(Minghui.org) I am 55 years old and started practicing Falun Dafa before July 20, 1999, when the persecution of Dafa began. I would like to share some cultivation experiences from our village Fa study group.
Our Fa Study Group
In February 2014, practitioners in our region who were able to go out and clarify the truth about Dafa began a Fa study group, since we Dafa practitioners must base our lives, and all our actions on the Fa. Whoever had time would come to my former residence every other afternoon. Between 5 and 15 practitioners attended our Fa study. One asked, “Is it safe for us seniors to get together like this?” But I knew that most of the people in our village understood the truth about Dafa and were supportive.
After studying the Fa, we would exchange our cultivation experiences and then some truth-clarification materials as we left. We live in a rural area where every family has their own farm and grows cherries, apples, grapes, and other crops. During the busy season, the older practitioners have to help their children. We cannot get together during this busy time, so we each transcribe the Fa at home after dinner. At midnight we send forth righteous thoughts, and we do the exercises at 3:50 a.m.
Clarifying the Truth
In addition to Fa study, over 20 of us also go to the village on market days to talk to people about Dafa and distribute informational brochures, DVDs, and calendars. The villagers are honest and straightforward, and they are happy to receive whatever we hand them. Some villagers have used their real names to quit the communist organizations and file criminal complaints against former dictator Jiang Zemin for starting the brutal persecution. After hearing how receptive people were, more practitioners joined our efforts.
In the winter, we visit all of the nearby villages in groups of two or three. Since we are not busy in the winter, we have ample time to talk with the villagers, and the results have been very good.
Once, at a village market, a retired teacher did not want to listen to us. She said that she was a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) member and didn’t want to quit the CCP. Another day, two practitioners went to the village and saw a house with the door open, so they went up to the house, which happened to be where that retired teacher lived. She tried to drive them away, but the practitioners patiently talked with her while sending forth righteous thoughts and asking Master for reinforcement. After talking with her for over an hour, she finally understood.
“So that is what the truth is,” she said, laughing.
We do our best to do the three things well. We are able to publish the names of those who've quit the Party on the Internet. We make our own informational materials when we are not busy at home, which means we make less during the busy farming seasons. We do not overstock materials, and if we need technical support, we ask practitioners in the nearby city for help.
Bringing Former Practitioners Back to Dafa
A practitioner in our study group told us about someone in her village who practiced Dafa on and off and was having trouble with her legs and couldn't walk. Another practitioner and I went to her home and confirmed that she and her husband had practiced Falun Dafa in the past. Her husband had had psoriasis on his back, yet after practicing the Falun Dafa exercises for the first time, he felt as if bad things were removed from his back. His psoriasis had disappeared by the time he finished the exercises. When the CCP started to persecute Dafa, however, they were too fearful to continue practicing.
We spoke with the couple about Dafa. She decided to sue Jiang Zemin using her real name. Not long after, the text of the lawsuit was published on the Internet, and her leg no longer hurt. She then has since joined our Fa study group and participates in truth-clarification efforts. Influenced by her, her husband has also resumed Fa study, does the exercises, and clarifies the truth when he give people rides on his tricycle.
Someone in my village also stopped practicing Falun Dafa due to fear after the persecution started. A few years ago, she noticed that we were holding a Fa study group. She felt that the cultivation environment had gotten better and joined our group. When she later realized that practitioners were still being persecuted, she stopped coming. When we began the effort to sue Jiang Zemin in 2015, I went to her home and told her about the importance of suing Jiang. She agreed to submit a lawsuit against him. Three days later she came to my house and told me, “I'm not fearful and anxious anymore. I sleep well and am illness-free.”
Her daughter noticed that she had stopped taking medicine and realized that Falun Dafa is really amazing. Her daughter also started to learn Falun Dafa at home.
Her daughter had rheumatoid arthritis and heart disease, and she couldn't walk. Only a few days after learning Falun Dafa, her condition improved greatly. One day, her daughter came to my house to tell me that she had read Zhuan Falun three times. She understood that Master is here to save sentient beings. She was determined to practice Dafa to the end. Her neighbor witnessed what had transpired and also started to learn Falun Dafa.
Helping Other Practitioners
In 2016, an 81-year-old practitioner returned to the village from her son's home in the city. While in the city, she clarified the truth and distributed informational DVDs, but recently she'd begun to have pain in her leg and she would get drowsy when she studied the Fa.
This woman was illiterate, so when she began the practice, she held Zhuan Falun in her hands and said to Master's picture, “Master, I am illiterate in this life, but in my next life I'll learn to read.” Her young daughter was also a practitioner and said to her, “If you want to study the Fa, you can learn to read now.” Thanks to Master, she is now able to read Zhuan Falun and all the Dafa books and lectures.
Over the past few years, this practitioner was arrested several times for distributing truth-clarification materials, but with strong righteous thoughts she always returned home safely.
When she was experiencing sickness karma, her daughter brought her to our Fa study group. That evening, we helped her look within herself, and she found an attachment to meddling in the affairs of others. When others would quarrel, they would come to her to decide who was right and who was wrong. The attachment interfered with her, and she couldn't focus during her Fa study. Her legs then began to ache intensely.
In response to these seemingly trivial matters, we sent forth powerful righteous thoughts and disintegrated the evil's persecution of this practitioner. After sending forth righteous thoughts for 15 minutes, she felt refreshed and returned to the city the next day to continue saving sentient beings.
Another practitioner had the symptoms of a stroke. I went to see him with a fellow practitioner. We knew that only through studying the Fa could he pass his sickness test. I asked his wife (who is also a practitioner) to bring him to my home. He read the Fa slowly, and we listened patiently.
After a few days, however, they stopped coming to the Fa study. I thought that something must be wrong, so I went to his home. They were watching TV. I talked with him, reminding him that the evil CCP culture is everywhere and urged him to not fall into the old forces' trap. I asked them both to study the Fa at my home until they could study the Fa by themselves, which they did. His sickness karma is now almost gone.
The practitioners in his arrea felt that they couldn't do anything to help him, and they thanked me for my help. I said that it was Master's compassion because I myself don’t have that ability. I know that I should keep a clear mind and not take credit; helping other practitioners is what I am supposed to do.
