultivation path left by Teacher Li. Although every practitioner was willing to attend the Fa study, in their minds, they still had a deep fear of getting into trouble. At the beginning, they repeatedly walked around the building where I live and could not summon the courage to come inside. It was not until they realized that no one was watching them that they would hastily enter my home.
Facing this situation, I realized that in order for me to create a righteous and stable environment for my fellow practitioners, I had to do well in studying the Fa and sending forth righteous thoughts, and adjust my own state of mind first. As we were able to sincerely encourage each other and look at things from the perspective of Dafa, everyone -- over 10 practitioners -- was able to calm down and gradually get rid of their worries in a short period of time.
We spent half a day to study the Fa, usually reading 3 or 4 chapters per day, and used the other half of the day to make various types of truth-clarifying literature. Later on, many practitioners who had jobs in our area also set up Fa-study groups. As our group study continued, we improved very quickly as a whole and our field became more and more righteous. Even a few family members who had monitored us because they feared being persecuted started to understand and support us. Initially many of us were scared to distribute truth-clarifying materials to the public. Although some of us wanted to do it, we were only willing to take a few flyers or VCDs. Gradually everyone became very active in speaking out the truth to people. Sometimes a few hundred truth-clarifying materials would not be enough to be distributed among practitioners. No matter what the circumstances were, whenever we met people, we were able to tell them that Falun Dafa is good.
We first clarified the truth to people around our homes. We spoke out the truth to our neighbors and delivered VCD's and flyers to every family. We also kept in mind to cultivate ourselves and search within when problems occurred. Through our conduct, our neighbors realized that Dafa is good and Dafa practitioners are good people. We then went to clarify the truth to residences in other districts, as well as the government offices and schools. We worked in small groups and delivered materials to all of those places one by one and tried our best not to miss even one place. In addition to this, we also posted banners and flyers in those places where our fellow practitioners were locked up.
Sometimes when we heard news of practitioners in another area had suffered persecution or on "sensitive days" that there was a large scale search and arrest of practitioners, some practitioners suggested that we temporarily stop our group study. We did not stop having our group study, because we realized that everything depends on our Teacher and we should deny all arrangements made by the old forces of the universe.
On several occasions, non-practitioners protected us. One time a person asked my neighbors, "Those people were passing in and out of this apartment. Is there a Falun Gong gathering here?" My neighbors did not tell this person about us and provided cover for us. Another time when some people suddenly dragged a practitioner who was spreading truth-clarifying materials to the side and took all the flyers from his pocket, a policeman who had already learned the truth said to the practitioner, "Pack your flyers up and leave quickly."
A few times, due to the huge pressure from Jiang's regime, some local authorities attempted to send practitioners to brainwashing sessions. We sent forth our righteous thoughts and decided not to cooperate with them. As a result, the police who came to take us away failed. After the police left, we recalled our Master's teaching at "Teaching the Fa at the Washington D.C. Fa Conference 2002",
"Wherever there's a problem, that is where you need to clarify the truth and save people. Don't take a detour when you run into difficulties."
So we took various materials to a few relevant government officials again and further clarified the truth to them. They told us, "We were forced to do it in this way. We'll not harass you all again. You may continue to practice Falun Gong." The most surprising is the police informing me a few times by phone that some people reported there was often a Falun Gong gathering in my home. We were not affected by those phone calls and kept sending forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil elements in other dimensions, so that all attempts of damaging our group study failed.
During the past two years, we have continued our Fa study group and have much improved together as a whole body. We have all stepped out to clarify the truth to people and none of us have been left behind. When we study the Fa together, we are able to fully concentrate and we feel that it is very wonderful and sacred. Sometimes we even study the Fa for an entire night. The more time we spend on studying the Fa, the more we are able to move forward with righteous thoughts and righteous actions. The more time we spend studying the Fa, the more diligent we can be in our cultivation path.
Category: Improving Oneself