(Clearwisdom.net)
Greetings, respected Master! Greetings, all practitioners present!
Falun Dafa practitioners in my city have created a very good Fa-rectification environment by following their righteous belief in Teacher and Falun Dafa. They have improved as a whole body.
"Dafa disciples as a whole have passed the stage of personal cultivation. At present, because the enormous current of Fa-rectification is charging forward, the stage of Dafa disciples' validating the Fa is approaching completion and history is about to enter a new phase. From now on, the Dafa disciples in China as much as anyone, both new students and veterans alike, should let go of their long-standing human attachments and start to seize the day and comprehensively save the world's people." (from "Let Go of Human Attachments and Save the World's People")
After studying this article, the practitioners in my city realized our responsibilities and the shortness of time. To save sentient beings, we must first let them know the truth, and we must help them rid themselves of communist notions. Until today, the practitioners who have stepped forward number approximately 3,700, and there are more than 1,000 new practitioners.
As a practitioner once said to me, "I have not improved in my understanding, but I know why I am in this world and what my duties and responsibilities are. I remember deeply!" This is perhaps the main characteristic of practitioners in my city.
A Brief Introduction:
1. Fa-Study
Teacher said,
"Pay attention: no matter how busy you are, you cannot neglect Fa-study. This is what fundamentally assures that you move toward Consummation and do Dafa work well."
("To All Students at the Nordic Fa Conference" in Essentials for Further Advancement II)"The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil, the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts."
("Drive Out Interference" in Essentials for Further Advancement II")
For the past few years while saving sentient beings, we have truly felt the importance of Fa-study. Fa-study is not just a routine. We need to use our hearts to study the Fa to reach different understandings. Many practitioners are able to make Fa-study a priority. Only with continuous Fa-study can we eliminate all the bad things from our bodies and make ourselves more righteous. Many districts reorganized their Fa study groups, and there also are many new practitioners joining. As Fa-rectification pushes forward, more and more people are joining Fa-study.
To help people practice and study the Fa, we have printed more than 1,000 copies of Zhuan Falun and made some tapes and VCD's of Teacher's lectures. However, the current need is more than what we can provide for.
- Steadfast determination
- Young practitioners' stories
There is a village in my city with more than 20 Falun Dafa practitioners. They have all made trips to Beijing to appeal to the government to stop the persecution of Falun Gong. They started having group Fa-study in 2001 and have not stopped since then.
Exercise practice is held in the main street of the village. Fa-study is held at a practitioner's home. During the worst period of the persecution, the head of the village would ask someone to monitor the practitioners, telling him to "just stand back and check the number of practitioners. Don't let them see you. As long as all the practitioners are there, that's fine. If any are missing, don't make a big fuss, just quickly go to the train station and bring them back." All of the village authorities know that Falun Dafa is good, but during that time period, due to pressure, this was the most they could do.
The 610 Office tried to force the town officials to harass practitioners in the village, but they failed. Each time, they either could not gather all the officials together, or if the people were all gathered, no car was available. There were a few times when the car and the officials were simultaneously available, but the practitioners were forewarned, and they all sat and sent forth righteous thoughts. During those instances, the car would always have a flat tire and the group would be unable to travel to the village.
During the last episode, town Communist Party officials, 610 Office agents and high-ranking police ordered more than 10 town officials to harass the practitioners. When they walked into a room full of practitioners, the practitioners did not move and continued to send forth righteous thoughts. After looking at them for a while, the officials said, "Just continue to practice. It's fine as long as you don't go to Beijing." Then they left. Thus, the village's group Fa-study environment has been protected since 2001. Of course, whether or not we go to Beijing is purely on our own terms.
During class one day, the teacher asked every student to recite four poems. When a young practitioner had his turn, he recited three poems and forgot the last one. Then, inspired, he started to recite "Tempering One's Mind and Heart" from "Hongyin:"
Achieving Buddha's fruit upon Consummation,
Hardship suffering treated as joy.
Physical suffering can hardly be counted as painful,
Cultivating one's heart is most excruciating.
Every pass must be broken through,
Everywhere are demons.
Hundreds of hardships drop at once,
To see how one lives.
With suffering in the world endured,
Leaving the world as a Buddha.
After he finished, his teacher asked him, "Who taught you this? It's a wonderful poem!" He told his teacher, "My Master taught me this."
There is a young, junior high school practitioner, and both his parents cultivate. He often clarifies the truth to his classmates and friends. Almost every student he talked to now knows that Falun Dafa is good. One day, his teacher asked, "Who practices Falun Gong in our class?" He stood up bravely. His friends also stood up one by one. Some students learned the manner in which practitioners hold up banners at Tiananmen Square, and they walk around as if they are holding banners up high and call out, "Falun Dafa is good." As soon as there are truth-clarification materials, all the students help disseminate them. Their truth-clarifying stickers are straighter and their banners are higher than anyone else's.
After a school principal understood the truth about the persecution, he asked for truth-clarification materials and handed out hundreds to his students.
2. Holding Fa Conferences Leads to Group Improvement
The Fa conference is a form of cultivation left for us by Master.
"It is necessary for disciples to share with one another what they have experienced and learned in their cultivation. There is no problem with them helping one another make progress together, so long as they don't have any intention of showing themselves off." ("The Fa Conference" in Essentials for Further Advancement)
To keep up with the pace of Fa-rectification, practitioners from my city continue to share on the Fa and improve. We often hold group sharings and large conferences for 60 to 70 people, and we have smaller conferences for 20 to 30 people. This has truly helped the group to improve, and everyone tries to participate. Practitioners from a certain town go to their market together every tenth day and share their experiences. Practitioners from other towns also participate.
Two stories relating to Fa conferences:
To contact a practitioner who lives more than ten miles away about an experience sharing conference, another practitioner left his home at one o'clock in the morning. Another female practitioner went to participate in a Fa experience sharing conference at a practitioner's home more than 20 miles away. It had just snowed, and it was very dark, and she slipped a few times. So, she simply took off her shoes and walked. When she arrived, other practitioners saw that her socks were not wet and her feet were warm.
Once, a vehicle with more than ten out-of-town practitioners arrived at another practitioner's village home to attend a conference. A practitioner went to the village to let the local practitioners know. The conference host said, "Don't worry, just drive through." The vehicle went all the way to the practitioner's home without incident. The neighbor asked, "What are those people in the vehicle here for?" The practitioner said, "They are all practitioners. They have come to my home to practice Falun Gong." The neighbor said, "Just park the car at my house, and the rest of you can go and have your meeting." Before leaving, the host said, "You can all get in the vehicle and leave righteously and nobly."
(To be continued...)
March 3, 2005
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