Pay More Attention to Our Fellow Falun Gong Practitioners as well as the Cultivation Environment

At a weekend joint group discussion, I asked two fellow Falun Gong practitioners about another practitioner we were all familiar with; I had not seen her for a while. One practitioner said, "Her current situation does not seem to be very good; she does not want to see us." The other one said, "She probably has trouble on the fundamental issue of belief, since when I made a special visit to her office, she showed little interest in talking with me and tried to avoid cultivation related topics."

I felt sad upon hearing this since that meant that one more practitioner had fallen behind. This had even happened in the free environment in North America. Thinking about this regrettable experience, I realised that other practitioners and I had been busy clarifying the facts and other activities or projects in this period of time; we forgot to pay attention to fellow practitioners and our group cultivation environment. In "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference," Master [referring to the founder of Falun Gong, Mr Li Hongzhi] said, "I'll say this again: I do not want to leave a single person behind."

At our practice site there was a family of three who did not understand our actions in the public after the persecution began in July 20 of 1999. They only read Zhuan Falun [Turning the Law Wheel - a book containing the principle teachings of Falun Gong.] and did the exercises; they did not even read articles on Minghui Net submitted by other practitioners. After several attempts, practitioners stopped delivering the articles to them. One practitioner kept them in her mind; she often visited this family or made phone calls to them showing that she cared for them. She was often driven out or hung up on. The unique and precious thing was that she would not give up even after several failures.

One day she thought, "This time I will not say anything, I will just read one of Master's articles at the beginning." After her call went through, she repeatedly read the article, and this time the other side did not hang up the phone and listened. Suddenly, the three people burst into tears; the ice in their hearts had finally melted and they woke up. Afterwards they said that they felt that they had been controlled by something in the past.

My story here is very simple, however, it was not an easy thing for her. Thinking about it, I felt that I was far from having her righteous thoughts and actions. I believe that if each one of us can always remember Master's teaching, pay attention to fellow practitioners with our hearts, and give a hand to anyone who falls behind, our environment will become better and better when our righteous thoughts are stronger.

I suggest that we try our best to pay attention to the practitioners who do not show up very often and those who have been in tribulations for too long. We should try to find the cause of the obstacles during Fa-study and discussion, then communicate candidly and patiently based on the Fa [universal principle, Falun Dafa teachings]. In practice, I found that the result was not good if I was impatient, but the other person would accept my criticism and suggestions when my mind was pure.

I found that during joint group discussions, some practitioners often talked about projects, spending a lot of time discussing project details. In fact, if they can understand the Fa well, everything would be easy and we can do well in everything.

For example, we have a lady in her sixties at our practice site. In the past she was not very active in participating in activities related to stopping the persecution of Falun Gong. She would go only if she was asked to go. She often asked, "Do you have enough people? If so, I will not go." Later through discussion, she realised that joining each activity of clarifying the facts is not just a group activity; it is to save sentient beings, and thus there is no issue of having enough people since nobody can clarify the facts and save beings for her, and she must go since it is the duty of Dafa practitioners in the Fa-rectification period. After gaining this understanding from the Fa, whenever there was an activity, she would actively take part in it, no matter how far it was, how hot or how cold the weather was, and with a smile. This time when she came back from the activity of clarifying the facts during the G8 Summit in Georgia, she said that other elderly ladies who went to the activity were so diligent, and that she would go whenever there was an activity. Her firm attitude showed me that when a practitioner understands the meaning of the Fa, she will do well, which is not just doing well for a period of time or on one issue.

Why is the group cultivation environment so important? Our work, study and daily life is among ordinary people, and we often get contaminated by the degenerated atmosphere. In the environment of a group Fa study, we shall be able to find our attachments and what we should get rid of in cultivation. Furthermore, the environment is also a good place to catch up and learn from each other.

In "Falun Dafa -- Teaching the Fa at 1999 Eastern U.S. Fa Conference," one practitioner asked,

"After a long while of conforming to the state of ordinary human society, it's very easy to drift with the current, isn't it?"

Master: "That's true. That's why I've said all students should go to practice sites to exercise and attend group study regardless of whether you're beginners or veterans. You will be cleansed in that environment. The language, behaviour and notions that you've been contaminated with among everyday people will be constantly cleansed."

At our practice site, we have a weekly group meeting. Some practitioners who have a good understanding of the Fa do not come anymore due to their busy schedules. At the same time, some practitioners who want to "learn something from others" did not feel like they had learned anything, and they also stopped coming. As a result, most of the practitioners there are elderly ladies. In fact, practitioners do well because they study the Fa well, so they can look at issues without using human notions. All of these are due to the power of Dafa, not because of how high a practitioner's level is. We should not put the cart before the horse! Master said that cultivation in Dafa does not have any role models, and we should not look for role models in human society from the practice site, but measure everything with the Fa and do everything according to the Fa.

Some practitioners have in mind seeking personal gains, and their attitudes while studying the Fa are not righteous. When they think that they cannot get anything, they stop coming. As time goes by, many practitioners no longer show up for clarifying the facts, they just disappear.

One practitioner said, "I just do not want to participate in group discussions because I was irritated by that person's attachment." Another practitioner said, "Studying the Fa at home can achieve the same result." I think that the group cultivation environment is what Master has left for us, its purpose is to let us assimilate to the Fa and at the same time catch up and learn from each other in the group environment and during the discussion about how to do the three things well. We can see other practitioners' advances in cultivation and our shortcomings. We should seek inward, not outward; when a person has a strong reaction to someone's attachment, isn't it that the person himself has a strong attachment?

In "A Dialogue with Time," Master had the following discussion with a divine being:

"Divine Being: These problems have already become very serious. It would be good if they could manage to search within themselves for the things that they have been able to find in others.

Master: It's time for them to become clearheaded so that their environment can turn into one for true cultivation practice, and thus they will be able to become real gods."

Let us follow what Master has taught us to do, let our environment become a true cultivation environment and not disgrace our name of Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples.