Sixty-year-old Queenslander Falun Dafa practitioner Maria Meyer lives in a remote town named Dimbulah, meaning the long water-hole in the local aboriginal language. Having cultivated herself for 15 years, she sent greetings to the founder of Falun Dafa to wish him a happy Mid-Autumn Festival.
“I have to sincerely express my gratitude for Master, Teacher, Mr. Li Hongzhi for bringing this immensely valuable and soul stirring cultivation practice to the world!”
Maria’s town is 60 kilometers away from Mareeba, 76 kilometers away from Atherton, and 121 kilometers away from Cairns. Maria is the sole practitioner in her little town, but it didn’t shake her faith in cultivation.
“Since 2005, I have read, daily, Zhuan Falun or Master Li’s other lectures. This has been the only teaching that has taught me about the true meaning of life. It’s the difference between my former selfish, ego-driven life and a life guided by the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance, where selflessness and thinking of others is key,” she said.
A Life-Changing Note
One day in 2005, a teacher left Maria a note, telling her about free exercise classes being held in Mareeba that she might be interested in attending. Maria went to the classes twice and found them great. The practitioner who led the classes agreed to come to Dimbulah every Sunday to teach a group of local residents the Falun Dafa exercises. The practitioner did this diligently for almost a year before he moved to Sydney.
As Maria studied the book, she found herself experiencing changes every day. “I have found myself slowly and genuinely assimilating to these universal principles. The process, of identifying my own deeply hidden selfishness and how hard it is to break away from these habits, notions, and attachments that have become second nature, is truly a heart wrenching and equally a humbling process.
“The inner peace, joy, and contentment that I experienced after letting go of the need to prove a point, be combative, be jealous, envious, angry, or sad, and including all the other emotions and feelings that left me elated or deflated have slowly been balanced out. I have to say that these words cannot truly convey, to anyone reading this sharing, as to how profound and life changing this practice can be, until you yourself decide and have a desire to change from the inside to the outside,” she said.
Introducing Falun Dafa in her Community
Though she is the only practitioner in her rural township, Maria regularly participates in group study sessions in Mareeba. She also sets up a booth at community events to introduce Falun Dafa and expose the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of her faith in China.
Maria and a fellow practitioner established a new exercise site at a park that has a tourist information centre, an art centre, and a historic centre. This new site happened to be where Chinese and other tourists come to refresh themselves after a hot air balloon adventure. Maria and the other practitioner noticed that some of the Chinese tourists quietly observed them while others quickly walked past to avoid them.
“A group of young people came over to talk to us. One young boy explained that his mother practiced, but he didn’t. He tried to convince us that Master Li was collecting money from practitioners and accumulating wealth. I kindly pointed out to him that I had never met Master Li in person and had never sent him any money. I explained that we are taught to give up our attachment to fame, personal gain, and material wealth, and to take all this lightly,” Maria said.
Experiencing Miracles
Maria has had several miraculous experiences. She said that only people who have genuinely assimilated to Falun Dafa would understand the principles and wonders of cultivation.
“During a sitting meditation I experienced an energy zig-zagging horizontally across my body from the feet up to my head.
“One time I had to travel 121 kilometers to Cairns to service my car. The mechanic lifted the car up onto a hoist, and there on the back right-hand tire was a fist-sized, comet shaped hole. We were both shocked. Master had saved me from having an accident from a tire blowout.
“In the past we have had four occasions where wallabies would run into the sides of our car and cause thousands of dollars in damage. As I left home one morning I saw something moving fast towards my car. At that moment I knew I couldn’t stop to avoid the collision with this wallaby. As I glanced over I noticed an invisible force had grabbed the wallaby by the neck and held it long enough so that I could pass safely. Thank you Master Li!”
Deep Gratitude
Maria holds deep gratitude for Master for his protection over the past 15 years. “I will keep cultivating and improving as this is the only genuine way I know to repay Master for the immense selfless service he’s provided toward each cultivator and sentient being of this world,” she said.
“To the citizens of China, I want to express that the Falun Dafa practitioners around the world genuinely have your wellness and current [coronavirus] situation well in mind. For 20 years the practitioners in China have risked their lives and livelihoods to try and convey to you the genuineness of this Great Law (Dafa) of Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance. Dafa teaches us to become selfless and think of others before ourselves.”