The Importance of Group Fa Study
(Clearwisdom.net) Dafa practitioners are presently following Master to
validate the Fa. We are also following our own unique cultivation paths and
establishing our own mighty virtue. A few practitioners are not diligent, and
their wrong notions hinder others. They are unable to do the three
things effectively. We are all facing the same cultivation issue: how can
we help each other and improve our cultivation level as a group, so that every
one of us can effectively accomplish all three things? We realized that group
study is the best way for all of us to improve and stay diligent. We would like
to share experiences and understandings of practitioners in our area with all
practitioners worldwide. Restore Group Study; Bring Former Practitioners Back I became a practitioner in late April 1997 and was one of the main
coordinators in our town prior to July 20, 1999. After July 20, some
coordinators were too fearful to continue practicing. As a result, most
practitioners in our town lost contact with each other. My employer repeatedly harassed me. The police arrested me several times.
Because I refused to give up the practice, my company sent me home for extended
sick leave without pay. Several years following, I lived in great fear. With
double pressure from the society and my family, my life was difficult. Even
under such tremendous pressure, I never stopped studying the Fa. One
day during Fa study I came across the following paragraph in one of Master's
articles, "The Fa can break all attachments, the Fa can destroy all evil,
the Fa can shatter all lies, and the Fa can strengthen righteous thoughts."
("Drive Out Interference") Indeed, as long as I make it a point to participate in group study and walk
along the path that Master arranged for us, everything that stands in our way
can be shoved aside. I initiated a study group at my house. Every time we met we studied Zhuan
Falun and Master's other lectures published after July 20, 1999. We
also repeatedly read Master's short articles. On Mondays we studied the "Minghui
Weekly" and had discussion. Everyone of us felt we were improving
rapidly. The Minghui Weekly articles also shed light on our local
cultivation. Before July 20, 1999, our town's coordinator and assistant coordinator lived
in the same village. After the persecution started, they stopped cultivation.
Most of the practitioners in that village also stopped. Later on, other
practitioners came to this village to try to persuade them to return to Dafa,
but to no avail. In the winter of 2005 I met with three other practitioners and
agreed we should establish a Fa study group in the village. We set up two study
groups. From then on, no matter the weather, we always studied the Fa together
and shared experiences with practitioners in this village. Gradually, the
practitioners in this village began to have righteous thoughts. More and more
practitioners joined us and began to do the three things. This success was a great inspiration to us. In the past, we merely talked to
these practitioners, but we never studied the Fa together. Each time we had a
good discussion, the practitioners felt a need to improve but returned to their
old ways a couple of days later. After looking inside for problems, we realized
that we did not put our best effort into studying the Fa. Only the Fa can
destroy all the evils and awaken the former practitioners' true nature. When we
talked to them, we simply offered our advice and hoped they could treasure the
cultivation opportunity. But some of them did not appreciate our intention, and
their attitude disappointed us. We forgot to improve our own xinxing
during these unpleasant encounters. Now we realized that we had wasted precious
time. We hope other practitioners might learn from our experiences. The best way
to bring them back to Dafa is to study the Fa together, stay with them for a
while, and set up a regular Fa study group. If the practitioners participate in
the group study, he or she can catch up with the rest of us. Master told us in Zhuan
Falun, "I am telling everyone that no matter how uncomfortable you are, you
must continue to attend this class. Once you walk into the classroom, all of
your symptoms will vanish and there will not be any danger. There is one point
to make to everyone: No matter how much you suffer from the 'illness,' I hope
that you will continue to come, because it is difficult to obtain the Fa." The Fa has many levels of meaning. At my current level I realized that today's
cultivation is different from other forms of personal cultivation in other
times. Group study is the path arranged by Master. In this cultivation
environment we can learn from each other and therefore improve rapidly. No
matter what difficulties we encounter, we can overcome them all. Group Study Rapidly Improves Everyone in the Group Group study has made a big impact on our improvement. We made many
breakthroughs together. A woman practitioner in her 50s fell behind in
cultivation. She had heart surgery. Two years ago she again began to suffer from
the heart symptoms. We started a study group at her house, during which no one
mentioned her heart condition. We simply did not make that an issue. All we did
was to study and invite her to look inside for problems. After repeated reading,
we all had a clear understanding of Master's words, "A practitioner
believes he should only focus on practicing, without paying attention to
obtaining gong." (Zhuan Falun) Every afternoon for a time we focused on reading Master's books and sending
righteous thoughts at the top of each hour. After several days she began to see
her own loopholes. She realized that her attachments to recognition, personal
interests, and showing off were pretty strong, and she had done something a Dafa
practitioner shouldn't have done. She also refused to listen to other
practitioners' advice. As a result, she came to a huge rock in the road. She now
realized her problem, saw clearly that her life has been extended, and she
should use all her remaining time to validate Dafa. She has no right to waste
any time on enjoying life. Now she is steadfast in doing the three things. The
woman is especially good at face-to-face truth clarification and became a major
local coordinator. Her story is a very good example to convince people of Dafa's
power. Her family members are especially impressed with Dafa's mighty power. Her
whole family began to get involved in offering people salvation. This success story made us realize that our past efforts to help
practitioners overcome illness karma had some drawbacks. In the past, when
practitioners suffer physical illness karma, we went to their house and sent
righteous thoughts. We also studied the Fa, but our purpose was clear: helping
the practitioners to overcome their illness. Everyone involved was helping the
practitioners, hoping they would recover soon. This was an example of strong
pursuit. We now realize that the more we pursue, the less it helps. We were, in
fact, hurting the practitioners. All of us missed an important point. When facing these problems, we initially considered them bad things, not
illusions created for our cultivation. It was time for all of us to improve our
understanding. If the person suffering from illness karma and the rest of us all
disregarded the symptoms and treated them as good things, if we could all view
them as no big deal, could the evil still bother us? But at the time we all
forgot the key point: everything was for our cultivation. Our old understanding
was to help practitioners overcome the physical symptoms. When their condition
did not improve, we talked about their loopholes and shortcomings behind their
back. Now we realized that this was not the right thing to do, and it only added
bad things for them. Finally, having exhausted all ways to help [we thought were
possible], we stopped seeing them, and felt helpless when the old forces took a
practitioner's life. How do we cultivate as a group when a practitioner is
facing illness karma? This has been an important issue that everyone should be
aware of. Group Study Can Break the Old Forces' Arrangements One particular event of the several success stories we have to report over
the past several years is a marvelous credit to the power of the Fa and ignoring
the old forces' arrangements. Several practitioners are related to each other but resented each other and
would not see eye to eye because of a business dispute. Certain ones eventually
stopped cultivation practice. Other practitioners tried to help them but got
involved in the conflict. During a group discussion, we realized that the old
forces had arranged this, making people have negative views of Dafa. We decided
to change that. But we simply could not talk to any one of the practitioners on
this subject. What could we do? The only approach was to study the Fa together.
We organized two separate study groups that involved these practitioners and
studied Master's lectures, one by one. We made no reference of their conflicts
during discussions. We merely encouraged everyone in the groups to look inside
to find his/her own problems. This experience made me realize that other
practitioners' behavior could serve as a mirror. Anything I found fault with in
others--pursuit of recognition and money, a competitive mentality, jealousy and
being overly sensitive--I also found in myself. Some of my shortcomings were
quite serious. Other practitioners involved in the group study also found their
own shortcomings and decided to relinquish them. Practitioners in conflict with others gradually improved their understanding
during Fa study. They realized they had not known how to look inside for
problems or how to treat conflicts as good things. They also realized they
should have abandoned the bad stuff and expressed their regret for missing many
good opportunities to improve. Witnessing their improved xinxing made us
feel great joy. We did not stop there but continued to study the Fa. We knew
clearly that they still have a long way to go. Only through persistent Fa study
can anyone really understand the issues. They realized gradually that they had
created many conflicts in the family and damaged Dafa's image. They vowed to
"mend the fence," starting with their own minds. These practitioners
have resumed their normal relationships. It took us nearly a year to achieve our objectives for bringing the family
back on track, and we learned much during the process. If we look at a problem
from the standpoint of Dafa disciples, we can instantly resolve the issue. But
if we look at things from a common person's perspective, we can never overcome
anything. Things don't happen in a vacuum; they were not only created for the
conflicting parties. Everyone can learn something from these troubles. Looking
back at our progress, we all feel amazed. Group Study Is a Path Arranged by Master The above incidents reveal to us several important points: (1) Practitioners who encounter barriers and problems, please join in a study
group. In a study group, your problems can be resolved. That is a path arranged
by our Master. If the group study environment is currently nonexistent, you can
start a three-person study group and meet three times a week. It can be as easy
as a casual visit to neighbors, meeting at a different home each day. At least
you can meet once a week. (2) Diligent practitioners should not forget about other practitioners who
are not fully engaged in doing the three things. You should help them to start a
group study. In each of the groups, a diligent practitioner should take the lead
for a while. Some not-so-diligent practitioners also study the Fa every day, but
they have not learned to look inside for problems. They are not seasoned enough
to reveal the true nature of an illusion. They did not know what attachments
they had. Oftentimes, they got tangled in specific details. After a long time,
they still cannot pass the test and gradually they lose their own confidence. We
must remind them to study the Fa and look inside for problems. We must tell them
to cultivate their heart. If their heart is rectified, everything else will be
rectified. Master told us in Zhuan Falun: "Everything within the
field of your dimension is dictated by the thoughts in your brain." Diligent practitioners should do extra work while doing the three things.
Master told us not to leave out any practitioner, because everyone of us can
potentially be in charge of a gigantic universe. It is of utmost importance that
we wake up every practitioner. Group study is a common thread to connect everyone. It has a very good effect
in our collective improvement. Before the 2008 Olympics, the authorities in some areas launched serious acts
of persecution against Dafa practitioners. In our area, we formed a common
understanding during group study: refuse to acknowledge the old forces'
arrangement; these are nothing but illusions; we will continue doing the three
things. Every day from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m., we gathered together and sent forth
the righteous thought. We were determined to eliminate all the evil beings that
used the Olympics to persecute practitioners. As a result of our effort, the
evildoers in our area did not dare to make any move against practitioners. They
even changed their Olympic torch relay route to bypass our county center. When
police officers visited some practitioners' homes, the practitioners were not
shy about telling them the truth. After their visits, the policemen all left
with smiles on their faces. One day a policeman went to visit a practitioner.
When the practitioner asked him to come in, the policeman politely declined.
"I just came to see if you have rented out your room yet," he said
with a smile. Through these incidents, we see the mighty power of group righteous thoughts.
Chinese version available at
http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2009/4/3/198225.html
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