Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:
- Welcome
- What�s Happening?
- Base Our Thoughts and Actions on Fa Principles Instead of Human Emotions
- To Fellow Practitioners Who Habitually Neglect the Practice of Falun Gong Exercises -- Countless Lives Yearn for Falun Gong Exercises
- Beware of the Evil's Assault on Fa Study
- A Whole New World, A Brand-New Person - Giving up Ego and Melting into Dafa
- Inspiration from Studying "Clearheadedness"
- A Few Words on Gaining an Advantage in Cultivation and What Genuine Cultivation Is
- 1. Welcome
Welcome to the February 2009 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.
With the new President in the White House who is a harbinger of change, let us hope things will change for the better. It won�t be out of place to mention what Mahatma Gandhi said, �Be the change you want to see in the world�. Yes, if we want to see a change, the change has to start with us. But as cultivators, with whatever changes and upheavals going around us we need to stay steadfast and stable.
In this issue, we have 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 Hyderabad have a stall in a month long exhibition. Exercises are being demonstrated and taught. There are practitioners from other cities who have also been participating.
Practitioners in Mumbai have been busy doing the follow up on teaching the exercises after the workshop at Times Foundation. Also there are several enquiries coming from the suburbs and also from different cities in Gujarat.
Practitioners in Delhi for the first time did an coverage of the Dalai Lama�s talk for the NTDTV.
Practitioners in Bangalore are busy with schools and colleges and also working for an upcoming event coming up in February.
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- 3. Base Our Thoughts and Actions on Fa Principles Instead of Human Emotions
By a Falun Dafa practitioner
(Clearwisdom.net) Dafa practitioners view things according to Fa principles rather than their emotions.
An ordinary person does things based on his emotions, so there is love as well as hatred. When he considers someone to be a person good, he will like that person. When his viewpoint does not agree with someone else's, he will dislike that person. An ordinary person will even take their friends or relatives as his enemies just for a minor disagreement or point of view. This is the limitation of the human emotions for emotions are selfish. Love and hatred have the same root. Love is the happiness when one's emotions are satisfied, while hatred is the anger when one's emotions are not satisfied. So both love and hatred do not aim for the wellbeing of others. They are for satisfying one's emotions, so both are selfish.
When one views things according to Fa principles, one will not judge a person or matter according to his own likes and dislikes, instead he uses Fa principles to judge right or wrong. Only in this way can one truly treat others benevolently. A person is simply supposed to be righteous and kind, regardless of his relationship with others; in this way, he can be able to always treat others kindly and always act benevolently. Our Dafa practitioners should treat others even more kindly and be good to others no matter whether other people conform to our own idea or standard. Only when one views things according to Fa principles can one be truly good to others unconditionally. When one views things according to one's emotions, he will not be able to be truly good to others for one does it that way because he is happy. If he does not feel happy, he will not do it. So doing things based on one's emotions has preconditions. Because of this, cultivation requires one to give up human emotions and to restrict oneself according to Fa principles, so as to be truly good to others.
During clarifying the facts about the persecution, emotions can be a major stumbling block. When we hear other's viewpoints or suggestions, we often do not consider whether these suggestions comply with Fa principles, but instead we look to see if they comply with our own human notions. This is one reason why there is disharmony in cooperation among practitioners. When one piece of Dafa material is finished, we do not pay attention to whether others can understand it, instead we emphasize how we can show ourselves off and pursue the happy feeling of speaking out; thus the article cannot move the readers' hearts.
On the path of Fa-rectification, there exists no loopholes in one's cultivation if one always views things according to Fa principles and do things objectively and by strictly following Fa, since what we follow is the principle of the cosmos. The things that comply with the principle of the cosmos are the things that can essentially exist in the cosmos, as well as the things that all beings can acknowledge. What can prevent us from viewing things according to Fa are usually human emotions.
Abandon emotions and view things according to the Fa. While one is diligently learning the Fa and cultivating oneself, one will be constantly enlightened to high-level Fa principles, which can then be used to guide one's future actions. If we can keep having new understandings while continuing to do Dafa projects, we are actually walking steadily toward Fa-rectification in the human world. Our own attainment of Consummation is also within the process.
This is just my personal and limited understanding.
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- 4. To Fellow Practitioners Who Habitually Neglect the Practice of Falun Gong Exercises -- Countless Lives Yearn for Falun Gong Exercises
By a Dafa practitioner in China
(Clearwisdom.net) (Author's Note: The following is only meant for those fellow practitioners who habitually neglect to practice Falun Gong exercises, including those who feel they are too busy with Fa-rectification work to do the exercises.)
It has been over four years since Dafa practitioners in China were deprived of their group practice environment. During the four years of persecution against Falun Dafa, every Dafa practitioner has been walking his or her own path of cultivation in the Fa-rectification period. Needless to say, everyone has been studying the Fa voluntarily and persistently. However, there is a wide gap among Dafa practitioners in terms of practicing Dafa exercises of our own accord. Therefore I'd like to share my own understanding with those who habitually neglect to practice the Falun Gong exercises. My humble understandings are only for the purpose of exchanging cultivation notes on the subject. Please kindly point out anything that is in error.
I know a practitioner in my area who rarely practiced the standing exercises for the past five years. He occasionally practices the sitting meditation, and almost never practices the first four exercises except when he has some physical discomfort (or what the cultivation community calls "elimination of karma via pain"). I reminded him that practicing the exercises in pursuit of health was, strictly speaking, disrespectful to Dafa, and was not an appropriate behavior of a genuine Dafa practitioner. Now that we have lost the group practice environment in China that prompted us to practice the Falun Gong exercises daily, it becomes a challenge in our cultivation whether we can persist in practicing the exercises on a daily basis. I imagine that the old forces must have systematically arranged this situation to weed out some practitioners. It follows that, by persistently doing the exercises of our own accord, we are denying and eliminating the old forces' arrangement, as well as purging laziness in our own fields.
I think that one of the excuses that those practitioners who habitually neglect to practice the exercises may be, "As long as I keep studying the Fa and improving my understanding of the Fa, my body will naturally be transformed." True. The Fa is omnipotent. But I feel that such a mentality is a reflection of one's over-dependence on the Fa, as well as a lack of strong main consciousness to actively assimilate to the Fa. Though our practice is one in which the Fa cultivates practitioners, it still requires some physical exercises to strengthen supernormal abilities, to develop many living beings in the body, and to develop supernatural powers and skills. Teacher has clearly explained the importance of practicing the exercises in the first two paragraphs of "Characteristics of Falun Dafa" in Lecture One of Zhuan Falun. Moreover, it is unconscionable for a Dafa practitioner to take advantage of Dafa's omnipotence. It is a sly and impure scheme to expect to reap the harvest without any due effort.
Some practitioners thought that they had done enough group practicing in the early mornings prior to July 20, 1999, which should suffice to transform their bodies for consummation. They also tend to think that, since they are no longer cultivating in the personal cultivation period, they can relax the requirement of the practice of exercises. In my humble opinion, those who have this notion are trying to arrange their own cultivation path. Cultivation in Dafa is boundless. Before we reach consummation, we should meet everything that Dafa requires of practitioners. It is true that living among everyday people, arranging our daily affairs, clarifying the truth, sending forth righteous thoughts, and studying the Fa, together take a severe toll on our time. We never feel that there is enough time. A practitioner once asked me, "I only have one hour of free time today, which one do you think I should do? Doing the exercises or studying the Fa?" I told her stoutly, "Study the Fa!" We all know that studying the Fa should be our top priority. We have to make sure that we make time every day to study the Fa. On the days when I visit the farming villages to clarify the truth about Dafa and the persecution, I really don't have the time or place to study the Fa, but I will recite the Fa in bed before I fall asleep. I tell myself that I don't have any right to sleep unless I have studied the Fa. In fact, I cannot fall asleep if I don't finish the most important task of the day--studying the Fa.
As for doing the Falun Gong exercises, I continued to do the standing exercises in the morning and the sitting meditation at night every day for the first year since July 20, 1999. As I started to spend more time on sending forth righteous thoughts and clarifying the truth for the past several years, I would alternate between the standing exercises and the sitting meditation every day. But sometimes I would do all five exercises on the same day, and sometimes I couldn't even finish either one. Fortunately our school of practice is the most convenient. I can do the first exercise while making breakfast for the children, because the first, third and fourth exercises each takes no more than 10 minutes to finish. Besides, many practitioners in China no longer need the exercise music to measure the time or pace, which makes it very convenient to practice the exercises. In the evening I try to make time to do the second exercise and the sitting meditation.
Sometimes laziness got the better of me, and I would neglect practicing the exercises. It wasn't until last year, when I met a certain fellow practitioner that I resolved to refrain from laziness. Her actions truly made a great impact on me. She has a child that started to attend a high school very far from home, so she has to get up at 4:30 a.m. every day to prepare breakfast for her child. Consequently, she no longer has time in the early morning to practice the exercises. She told me that she was very troubled with her condition during that period of time. But she also recognized the fact that if she didn't practice the exercises in the morning, it was unlikely that she would have time to practice the exercises later in the day. Therefore, she made up her mind to resume practicing the exercises in the early morning. Since then she gets up at 3:30 a.m. to do the exercises before preparing breakfast. When she shared her story with me, I saw a large gap in cultivation states between us.
We should seize every day for our cultivation. As long as we keep reminding ourselves that we are Dafa practitioners, we shall not neglect to do the exercises. Please understand that I am not implying the exact amount of time that we should be spending on practicing the exercises every day through my story and my fellow practitioner's story. Next, allow me to share my experience during a time when I neglected doing the exercises for about 4 or 5 days. I hope my experience will help inspire my fellow practitioners to keep up the practice.
One night I was lying in bed, feeling very tired and ready to sleep, but I kept reminding myself that I had not practiced the exercises for several days. While I was half asleep and struggling in my mind about whether to get up, I finally conquered the elements that discouraged me from doing exercises by a thought from the bottom of my heart: "I want to practice the Falun Gong exercises!" The very moment I sent forth this thought, I saw that all the living beings, lined up in an orderly fashion inside my body, raised their heads and became very energized. I was shocked beyond words by what I saw. I felt that they had been yearning to practice the exercises, and I immediately felt that I was in debt to them. I chose "Countless Lives Yearn for Falun Gong Exercises" as the subtitle of this article, to tell every practitioner that the numerous lives in our bodies yearn so very much for us to find time to do the exercises. Besides, while holding the Fa wheel in the second exercise and standing firmly on the ground, I felt myself immensely magnificent in this and other dimensions.
Another reason I wrote this article is that I have noticed that some fellow practitioners who have more free time are also neglecting to practice the exercises. These practitioners do not practice the exercises when they have time and they do not take the exercises seriously. What a regrettable and inappropriate phenomenon this is at this critical moment in the Fa-rectification period. After all, we have come a long way to be where we are today. We shouldn't have any omissions in doing the exercises.
My fellow practitioners, we should not create additional burdens on Teacher any more. We should not push our own responsibilities or Fa-rectification tasks within our capabilities, onto Teacher. Since we are Dafa practitioners in the Fa-rectification period, we should do well in every area.
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- 5. Beware of the Evil's Assault on Fa Study
A Western Practitioner in Canada
(Clearwisdom.net) In my cultivation path I have witnessed the evil's attack. It is a systematic attack that can target the most veteran practitioners to the newest at any time. Recently, many practitioners have shared how they were attacked. Some had vicious attacks of sickness or crippling pain. Others battle laziness or bouts of anger and frustration. However, no matter how the evil tries to attack, I feel its mission is a focused and fundamental attack on the one thing it knows that can defeat it. Master has continued to tell us over and over again about the one and only way we can strengthen righteous thoughts and truly and fundamentally eliminate the evil. This is studying Zhuan Falun. I feel the systematic and fundamental mission of the evil is to keep us away from studying the Fa.
As new articles come out I sometimes feel ashamed when I see that Master has to tell us about our shortcomings several times in more that one article. It is because as one body we haven't learned the lesson that could be affecting the whole body and the Fa rectification. Still, Master continues to compassionately tell us what we have to do in order to improve.
In past articles Master usually didn't point out our mistakes more than twice, three times at most. However, since the beginning of my cultivation I have constantly read in almost every article Master telling us over and over again to study the Fa. "Study the Fa more." "You can't forget Fa study." "Don't neglect Fa study" "You must study the Fa a lot."
At this stage of Fa rectification our time is most precious, and in the blink of an eye the weeks continue to go by. I look around at my own environment and I see that I am so busy. I look back over the past year and ask myself, "Am I busier than I was last year? Do I have more Dafa work to do? Am I involved in more projects? Am I involved in more ideas? Do I have more fires to put out? Am I flooded with more emails to read and respond to?" The answer is "Yes."
I then ask myself, "Am I reading Zhuan Falun more than I was last year? Do I study the Fa more each day? Am I taking more time and more focus to study the Fa? Do I truly set aside more precious time to really study the Fa? The answer is definitely no.
I feel this is a blatant attack from the evil. It is similar to demonic interference in cultivation as stated in Zhuan Falun, where everything comes and tries to stop someone from practicing cultivation in order to keep his level down.
Some practitioners tell me how much they read Dafa websites. They read everyday for two hours. They then tell me they wish they had more time to read the book. Others say they try to find time to read but they are so busy with Dafa work. They tell me the reason they do so much Dafa work is because they can see immediate results from the things they create, which they can use to clarify the truth to people. They also wish they had more time to read the book. I feel it doesn't make a difference how much time we had. If we don't fundamentally change our thinking, we will never get around to reading more. There will always be more and more to do.
A practitioner shared her understanding with me. She feels that Zhuan Falun is the new cosmos. When we read Zhuan Falun we assimilate to the principles of the new cosmos, we become the new cosmos. The old forces have ruled the world for millions of years. We have all lived within the old forces for thousands of years and in this lifetime our consciousness has been dictated by the old forces ever since we were born. How can we possibly break through any of the old force arrangements if we ourselves don't fully assimilate to the new cosmos as much as we possibly can? When we read Zhuan Falun we are eliminating the attachments that keep us chained to the old forces.
In "Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.", Master says, "Of course, each one of our Dafa disciples says that we don't recognize the old forces' arrangements, but that's not something you just say--you have to follow the requirements of Dafa and the Fa-rectification. "I absolutely will not acknowledge any of those things you arranged in the past, old forces. I don't even acknowledge you." When your righteous thoughts are very strong you can purge it and you can reject their arrangements."
I used to read the book, looking to enlighten to new principles and deeper meanings. This in itself was not only a pursuit but was fundamentally off. In my understanding the desire to enlighten to deeper principles of the Fa won't fundamentally change my being. I take the example of the old forces. It is comprised of many extremely high level beings that have enlightened to high principles themselves. However, they continue to persecute and go against the Fa. Why is this? It is because their attachments to this undertaking have warped their very nature. When I search for principles I keep my focus away from the more fundamental plan of eliminating my own attachments. It is when I can truly find my omissions by reading the Fa and eliminate them through cultivation that I truly feel my levels raise within the new cosmos.
Master says that we can't be everyday people doing Dafa work. We must be Dafa disciples who do Dafa work. In my understanding it is because when we don't study the Fa we are using all the old force arrangements to dictate our every thought and every action. Of course we can't sit back and do nothing until we all reach the ultimate enlightenment state. This is not possible. However, Master tells us if we do what we are supposed to do, everything will be covered. In my understanding a big part of this is studying Zhuan Falun.
One night I sat down to study Zhuan Falun. I felt I had lost a lot of time in my Fa study over the months and it would take a lot to catch up. I had a restless feeling because I still had so many things to do. Some things I was excited about, others I didn't want to do but had too. I actually stood by my chair and stared at Zhuan Falun on my coffee table. I didn't pick it up. I felt as if there was some force keeping me away from sitting and reading. The restlessness, the excitement, my emails, my projects! I stopped and looked inside my head. At that moment I saw it. I recognized it and said to it, "You are so eliminated! I finally see you and your power is gone!" I then sat and started to study Zhuan Falun. It was a great and powerful reading experience.
After I finished I went upstairs to continue my work. My mind was clear and I felt focused and alert. I started to chop away at all my responsibilities. I found that all the things I had to get done got done faster when I read. If I don't read the stress, frustration and procrastination set in, and I find my ideas are messy and usually not within the Fa.
We all know this principle. The fact is Master has given us so many chances to upgrade our levels before this time is over. I feel we must finally put our Fa study first and foremost. We must listen to our Teacher and truly put the effort into studying Zhuan Falun. Only then will we be able to fundamentally destroy the evil and fundamentally clarify the truth. Without this we may miss this precious chance. We may look for salvation in doing more and more things. Our attachments will forever remain buried and we may crawl within the boundaries delimited by levels of our own ignorance.
"Your righteous thoughts and everything you accomplish come from the Fa, so no matter how busy you are, don't neglect Fa-study." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Philadelphia, U.S.A.")
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- 6. A Whole New World, A Brand-New Person - Giving up Ego and Melting into Dafa
(Clearwisdom.net)
In the last few days I have let go of an attachment that I have been clinging to for a long period of time. I have let go of my ego so as to view problems from a different perspective. There seems to be a window that has opened in my heart after having been shut for a long time through which I am breathing in wonderfully pure and fresh air. I have suddenly experienced a hard to describe beauty that Dafa brings to lives.
It turns out that everything Teacher gave us is so beautiful that it cannot be depicted and explained even by using the most beautiful languages of human beings. Yet my heart had been dirty, not thoroughly cleansed, it was not holy and pure, and not bright and crystal-clear enough to be worthy of enjoying what Teacher has given us. In many cases, I had been following a small number of the principles which I had learned from the boundless Great Law, while centering myself on my ego. This caused a separation between Dafa and myself.
Everything has been renewed and re-created but I had been still behaving in accord with the principles of the old cosmos. I have realized that on many occasions when doing something to validate the Fa, I didn't continuously purify my heart and do those things under the guidance of my profound awareness. I was doing it according to my postnatal mentality.
Looking back at the things I had previously done, in numerous instances I was doing those things with an attachment of pursuit. This was selfish and in consideration of only myself. I had been letting go for the purpose of letting go. I had been breaking for the purpose of breaking, thinking of others for the purpose of thinking of others, studying Dafa for the purpose of studying Dafa, sending forth righteous thoughts for the purpose of sending forth righteous thoughts on time, clarifying the truth for the purpose of clarifying the truth.
Everything I did was always for the purpose of accomplishing something. When I was able to, layer-by-layer, break through these spiritual shackles and restraints and truly begin letting go of them, I was then naturally satisfied by doing the things I should do. "Ego" didn't count, neither did doing things with pursuit. My personal purpose, gain and pursuit were all gone.
Now in facing any problem, I no longer stick to thinking how "I" should do it or why should I do it. I am able to first think of fellow practitioners and all of us as a whole and am therefore clear-minded and rationally able to do what a Dafa practitioner should without any human mentalities.
As a matter of fact, Teacher has given us everything. However, I didn't take them and made one mistake after another. I didn't really cherish what Teacher has given us, but only wanted to gain from Dafa. I asked myself, how firm and unshakable is my belief in Dafa? I had always had a bit of reservation and hesitation when it came to this question. Can I dedicate my whole heart to Dafa? Can I let go of the fear of death at any moment? If my belief in Dafa is firm and unshakable enough, how could I worry about the matter of life and death? If I really behave myself dauntlessly, would I still fear this or that?
Our respected Teacher told us in Lecture at the US East Coast Conference,"What I provide you with is not restriction, but a magnificent god." (unofficial translation) What really restrains us when rectifying the Fa is nothing but ourselves, not others or any other external factor.
Indeed, the mentality of "self" should not exist and everything must be melted into Dafa since this is the choice and gift of our respected Teacher. In this historical period of Fa-rectification, Dafa practitioners are lucky enough for the chance to realize their predestined relationships with our Teacher and Dafa. It is an opportunity of many lifetimes and is not meant for our personal cultivation and improvement. It is given to us, in the continuous process of purifying ourselves, to validate the great wisdom of our respected Teacher in His creation of the new cosmos.
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- 7. Inspiration from Studying "Clearheadedness"
(Clearwisdom.net) Lately there have been conflicts among Falun Gong practitioners in my area. The conflicts between several practitioners have even escalated and deterred them from doing the three things. The conflicts arose from trivial matters. In fact, they were only a matter of a verbal dispute. I was deeply inspired by Teacher's article "Clearheadedness" when I studied it the other day.
Teacher said,"While working, your tone of voice, your kindheartedness, and your reasoning can change a person�s heart, whereas commands never could! If others are not convinced deep down inside but only superficially comply, they will still conduct themselves according to their own will when no one is around to see them." ("Clearheadedness" from Essentials for Further Advancement) It occurred to me that our tone of voice, kindheartedness, and reasoning can change fellow practitioners' hearts, and they will accept our opinions and be willing to cooperate with us. But when we try to command, criticize, or complain about fellow practitioners, it is very difficult to change their hearts. On the contrary, it will only create conflicts and discord. Nowadays it is not common to see any practitioners order others about, but it is fairly common that practitioners criticize or complain about fellow practitioners, especially those who are married to each other. It may be our duty to point out fellow practitioners' problems in cultivation practice, but it is important to use the right approach. Teacher said, "your tone of voice, your kindheartedness, and your reasoning can change a person�s heart," but criticism and complaint will only achieve the opposite.
I would like to suggest that everyone check whether what we are about to say will come out as a criticism or a complaint and whether fellow practitioners will be able to accept what we are about to say before the words come out of our mouths. If only every practitioner would pay attention to his tone and communicate with kindheartedness and reasoning, I believe discord among practitioners would be greatly reduced and conflicts, should they arise, would be eliminated easily.
Communication is not a trivial matter. A lot of discord among practitioners arises from it. As to how we should communicate with fellow practitioners, Teacher has given us a very clear explanation in this article "Clearheadedness." It is high time that everyone revisit the article and enlighten to it.
My understanding is limited to my present cultivation level. Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
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- 8. A Few Words on Gaining an Advantage in Cultivation and What Genuine Cultivation Is
By a Dafa Practitioner
(Clearwisdom.net)
Thoughts of Gaining an Advantage
After one has studied the Fa for a long period of time, thoughts of gaining an advantage should not arise. No matter if the thought is regarding an advantage in daily life or cultivation such thoughts are caused by various selfish pursuits.
If you were told that when studying the Fa, the advantages that you desire are not available to you, and the only benefit you will receive is that you will really be a better person who must first work hard would you still want to cultivate? Cultivation of Dafa is not for gaining an advantage; it is for striving for righteousness and returning to one's original true self. Cultivating in hopes of obtaining an advantage in the future is not a pure thought, as there is no such thing as trading one thing for another in cultivation. Cultivation is the awakening of our inborn qualities, and we should cultivate in order to be a really good and righteous person.
Is It Genuine Cultivation?
Some people think that they are in cultivation of the Buddha Law, but what is the cultivation of the Buddha Law? Master Li told us in "Lunyu" of Zhuan Falun, "In order to explore this domain, humankind must fundamentally change its conventional thinking." Have we changed our human concepts? Do we really understand the Buddha Law? If we do not change our ordinary human concepts, we will have only our own understandings, as the Buddha Law is boundless. No matter what, we must continue to strive to advance diligently.
Some others think that cultivation is a type of insurance. Buddha saves sentient beings instead of just blessing and protecting them. If we cannot conform to the requirements, will that do? Teacher has said in "Solid Cultivation" of Hong Yin
"Study the Fa and obtain the Fa.
Share in learning and share in cultivating,
Following [the Fa] in everything.
Compliance is cultivation."
We must achieve this to be successful in cultivation. If we knew everything that is within the Fa, yet at the crucial moment we don't act according to Dafa's requirements, instead acting according to our various excuses, old habits, human emotions and notions, etc., then this is not cultivation. That would not be cultivation. That is only studying the principles and saying one thing while doing something else!
The above are my personal understandings. Please kindly correct any errors in my thinking.
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