(Clearwisdom.net) Anshan City is situated at the fringe of the Liaodong Hills in Liaoning Province, and is at the foothills of a famous scenic spot. Lotus trees abound in this fertile land. Lush trees fill the field due to their roots clustering together, and people in Anshan greatly admire the scenery. May is the season that flowers are in full bloom. Dense strings of white flowers cover the trees, and a delicate fragrance fills the whole city. People in Anshan are lured to watch the flowers or climb to the mountain top to watch the floating clouds. It is truly a sublime scene of the world.
I like this season and I miss the years of practicing Falun Dafa in the lotus forest prior to July 20, 1999, when the persecution began. Falun Dafa practice sites were all over the place in lotus groves. One could see the banners and pamphlets everywhere. Melodic Dafa exercise music was mixed in with the fragrance of lotus flowers. It made us feel that life was filled with promise and wellness.
During this season in 1995, I joined a small practice site situated in the pavilion foothills north of Anshan. It was a small area, as there were only a few us. Early each morning we got there early to do the preparation and started doing exercises at five o'clock. Regardless of rain or wind, we never stopped. Over time we considered the mountain and the practice sites our home. We bathed in light and were unwilling to leave. Practitioners with their celestial eye opened saw Law Wheels everywhere at the exercise site.
People gradually started arriving. They stopped to watch us at the practice site and inquired about us. The families of mothers and daughters, fathers and daughters, grandparents and grandchildren continued joining Dafa cultivation. In four years our group grew to 150 people.
Ms. Huang was an elderly woman who had smoked since her teens. Her face looked yellowish and she looked thin. After practicing Dafa for some time, she quit smoking and her face grew rosy. One 70 year-old man previously walked using a walking stick, with his upper body bent forward. After doing the exercises for some time, he could walk with an erect back and no longer needed a walking stick. His posture looked like that of a young man. An illiterate older lady, Ms. Qi, couldn't read with the others in our Fa study group, and she was very anxious. She wept and said "Teacher, let me be literate so I can study the Fa!" She subsequently saw words protruding out of paper when she looked at the book Zhuan Falun, and soon she was able to read Zhuan Falun.
Through studying the Fa we all became more happy and kind. Practitioners had their family grievances that had existed over the years resolved. We no longer cared only about personal interests. When there were symptoms of illness, we knew they were for eliminating one's karma, and we endured them realizing that our bodies were being purified. We indeed found, "'After passing the shady willow trees, there will be bright flowers and another village ahead!'" (Zhuan Falun)
Everyone was willing to contribute to the group cultivation. One practitioner provided several thousand yuan for connecting electricity to our practice site. When the tape player was broken, everyone scrambled to buy a replacement. When the practice site needed something, practitioners provided things.
To beautify our exercise environment, we planted small pink bushes, large spring onions, and honeysuckles around the field. No one was forced to do anything, but instead everyone did things of their own free will, and the grove became full of life.
It is again the season of lotus trees in full bloom. As we are aware of the truth of the universe, our inner minds are like the blooming flowers. We have Teacher and the Fa. We validate Dafa and do the three things well. Let us strengthen our righteous thoughts to greet another season of lotus flowers in full bloom!
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Category: Improving Oneself
