Our Fa Study Group Has Met for 30 Years

(Minghui.org) Our Fa study group, established in 1995, has now existed for 30 years. In that span of time, a teenager matures into the prime of middle age. Over these three decades, as Falun Dafa disciples, we have experienced the transition from personal cultivation to Fa-rectification cultivation, and witnessed the extraordinary spread of Dafa throughout the world.

Establishment of Our Fa Study Group

I began practicing Falun Dafa on May 22, 1995. I especially enjoyed joining the morning group exercises at the practice site. At the time, my understanding was rather superficial, focused mainly on qigong healing and improving my health. About a month later, the volunteer instructor of the site encouraged me to set up a new practice site near my home. As a newcomer, I didn’t understand much about the practice, nor know how to set up a practice site, so I declined. However, the instructor insisted, giving me a banner inscribed with “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance” and a flag with the Falun emblem.

I wandered around my neighborhood and eventually settled on a spacious vacant lot by the side of the road. One weekend morning, I arrived at the practice site for the first time around 5:00 a.m. I hung the banner and the Falun flags, uncertain if anyone would come. To my surprise, more than 30 fellow practitioners showed up that day. Later, over 100 people came to practice here. Each dawn, the melodious practice music would play, announcing the beginning of a new day.

Over a month later, one morning at the practice site, a crystal clear voice suddenly rang in my ear, “Holding people back.” I was so frightened that I burst into tears because I couldn’t figure out how I was holding people back. Just then, a fellow practitioner came over and told me that other practice sites organized daily Fa study sessions, and then it dawned on me. So I quickly looked into organizing a Fa study group. One practitioner provided us with a spacious classroom at his workplace, where over 70 practitioners studied the Fa every evening. The voices of group reading together echoed distinctly throughout the factory complex.

Later, when that classroom was no longer available, we split into smaller, home-based study groups. I joined one in a fellow practitioner’s home, a one-story house, where about 17 of us gathered regularly throughout the year. In the summer, as we read together with the windows and doors open, passersby were drawn to watch and listen to us—a truly remarkable sight.

Among us was a mother and her a two-year-old toddler, the oldest, a practitioner in her 80s. Two elderly practitioners were illiterate and initially just listened to others read aloud. Later, they held the books and followed along with the characters. As time passed, they felt as if the words were entering their minds one by one. Eventually, they were able to read Zhuan Falun and all of Master’s other publications. We all witnessed the miraculous nature of Dafa.

At that time, our study group met daily except during the Chinese New Year holiday. We held two sessions each day: retired practitioners attended the daytime session, while those who worked came in the evening. We learned from each other and compared ourselves with each other as we advanced and elevated together. Everyone openly shared their life challenges, as well as their insights from the perspective of the Fa. Our Fa study group truly became a pure land on earth. This intensive Fa study lasted for four years, laying a solid foundation for later cultivation during the Fa rectification and the salvation of sentient beings.

Persevering Amidst Storms

After the Chinese Communist regime began to persecute Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999, some practitioners, fearful of the repercussions, stopped attending our group Fa study. But several steadfast practitioners continued and we gathered regularly to study and share. Some of us went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Dafa, while those who remained behind offered encouragement.

The local police station and the residential committee were aware of our Fa study group. One day, the director of the police station summoned our elderly host practitioner and demanded he hand over Dafa books and portraits of Master Li, the founder of the practice. He refused to do that but he did go there to tell the director how good Dafa was and how practicing it had cured his illnesses and restored his health. He then offered the director a Dafa flyer. His wise and honorable behavior dissolved the crisis, and the director allowed him to return home.

In 2000, we launched a large-scale effort to distribute truth-clarification materials and hang banners sharing Dafa information. Although we passed out quite a few materials, everyone acted rationally and with clarity, and no one was persecuted.

Cultivating Mind and Character

Practitioners in our Fa study group rarely engaged in longstanding arguments. When facing setbacks, everyone focused on finding solutions, supporting and complementing one another, while each walked their own path of validating the Fa.

Over the past three decades, the original one-story house where we first held group study was demolished. While the owner’s new apartment was being built, he rented an apartment so we could continue meeting. Three years later, we moved to his new apartment and the group has gathered there ever since.

The young toddler who attended our group is now grown up. When she was in elementary school, she refused to join the Young Pioneers. She also resisted her teacher’s demand that she join the Youth League in middle school with strong righteous thoughts. Even in college, when the president urged her to reconsider, she firmly expressed her beliefs and politely refused to comply.

An elderly practitioner in our group cultivated diligently, never missing any opportunity to elevate her character, be it trials through illness or family conflicts. While staying with her family in another city, she noticed large billboards slandering Dafa in a residential complex. As the only practitioner in the area, she took it upon herself to prevent these messages from poisoning people’s minds. She recalled Master’s words: “Dafa Disciples’ Righteous Thoughts Are Powerful” (The Essentials of Diligent Progress II).

She focused wholeheartedly on sending forth righteous thoughts to have the slanderous contents removed in three days. She succeeded. However, new posters with similar content went up nearby. She persisted with righteous thoughts again, and within a few days, those were also taken down.

An Atmosphere of Learning and Self-Reflection

A particularly valuable aspect of our Fa study group is the minimal internal friction. We have cultivated an atmosphere of mutual learning and self-reflection. Each member possesses distinct strengths, while we all have areas for improvement. Yet in our collective efforts, everyone sets aside personal interests to maintain the integrity of our environment.

Initially, I was responsible for transporting Dafa materials for the group. After I was arrested, the supply of materials became unstable. At that critical moment, the most unassuming practitioner among us stepped up to take on the responsibility.

I sincerely hope that fellow practitioners cherish the group Fa study environment so as to walk more steadily on the path of assisting Master in Fa rectification.