Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:
- Welcome
- What’s Happening?
- Reciting Lunyu Over and Over Is Such a Joy
- When Human Notions Change, the Situation Changes
- We Should Practice the Exercises as Master Taught Them
- Thinking about "What is Cultivation?"
- The Demon Called "Excuse"
- My Understandings of "Immediate Retribution in This Lifetime"
- 1. Welcome
Welcome to the August 2009 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.
July was a grim reminder of the persecution which began Ten years ago and still continues, killing innocent men, women and children for their belief in the righteous way of life.
With Master's guidance, over the years we have helped clarify the truth and touched many hearts and changed the wrong notions and attitudes towards Dafa. But we should not be complacent and continue our efforts to eliminate the evil.
This issue has a compilation of experience-sharing Articles gleaned from Clearwisdom that always shine through because of their insights and fine quality of sharing. It is important to read the Clearwisdom, Pureinsight and other Dafa sites. We make an effort to select Articles from the Archives which people don’t go back to and are relevant even today. Contributions are welcome from practitioners.
Heshi! Hope, you like the selection of Articles and gain some new insights!
Note: "All the contents in this newsletter - except for quotations and excerpts of writings of the founder Mr. Li Hongzhi - are only ideas and experiences of practitioners and do not represent Falun Dafa in itself."
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- 2. What’s Happening?
Practitioners in Mumbai introduced Falun Dafa with an exercise demonstration to an institute for naturopathy and holistic healing.
Practitioners in the different cities commemorated July 20 with different activities. Please read the below posting on Clearwisdom.
http://clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2009/7/23/109402.html
Practitioners in Delhi are making arrangements to participate in the Delhi Book Fair.
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- 3. Reciting Lunyu Over and Over Is Such a Joy
By a practitioner from China
(Clearwisdom.net) I asked some fellow practitioners and myself,
"Which one of the Teacher's articles can you recite most fluently?"
The most common answer was "Lunyu."
(On Buddha Law) I then asked,
"Which one of the Teacher's articles do you think is the most difficult
to recite?" The most common answer was also, "Lunyu." Why? The reason is simple. We can recite Lunyu so
fluently that it becomes difficult for us to stay focused when reciting
it. Sometimes, we recite it while our imagination runs wild. Then is
it truly us reciting it? Only each individual can know his or her own
situation.
For practitioners who are imprisoned,
what they recite most often is Lunyu. Before I was arrested, I had memorized Teacher's
many articles and the first two lectures of Zhuan
Falun. I know that Lunyu
encompasses the meaning of the entire book Zhuan
Falun. However, to me, it
seemed like studying Lunyu was not as effective as studying Teacher's other
articles, so I didn't pay enough attention to learning Lunyu.
One night, about two months after I was
detained in a forced labor camp, I had a dream. In the dream, I picked
up a book at a bookstore. It was a book on music. There was a picture
in it, where a conductor was directing a very large band. When I took
another look at the picture, it came alive. It was like a TV screen
and I felt as if I was at a live concert.
It took some time before I understood
the meaning of the dream.
Sentient beings in different dimensions
at various levels have different ways and abilities of communicating
with one another. Beyond the dimension where we live, the environment
and the capabilities that the Fa created for other living beings change.
That's why the picture that I saw in my dream carried sounds, images,
and the live atmosphere within it.
Then what about the levels that are even
higher?
Teacher said in Zhuan
Falun, "When two great
enlightened people meet each other, they can understand everything with
a smile. This is due to soundless telepathy, and what is received is
in stereo sound. When they smile, their ideas are already communicated." (The Third Talk, Cosmic Language)
I came to realize that one smile covers
tons of changes in the firmament and thousands of years of history,
and the levels below them had experienced countless jie (hundreds
of millions of kalpa. Kalpa: a period lasting two billion years; here the
term is used as a number) and transformations. All of this was communicated
in that one smile. Those two enlightened beings' wisdom and abilities
are beyond the imagination of the sentient beings below their levels.
Teacher is spreading the Fa in ordinary
human society. It must be extremely difficult for Teacher to use the
language of human beings to explain such profound Fa principles that
even gods didn't know in the past.
"... it is very difficult to use
human language to express the high-level, profound principles of the
Fa." (from "Using at
Will")
As I understand, the difficulty is not
just for Teacher, but also for practitioners since the notions that
we accumulated during the past thousands of years are all barriers preventing
us from truly understanding the Fa principles.
For example, Teacher talked about the
universe in Lunyu. When I saw, read, or recited this word before,
I used to understand it based on my understandings of the universe.
However, my understandings included the concepts formed by modern science,
the feelings I gained from what I saw, and even the so-called "wisdom"
formed over the many years of my lives in the past. It is hard to recognize
this problem of using notions to understand the Fa since it has become
a habit. When I recited Lunyu before, I could do it without thinking. That
is because I used my notions to judge everything, including Lunyu.
I know Lunyu covers Zhuan
Falun
in its entirety, but I only understood this Fa principle at a very superficial
level.
I gradually came to realize what hard
work Teacher has done for us! Teacher is using human language to explain
the true situations of the cosmos. I started to have a totally different
feeling when reciting Lunyu. Teacher said in
Lunyu,
"BUDDHA
LAW can allow people to thoroughly
understand immeasurable, boundless worlds."
We have been shown everything, and now
it all depends on us. The degree of Truth we can see is directly related
to how many attachments we can get rid of. I thoroughly enjoyed reciting Lunyu
again and again. It even made my days in the forced labor camp less
difficult. Ever since I started to enjoy reciting Lunyu, I didn't seem to have so many troubles.
Modern science's degenerate notions
The first benefit from reciting Lunyu
was uncovering and eliminating from my mind the degenerate notions of
modern science. I am a computer engineer. Before I began cultivating Falun Dafa,
I liked to read books on science to keep up with the latest developments.
In fact, I became interested in cultivation from reading an experience-sharing
article by a practitioner who is a scientist. I knew I had a lot of
thought karma from my notions based on modern science. Every time scientists
attempted to smear the Fa, my thought karma would agree with them. I
made a feeble attempt to fight back and I was constantly on the defensive.
In
Lunyu, Teacher directly
talked about the essence of modern science,
"The ideas that guide today's science
are only able to confine its development and research to this material
world, as a subject won't be studied until it is known--it takes that
approach."
Basically, the notion that seeing comes
before believing is drenched in the pursuit of unlimited physical interests,
and completely opposes Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance, the principles
of the universe.
"Believing comes before seeing."
(Falun Buddha Fa - Lecture
at the Canada Fa Conference)
No sentient beings can see principles
and scenes above their own levels since they would already be in that
higher level if they were able to see the true manifestations at that
level. Only by believing in Teacher, believing in the Fa, setting higher
standards for ourselves according to the Fa principles, and getting
rid of the degenerate things, can we move up and see greater truths.
Viewed from this perspective, the directions given by modern science
are fundamentally wrong.
Reciting Lunyu, I also came to realize the origin of modern
science, the history of aliens, and the relationship between the old
forces and other things.
"... as advanced as computers may
be, they can't compare to the human brain ..." (Lunyu)
I came to know that no sentient beings
can create other beings at their own levels, even a great enlightened
being that can create a universe with one thought. This is because the
wisdom and the abilities needed to freely create lives come from more
microscopic elements. Aliens wouldn't be able to create such advanced
modern science by themselves. Could an everyday person improve his or
her gong level by simply practicing some movements? Would the
aliens be able to break into other dimensions and acquire the ability
to control time and space by doing some scientific experiments while
opposing Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance? No. Without higher-level
beings' protection and involvement, aliens wouldn't have been able to
achieve that. They would have been eliminated long ago.
The technology developed from scientific
experiments that we use is an illusion similar to the "supernormal
abilities" gained through simply practicing some movements, or
wealth acquired through "hard efforts." They are actually
the results of the interactions among the microscopic elements shown
in this superficial dimension.
"During the long-drawn-out thousands
of years, how many people were not lost in illusion." (Zhuan
Falun, Volume II, provisional translation)
After digging out the root cause of my
thought karma, I started to send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate
it every day. In just a few days, those bad things were nearly eradicated
and could no longer affect me.
Dig out the origin of atheism
The second benefit was completely eradicating
the poison of atheism in my mind. I had been receiving education based
in atheism for many years. How much influence does atheism have? Actually,
many people gave in to the old forces or even "enlightened"
along an evil path because of deep-seated atheism. At critical times,
the notion of atheism broke their will. Atheism essentially denies human
nature, since our lives were granted by gods and came from pure compassion.
A denial of the existence of gods is a denial of one's origin and a
betrayal of our original good nature. I believe that the notion of atheism
comes from some high level degenerate beings. Unable to see, they don't
believe the existence of higher-level Fa principles, and thought what
they saw and owned were absolutely perfect and correct. They became
so arrogant. The manifestation of this notion in ordinary human society
is atheism. I came to realize that atheism also has its physical existence.
How many of these things are still residing in my dimensions? It's terrible
not to totally eradicate them. We need to hurry up to send forth righteous
thoughts to completely eliminate them.
Every day, I enjoyed studying and reciting Lunyu.
Every day, I had new understandings. The "pleasure" that I
got by assimilating my life to the Fa from inside out and from my origin
to my superficial body is beyond words. I think many fellow practitioners
can understand.
What prevents me from striving forward
diligently?
After some time, I found that I didn't
have new understandings no matter how much I recited Lunyu and studied the Fa. I couldn't keep up with my
previous state of quickly improving myself and striving forward diligently.
Before, when I had similar experiences, I thought it was normal because
I recognized that the part of me that had obtained the Fa was separated.
I could regain my spirit of striving forward if I kept studying the
Fa and practicing the exercises. I shared my experiences on this with
many fellow practitioners. Many of them had similar problems. We felt
helpless and we would act passively when we got stuck in this kind of
situation.
I finally felt I needed to think about
this issue more seriously. What is the thing that prevents me from striving
forward diligently?
"...'natural' does not exist ...
"
(Expounding on the Fa)
I started to calm down, keep my main
consciousness clear, and peacefully look inside. My main consciousness
quietly watched the whole situation. Then I found there was another
"me." When I studied the Fa, "he" was also studying
the Fa and he tried very hard to find higher and newer understandings
from the Fa. However, where is the true "Me?" Rendering a
judgment based on the Fa, I realized that the Fa created all the elements
and all the microscopic particles at different levels of my life. What
else do I need from the Fa? No matter, which level I enlightened to,
or how much wisdom or how many abilities I acquired, viewed from a higher
level, I am still "...just like grains of sand, and they're granular
and in motion ..." (Zhuan
Falun, The Second Talk, About the Third Eye)
Where am "I"? Didn't the Fa
create everything of mine?
"The space of the universe is inherently
good, and its nature is to be True, Good, and Endure, and when a person
is born he has the same nature as the universe."
(Zhuan
Falun, The First Talk, Truly Guiding People Up to High
Levels)
The true me, is one body with the Fa
and doesn't pursue what I think I need from the Fa.
The Fa enabled my main consciousness
to uncover this attachment. When reciting Lunyu again, I completely threw myself into it. Like
a wood chip dropped into molten steel, I gave my whole self, whether
it was righteous or unrighteous and whether it was from my nature or
from what I learned later, to the Fa, without holding anything back
and without any pursuit. At that moment, I felt how happy one could
be when truly "assimilating to the Fa!" Later, when sending
forth righteous thoughts, I no longer tried to concentrate on reciting
the Fa-rectification verses that Teacher gave us. Instead, I felt myself
transforming into those verses, "The Fa rectifies the cosmos, the
Evil is completely eliminated." My righteous thoughts were countless
and boundless, covering the whole firmament, encompassing all of it
and leaving out nothing.
I have undergone so many huge changes
by learning the Fa!
I could feel huge changes every day.
When I looked back to the past, I could hardly recognize myself. It
was as if I had started a new life, yet the huge changes happened in
just one month. I couldn't help but sigh, "I have experienced so
many huge changes by learning the Fa!"
In my past Fa study, I had known that
all the things that we saw through our eyes are false illusions. Then
what are the true situations?
"...when your Third Eye is open
you can magnify things to look at them ..."
(Zhuan
Falun, "Why Doing Cultivation Exercises Doesn't
Increase Gong")
For example, a malicious person in this
dimension might be an evil rotten ghost when seen with our Third Eye,
while actually in a more microscopic dimension there was a higher level
being controlling the ghost. The higher level the Third Eye is, the
more "true situations" can be seen. Then how do we deal with
the following issues? First, What if my Third Eye sees nothing? Secondly,
even if we can see through our Third Eye, who's to say that what we
see is the true situation? The great gods in the old forces have many
supernormal abilities. They can see and manipulate things below their
levels, but do they see the true situations?
Teacher has told us to view all problems
with righteous thoughts.
"Everything in the cosmos is created
by the cosmos's Fa-principle of Zhen, Shan, Ren. All matter and every
factor of a living being are brought into being by the characteristic
Zhen, Shan, Ren."
(Falun
Buddha Fa, Lecture on the Fa at the U.S. Midwest Conference)
What are the true manifestations of what
we see in front of us, what we feel, or don't feel? Aren't they simply
Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance? Though Teacher didn't carve these
three words into our eyes, if we can truly render judgments based on
these three words, wouldn't we be able to see the true situations of
everything? And that is the most righteous of the "righteous thoughts!"
That winter, I was locked up in the coldest
cell in the forced labor camp because I refused to be brainwashed. Because
of long-term persecution, I was extremely weak and had a very painful
stomachache. One day, the temperature suddenly dropped. Cold winds combined
with unbearable pain made me feel miserable beyond belief. But when
I calmed down and viewed the situation with righteous thoughts, I came
to realize that no matter how hard the environment appeared to be, nothing
could go beyond the control of Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance.
Indeed, anything that goes against the
characteristic of Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance will ruin itself
since all lives and materials, and their wisdom and abilities, are composed
of microscopic particles brought into being by this characteristic.
Going against the principles of the universe is to ruin oneself. When
those malicious people smeared the Fa and Teacher, when those people
who didn't know the truth held hatred against the Fa, and when the old
degenerate high-level beings started the so-called "test"
of the Fa, they were betraying the Fa and were about to destroy themselves
since their lives were supported by the Fa. However, the Fa and Teacher
are still maintaining their lives, giving them one more chance. What
a great compassion! No human language or any words can describe the
immense benevolence!
I feel incomparably happy when I think
of this with righteous thoughts. Everything, including the bitter winter,
the scorching summer, the sunshine, green trees, good people, vicious
persons, even the prison cells and instruments used to torture Falun
Dafa practitioners are all simply stage props or roles in a play. Nothing
is separate from the Fa. To me, "Fa" is no longer those few
books. Instead, myself, the layers upon layers of elements around me,
all the matter everywhere, and the boundless and countless firmaments
that are beyond my imagination, are actually all particles of the Fa!
Looking at all these things, I was moved to tears.
"The truth is, BUDDHA
LAW is not limited to the little
portion in scriptures, which is only BUDDHA
LAW's initial-level Law. Instead,
there is nothing that BUDDHA LAW cannot explain--it thoroughly unravels all mysteries,
from those of particles and molecules to those of the universe, from
small things to great things. It is a different discourse at different
levels on the nature of the universe--to be True, Good, and Endure--at
different levels, what Daoists call 'the Dao,' or what Buddhists call
'the Law.'"
(Lunyu)
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- 4. When Human Notions Change, the Situation Changes
By Beilian
[PureInsight.org] Recently, I have seen some senior practitioners who did not make progress getting over their illness karma. Some had sickness karma manifestations for months, some for more than a year, and there were even some who lost their lives. I have some experience with this issue and would like to share it with everyone. I hope this will help those practitioners who are stuck with illness karma for a long time.
April is the peak time when people in this area get flu and coughs. Many people got this form of sickness karma and so did I. I coughed for a long time and my throat was very itchy. My cough was really bad, especially when I sent righteous thoughts. Initially, I thought it was interference and I looked inside. I found that it was caused by overeating. I also realized that I was occupied with taking care of my mother (a Dafa practitioner), who'd been very sick, and did terribly in studying the Fa and clarifying the truth. The dark minions were using my attachments to persecute me. I sent righteous thoughts to eliminate them, and put in extra efforts to study the Fa and clarify the truth. I was very strict with myself. However, my health did not improve and I was coughing even more. My voice changed and I could barely catch my breath. During this time, I repeatedly thought, "What's the matter with me? I sent righteous thoughts and looked inside, how come I am still like this?" Later I thought, "Whatever, I need to totally give up my attachments and do well in the three things Teacher asks us to do." The cough continued.
One night I was lying in bed and couldn't fall asleep. I kept on thinking and all of a sudden something shook my mind and I enlightened to a principle: I have to change my thoughts. Teacher has told us that good and bad emerges from one thought. The difference in one thought is the difference between a human and godly state. Though I looked inward and sent righteous thoughts, the truth was that I still had pursuits. I did not clear my mind to study the Fa and send righteous thoughts. I did not use my heart to clarify the truth. I acknowledged the old force's persecution without knowing it. Though I had said to myself that I would not acknowledge anything, in my mind I did not really let go of the attachment. Teacher says in Zhuan Falun, "We emphasize one point: If you cannot relinquish the attachment or concern for illness, we cannot do anything and will be unable to help you." The reason why I could not get over my illness karma for so long was because I did not change my human thoughts. I did not truly relinquish my attachment of wanting to stop coughing, "Having humanly fostered the evil demons, you allow them to capitalize on the loopholes in the Fa." (Essentials for Further Advancement) When I let go of my human thoughts, I really felt that I had jumped out of my human side on this issue. My throat cleared up right then and my cough was gone the next day. Later, whenever I had a slight coughing symptom, I immediately thought, "It's nothing. Nobody can persecute me." That instant the symptom was gone. My cough was totally gone after a while. When I gave up my attachment to coughing, I felt like I never had coughed before. Through this incident, I realized, "Only when I can jump out of human thoughts and human notions will I be able to walk out of the human side. Only when I give up human thoughts will Dafa reveal its divine power to me."
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- 5. We Should Practice the Exercises as Master Taught Them
By a new practitioner in China
(Clearwisdom.net) Over a year ago, I was fortunate to attain the Fa through the Internet. After I downloaded Master's exercise videos and the Dafa books, I started to follow the video to learn the exercises.
Because I did not know other practitioners, I studied the Fa and practiced the exercises by myself. It was inevitable that some of my exercise movements were wrong. When I first practiced the sitting meditation, I started with the half-lotus position. I was in such extreme pain that I even limped afterward. Later on I read an experience-sharing article on the Internet in which a practitioner mentioned the use of a "meditation cushion." I did not know what a meditation cushion was, so I used a pillow. This enabled to sit in the full-lotus position. While sitting in the double-lotus position, the ankle of my bottom leg exerted a great deal pressure on my upper leg, which caused a lot of pain, so I used thick pads of cloth to cover that ankle. With these modifications, I no longer felt the pain or numbness in my legs. Even though others mentioned how difficult the sitting meditation was and how painful and numb their legs were, I thought otherwise--I thought I did not have much karma. As a result, I developed the attachments to seeking comfort, complacency, and pride. I was unaware of the fact that I had developed self-induced demonic interference. There were times when I felt that I was not practicing the sitting meditation correctly, but I was able to feel my head nodding, the heavenly circuit moving, and my body uplifting, which are some of the phenomena experienced by some practitioners in their normal practice. I thought to myself, "If I were practicing in the wrong way, I would not feel the motion of the heavenly circuit." Later I came to realize that it was because benevolent Master saw that I could not find a practitioner to correct my movements, so he let me experience whatever I should experience to encourage me and then later arranged for someone to correct me.
This year I went to Hong Kong. When I tried to get a copy of the video "Fa Teaching Given to the Australian Practitioners," I got to know a Hong Kong Dafa practitioner. This practitioner kindly helped me get a copy of Master's Fa lectures. He also offered to correct my exercise movements. Here I want to express my deep gratitude to him! At that time, because I just showed my movements so that he could correct me, I did the meditation exercise in the standard full-lotus position and I did not tell him how I actually practiced the meditation at home.
Last week I read an experience sharing article about the sitting meditation. In the article a cultivator in another school of cultivation practice asked a Dafa practitioner how to do the sitting meditation in a full-lotus position. My attachment of complacency and showing-off surfaced, and I told the practitioner how I practiced sitting on a pillow and that I did not feel any pain or numbness. This practitioner soon responded to my email, indicating that I was not practicing the correct way. I immediately searched within myself, finding that I was indeed wrong. Practicing the exercises is a very serious matter, and I should do them correctly, the way Master taught us. Otherwise, what I practiced would not be Dafa. Has anyone ever seen Master sitting on a pillow practicing? I also put thick pads of cloth on my ankle. Was what I practiced a Falun Gong exercise? Trying to be clever about mitigating the pain almost ruined me! I feel fortunate that benevolent Master did not give up on me and arranged for a fellow practitioner to correct me. I can do nothing to repay my gratitude for Master's protection but to do the three things well.
For the past two evenings, I practiced the sitting meditation in a half-lotus position; the numbness and pain, which I had not had for a long time, appeared again. I endured and recited Master's words, "'When it's difficult to endure, you can endure it.'" (Zhuan Falun) I think that because of Master's boundless compassion he has accepted me into Dafa and it means that I will certainly be able to make it. Based on that thought, I went through the meditation in a half-lotus position. Now I will start to mediate in the full-lotus position, and I believe that I can certainly make it.
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- 6. Thinking about "What is Cultivation?"
By a practitioner in Changchun
City, Liaoning Province, China
(Clearwisdom.net) Often I heard fellow practitioners saying "I
did not study the Fa today" or "I at least study one chapter
every day" or "I have memorized the Fa xxx times" or
"I have persuaded xx number of people to quit the CCP." This
in itself is not wrong. It's the mentality, which suggests that studying
the Fa and clarifying the facts is cultivation and being diligent and
will reach consummation as a result.
However, if we don't cultivate our hearts
and do not assimilate to the Fa, what is the difference between this
and
"A monk or a nun tries hard to chant
the scriptures, and he or she regards a person's knowledge of scripture
as the means for reaching Consummation."( "What is Cultivation
Practice?" in Essentials for Further Advancement)
Why did some practitioners continue to
be persecuted, even though they have done the three things, or died
before they reached consummation. It's because some practitioners thought
doing the three things itself is cultivation. In fact, the purpose of
studying the Fa is cultivation - letting go of fame, self-interest and
sentimentality, desires and attachments. To send forth righteous thoughts
is to disintegrate the black hands of the old forces, the rotten minions
and the evil spirit of the communist Party and clarifying the facts
is for saving sentient beings. How much did we achieve than?
I have been to different areas and found
that many practitioners only study Zhuan Falun, individually
or in a group, not the new articles. Their excuse is that Teacher has
compressed everything into Zhuan Falun, which can guide us through
to higher levels; therefore, no need to repeatedly read Teacher's new
articles. Some of the elderly practitioners don't seem to understand
what cultivation is; some use the limited time we have for mundane things.
Not only do they take care of their adult children, but also their grandchildren
and even pay for the children's expenses with their own salary. They
think that to do more around the house and suffer more physical hardships
and pay more is compassion and that's cultivation. Real cultivation
is focused on the heart and following Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
Only if one improves one's xinxing is one a true cultivator.
Some female practitioners separated from
their husbands to avoid sexual relations. As a result, the husbands
have affairs. Teacher told us that it's not right to divorce as a result
of cultivation. Now that the husbands have extra marital affairs, these
practitioners became upset. What we are supposed to cultivate is our
heart. What we need to do is to take it lightly, not to abstain from
it completely. We cultivators carry with us energy, which can rectify
what is not correct. If we cannot restrain our partner, then we just
maintain the status. If you push him out, not only will you fail to
save him, but you also contribute to the down sliding of moral standards.
Are we contributing to our own tribulations?
Some practitioners at the production
sites fail to have a plan for themselves. As a result, with an increasing
demand for information materials, they had no time for Fa study and
the exercises. Then they became too attached to doing things. All our
attachments: showing off, jealousy, and competitiveness inadvertently
surfaced. Some failed to practice the cultivation of speech and neglected
safety issues. Some invited too many people to their homes, others go
to the homes of practitioners too often and spent hours chatting about
ordinary people's stuff, causing damage to Dafa and sometimes were taken
advantage of by the evil. The reason for these problems was that their
Fa study was superficial; they only pursued quantity, with no thorough
understanding of the Fa principles. Teacher said,
"Why do I tell you to study, read,
and memorize Zhuan Falun? To guide your cultivation! As to those who
only do the exercises but don't study the Fa, they are not disciples
of Dafa whatsoever. Only when you are studying the Fa and cultivating
your heart and mind in addition to the means of reaching Consummation--the
exercises, and truly changing yourself fundamentally while improving
your xinxing and elevating your level--can it be called true cultivation
practice." ("What is Cultivation Practice?" in Essentials
for Further Advancement)
In addition to our own cultivation, our
mission is to clarify the facts and save sentient beings. I found that
many people do not know what Falun Gong is. The CCP's slandering propaganda
and lies against Falun Dafa and practitioners is still in the minds
of sentient beings. How can they be saved?
How can we bring the truth to these sentient
beings? It's a very serious matter for cultivators. If we only focus
on the quantity and put them in any mailbox that will be a lot of waste.
Some mailboxes have not been used for a long time. Some received many,
but because they do not have a VCD or DVD, they throw these materials
away. In contrast, the gated buildings rarely received our materials.
That's because it is perceived to be unsafe to go into a gated building.
It's due to fear. As along as we have righteous thoughts, it should
be easy to have the door opened. We can even post CDs on the electric
gates. People will pick them up. In fact, it's even safer inside these
buildings. Righteous thoughts come from studying the Fa well.
When we are talking face to face with
people, we should try not to say, "We have a predestined relationship,"
as then they would think that we are a religion. Or "I am doing
this for you. I am saving you." People find this very weird. Some
people retorted, "You are saving me? Who is going to save you?
We could just talk as ordinary people." Most people are very critical
of the CCP, we can simply follow what they are talking about, and asked
if they have withdrawn from the CCP and what name they would like to
use. Don't tell them that you will do this on the net, which they may
be nervous about.
We can also give one or two examples,
such as the corruption of the party officials, and the miracle stone
found in Guizhou City. How people survived the earthquake in Sichuan
because they practice Falun Gong. The bottom line is, we need to make
them understand that Falun Dafa is good and to withdraw from the CCP.
Try not to talk too much. You may turn people off.
Truth clarification does not have to
be lengthy. We should be able to make everyone we talk to quit the CCP.
We are cultivators and we have energy. Whatever we want to do, our gong
will travel over to people's knowing side and they will position themselves.
If we have fear, are attached to doing things and consummation, we will
not be able to save these sentient beings. Our righteous thoughts came
from the Fa. We must study the Fa, again and again.
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- 7. The Demon Called "Excuse"
By practitioners from Mainland
China
Excuse is a very cunning demon, mostly
hiding in our mind, thoughts, ideas and careless words and deeds. If
we cannot capture and rid ourselves of it in every thought and idea,
it will cause havoc, losses and damage in validating Dafa and saving
sentient beings. The lessons which I experienced recently should be
seriously considered.
While sharing experiences with practitioner
"A," I said, "When I edited the characters in Dafa books,
I often missed typing the 'enter' key." Practitioner "A"
responded, "Me too." His answer made me relieved; it turned
out that I am not the only one making such mistakes. As a result, I
slackened when editing the characters. Even after I reviewed the document
three additional times, I continued to miss this error.
When sharing experiences with practitioner
"B," I said, "It seems to me that the more I cultivate,
the more attachments I have. Most attachments were immediately eliminated,
but I realize now I am not as pure as before. Practitioner "B"
responded, "Me too." His answer gave me something to fall
back on. I even mistakenly thought that this is a common state after
a period of cultivation, instead of considering this issue based on
Dafa. Because of this, I slacked off further.
While sharing experiences with practitioner
"C," I said, "I miss sending forth righteous thoughts
at midnight most times since I cannot wake up." Practitioner "C"
responded, "Me too." His answer made me feel steady and sure.
I even suspected that most practitioners did the same thing. This excuse
made me persist in my old ways and I did not think much more about the
issue. As a result, this caused a great delay in eliminating the evil
entirely.
From my experiences, it can be seen that
the attachment of "excuse" subtly caused major problems for
four cultivators and the work of Dafa. It caused us to become lazy and
irresponsible, not considering the whole body of practitioners and all
other sentient beings, and it resulted in our being selfish, relying
on others, hesitating, and giving up diligent progress.
Sometimes I really hoped to do better
in the things a Dafa practitioner should do during the Fa-rectification
period (1). However, I was blocked by all sorts of excuses. When I prepared
to write a letter to senior government officials to clarify truth about
Falun Gong, the demon Excuse said, "Forget about it. There are
many Dafa practitioners around senior officials in Beijing. It is not
your turn to do that." When I tried to rescue practitioners in
prison, Excuse said, "There are tens of thousands of practitioners
detained, is it possible for you to rescue them all?" When I planned
to write an indictment to sue the former head and his accomplice who
are responsible for persecuting Dafa, Excuse said, "When the critical
mass gets to that stage, everyone will write an indictment. Wait until
then."
Thus Excuse obstructed and hindered us
from saving sentient beings. What would happen if everyone accepts the
thought, "If I don't do it, someone else will; it makes no difference
whether I participate or not"? Because of this, we separated ourselves
from Dafa. The dark hands behind the attachment observe, "Look!
Dafa disciples are so selfish. How could they cultivate to selflessness
and righteous Enlightenment?"
Although we do not acknowledge the old
force's arrangements and trials, we really need to look inwards. Saving
sentient beings is such a sacred issue. What would happen if we always
depended on each other and Mainland disciples depended on disciples
outside China, and at the same time disciples outside China depended
on disciples inside China? Disciples detained would depend on disciples
outside of prison, while other disciples would depend on Teacher and
the cosmic plan. Because we're all depending on something outside of
ourselves, we would be persecuted endlessly by the evil, since it can
easily grasp our great weaknesses and constantly take advantage of us.
Teacher warned us in Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference:
"The evil takes advantage of
the slightest gap and glares menacingly at every single word and action
of yours. Whatever you're attached to, that's what the evil beings will
strengthen, and when your mind is off they will make you irrational."
(1) The three things Master Li asked
practitioners to do are to study the Fa (the teachings of Falun Dafa),
send forth righteous thoughts and clarify the truth of Falun Dafa and
the persecution to the world's people.
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- 8. My Understandings of "Immediate Retribution in This Lifetime"
(Clearwisdom.net) Recently I shared this understanding with a fellow
practitioner: "With the Fa-rectification having come to the present
stage and so many local practitioners having been seriously persecuted,
why aren't there many karmic retribution cases locally? Master told
us that karmic retribution cases would happen on a large scale. Why
haven't retributions happened on a large scale locally? We really have
to search inward."
After continuous discussion in recent
days, I developed a deep understanding of "immediate retribution
in this lifetime."
Ordinary people believe that, "when
it's time, all good and evil will be rewarded respectively." But
this is a warped principle. This belief actually contains aspects of
"having no alternative" and reflects someone who does not
fully believe. Human society is a realm of delusion. No matter whether
someone does good or bad things, most people are rewarded or receive
retribution in their next lives. Therefore, immediate feedback is impossible.
Moreover, during reincarnation, people's memories are purged of the
past. They have no idea about their previous lives, and cannot understand
the interconnection between their previous and current lives. Therefore,
people feel happy when they have good or smooth lives, and feel pain
when they have difficult lives. They may blame God and other people,
"God is not fair to me!" They really don't know everything
is karmic retribution. Under hopeless conditions, people loose their
belief in God, stop behaving well, and eventually destroy themselves.
Especially in China, the evil party uses so-called "atheism"
to destroy the morality of humankind. Without belief, people dare to
do all kinds of bad things. In such a way, the moral standards of human
society have quickly degenerated, and human beings are on the verge
of destruction. As practitioners, we realize that this is the arrangement
of the evil old forces due to their wanting to weed out sentient beings.
If a person could immediately receive
a reward after doing a good thing, or quickly receive karmic retribution
after doing a bad thing, he (or she) could easily experience the existence
of the heavenly rule, "good will be rewarded with good, and evil
with evil." Thus, people would not dare to be evil and accumulate
endless karma that they could not pay back. Because the universe has
deviated, people can no longer verify the existence of the heavenly
rule. People behave badly until they loose all their virtue, and then
they head for destruction. My personal understanding is that this is
one of the elements which caused the old universe to deviate.
The future universe will exist forever.
In my understanding, the rule of "good will be rewarded with good,
and evil with evil" will exist in the future. No matter if one
does good or bad, a person will receive returns in their current life.
Master taught us this in the Fa-rectification verse, "The Fa rectifies
heaven and earth, immediate retribution in this lifetime." (Essentials
for Further Advancement II)
In my personal understanding, Master
wants to rectify the deviated rule of "good will be rewarded with
good, and evil with evil" in human society.
As the Fa-rectification progresses, the
rule "good will be rewarded with good, and evil with evil"
is gradually starting to surface. For example:
- If people believe "Falun
Dafa is good" while facing dangerous situations, or when they are
very sick, and then they recite "Falun Dafa is good," "Truth,
Compassion, Tolerance is good," miracles will happen immediately.
- Quite a few ordinary people
receive immediate retribution after doing bad things to Dafa or Dafa
disciples.
However, many ordinary people, especially
those who persecute Dafa and Dafa disciples, have not received any retribution
yet, and they still behave badly. They often talk boastfully, saying
"Where is the retribution? I did a lot of things to persecute Dafa,
why haven't I received any evil returns?" Therefore, they intensify
their efforts to do more bad things. I have some understandings about
this situation as well:
Master said in Teaching the Fa at the
2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.,
"As I've said, everything that
happens today in the ordinary society is the result of Dafa disciples'
thoughts. Even though the old forces do exist, if you don't have those
thoughts they can't do anything."
In my personal understanding, the reason
for the situation is the result of Dafa disciples' righteous thoughts.
The objective of the old forces is to destroy sentient beings. When
they persecute Dafa, instead of rewarding them with evil right away,
the old forces arrange the retribution to come later during the Fa-rectification
of the human world.
If we send forth righteous thoughts with
the mindset of hatred, not only will our righteous thoughts not be effective,
but also the old forces will take advantage of our loopholes. The more
you hate, the less possible the evil doers will receive retribution.
Some fellow practitioners even think
that it is not good behavior to let evil people who persecute Dafa disciples
receive retribution. Their various understandings all come from misunderstanding
the Fa.
If all Dafa disciples could rise to a
higher level through understanding the Fa's principles, we could realize
that making those who persecute Dafa practitioners receive immediate
retribution is true compassion and salvation. We could also understand
that this thought reflects great virtue and the retribution should arrive
as early as possible. Every day exists for the needs of Fa-rectification
and for saving sentient beings. If those beings don't receive retribution
until Fa-rectification in the human world arrives, they will loose their
chance to survive. The only thing left for this kind of being is elimination.
It would definitely bring adverse effects on saving sentient beings.
Therefore, if all the practitioners in
an area could follow the progress of Fa-rectification, the karmic retributions
in the area should occur more often. In this way, ordinary people could
really see the rule, "good will be rewarded with good, and evil
with evil." Ordinary people could then see both the merciful and
the dignified sides of Dafa. Hence, they will respect Dafa and be saved.
Let us send pure and firm righteous thoughts
that all the people who persecute Dafa and Dafa disciples receive retribution
in this life. Let's save more people and sentient beings in order to
perfect and harmonize what Master wants.
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