(Clearwisdom.net) There are two residential areas nearby where there are more elderly and fewer young practitioners. Most of us stay at home, and only a few are working. Although we have more free time, our education level is minimal: some of us can read a few words, and some cannot read at all.
How could we melt into the Fa and act as one body? How could we improve our understanding of the Fa principles and catch up with the progress of Fa-rectification? Those are the keys to doing the three things and offering more people salvation in the Fa-rectification process. I would like share our experiences of how we increased Fa study groups in our area.
Prior to July 20, 1999 [when the persecution began], I hosted a Fa study group at my home. A dozen practitioners would gather there daily. We studied the Fa for two hours, shared our cultivation experiences and quickly raised our cultivation levels. After the onset of the persecution, the group study environment was destroyed. Some of us still continued to gather and share experiences. In 2001, we held the first of four Fa group study sessions at my home. Since we still had fear and could not get rid of our mindset, we kept changing the location and time for the group Fa study. At the time, I thought I had made a wise decision.
Four of us had experienced the persecution to varying degrees, and were interfered with by society, our families, and our xinxing issues. Sometimes we were confused. Nevertheless, after group study and experience sharing, we gradually improved our understanding of the Fa, developed righteous thoughts and were able to eliminate the interference.
Later, our group study grew to seven people, and each of us realized the benefits we gained from the group Fa study. We felt we should not only improve ourselves, but also help other practitioners improve and do the three things according to Master.'s wishes We should maintain the group Fa study, the cultivation environment Master has left for us. We felt we should rebuild the group Fa study environment in the two residential areas and prevent any practitioners from falling behind in cultivation so that we could improve as a whole body.
Seven Fa study groups
Seven of us each created a Fa study group based on each individual's circumstances and ability. As a result, these seven Fa study groups varied in size and frequency of meeting. Practitioners who came for the Fa study also varied; some were very enthusiastic because they had looked for a group study for a long time; for others, their fears made them less enthusiastic and some were reluctant to attend. No matter their motives, the group Fa study helped them to assimilate to Dafa, changed them, and gradually helped them get rid of their attachments, and correct their thoughts and deeds.
The seven Fa study groups continued studying together, clarifying the truth and offering more people salvation. Because everyone had assimilated to Dafa, each practitioner was making progress. In one study group, practitioners were in their 70s and 80s, but they were never behind compared to other study groups participating in Fa-rectification activities, such as posting and distributing Dafa flyers, "clarifying the truth" and asking people to quit the CCP.
The seven of us coordinators still have Fa study together once per week, share our experiences and bring up issues for discussion and possible solutions. We then bring our thoughts back to each Fa study group, and help others improve. Along with the speedy Fa-rectification process, more and more practitioners came out and joined us for group study. Seven study groups were no longer enough.
Seventeen Fa study groups
Receiving great benefit and experiencing great improvements from group Fa study, many practitioners who had initially been reluctant to come to group study were motivated and volunteered to create new Fa study groups, resulting in seventeen groups.
There were some problems during the process of increasing the groups--human thoughts and attachments among us were exposed. For example, we coordinators once had a long discussion on the location of a Fa study group with four practitioners; one had a small child, and one was in charge a supermarket, one had an ill family member requiring an assistant, and the last one cannot read well. Of those four, which home could be the place for the group Fa study? Following a lengthy discussion, we could not agree on a location. I proposed to have their group study at my house. However, my house is far away from theirs, and the four are close neighbors. I then remembered that Master reminds us to use the power of righteous thoughts. Without further consideration, I visited the practitioner who has difficulty reading and discussed with her the Fa study group. She was excited and told me she had this thought for a long time because of her reading difficulty and proposed to have the group study at her home at anytime, on any day. The next day, these people held their first group study session at her home. I realized, "Cultivation depends on one's own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one's master." (Zhuan Falun) Master had already made arrangements for us and was awaiting our action.
One male practitioner who did not step forward was diagnosed with lung cancer in January 2008. The doctor gave him a three-month life expectancy, but he has survived for nine months already. He was optimistic, not bothered by his condition, and had the idea to initiate a study group at his place, but he gave the conditions that his neighboring practitioners should not participate in his group study and only diligent practitioners who have clear understanding on the Fa principles should attend.
Initially I had a hard time dealing with this issue, thinking that he was thinking of Dafa only after he was sick. Did this still count as a Dafa practitioner? I tried to control my anger and calmed myself, to measure things according to the Fa. I knew by then that I had not acted as a good Dafa coordinator. I went home, studied the Fa and shared my thoughts with the other practitioners. The problem was resolved, and another Fa study group was set up. I believed that that practitioner would gradually realize his problem and rectify himself during the group Fa study.
Twenty-seven Fa study groups
With more practitioners participating in the group study, more Fa study groups developed. Now we have twenty-seven study groups. Some study groups comprise people of different ages, but this age difference becomes an advantage. The elderly practitioners are consistent in cultivation and doing truth-clarification, although they may be slow in understanding the Fa principles. The younger practitioners, on the other hand, have a better understanding of the Fa, but, compared to the elderly ones, may lack action. Having the group study and sharing, each can identify his/her attachments and eliminate them.
Following group study, each practitioner realizes their improvement. However, we still have a distance to travel, as Master requires. We will continue to purify ourselves and do the three things well.
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