(Minghui.org) Although Falun Dafa is practiced in more than 100 countries, the spiritual practice has been persecuted in China since 1999. This made it difficult for practitioners in China to do the exercises outdoors.
Several years ago, I heard that practitioners were going outside to do the exercises, but I did not see any. Doing the exercises outdoors was also brought up during question and answer sessions when Master was teaching the Fa. I really wished I could see practitioners do the exercises outside.
Safety is a major concern when doing the exercises outdoors. Because of the suppression it poses a serious risk and practitioners are often opposed to even trying it. This is especially so after a situation three years ago where practitioners from another city came to our city and then dozens of practitioners participated in an outdoor group exercises session together. Many of them were arrested. One died from torture in police custody and several others faced three to four years of imprisonment.
For these reasons, I have avoided going outdoors to do the exercises. But as time has passed, I started asking myself, “Am I worried about the safety of other practitioners or I am I thinking like this mainly due to my own fear?”
When I traveled to another city for work I had difficulty finding other practitioners and I didn't do so well telling others about Falun Dafa, either. One day I decided to do the exercises outside by myself. I wanted to understand whether I was truly concerned for the safety of others or for my own safety. The next day, at about 4 a.m., I went to a small park to do the exercises. It was a quiet place, not visible to passersby. After doing the first set of exercises, I paused to check if anyone was around. I then continued to do the third.
About a week later, I went to the park again and repeated the same exercises and added the fourth set. Through my celestial eye, I could see blossoms around me, something that had never occurred before. I could also see that I was sitting in a golden lotus flower petal. It was amazing and I knew that I had done the right thing.
I have done the exercises outside several times since then. My understanding is that as long as we have a righteous mind and let go of fear, things will be all right. But we still should not organize large group exercises, given that we are still living in an environment of persecution in China.
I also found that if we are willing to do the exercises outside, Master will help us. I recently went on a business trip where I traveled to the city in Jilin Province that Master is from, Changchun.
Probably due to my busy workload, I felt very tired one afternoon, so I decided to do the exercises in a small park next to the street. I initially felt a little hesitant. But right after I closed my eyes and began the first set of exercises, I saw a giant fashen of Master nearby watching me doing the exercises. After I finished the first and fourth sets of exercises, I heard a siren and saw students walking home from school. Many cars were also driving by. Realizing it may not be safe to do the exercises like that, I left.
In my understanding, Master is helping us all the time and we should have righteous thoughts. On the other hand, we should not be attached to our notions and ignore safety. I think each of us can find a path of our own and do well as practitioners.
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
