Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:
- Welcome
- What’s Happening?
- Insights on Eliminating Secular Thoughts
- Through Strong Belief in Master, There Is No Obstacle We Cannot Overcome
- My Understanding of "Helping Fellow Practitioners by Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts"
- Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts for Extended Periods of Time
- Emotions
- Earnestly Studying the Fa
- 1. Welcome
Welcome to the January 2012 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.
Wish you a great 2012.We start another year and let us make a firm resolve to gain a better understanding of the Fa and be more steadfast in our cultivation.
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?
From Nov 14th to Nov 19th, Falun Dafa practitioners from Delhi and around areas introduced the practice at Guru Teg Bahadur International School, Kalayanpur (Dhariwal), District Gurdaspur, Punjab. More than 600 students, all staff members, Principal and Chairman learnt the practice. On all these 6 days, many staff members learnt the exercises in the morning before school started. Students were divided in two groups - junior (up to 5th class) & senior (6th to 10th class). Many students spoke about what they understand by Truthfulness, Compassion & Tolerance. Some students showed a lot of interest in the exercises. On the last day, one student spoke on how she was having pain in the leg and after doing the exercises, she did not have any pain. After the last session, the Principal thanked the practitioners for introducing the practice in the school. Principal also issued a letter appreciating the introduction of Falun Dafa in the school.
Falun Dafa practitioners from Delhi area set-up a stall at "Amity International School, Sector 43, Gurgaon" on Dec 17th during school's Winter Carnival function. Lots of students, parents and school staff visited the stall. Many people showed a lot of interest in the practice. Practitioners also had talks with school staff. A few days later, Falun Dafa introduction letter, books (Zhuan Falun & Falun Gong) and introduction DVD were handed to administrative staff, which were passed on to Principal office. We are following up with school authorities to get permission to introduce the practice to students and staff.
Practitioners from Hyderabad introduced the practice in Candid School, Mehdipatnam, Hyderabad. They also introduced the practice in Mt. Helicon School, Hyderabad.
Practitioners met the Commander and Registrar of Army Hospital and explained about the practice. They showed interest to introduce the practice after their activities in December 2011.
The Principal of Saorjini Nayudu Vanita degree college, which is inside the Exhibition premises, advised us to take the permission from the chairman to introduce to the hostel girls and then to the staff after their college day is over in a few days. They met the Principal, Polytechnic college for girls, who has asked us to start from 27th December.
The Principal, Hanuman Public school assured us to introduce the practice once she took the permission from the school management.
Practitioners from Bangalore participated on World Human Rights Day along with other Human Rights organizations. ‘Plum Blossoms in the snow’ film was screened which helped to Clarify the intensity and true nature of the persecution and moved many people.
An article on the persecution of Falun Dafa was contributed which was published by a leading Newspaper in Kerala.
Practitioners from Mumbai introduced Falun Dafa to three centers of the Dignity Foundation in Mumbai with follow up in one of the centers.
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- 3. Insights on Eliminating Secular Thoughts
By a Falun Gong practitioner in Liaoning Province, China
(Clearwisdom.net)
When I studied Essentials for Further Advancement
today, I noticed a passage. Teacher said,
"If these acquired notions become too strong, their role will
reverse by dictating a person's true thinking and behavior. At this point,
that person might still think that they are his own ideas. This is the case
for almost all contemporary people." ("For Whom do You Exist?"
in Essentials for Further Advancement)
Teacher said,
"[...] the entire cultivation process for a practitioner is one of
constantly giving up human attachments." ("Genuinely Guiding People
Toward High Levels" in Zhuan Falun)
It is my humble understanding that Teacher is lecturing on attachments from
different perspectives. Isn't cultivation about eliminating human notions? When
one forms a notion in everyday society, one has formed an attachment.
Looking back at my cultivation for the past decade, I feel the biggest
challenge for me has been to eliminate secular attachments. Every attachment is
difficult to eliminate. Take the competitive mentality as an example. For the
past several decades, I easily entered arguments for the sake of preventing
myself from being harmed, fighting for more benefits and being tough and strong.
Sometimes, I refused to even hear the word "no" when it was said to
me. I was unhappy when I heard different opinions. I was always in the right.
The competitive mentality has seriously compromised my personal cultivation and
improvement. More importantly, it has compromised the effect of my
truth-clarification efforts and preventing me from saving people. When people
have a slightly different opinion, my competitive mentality has the better of
me. Sometimes I would interrupt before they even finish professing their
opinions. In the end, I finally identified my competitive mentality. Teacher
told us that a cultivator must have a great mind of forbearance. If I am easily
excited by different opinions, am I qualified to be a cultivator? So I tried
hard to suppress the competitive mentality. I learned to tolerate different
opinions step by step.
However, this is not an attachment that can be removed in one or two tests.
Sometimes when I heard harsh words, I still was affected by them. My husband
often picked on me or shifted the responsibility of his mistakes to me. Why was
this happening? I searched inward and found that I might have tolerated things
on the surface, but have not removed my competitive mentality completely. My
space-dimension was not pure. I didn't have the forbearance at the level of a
cultivator. This must have been the reason why my husband treated me this way.
Perhaps it has been arranged for my husband to help me eliminate my competitive
mentality. Sometimes it was difficult to forbear. I knew how I should have
responded as a cultivator, but I couldn't help talking back as though it was the
only way to make me feel better.
Why is the competitive mentality so stubbornly planted in me? I searched and
searched inward and found that I had been soaked in the Chinese Communist
Party's (CCP) notion of strife. I believed that lacking the competitive
mentality was a sign of giving up on myself. Now that I am a cultivator, I
realize that this was wrong. Teacher said,
"If you compete and fight like an ordinary person, you are an ordinary
person. If you outdo him, you are even worse than that ordinary person."
("Transformation of Karma" in Zhuan Falun)
In my daily life, I must govern myself according to the standard of a
cultivator and rectify my speech and behavior based on the Fa. After many years
of cultivation, I stopped arguing with people when I hear harsh words or when my
family is spiteful. Sometimes I simply return a smile. Other times, I just don't
talk back. I will search inward and ask myself: "Why is he treating me like
this? Is there any human attachment that I should eliminate? I try to regard
conflicts as good opportunities to upgrade my xinxing. Many years had
passed before I made even a little progress eliminating the competitive
mentality. It goes to show the difficulty of eliminating human attachments. It
is indeed a serious matter.
Every day I prioritize my Fa study, persevere in sending forth righteous
thoughts and keep up clarifying the facts about Falun Gong. While clarifying the
facts and validating the Fa, I strive to eliminate my attachment to selfishness.
In the environment of China, I aim to eliminate my attachment to fear. In
October 2004, I moved to a different place with my husband. I wasn't able to get
in touch with local practitioners in that area, so I didn't do very well in the
truth-clarification work. I couldn't obtain Minghui Weekly either. I was
getting very anxious. So I had nothing to do but to study the Fa at home and
send forth righteous thoughts. I only clarified the facts occasionally. Then I
realized that I was selfish. As a Falun Gong practitioner in the Fa-rectification
period, I must validate the Fa and clarify the facts. I must not make excuses
for slacking off. I started to learn to use my computer at home. Soon I learned
to surf the Internet and visit Minghui.org. Reading fellow practitioners'
articles at Minghui.org, I decided to utilize my capabilities and create
truth-clarification materials in my home. I must not wait or depend on fellow
practitioners. As I explored more, I soon learned to create truth-clarification
materials! I felt better then.
Like many fellow practitioners, I learned what I needed to learn by exploring
technology on my own. I often felt as Teacher is protecting me with compassion.
When I ran into problems while creating truth-clarification materials, I could
feel Teacher hinting me in different ways, and was able to quickly solve
problems.
Because of my husband's work, we moved to a different area. This time we
lived in the factory residence in an industrial district. The factory compound
was our world. I had few opportunities to go out alone. I made less
truth-clarification materials. "Am I going to be trapped here? Am I a Falun
Gong practitioner if I stop clarifying the facts about Falun Gong?" I asked
myself. I began to look for opportunities to clarify the facts. At the factory,
I often got in contact with salespeople from different departments and truck
drivers. I decided that I should clarify the facts face to face and talk them
into quitting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). However, negative thoughts
surfaced when I wanted to clarify the facts to them. Fear, concerns and thoughts
to protect myself obstructed me from opening my mouth.
Teacher said,
"Dafa disciples are the sole hope of salvation for the beings in each
region and each nation." ("My Thanks to Sentient Beings Who Have
Sent Greetings")
Teacher has bestowed such great hope in us, but I failed Teacher's
expectation. Am I still a disciple? It is my mission to save people. Everyone I
meet is predestined. I have already met them. What am I afraid of? I reinforced
my righteous thoughts and rebelled against my human thoughts when I began to
clarify the facts about Falun Gong to my salespeople, truck drivers, people
seeking job opportunities and recycle collectors. I would chat first and change
the subject. Because of my environment and time, I would tell them to quit the
CCP first. Then I would tell them to remember "Falun Gong is good" and
"Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance is good." I found that most of
these people had never heard the truth about Falun Gong. Many of them thanked me
afterwards. With a good start, I built up my confidence. Gradually my confidence
rose. Fear was replaced with a strong motivation to save people. For the past
year, the majority of the people I have clarified the facts to have quit the CCP.
There are only a few individuals that have not accepted the truth or have not
made a decision. It is no longer a challenge for me to clarify the facts.
As I continue to cultivate, all kinds of attachments continue to surface. I
have many human attachments yet to eliminate. I know I will not be admitted to a
heavenly paradise if I should fail to eliminate all attachments. However, it is
excruciatingly painful to eliminate human thoughts. I must study the Fa more and
truly cultivate to eliminate human thoughts. While doing the three
things, I shall attain the standard for cultivators so that I won't let
Teacher down.
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- 4. Through Strong Belief in Master, There Is No Obstacle We Cannot Overcome
By a practitioner in China
(Clearwisdom.net)
The author of this article heard this story from a fellow practitioner about her recent experiences of a difficult time in her life. My intention is to share the experience with elder practitioners who are still experiencing "sickness" karma.
This is about a female practitioner around 60 years old. Soon after she became a practitioner in 1993, Master purified her body. Many illnesses she had suffered from prior to her cultivation disappeared, and she was very healthy. After 8:00 p.m. on May 7, 2009, without any warning, she felt dizzy and had a severe headache and pain in her temples. She said it felt like something was drilling into the top of her head. She could not open her eyes because she felt as if everything was turning whenever she opened them. She could not stand and almost fell down. Her family member immediately helped her to lay down on the sofa. She then had nausea and vomiting. She vomited and vomited until she finally threw up bitter water.
Her family members were very worried, especially her son and daughter-in-law, who are not practitioners. They wanted to take her to the hospital. She told them, as gently as she could, that they did not need to worry, they could go to bed, and she would be fine as soon as the dirty stuff was out of her body. Sure enough, by 10:30 p.m., all her symptoms disappeared after she threw up the bitter water. She sent forth righteous thoughts and participated in the 3:50 a.m. exercises. She then studied one lecture and did not miss anything.
The next morning, her son and daughter-in-law noticed that she was preparing breakfast. They were surprised and asked if she was really recovered and if she was really fine. They witnessed the miraculousness of Dafa themselves.
The practitioner told me that when the "sickness" karma appeared, her mind was very clear. Her first thought was that she was a Dafa practitioner, everything was arranged by Master, and Master was by her side. The old forces were not worthy of testing her, and she would not recognize the evil, old forces' arrangements. Whether she would stay or leave this earth would be determined by Master. There was Master and the Fa, and she would not have any problem. When she threw up, she remembered that Master said that everything a cultivator experienced, whether good or bad, was all good. She treated the so-called "sickness" as a good thing. She treated it as if her body was going through another complete purification.
Because she had that thought and strongly believed in Master and Fa, the evil held no sway over her. She walked through her tribulation very quickly and successfully. At present, she is making full use of her energy to clarify the truth, verify the Fa, and save sentient beings. If she had not enlightened to that at that time and had, instead, thought that "illness was illness" or wondered how she could have "gotten" the illness or tried to figure out how such a serious illness could have appeared so suddenly, maybe the illness would have lasted a long time. Maybe other things might have happened. There could have been unimaginable results.
"Good or evil comes from a person's spontaneous thought, and the thought at that moment can bring about different consequences." "If you ask for an illness, it will come inside your body." ()
Through this, I was also inspired and pushed myself to improve. No matter what a cultivator encounters, he or she should not forget that he or she is a Dafa practitioner and that Master is by a practitioner's side at all times. If you strongly believe in Master and Fa and keep strong righteous thoughts, the evil forces will not be able to persecute you, and there will be no obstacle you cannot overcome. Later, that practitioner looked inward and found many attachments and eliminated them.
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- 5. My Understanding of "Helping Fellow Practitioners by Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts"
By a practitioner from China
(Clearwisdom.net)
A practitioner in Weifang City passed away
due to sickness karma. Some fellow practitioners believed it was
because that practitioner didn't have enough righteous thoughts,
since they had already helped him with sending forth righteous
thoughts and exchanged experiences based on their understanding of
the . Other practitioners believe that it is because the
whole body didn't coordinate well. They didn't continuously send
forth righteous thoughts for him, and then added bad things onto
him by assuming he lacked righteous thoughts.
Master has clearly talked about sickness karma, especially in
the article "Sickness Karma" in Essentials for Further
Advancement. In addition, Master has answered questions about
this issue many times in his lectures. Generation after generation,
we accumulated a lot of karma during our countless previous lives.
Master has helped us to get rid of a big part, leaving only a small
part for us to pay for. Master said in
(Lecture Two), "It is absolutely prohibited for you to not endure
some suffering." Before the persecution started, no matter who
suffered from sickness karma, everyone excitedly talked about his
or her experience of eliminating karma. Feeling that Master helped
eliminate a big part of karma, everyone felt very happy. Then why
do we become restless now while facing the situation of eliminating
sickness karma?
Right now, whenever a practitioner continuously experiences
sickness karma, fellow practitioners ask each other to send forth
righteous thoughts for him or her. This seems to be a common
phenomenon. In addition, practitioners write experience sharing
articles to tell others how sending forth righteous thoughts helped
fellow practitioners to pass through a sickness karma test.
It seems like sending forth righteous thoughts is an almighty
prescription. Sometimes, when a family member suffers a toothache,
or when someone faces difficult things, practitioners all send
forth righteous thoughts, rather than looking inside, as a
practitioner should do, to find where he or she didn't do well.
Experiencing sickness karma is only one aspect of eliminating
karma. Some practitioners realize that it is a test and
manage it well, while facing troubles in ordinary society. They
know to look inside, and nobody sends forth righteous thoughts for
them. So why do we hurry to send forth righteous thoughts when
faced with sickness karma? Isn't this also to pass a xinxing test?
Are we so attached to our bodies that the evil can take advantage
and take away that practitioner's body? Isn't everyone responsible
for that? If we didn't pay so much attention to his sickness karma,
he probably would quickly pass through it.
I also read a lot of experience sharing articles on this
subject. My understanding is as follows: If a practitioner can pass
a sickness karma test, it's not only because everyone sent forth
righteous thoughts for him or her, but also because, with
everyone's help, that practitioner reached a higher level in the
Fa. He or she passes it with sufficient righteous thoughts and
enlightenment. If we really hope that practitioners makes it
through sickness karma, we need to help him or her change their
concepts. Master said in Los Angeles,
"...you are not in any way beings of the Three Realms, and you
are no longer ordinary persons,"
"But how could a divine being have ordinary people administer
treatment on him? And how could ordinary people heal a divine
being's sickness?" ("Teaching the Fa in the City of Los Angeles,"
February 25, 2006)
When practitioners give up trying to pass sickness karma tests
by going to a hospital or using other ordinary methods, they give
up on trying to overcome the test and become ordinary people, at
least in this respect. The old forces are very likely to use this
excuse to persecute someone more severely.
Some practitioners are wondering why they face sickness karma
since they do the so well. Is this any different
from the person who suffered a stroke in Zhuan Falun? Some
practitioners only consider it as interference. I think this
thought itself is looking externally, rather than looking within.
Why do you encounter interference? Do you have any gaps?
Master said, "I am rooted in the universe. If anyone can harm
you, he or she would be able to harm me. Put simply, that person
would be able to harm this universe." (Lecture One, Zhuan
Falun) With Master's protection, who dares to harm Dafa
disciples? Who dares to interfere with us? Who dares to force bad
things onto us? Only when we have gaps, can those things happen. It
is our own problem in this final analysis.
Master said that whatever we encounter in cultivation are good
things. However, when practitioners think that it is a good thing
only if we pass through something, this contains a hidden meaning:
that it would be a bad thing if we didn't pass through it. I think
that thought is wrong, and means we do not believe in the Fa.
Believe in the Fa first, then you may enlighten. Without belief in
the Fa, how can you enlighten? Without enlightenment, how can we do
well? Nothing happens by accident. No matter what happens to us,
everything is for our cultivation and great virtue. If we pass
through them, we upgrade to a higher level. Otherwise, it is a
matter of looking within. If you don't want to become a Buddha,
Buddha cannot help you, and Master and his fashen cannot do
anything for you.
Master always directs us to practice cultivation until we
succeed and reach consummation. In "Dafa Disciples' Righteous
Thoughts are Powerful," "The Effect of Righteous Thoughts,"
"Righteous Thoughts," "Stop the Evil Acts with Righteous Thoughts"
and "Eliminate the Dark Minions With Righteous Thoughts," Master
has emphasized the important points of sending forth righteous
thoughts. I hope fellow practitioners can calm down to review
Master's articles mentioned above and move forward with righteous
thoughts.
"Stop letting the evil exploit gaps, and stop being interfered
with by human attachments." ("Eliminate the Dark Minions With
Righteous Thoughts," 2004) Fellow practitioners, let's firmly
remember Master's words.
At the same time, it is necessary to help fellow practitioners
by sending forth righteous thoughts. Even when practitioners do not
do well, we cannot accept the old forces' arrangement. However, we
should help fellow practitioners to study the Fa more, upgrade
within the Fa, look within and strengthen righteous thoughts. Only
by doing this, can they pass through any test and upgrade to a
higher level.
I hope fellow practitioners will kindly point out anything that
is improper in my understanding.
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- 6. Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts for Extended Periods of Time
By a practitioner from Hanzhong city, China
(Clearwisdom.net)
Many practitioners have not put much emphasis on sending forth righteous thoughts. As a result, they have failed to rectify themselves, which also causes interference to others. Today, I would like to share my experience of rectifying myself.
In addition to sending righteous thoughts at the four set times, I have also been sending forth righteous thoughts to rectify myself at other times in the day for the past two years. Initially, I did it to eliminate strong thought karma. I would spend one or two hours daily to eliminate the thought karma. The effect was good after doing it for over a month and the thought karma lessened. I continued to send righteous thoughts for extended periods of time to eliminate other attachments I still have.
The purpose of sending forth righteous thoughts is to rectify oneself and the universe that one represents, and rectify other areas of the universe. Some practitioners don't have a clear understanding of why we send righteous thoughts. They think that doing it can't eliminate attachments since they need to be eliminated through tribulations. Regarding sending righteous thoughts, Master said:
"When Dafa disciples send forth righteous thoughts, pure and righteous thoughts, to clean out the evil's persecution of them, that's allowed--the old Fa-principles include principles like that as well. This is the same idea as approaching cultivation with righteous thoughts, or as saving sentient beings with righteous thoughts." ("Touring North America to Teach the Fa")
In fact, sending forth righteous thoughts is as important as eliminating attachments through tribulations. The only difference is that sending righteous thoughts is actively eliminating demon nature that exists in oneself and externally. I would like to share my experiences in this regard.
To eliminate the bad factors from myself, I focused on eliminating and disintegrating the strongest thought karma or attachment immediately. Once when I sent righteous thoughts to eliminate the attachment of fear, I found that the tightness in my chest disappeared. In the past, I had a strong attachment of fear. When I distributed materials, I was always on the look out for the police. After sending forth righteous thoughts for 20 days, I was no longer fearful when I went out to distribute materials. Another example is eliminating the attachment to lust. I immediately eliminated this attachment when it surfaced until it completely disappeared.
Sometimes when the evil took advantage of my loopholes, I took it as a good opportunity to eliminate it. My gong had to search all over for them when I sent righteous thoughts. When our loopholes are taken advantage of by the old forces, we can't hide and use everyday people's methods to solve the issue. Instead, we need to calm down and disintegrate the evil. If we do this every time, can the evil still persecute us? At times when I feel that sending forth righteous thought wasn't effective, I would adjust my heart and immerse myself in the . Regardless of whether my righteous thought is targeted toward myself or the outside world, I need to look at it from the aspect of the whole universe. As a result, the effect would be good. Rectifying oneself is rectifying the whole universe.
Since I have been sending righteous thoughts like this, I do not fall asleep any more or have a difficult time keeping my palm erect during sending righteous thought. On the contrary, I can quickly enter into tranquility, and my palms feel like they are floating and don't feel tired no matter how long I take to send righteous thoughts.
I suggest to practitioners who have a difficult time keeping their palms up straight or fall asleep during sending forth righteous thoughts to find time and eliminate one's demon nature and attachments. For practitioners whose cultivation status isn't good, please send righteous thoughts more frequently because it is hard to study the Fa when in this state. If one's heart is not righteous when doing Dafa work, one will easily be taken advantage of by the old forces. Therefore, it is best to send forth righteous thoughts before this happens.
This is my personal understanding. Please point out anything that is inappropriate.
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- 7. Emotions
A Seattle Practitioner
(PureInsight.org)
"Strong emotions wreak havoc with our physical and emotional well-being and are able to cause mental illness," so the medical profession has warned us for years. Emotions cause strife, can lead to the break-up of relationships, are the reason for feuds and even wars. Emotion can provoke a person to commit murder.
Is this merely a phenomenon of our modern era, or have strong emotions influenced previous cultures' outlook on life and their inability to reach a spiritual realm in the past, also? There were undoubtedly some individuals, though, to whom emotions were merely a fleeting experience without exerting much influence, because they took them lightly, did not let themselves be overwhelmed by emotions.
Let us look at what Lao Tze had to say on the subject.
The Seed of Emotions
"Because of the six organs, people produce six consciousnesses; and because of the six consciousnesses they produce emotions. They hardly realize that emotions confuse them in regard to fundamental reality. Once fundamental reality is lost sight of, then emotions run wild. But the seed of all emotion is craving. Why is this? Because craving is at the root of emotions, if you don't crave anything, you don't want anything; if you don't want anything, how can you be attracted to anything? If you are not attracted to anything, you are not repulsed by anything; if you have neither attraction nor repulsion, what anger can there be? When there is no anger, fear does not occur; without fear, sadness disappears.
By this we know that craving is the root of emotion. If you try to control emotions forcibly without digging out the root, you control nothing but outgrowth. This is like a flood of water: if you try do dam it without stopping the source or clearing the flow, eventually you will be drowned. It is also like a blazing fire: if you try to beat it out without removing its fuel source or cutting off its path, you will merely increase the force of the flames, so that you will be threatened at every turn. It is also like the waves of the ocean, one following another endlessly.
Evoking emotions and feeling them, all occupy the mind, growing, according to circumstances. Only evolved people, knowing the seed, use the sword of wisdom with great aspiration and fierce determination to cut through the root and sprouts, excise undesirable syndromes, and prevent emotions from growing on them like parasites."
As this ancient sage has told us, emotions are a strong form of excitement. The word "emotion" itself has its roots in the French language, where it is translated as "to stir up." Li Hongzhi, a wise individual living in our present historical era, has mentioned "Seven Emotions and Six Desires" in his acclaimed book Zhuan Falun (Turning the Wheel of Law), and suggests strongly that people should abandon those, reaching that goal by taking emotions and desires lightly. These 13 bad habits, translated from the Chinese, are usually named thus: joy/ anger, jealousy, melancholy, fear, likes, dislikes and longing. (The 7 emotions). The six desires would be: lust, pleasant physical appearance/good features/complexion, good bearing/carriage, harmonious language and sounds, fine and smooth surroundings, a good mind.
When all these attributes human beings consider important are stripped away, what remains is an individual's pure heart, the true being. To reach that stage, to discern what is really important, takes much work and a clear head. What one realizes, then, is that all these cravings are of little importance, because the only thing that matters for one's future life, the life after this one on earth has ceased to exist, is the amount of virtue one was unintentionally able to accumulate, perhaps permitting one to go to a place that common language calls "heaven."
Anger is a particularly unpleasant presence in our society today. Why do people get angry? Someone suggested that anger happens when people don't get their way! Can anyone get more arrogant than that? People who display strong anger at the slightest provocation are no longer able to keep things in perspective. If those individuals realized the immensity of the universe, the tinyness of the planet earth in the firmaments and the virtual insignificance of a human being, they would not act in such a way. When emotions choke us, all reasoning goes out the window. Some individuals who had severe problems with their tempers and anger management problems have been completely cured of this bad habit after they began studying Falun Dafa, the most complete science, as explained in the text Zhuan Falun.
Emotional problems permeating 21st century societies are so rampant that people in several European countries as well as in the United States have established organizations such as "Emotions Anonymous," patterned after the twelve-step "Alcoholics Anonymous" organization. EA deals with emotions such as depression, anger, broken relationships, grief, anxiety, low self-esteem, panic, abnormal fear, resentment, jealousy, guilt, despair, tension, loneliness, obsessive negative thinking and boredom. The more technologically advanced we become, the more we seem to regress in positive human values. One American scientist in particular, Dr. Karl A. Menninger, stands out for his awareness of the connection between emotions and their manifestations in the human body, and had pointed to these findings as early as 1938.
Plastic surgery changes people's physical features on demand, but not their souls. In cases of accidental disfigurement, such surgery is warranted, but, more often than not, people submit to such procedures out of a strong desire for "skin-deep beauty." Is a beautiful mind not a better attribute? Psychiatrists see numerous patients whose severe problems have their roots in emotions. It is normal for anyone, even someone who has learned and genuinely practices the principles of Falun Dafa, to experience momentary twinges of mild emotions; that is human nature. What these cultivators of Falun Dafa have learned, though, is to largely ignore these feelings, to make their rational minds take over, to keep things in perspective and not dwell on or become overwhelmed by any emotion, which can become the path to hell.
Medical literature is full of accounts of people whose emotional problems are at the root of their myriad physical ailments. A few examples worth relating are of patients who had extreme, unreasonable and unfounded fears, which manifested themselves as elevated blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, sweats and inability to get a good night's rest. The emotion of lust has led many people, men and women alike, to promiscuity, resulting in sexually transmitted diseases and has broken up marriages in the process, leading to yet more emotional trauma. Jealousy and rage have prematurely aged people, caused them stomache aches and in extreme cases had led to murder. Overwhelming melancholy/ sadness has facilitated gastro-intestinal problems, either because of poor appetite, poor diet, or tremendous weight gain from overeating. These examples illustrate how emotions can cause real physical ailments that could have been avoided if emotions had been kept in check.
In his book Zhuan Falun, the author, Li Hongzhi, mentions, "people's illnesses are 70% psychological and 30% physiological." Considering these wise words from this great man, it is well worth to keep a check on one's emotions and treat them lightly, if not for one's immortal soul, at least for proper physical well-being. Doing so makes people healthier, more readily inclined to become good people, which they manifest by a willingness to help others to become better people or reach their potential.
To find much more good advice from Zhuan Falun, I highly recommend for anyone suffering from strong emotions to study that book. The countless benefits will be unimaginable.
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- 8. Earnestly Studying the Fa
By a Falun Dafa practitioner in Jiangsu, China
(Clearwisdom.net)
In the past, a situation occurred where I would doze off during study. When beginning to read the books, I would yawn continuously even though I maintained a kneeling position. At the time, I thought maybe I was just a little tired, and so just postponed Fa study and took a nap. However, this did not help and I continued to feel low and tired all day. I finally realized how serious this was. I realized that this idleness had already badly interfered with my Fa study. If I could not control myself, what kind of practitioner was I? After this understanding came about, I no longer experienced this kind of interference.
Other situations occurred, such as trying to get more reading done by reading at a very fast speed. However, after reading I could not remember what I had read or my mind wandered to other things while studying the Fa.
Teacher Li said,
"And when you are thinking things over, whether you use human notions or the righteous thoughts of a cultivator is going to determine the different results you get."("Teaching the Fa at the 2003 Atlanta Fa Conference")
Teacher also mentioned,
"If your thinking is the same as ordinary people's, then you will forever be an ordinary person and never be able to leave here. So, when you meet with ordeals, it is the perfect opportunity for you to improve. If you are able to look inside, that trying situation will become instead an opportunity, something to overcome and a chance to enter a new state." ("Fa Teaching at the 2008 New York Conference")
During Fa study and cultivation, practitioners should change their ordinary people's thoughts and reference the Fa to correct every thought. If a thought is not in keeping with the Fa, just get rid of it right away. This is the process of upgrading oneself in cultivation. I found that many of the thoughts and questions in my mind were a result of human notions and attachments. Incorrect understandings of the Fa and attachments that I still had not rid myself of, interfered with my Fa study and cultivation. Maintaining righteous thoughts and a pure heart are really significant for all practitioners.
I am a person who has a "short fuse", so I examine myself when something happens. Teacher Li said,
"Humans are formed amidst both Buddha-nature and demon-nature. When people are in unstable moods, have evil thoughts, or get impetuous, they are being driven by demon-nature. When people are in a very rational state and are doing things in a very kind and genial state of mind, they are being driven by their Buddha-nature." ("Teaching the Fa at the Conference in Houston")
Now, in the last stage of Fa-rectification, how could I be driven by demon-nature? Since practitioners are cultivating in this complicated ordinary society, a variety of attachments can interfere with our cultivation state and Fa study. If we maintain righteous thoughts, we can easily figure out these attachments. Following discovery of these attachments, we have the opportunity to get rid of them and upgrade our level.
Before studying the Fa, our Buddhist ancestors had to bathe and burn incense to show respect. They also had to adjust their own state by joining mind and body, and then they started to read. At this moment, they had a clear mind and strong master soul and any bad elements were eliminated. They could keep reading for hours while staying alert and calm. A kind of joy rises from the bottom of one's heart while studying the Fa in this way!
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