(Clearwisdom.net)
Before the CCP began its persecution of Falun Gong, many practitioners in China practiced all the five sets of movements together from 4:00 to 6:00 in the morning. Then they went home to have breakfast and went to work or get the kids off to school. They did this every day. After the persecution started, we lost this practice environment, and could practice only at home.
Since coming to Canada, I can practice in any park. Except for rainy or snowy days, I have been going to a certain park every day since July 2005 to practice the exercises after sending righteous thoughts at 6:00 in the morning. After listening to Teacher’s Fa lecture on May 28, 2006, in Canada, I realized that practicing in a park before the persecution began was to cultivate oneself and allow predestinated people to encounter Falun Dafa. Now, practicing in a park is to validate and safeguard the Fa, and to cultivate oneself at the same time. That is why I hang a banner with the words "Free instruction in Falun Dafa," and display many photos explaining the "Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party." I have some other materials as well, in both Chinese and English.
I have met some Chinese. At the beginning, I clarified the truth to them but they didn’t take any materials, saying that I was bringing disgrace to the Chinese people. One day, an old couple was taking their grandson to the grassy field in the park to play. They watched my entire practice, and later accepted a copy of the Nine Commentaries when I offered it to them.
Some Chinese people don’t look at the photos highlighting the Nine Commentaries in the beginning. They are eager to look at them, but dare not. However, I hang the pictures out every day and the evil factors on their people’s bodies are reduced. In time, they come to look at the pictures.
A middle-aged Chinese gentleman started looking at the pictures when I was practicing the fourth exercise. After I finished my practice, he was still looking at them. I offered him a copy of the Nine Commentaries. He didn’t take it. I told him that the words on the pictures are the same as what is printed in the book, so he then agreed to take it with him. One Western man looked at the pictures for a long time. I thought that he may have learned Chinese and gave him a copy of the Nine Commentaries. I continued my practice. He put down the copy of the Nine Commentaries and picked up an English flyer. I realized then that there were English captions on the pictures.
One day a man helped me hang up my banner. He picked up a piece of truth-clarifying material from the bag before he left. Two Chinese gentlemen came to the park every morning for a walk. They were the latest to leave and they had been looking at the pictures over several days.
Another time, a lady from inner Mongolia came up to me and said, "I see you here practicing every day. Look at your face, no wrinkles, but I have so many wrinkles." I said, "Come on, you can practice and I can teach you." She said, "But one must read the book, right?" I said, "Yes". She said, "I believe in it but my husband doesn’t and he has had a stroke." I said, "You can read Zhuan Falun to him. As long as he is willing to listen to it his physical situation will improve." Later, she stopped by my house asking for a copy of Zhuan Falun. I was not at home and my nine-year-old nephew didn’t give it to her, so she didn’t get a copy. She returned another time when I happened to have gone to the Chinese Embassy. This time she left her name and address. After I got home, I took a copy of Zhuan Falun and various truth-clarifying materials to her home. Just as we walked into her yard, she came out to welcome us. It turned out that she had already known that we would deliver the book to her for certain. She was a veteran practitioner from China who often practiced and read Dafa book at home after the persecution began, though she had failed to go out validating the Fa. I told her that after going back to China, she should try to find fellow practitioners for truth-clarifying material and go out to clarify the truth and validate the Fa. Later, she took some copies of Teacher’s new articles from me.
In "Teaching the Fa at the Fa Conference at the U.S. Capital", Teacher said,
"People with predestined relationships and those who can be saved can be made to--made to by Master's Law Bodies, righteous gods, or the immense field that Dafa has formed in the world--appear right before you in any of a range of settings, providing them with a chance to learn the truth. But you have to carry it out, and it doesn't work if you're not out there doing things."
We have done so. The practice site environment has brought many predestined people to us, has made it easy for practitioners to find each other, and helped many people learn about and begin the practice.
In "For the good of the world" published on June 15, Teacher said,
"Make clear the truth, and drive off foul spirits. Spread widely the Nine Commentaries, and the wicked Party shall fade. With righteous thoughts, save the world's people. I just don't believe their consciences are irretrievably lost."
I realized something. If all you do in a place is practice the exercises every day, the people in that place may need you to clarify the truth, may need you to save them, and may need you to retrieve their consciences. What I want to say is that we veteran practitioners should not seek superficial forms. Don’t take 30 minutes or even just an hour to go to a practice site. That way, I feel that you not only waste your time, but also you miss the chance to save people around you. Some old practitioners found no practice site near their houses, so they practice at home. I suggest that these practitioners go outdoors to practice, validate the Fa and safeguard the Fa. At the same time, they may feel that they are truly cultivating themselves. It is our responsibility to wake up the people around us and to save them.
In "Teaching the Fa in Canada, 2006" Teacher said,
"But as you go about truly cultivating yourself in your day-to-day life, the society that you come into contact with is your cultivation environment."
Many people exercise outside in the mornings. This is a good chance to wake them up. Teacher also said,
"Under normal circumstances you might not have a reason to go approach people and clarify the truth to them, and if you do so out of the blue they might not want to meet with you. Doesn't the interference give you a chance to interact with people? Shouldn't you seize the opportunity and clarify the truth to them? The greatest responsibility Dafa disciples have, aside from cultivating themselves, is that of saving lives."
Teacher also said,
"I've said before that if you were all to go off to secluded mountains or monasteries to cultivate, you wouldn't have a lot of contact with society, and you wouldn't be able to effectively save beings as widely, right? So wasn't there a reason you were advised to do things as you are now? Doing it this way provides you with circumstances better suited for saving beings, doesn't it? Of course, as you go about cultivating, you--who are cultivators--are sure to meet with tests, for you need to elevate. When someone doesn't handle things well, troubles will constantly arise. But those who do handle things well will constantly meet with tests as they cultivate."
While practicing in the park, I have met with many tests in lifting my xinxing. The first test was the hardship to get up in the morning. If you don’t require yourself to strictly follow Teacher, you will be blocked by the evils of tiredness and go to bed for a comfortable sleep after sending forth righteous thoughts. If we can think of Teacher who suffered countless hardships for us, the hardships we suffer are nothing. Then, we can pass this test well.
Every day when I go to practice, I always take the banner, the 28 pictures from the Nine Commentaries, and truth-clarifying materials in both Chinese and English. They play a good role in saving sentient beings. Now, our cultivation circumstances become better and better and Chinese people’s attitude has greatly changed. They have a better opinion of Falun Gong, and more and more people look at the pictures and take truth-clarifying materials. Don’t they have a better future?
Do well what we should do so that we can complete our serious responsibilities. That is what I think and that is what I did. If anything is incorrect here, please point out and correct it.