(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa has been available to the public for 22 years. When I recalled going to the practice site in China for the first time, it seemed like it was yesterday.
I lived south of Yangtze, in a beautiful city. I began practicing Falun Dafa on October 13, 1995. At that time, there was only one local practice site which was located in a hospital room of a nearby university.
I clearly remember the first time I went to the practice site. We read “Real Cultivation” and six other articles. Every one was very focused on studying the Fa. I didn't understand the Fa very well but I felt great. I decided to come back the next day.
I obtained the main book, Zhuan Falun a few days later. I read the whole book at one time. I understood the reasons why many things happened that I was never able to get answered. I knew the purpose of being a human and I decided to cultivate.
I walked half an hour to get to our practice site every day. I watched Master's Fa video and listened to other practitioners talking about their experiences. One day, we learned the sitting meditation. The room was filled with people, and I was very hesitant to do the sitting meditation, as it was very painful. A practitioner kept encouraging me. He helped me to lift my other leg up into the full lotus position. It hurt a lot and I was sweating. When I went back home, I decided I had to do the sitting meditation for half an hour. At that time, we focused on doing the exercises.
Diligently Studying the Fa
We soon had Master's Explaining the Content of Falun Dafa and we focused on studying the Fa. We read Master's teachings in the evenings and on holidays. Through learning Dafa, we improved our xinxing. Whenever we had conflict in our daily life, we could resolve it based on the Fa.
At that time, there were more than ten practitioners who went to Master's Fa classes in other areas like Zhengzhou, Jinan, and Guangzhou. There were also senior intellectuals, young students, Buddhist lay practitioners, or people who practiced qigong. Some of them suffered from cancer, serious heart disease or other incurable diseases. But their illnesses all vanished after they practiced Falun Gong. New practitioners liked to ask the veteran practitioners questions, and they all tried their best to answer.
One elderly lady, Ms. Wang, went to Beijing in 1993. She was so fortunate to join Master's Beijing class. She had been tortured during the “Cultural Revolution” and she had all kinds of illnesses. She tried different qigong but nothing worked. However, all her illnesses disappeared after she began practicing Falun Dafa. She told everyone that: “Falun Dafa is Great! Master is a real Buddha. Please cherish Falun Dafa.”
Because those practitioners told others about Falun Dafa and volunteered to teach them the exercises, more practice sites were opened because people wanted to learn it.
By 1996, there were four practice sites near my home. Practitioners usually talked and shared cultivation experiences on weekends and studied Master's latest teachings. The practice site I normally went to was located in my company's library. We had group study between 7 to 9 p.m. Sometimes, we watched Master's Fa lectures or listened to Master's audiotapes. From 4 to 6 a.m., we had group morning exercises at the Yuanlin school playground. Practitioners brought a television, or a video player.
Some older ladies had never learned to read Chinese characters, and they either missed them or made mistakes. Sometimes the young practitioners weren't patient, but they also realized helping the elderly practitioners was an opportunity to get rid of their attachments. Soon things changed, and the elderly ladies could read the Fa fluently and accurately.
When we did the sitting meditation, our legs were painful, and when we did the “Falun Standing Stance” (the second exercise) for forty five minutes, our arms felt really heavy and sore. During winter, it was very cold to do the exercises outside. Our hands were cold but we felt quite warm inside. Except when it rained, we did the exercises outside. We also went to nearby villages to tell people about Falun Dafa.
A Wonderful and Amazing Time
It was a wonderful and amazing time. Every day, we had a new experience. Some people saw Falun, some experienced strong powers, others passed illness tests, and some got rid of their attachments. People who were possessed by animal spirits were cleaned by Master.
We always remembered to focus on being a good person, and we corrected our bad behaviors like cursing or playing mahjong. Whenever problems arose, we looked inward and considered others first. We followed the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and other people who did not practice Falun Dafa saw our changes. Many bosses realized the benefits of Dafa and provided space at the workplace to practice it there.
Practitioners who continued to join group exercises experienced huge changes. We all felt Master was taking care of us, and felt Master's compassion every second. We also held a Fa conference every year and we cherished our cultivation environment.
When the persecution began on July 20, 1999, practitioners went to the provincial government to speak out for Falun Dafa. When we got back, our practice site was gone.
Fifteen years have passed. When I think back to our practice site years ago, I remember everything so clearly as though it were in front of me now. It's the most cherished and beautiful time of my life.
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