Every Thursday from 7:30-9:30 p.m., Falun Gong practitioners from Kumamoto City, Japan gather at the Garden Civic Centre of Kumamoto to study the Falun Gong teachings, the Fa, and share their cultivation experiences. By November of 2006, we had persisted in this activity for exactly two years. Each time, we spend one and a half hours studying Zhuan Falun, and we share our cultivation experiences after a ten minute break. While studying the Fa, turn by turn, we read aloud each paragraph from Zhuan Falun. Even though the practitioners who attend the group Fa study are Chinese or Japanese, we all use the Japanese version of Zhuan Falun, and we all use Japanese as the communicating language to share our cultivation experiences. The atmosphere of the group Fa study is harmonious.
We could not have persisted in the group Fa study in Kumamoto City without the great effort of the local Chinese practitioners. Since the Japanese practitioners don’t know the Chinese language, this form of group study in Japanese is a precious treasure to our local Japanese practitioners. With regular improvements in our understandings of the Fa, however busy we may be, many of us actively attend the group study. While speaking of the experience of attending the Fa study, one practitioner said, "As long as I have powerful righteous thoughts and the righteous mind of attending the group Fa study wholeheartedly, everything will be arranged for me. It had occurred to me several times that my business schedule coincided with the time of group Fa study. However, all of those business appointments which had been arranged before were changed or rearranged unexpectedly. I realised that all this is arranged by Teacher."
Originally, it was not so easy to rent the conference room from the Garden Civic Centre. The staff of the Garden Civic Centre didn’t know the true facts about Falun Gong, as the only thing that they knew was that Falun Gong was banned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Initially, they refused to lend the conference room to us. However, after our practitioners persisted in clarifying the truth of Falun Gong to them, they gradually understood the truth of Falun Gong, and finally they agreed to lend the conference room to us. At the beginning they did not allow us to rent the conference room in the name of Falun Gong. Now they have changed their attitude, and practitioners can hang a Falun Gong sign on the door with dignity.
There are over twenty practitioners attending the group Fa-study, with more new practitioners joining in recent times. We have also found the number of practitioners attending the Fa-study increase or decrease from time to time. Veteran practitioners are constantly looking inward and sharing. Is the behaviour of veteran practitioners and their attitude towards those who don't cultivate incorrect? Is the atmosphere of Fa study acceptable to the new practitioners? Did we neglect to pay attention to the new practitioners? In order to improve the shortcomings in Fa study, veteran practitioners looked inward and repeatedly shared their understandings. At the same time they treated the new practitioners with righteous thoughts and compassion.
Recently during the sharing, the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party became the major topic. After reading the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party from beginning to end, the Japanese practitioners understood the evil nature of the CCP more clearly. They also understood the activities of validating the Fa at a deeper level.
Our group Fa study continues and the number of new practitioners is also increasing. In my future cultivation, I would be able to understand more clearly the importance of Fa study in cultivation, and cherish the opportunity to study the Fa and share together.
Looking back at my cultivation this year, I can see the gaps. With the coming of the New Year I will be diligent in doing the three things well and will fulfil the historic mission as a Falun Dafa disciple during Fa-rectification.
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