Practicing Outdoors

(Clearwisdom.net) I would like to share my experience of doing the exercises in the city square of my hometown.

Three months after starting to practice, I moved to a different town. Right from the beginning, I decided I should do the exercises at the practice site, so that others could benefit, too. Given that there was no practice site in Hadera, where I had just moved, a fellow practitioner and I established one. The fact that we didn't attract public attention all the time didn't matter to us. At first we had an attachment to be seen by "as many people as possible," but we overcame that pretty fast. Nevertheless, we decided to move the site to a more central location, so that we could clarify the truth on a wider scale. This way we succeeded in generating more attention and making many people want to understand what Falun Dafa and the persecution are all about.

During this whole process, I decided that I should always do the exercises outdoors. I would rather practice outdoors and be seen by people, who will thereby learn about Falun Dafa and the persecution. I don't mind whether they practice in the future or not. That is their business. I am just opening a door for them to learn about the practice and the persecution.

I wore my Falun Dafa shirt and went to practice the exercises in the city center. At first I encountered much interference. In the mornings there were flies, municipal workers mowing the grass, and even a blind man that bumped into me twice.

In the evenings, there were mosquitoes, children who bothered me, and various other, more severe forms of interference. But the moment I could treat them as a temporary interference rather than part of the environment, they became easy to overcome. I also had a troubling fear of being recognized by someone I knew. With persistence I overcame that, too. Now these interferences are gone, and if they show up, they hold no importance.

When I practice in the more central areas, many people see me, and that alone achieves the goal. When I practice in the quieter and more intimate places, passersby stop and ask questions. I then explain about the practice and the persecution. One person even stood by and carried on a long conversation with me. He said he saw me practicing in the center of town and wanted to ask me about what I was doing. So, the way I see it, both locations have their advantages and disadvantages.

Usually I hear passersby whispering, "What is it? Is it yoga?" People think it resembles yoga, but sense that it is different. This makes it easier for me to explain more clearly what the practice is all about.

Doing the exercises in the center of town has turned me into a known figure, so whoever wants to know about the practice and the persecution can always ask me. I think that practicing outdoors is a basic and efficient means of clarifying the truth and offering salvation to all sentient beings. It is also a good way to practice diligently.

These are my limited understandings.