(Clearwisdom.net)
Grandma Zwoya's great tolerance
Grandma Zwoya is a manager at a company that sells automobile tires, and Ms. Olia is a teacher at a university. Both of them are just like any other Muscovite. Ms. Olia usually gets up late at night. After doing her hair and washing her face, she respectfully studies Zhuan Falun and Teacher's other lectures. She feels that only at that time, when all is quiet and one can be more focused to better understand the Fa, can the Fa manifest itself clearly.
They often protest the persecution of Falun Gong by the CCP in front of the Chinese Embassy. According to Russian law, protests by two or more people require government approval, while a protest by one person does not need official permission. Accordingly, Grandma Zwoya and Ms. Olia usually take turns protesting in front of the Chinese Embassy almost every day, even during the winter.
They both speak Russian, so in order to clarify the truth to Chinese people, around their necks they put a small poster with Chinese characters that clarify the truth. The police that patrol around the Chinese Embassy are very familiar with Falun Gong practitioners and also understand our situation. Sometimes nobody could go to protest in front of the Embassy for several days and the next time the police saw one of us they would ask, "How come I have not I seen you for so long?"
As cultivators we don't want to interfere with the normal state of society. However, in our nearest neighboring country, China, there are evil people persecuting Falun Gong practitioners everyday. Every day they beat, kill, rape and do countless other bad things to Falun Gong practitioners. How can we not feel sorrow? Shouldn't we be concerned about it? At present, there are not very many practitioners in Russia; however, these not-so-ordinary Muscovites represent conscience, moral courage, compassion, and the righteousness of the Russian people. They are the future hope of Russia! Grandma Zwoya and teacher Olia's wish will certainly be realized, and these entirely unreasonable phenomena will certainly be corrected.
Opportunity to obtain the Fa
"Predestined relationship spanning endless lifetimes,
Each connected by the thread of Dafa."
( "The Difficult Path to Godhood" in Hong Yin II)
Then how were these threads connected? How are these predestined relationships tied together? Now I will tell a story of the thread of Dafa.
Switlanna is a tall, graceful Russian lady with a kind appearance. She is a manager at a community cultural center in Moscow. She was first introduced to Dafa in the Russian city of St. Petersburg. She was very impressed by the power of Dafa from the beginning of her cultivation. She has already been practicing Dafa for 10 years now!
We rented a cultural center in St. Petersburg, which had an area of 50 to 60 square meters. It was very clean, tidy and bright. In the front was a small stage. One side had a row of windows and the other side had a row of large mirrors for gymnastic athletes and dancers. Not only did the cultural center provide us adequate space and service, but also a recorder and cushions! Manager Switlanna and the other staff that worked at the center also joined the Fa study and practice. She had some difficulty with the sitting meditation, but half an hour later she looked peaceful and relaxed. She did very well in the state of tranquility.
Ten years have passed, and Falun Gong practitioners have pulled the thread together again: "The Fa saves people with predestined relationships."(Lecture at the First Conference in North America) Isn't this a miracle!
It is a pure land here
Master said that some practitioners in foreign countries did not attend group exercise, using various excuses. As to this, we practitioners outside of China should really learn from practitioners in Mainland China and Taiwan. Even in an environment as harsh as Mainland China, some areas already have begun to resume group study and exercise. It's really amazing!
Some practitioners in Moscow persist in practicing in the park all year around. In winter, ice can reach a depth of over a foot. Some practitioners help set-up exhibition boards explaining Falun Gong; some help to find a place for Dafa materials, such as newspapers and greeting cards; and some practitioners stamp the ice down on the ground to tread out a field for practicing. Then everyone practices together. In a world of pure white ice and snow, the fresh air is beyond comparison with any other indoor practice site.
The energy field was very strong during group Fa-study and practice. Everyone read Zhuan Falun and Teacher's new articles. Sometimes practitioners would take turns reading and then read in chorus, sometimes for hours. After reading and reading, everyone felt warm all over.
When I do the "Way of Strengthening Supernormal Powers" at home, I always have random thoughts. However, after group Fa-study, the effect of exercising at home is especially good. As soon as I sit down I can enter the state of tranquility, and I don't have stray thoughts. Sometimes it was very late when I got home, but I did not feel tired and I was not anxious to go to sleep. In the field of group cultivation, there are so many people reading, sending forth righteous thoughts, and practicing together. Gong is emitted from the body, Fa is developed in the body, and Falun is developed in the body. Think about it, "This Falun Dafa site is shielded with red light, and it is red all over." (Zhuan Falun) How strong is the energy field?
Falun Gong practitioners should actively attend group Fa-study and practice. Furthermore, they should spread the Fa and clarify the truth. In this pure land we can clean out our bad thoughts, language, behaviors and habits. If practitioners stay away from the group cultivation environment, and practice at home alone, bad habits will become natural and not be rectified for a long time.
I had a friend from Mainland China. At the time, he was not a Falun Gong practitioner, but he came to our group Fa-study. He noticed that among our practitioners there were men and women, old and young, and they came from different social strata. Among them were a manager, a teacher, an engineer, a worker, a salesman, a translator, an accountant, a housewife and a retiree. There were people as old as over 70, who had already been retired for many years, and as young as 10. He felt that the environment was very harmonious and the relationships between these people were different. In studying the Fa and practicing, everyone helps each other and nobody is wary of others. He sat there and felt very comfortable and harmonious. He saw for himself that every practitioner took money from their own pockets--this one a hundred rubles, that one a few dozen--in order to collect money for the rent that day. All practitioners did that voluntarily according to their own situations. No assistant required them to do this nor did they get financial support from any other sources. All those lies by the CCP collapsed by themselves.
This is the only pure land in the human world. Cultivating in this pure land, the effect is certainly good. Thought karma, stray thoughts, illness karma, and interference are all purified in the field of this pure land. In this pure land our bodies are purified and our thoughts are upgraded, our xinxing is elevated and our gong potency is increased. Can you find anything in the world that's like this? Where else can you find a pure land in this world?
Falun Gong practitioners should earnestly do the three things well as Teacher has said. Conditions permitting, practitioners should actively attend group Fa-study, practice, spread the Fa, and clarify the truth. These great things cannot be reinforced by cultivating at home. Moscow is very big. Every time we went to a meeting it took two to three hours to get there. In the subway or on the bus we studied the Fa. Sometimes we could read a whole lecture of Teacher's and we did not waste any time.
