(Clearwisdom.net)
Every time when I read the articles on the Clearwisdom website, practitioners' sharing articles truly touch my heart. Therefore, I was inspired to write my own experience sharing article to share with everyone.
My Joy at Obtaining the Fa
In the fall of 1998, I was fortunate enough to begin the practice of Falun Gong. At that time, there were a group of people joining Fa-study and doing the exercises every morning, my parents among them. Under their influence, I began to practice Falun Gong. Because we lived in a remote rural area, we hardly ever got to see new books. Therefore, as soon as we got a copy of Zhuan Falun, we all had to take turns to read it. When it came to my mom's turn, she called me to come and read with her, even though we lived 10km apart. Even though we hadn't come to realize the deeper meanings of the Fa, miracles of Dafa had manifested. Before my mother began to practice Falun Gong, she had high blood pressure and Meniere's disease, and I was also tormented by congenital rhinitis. After we began to do Fa-study and the exercises, all of our illnesses were healed.
I was the first one from our village to begin to practice Falun Gong, and my joy was beyond any description. After I shared my feelings with family members and neighbors, my mother-in-law and neighbors began to practice Falun Gong, six of them in total, in a village with an overall population of 400. Later, with practitioners' help, we received Teacher's other articles, and we began Fa-study and practicing the exercises at my home.
Confusion amidst Persecution
On July 20, 1999, the CCP began its persecution of Falun Gong. All of a sudden, the TV programs started defaming the practice, and there was all kinds of pressure to quit practicing. I remember one afternoon when we were doing the second exercise, the loudspeaker hanging in our village started broadcasting: "Hurry up, everyone! Turn on the TV! See the self-immolation incident!" I was dumbfounded and began to cry. Soon enough I became clear and realized that what they had done did not accord with what Teacher said in his writings, although at that time I didn't know that it was staged. I thought they must have gone to the extreme, damaging the reputation of Dafa, and none of them had behaved like true practitioners. I knew it stated very clearly in the book that we shouldn't even harm animals purposefully, let alone human beings.
People from the entire village knew that my home was an exercise site. That same evening, the secretary of the CCP committee came to my home and asked a few of us to register at the Township Police Station the next day. So we went. But when we arrived, the door of the police station was locked, so we headed back.
As the evil became more rampant, four practitioners from my mom's village were arrested, and the pressure from our families and society intensified. As a result, our Fa-study group fell apart, and only my mother-in-law and myself quietly practiced at home at night. Our contact with the outside world was completely cut off, and there was also no sharing among ourselves. As a result of all that, we became less and less diligent. However, Dafa is rooted in my heart. Whenever we'd run into people with predestined relationships, we'd talk to them about the beauty of Dafa, which is totally different from how the CCP defamed and slandered us. I also had people with predestined relationships read the book, so that they could easily see through the lies of the CCP.
Re-building a Fa-Study Group, Working Diligently with One Another
By winter 2008, eight practitioners were coming to our Fa-study group, including my two children and my husband. Every night, I read Zhuan Falun and Teacher's new articles to them for two hours, and we were doing that everyday. One day, a fellow practitioner from my mother's village was released from detention. After that, through my mother, she got in touch with me. Recommended by her, another practitioner came to us; he brought us Teacher's new articles and a DVD of Teacher's lecture to Australian practitioners. He also helped me to buy a computer and taught me how to read articles on the Clearwisdom website; it was truly wonderful.
Later, three practitioners stopped practicing, as they couldn't let go of their attachments to emotion and personal gain. I felt really sorry for them. To this day, every time they mention Dafa, they sound full of regret. The reason they stopped practicing was not because Dafa was not good enough, rather, they couldn't let go of their attachments. They understood everything--they just couldn't continue cultivation.
Right now, we have five people at our practice site, including three senior practitioners, my husband, and me. Our two children work as contractors in other cities. Both of them have MP4 and MP3 players to listen to the Fa. In this dirty world, they've been living according to the requirements of Dafa and fulfilling their duties as Dafa disciples. In order to work around a felllow practitioner's schedule, since he works during the daytime, we set our Fa-study and exercise time at night. Everyday we meet for two hours. We begin with sending righteous thoughts, then Fa study, then finish with righteous thoughts again. If we have more time, we send forth more righteous thoughts.
If anyone has trouble snapping out of his or her own tribulation, he or she talks about the problem, then the rest of us share from there. Sometimes there have been a lot of complaints, and once someone had a bad attitude. Because of attachments, someone was in great pain and had tears running down his face. In response to these situations, we study Teacher's new articles, look inward, and point out to one another our attachments. We respond with a sincere heart and try to correct ourselves as soon as we realize our mistakes. There has been such joy when attachments were eliminated, but there have also been disappointments from being unable to let go of attachments. Through such ups and downs, we have improved ourselves and continue on our paths of cultivation.
Clarifying the facts is our weakness. We handle things fairly well when it comes to talking to people we are familiar with, but it has been harder to communicate with strangers. In terms of handing out informational materials, whenever there is an event or visitors, we hand out materials. Sometimes we go out in teams of two. Whoever doesn't get to go out stays at home to send forth righteous thoughts. Whenever we run into people with a predestined relationship, we help them withdraw from the CCP. There is happiness and hardship in clarifying the facts, and we run into all kinds of people. Some are sarcastic, some laugh at us, and some have a lot of fear, but some are grateful. However, as long as we strictly follow Teacher, the outcome will be the best. Teacher said in "Teaching the Fa at the Conference in the Midwest-U.S.:"
"Under trying circumstances of any type, you must all keep steady in thought. Just by staying unaffected you will be able to handle all situations."
I suggest that practitioners set up a timetable for a set time for Fa-study and exercise. Doing those things consistently is the only way to ensure that one makes progress. One can't only pay attention to superficial things, and neglect solid cultivation. We are at the final leg of Fa rectification. Teacher told us in "Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Canada:" "If you read the book more and study the Fa more, any problem can be resolved. "
I hope fellow practitioners will be worthy of Teacher's saving grace. Be diligent, fellow practitioners!
We are still far away from Teacher's requirements, so we should never slack off. Facing such a complicated and muddy environment, it is just as it says in Zhuan Falun:
"Only by being among the most complex group of people and in the most complex environment can one cultivate the high-level gong".
