The average practitioners say that I am not a practitioner if I don’t show up to their local practice site or group Fa study. That view is actually against what is in the books and lectures. Here is the answer to that, and it is at the top of Lecture Three in Zhuan Falun (US Translation, 2000). If you truly practice cultivation through self-study, you are treated as a disciple of Falun Dafa. The groups can drag you down.

The group Fa study sessions are superfluous and a waste of time for practitioners who are diligent. At the group Fa study session, practitioners read one paragraph at a time, moving from one person to the next. It is too slow. By the time I showed up to a group Fa study session, I had already studied more that day than they did in the entire session. It mostly exists so that they can support each other in their diligence. But because you didn’t show up and become part of their group, they say you aren’t practicing. They don’t know what they’re talking about. On a related topic, the exercises are important and essential for beginners but, as stated in Essentials for Further Advancement, there are veteran practitioners like me who are in a different state and don’t need to do them.

If you are a true practitioner like me who studies diligently and follows the requirements, it is inconceivable that a fellow practitioner would refuse to answer you. Immediately you know they have nothing, they don’t count as practicing, and they know nothing significant about Falun Dafa. It shows how low their level is in the practice, how far away they are from the requirements. If you are truly practicing, you are happy to hear from any practitioner because that is potentially someone who can assist you in telling people about the persecution in China, for example. Why would you be so quick to throw away an instant ally? They really are quick to take me for granted when I show up and talk to them. We’re in the United States where there aren’t that many practitioners and, for example, at Epoch Times and NTD they aren’t thinking, “Here is someone who can help us on what we are doing, even in a small way.” They are thinking about how to compete with me in their minds. The answer is they are very close to non-practitioners and so they don’t value the appearance of a practitioner and their priorities are not where they should be.

The fact is, Epoch Times has made some serious mistakes getting into right-wing politics and it has to be said. But if you say it to them, they won’t accept the criticism. Then they don’t practice Falun Dafa for real. It’s that simple.