FALUN DAFA India Newsletter for January 2007

FALUN DAFA - INDIA
TRUTHFULNESS - COMPASSION - FORBEARANCE

Newsletter for January 2007.

Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:

Welcome
My Cultivation Experiences in India and the U.S.A.
Finding Balance
Clear Out the Notion of "Self" with Righteous Thoughts
Making the Right Choices Every Day
Completely Eliminate the Old Forces' Influence in Our Thinking
My Views on Chinese Medicine: The Human Body
Tolerance and Respect for Others"

1. Welcome: Welcome to the January 2007 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.

A Very Happy New Year!

We start another year and let us make a firm resolve to make the most of the Fa Master has gifted us.

We still haven�t realized the true worth of this wonderful gift that we are so fortunate to get in this lifetime. In order to show our gratitude to Master we must be steadfast in our cultivation and function as genuine Fa rectification disciples.

In this issue, we have an insight-sharing Article by an Indian practitioner and as usual we have a compilation of experience-sharing Articles culled from Clearwisdom and Pureinsight 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.

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. My Cultivation Experiences in India and the U.S.A. A Practitioner in Boston: I obtained the Fa in India in November 2000. A group of practitioners from the USA and Europe came down to India in the summer of 2000 and began spreading the Fa in the capital, New Delhi. One day I saw a photo in the newspaper of people practicing some exercises and there was an article titled "China's Banned Falun Gong is Here." This aroused my interest and I read the article a couple of times. There was another article in another newspaper which I read too. I wanted to find out more about this, so I went to visit another friend on her birthday. After the visit on the way out I remembered to check about Falun Gong and I went to the place where they were residing. I reached the place and I rang the bell. The door was opened by this little Chinese girl smiling and asking me to come in. I went in, introduced myself and she taught me the first exercise. She patiently answered all my questions and later she told me that there was another practitioner living there who had gone out and would be back later. I thanked her and left for my place.

The next day, I went back to the same place. This time the door was opened by another Chinese girl who smiled and invited me up. She went through the exercises with me. I had several questions which she answered. This continued for many days as I went there every day to learn more. I had already read the first book Falun Gong by then and soon we were reading the main book Zhuan Falun lecture by lecture. When I went home I would read more by myself as I was intrigued and the book seemed very interesting.

The book Zhuan Falun, though written in a simple and unique style made a deep impression on me. It seemed so real and relevant throughout. Although there were certain portions I could not understand, I had no problem accepting anything Teacher was saying in the book. Since I am from India, we do have some understanding what a Teacher, great enlightened person, guru or a Buddha means. I also had been in several practices before I obtained Dafa. At that time I was doing fairly well in a Buddhist practice for over a year. Before that I had been in another practice which focused on healing and fitness and I had gone through other practices, but the quest, thirst never ended as nothing seemed to hold me. There were many lines, phrases from Zhuan Falun which held me spellbound, some of them being:

Lecture 1:� "Cultivation depends on one's own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one's master."

I could relate to these lines then from my understanding of being totally responsible for one's actions. We cannot expect others to do everything for us and have to walk the path ourselves, step by step. Also I could easily see the importance of the role of the master in the whole process. Having deep reverence for the Master was already well ingrained in me.

Also in Lecture 1, on page 28, 29 where Teacher talks about Xinxing and Zhen-Shan-Ren, those lines had an impact on me because as a child I understood the importance of morality or character because our parents would talk about this with us. In school, sometimes I would think to myself, "This morality is really important, I really need to increase my morality as much as I can." I did not or could not translate these intense thoughts into action. The good intention was always there. Also from previous understandings, the fact of everything being interconnected and that there was life in everything was already there, but Teacher says it so clearly that I kept reading it again and again. I was so mesmerized. Teacher was revealing the way to ascend.

In Lecture 4, Upgrading Xinxing, Teacher talks about sentimentality. "Cultivation practice must take place through tribulations so as to test whether you can part with and care less about different kinds of human sentimentality and desires."
"If this sentimentality is not relinquished, you will be unable to practice cultivation. If you are free from this sentimentality, nobody can affect you."

The reason for this passage having an impact on me was due to my own sentimentality. People from India, I think are sentimental anyway. I saw myself in the passage. To transform from a sentimental state to a benevolent one was very striking. Teacher asks us to relinquish sentimentality. It was remarkable, a secret had been revealed in a straightforward manner.

Lecture 8:�Whoever Practices Cultivation Will Attain Gong. Teacher says, "The Main Spirit that we are mentioning here refers to our own minds. One should be aware of what one is thinking about or doing-that is your real self."

The understanding of awareness was already there, I also then understood it from "being a witness" witnessing ourselves and others. The sentence about the main consciousness is said with simplicity and I memorized it to recite in my mind.

In Lecture 9, People with Great Inborn Quality, Teacher says, "Cultivation practice itself is not difficult, and neither is upgrading one's level itself difficult. It is because they cannot give up the human mind that they call it difficult."

Teacher asks us to give up the human mind. One could cultivate but the obstacle standing in the way was my mind full of my own things. I was stopping myself from cultivating.

Towards the end of November it was decided to have the 9 day video lecture series. On the first day I had a unique experience. When the lecture started and I heard Teacher's voice I felt that my whole body was enveloped and flushed by some energy. By the second day I had to visit the toilet a few times since my system was being cleansed. I was surprised that how easily I had taken to Dafa and there seemed no regrets within to leave everything and embrace Dafa. I kept asking myself, "Why am I coming here every day?" It was the enormous power of Teacher and Dafa which held me. The two practitioners told me about 'predestined relationships' and 'good inborn quality'. I was also touched and moved by their simple, kind and righteous conduct. By now I had also drawn closer to one of the practitioners, Susie on a personal level. I then thought within, "maybe this is it, this is where I need to be and go now." I had arrived and was a practitioner of Falun Dafa. After staying in India for six months, the two practitioners Susie and Anna from Boston, left for the USA.

The next one year and four months passed by. I would go to Delhi at the practice site once a week on a Sunday and practice there with the other practitioners. I did not need an alarm clock to get up early in the morning on Sunday as I would wake up energized. I realized that Teacher's fashen was always there to help me. I was also regularly reading Zhuan Falun, as well as other lectures of Teacher and articles from the Clearwisdom and PureInsight websites. I maintained communication with Susie by email and by phone. Though she was far away in the USA, she always seemed close to me in my heart.

One day when I was coming back from group study at a practitioner's home, I walked to the bus stop which was on a very busy road. The width of the road was first wide and then narrow as I walked and I found myself in about the middle of the road. A bus was coming straight at me and to avoid it, I had to go more to the middle rather than the side of the road. I thought that it was going to hit me and I heard a few people scream as it passed by. I had escaped unhurt with not a scratch on my body. When I looked back at the episode I recollected that at the crucial time of the bus bearing down on me, I was calm inside. I realized that my life was being protected by Teacher.

Though I had been in several practices before I obtained Dafa, I could never sit in the double leg crossing position for long as it was very painful. When I was introduced to Dafa by the two practitioners from Boston, I started sitting in the position for the fifth exercise. In India, through Yoga, this is called Padmasana. In the beginning, I could not sit more than a couple of minutes, after a few days it became 15 minutes and then I struggled all the way to 30 minutes. I was not tranquil or calm during the ordeal. Later when Anna and Susie left for the USA, in the month of March 2001, I made up my mind to reach the one-hour barrier. I started increasing the time slowly 5 minutes every two days. At the 40 to 45 minute stage it became difficult to continue. It took a few days for me to break through this. When I reached 50 minutes, the pain was such that I thought my legs were going to break. The stiffness in the legs made me more uncomfortable than the pain. One day when I was trying very hard to reach the one hour mark, I had a thought, "What if something happens to my legs". Then I built up my resolve, and said to myself, "Well, Teacher is with me, and if these legs cannot bear up for the meditation, what use I have for them, let them break". I had broken through the one-hour barrier in the fifth exercise by the third week of April 2001.

In India, the cultivation environment is not the same as here in the USA and Canada. The practitioners are fewer, and sometimes I would feel that I was the only one around though there were a few of them in Delhi. I started developing a notion that perhaps I was more diligent than other practitioners and more serious than them in reading, sending forth righteous thoughts and in clarifying the truth. This caused some uneasiness among the others and I could sense it. I would find it difficult to consider myself as one of them and thought that I was better because I was more serious in the practice than they were. I failed to look within and kept looking at others. Once when practitioners from Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore got together at Hyderabad to meet, this part of my personality was more visible. One of the practitioners from Hyderabad in a group discussion once got very upset with me saying, "Tony, we know you read a lot, don't keep referring to the book". I was calm at his outburst and could actually be compassionate at his state. The other practitioners present there did not like his behavior and saw it more from my side, because I had the capacity to forbear. Looking back it was obvious to me that the outburst pointed out my show-off mentality and my acting better and superior than others.

In 2002, Susie decided to come to India and stay here for six months. Her trip here was for us both to make a decision about our future together besides her doing HongFa activities wherever possible. Every day we spent together was a unique one for me. To sum it up the entire six months she spent in India was for me a big test of my endurance with trials and tribulations in abundance along the way. Susie and I were married on 12/09/2002 in the court of the City Magistrate in Noida, India. My sisters attended the wedding from my family. I was fortunate that there were practitioners from India, Taiwan and Australia and a few of my close friends at the wedding. In the mid-nineties I had seen Susie's smiling face and laughter through my third eye or Tianmu. All this had proved true and it manifested in reality. Since we both had a predestined relationship, we had to meet in this manner. Falun Dafa and Teacher brought us together.

In the last week of December, we both went to the US embassy to file my papers for immigration. The interview went off smoothly with the immigration officer. I got my immigration visa after a period of three months. My family members were not happy to see me go, but inwardly I could tell they all wished well for me. I was getting on with my life. The evening of the flight arrived and I bid farewell to my family members, my parents, my sisters and my brother. It seems just like yesterday when I remember them standing there in the front porch of the house seeing me go, with tears in their eyes. After spending thirty nine years of my life in the country of my birth, India, I was about to begin the next part of the journey of my life in the USA.

Some of my Cultivation Experiences in the USA
I arrived in Boston, USA on the 1st of July, 2003. My wife, Susie had come to the airport to receive me with Anna. After getting over the initial shock of leaving my country and coming to another country where everything seemed different as if I was on another planet, I started participating immediately by accompanying other practitioners and standing on a float and doing exercises in the 4th July parade in Winslow, Maine. The first month and a half passed by and I tried to get used to the new environment as best as I could. There were many practitioners in the New England region and the cultivation environment was good, with practitioners getting together 2 to 3 times a week to read Fa together.

The first Falun Dafa Conference I attended was the 2003 Fa Hui in Washington, DC. There were over 5000 practitioners. I was happy and felt privileged to be in the midst of so many practitioners. In the conference, revered Teacher came and taught Fa to the practitioners. The whole conference hall seemed different when he walked in. I felt that we were all part of him and that I was like a little child being looked after by Teacher. I understood there that these conferences were not ordinary gatherings. They were totally supernormal and sacred.

I got a sales job in an electronics retail chain in the last week of August 2003. The next few months, I worked and tried my best to settle down in this country. My wife also had a full time job. In my job, I would try to clarify the truth to customers, Chinese or Western as and when it was appropriate. I would try to maintain a righteous state while working, though it was easy to get lost in the hustle and bustle of sales. I quickly found out that even though I was by no means an electronics expert, after a couple of months I had no problem in becoming good at the job. I did not have to exert much on the floor as sales would come to me. Every day at work, I would always try to be my best. In a job like mine when one deals with a lot of people every day the competitive mentality shows up easily and I recognize it all the time when it shows up, but I treat the job like a job even though I am a practitioner.

Once when I was clarifying the truth to a young Chinese man about the persecution in my store after I had helped him, I said a few strong words about the persecution and the evil vile nature of the CCP. There apparently was a communication gap and the customer was not pleased. He asked my name from the other associate on the way out and walked out. I shrugged the incident off. The next day when I walked in the store, my store manager informed me that I had been taken off the schedule and could not work till I had a meeting with the District Manager. The young Chinese man had complained to the corporate office in Fort Worth, Texas about me and so this action was taken against me. I got a jolt at this development. Though at the time I did not care whether I would be fired or not, I felt that this was very unjust and I had to clear myself. I spoke about this with other practitioners about this for their feedback and advice. After keeping me waiting for about a week, I was granted a meeting with the District Manager. The meeting was very cordial and he heard my side of the story. I denied the incorrect interpretations which the Chinese man had leveled against me. He also showed me a hand written letter full of fabricated lies and exaggerations against me that had come into the office. It looked like a woman's handwriting and I said that to him. I clarified the truth to the DM. I thought he believed me completely. He advised me to be more careful in the future and not get proactive on this while at work. He also made the correct observation that the persecution will continue till a new regime is there in China. This was in mid-2004 and the "Nine Commentaries" had not been published yet. The DM then spoke with the store manager while I was there. I was reinstated with immediate effect and with full pay for the hours I had lost while not at work. I realized there how powerful the effect was in clarifying the truth and the tremendous effect of the righteous support of fellow practitioners.

During the great Manhattan project in New York which to my mind had the effect of clarifying the truth to the entire world, one day when I was standing in New York on an assigned street to the practitioners from Boston, distributing flyers, brochures and talking to people, I received a call from a fellow practitioner. I answered the phone and the practitioner on the other end said, "Tony, have you heard about your father?" I asked him to repeat and I heard the same words again. I wondered why anyone from India would or could contact him about my father. I had a sudden thought that maybe my father had died or something had happened to him. It took me a couple of seconds to compose myself and I asked him again what had happened. There was a lot of noise around and then I heard him say, "Have you heard about your apartment?" I then understood what had happened because my wife had already received a call from the practitioner who stays on the third floor of the building where I live about the electrical fire caused and the damage to the bathroom. It was not serious and was under control. Ordinarily if someone had said something like this about any of my family members, before I had entered Dafa, I would be in deep shock for some time and would not even be able to react properly. My thought at that moment was something like, "Well, I am standing here clarifying the truth in this period of time, if he has gone, well, let me see how best I can handle this." I was being tested for sure. When I realized again that so much had been done for me by Teacher, a lot of my fears and anger within had been eliminated.

After being in a few practices before Dafa and practicing Dafa for about two and a half years before coming to the States, I thought that there were many attachments I had overcome along the way. This was not the case however as after I came here and became exposed to this culture and the new environment, many of my attachments came out and I failed a number of xinxing tests along the way. I understood a little bit why this happened after reading Teacher's lectures especially the Lecture from the Fa Hui in Singapore 1998 and the lecture from the more recent Fa Hui in Washington DC. Also I was not reading enough Fa everyday and not maintaining a righteous state of mind as much as possible. My uncultivated parts were coming out and being pushed out from the deep inside so I could temper and upgrade myself. The sad part was the inability to overcome some of these tests even though I was mostly in charge of my main consciousness. Whether it was competitive mentality, greed, lust, jealousy, laziness, looking at others and failing to look within, fame and self interest, show off mentality, not having as much consideration of other people as required, inability to struggle and endure, being complacent and not urgent enough and various other attachments, I could see them all dancing in front of me and sucking me in. I know that I am such a small pitiful person when I am not strict enough with myself and let myself get overcome with these filthy human attachments. This place, Earth is a dirty enough place anyway without me having to add karma to myself and not preserving my good things.

I am perhaps the only practitioner who wears a turban in North America, so this became a topic of discussion among practitioners and an issue for some practitioners. Even though I was born in a Sikh family, since I obtained Dafa, I have not read the Sikh scriptures or any other for that matter. I think that I am clear about 'Practicing Only One Cultivation Way'. I could visit a Sikh temple if I wanted, but I have never felt the desire or entered one since I came here in the States. Teacher has said in the book and in his lectures according to my understanding that in cultivation we only look at the person's heart and mind. I have been wearing the turban for over 22 years now and the smaller version of that, the patka, eight years before that. For a total of 30 years, I have been covering my hair and it has become a habit, a comfortable habit. Practitioners have said that people think that I am a Sikh when they see me in HongFa activities or practicing exercises. I don't think that it is a problem for it only symbolizes the diversity of Dafa where people from different faiths, backgrounds can practice. Practitioners have told me that there are things in the 'other dimensions' that I cannot see. I agree, I cannot see and I believe them too. For some time now, I had developed the thought that I am not making any progress in my cultivation and something needs to be done. On August 10, this year, I made a sudden decision, took a scissor and started cutting my hair. I called my wife over who remarked, "what are you doing, stop, let's go to a barber, he will do it properly." Not wanting to get distracted in any way, I kept cutting till it was short enough for the barber to finalize it. My wife and I then walked down the street and I received my first hair cut of my life. This was the first important step I took to overcome this deep rooted habit of mine. I remembered the issue of eating meat in Lecture 7, where in my understanding when Teacher talks of eating or not eating meat, the key is whether you can abandon the attachment. One can eat meat after one does not eat meat for some time and is unaffected. The same could be, I think for a piece of cloth like a turban, it may not matter whether I wear it or not, the key is whether I can abandon the attachment. I have tried to understand it from this principle. There is an inner resistance in taking it off, a feeling of nakedness when I would walk around without the turban. There is also admittedly the smugness within to be the only one with a turban and the desire to be unique and different. In time, I will take the next step.

Taking responsibility and assisting for this Fa conference was also a conscious effort on my part to try and improve and be more diligent. I reasoned it out, that to help out for an important event like a Fa Hui would require me to be a certain way and might enable me to push myself in a forward direction. I have also tried to step out and practice more outside in recent times so more people can learn about Dafa. Teacher has been most merciful all along and I have been given chance after chance to improve. After obtaining Dafa, I have never felt the need or urge to look elsewhere, such has been the enormous power of Teacher and Dafa. Since the year 2000, I have always tried to validate Dafa where ever possible. I can also say that my total and unconditional belief in Teacher and Dafa never diminished. I will strive to be diligent in doing the three things well and march forward. This is a solemn promise I make to myself and to all of you here.

Let us all walk this magnificent path together and fulfill our eternal promises.

[PureInsight.org] (New England Fahui 2006)

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3. Finding Balance A Boston Practitioner: Coming back from group study one night, a practitioner commented on why there still seem to be questions and discussions about having a local Fahui after it was brought up several times at the MIT and Wednesday group study. Couldn't practitioners just support it? Although practitioners are busy with the urgent task of supporting the gala and the �Nine Commentaries� which requires their full attention, isn't holding a Fahui beneficial to our cultivation environment and improvement of the one body? Practitioners have different priorities and responsibilities to consider.

I also didn't fully support my husband's effort when he had asked me to help with getting the articles out to be reviewed one night. It was past midnight after righteous thoughts and I was thinking about my comfort and sleep and complaining to him about refusing to let me use the computer earlier to help him. At that moment, my righteous thoughts were lacking. I took it as his responsibility and I was not willing to sacrifice a bit of sleep for the process of reviewing the articles. Later, when I thought about it, my behavior was not compassionate. If I am not willing to help him, my righteous thoughts also play a role in contributing to the success of the Fahui.� Because he is really doing things for others.

In fact, my husband would often encourage and remind me about the importance of joining and supporting the local truth clarification activities, while I was more concerned about working on my projects. He reminded me of the importance of completing the experience-sharing article as opposed to the household chores, which could be done later. My experience-sharing article seems far from validating the Fa, or that I am making diligent progress as I hear about in many other experience articles presented at a Fahui. Still, I thought I could use this as an opportunity to look inward on issues that I've been facing.

Over the past month I have been spending less time on projects and more and more time on doing household chores. My mind has been consumed by chaos and disorder at home and work.
My place has been infested with house moths and larvae nesting in rice bags and the food containers. During the World Transplant Congress, I became more alert that my cultivation state was not right when I found silverfish and spiders were crawling in my space. These are dirty things that might be interfering with me and also hiding in my corresponding dimension. A practitioner who stayed at our place also wanted to organize the containers on the shelves. It didn't seem that bad to me and I reminded her of her purpose of being here in Boston.

Although there were projects to be done, I set them aside since I didn't have urgent deadlines. Then the monthly Sunday group study came up. It was a precious opportunity to attend. Still I debated with thoughts such as maybe I can go half day and spend the other half on projects. Perhaps I could follow the Sunday schedule and read by myself. Or should I go if I can't concentrate on the reading? It felt like I couldn't absorb anything further. Then I changed my mindset and went anyway. The thought that each word I read and absorb into my mind is the Fa, I just have to expand my capacity. A couple of days before when I was reviewing the email notice to prepare for the reading materials to bring for the group study, I noticed that I had more missing articles than I had realized. This also points to a gap in my state of cultivation.

IDuring this time, more thoughts about work would come up whenever I was sending righteous thoughts or many thoughts would come up whenever I was reading. Usually, I would start Fa study right when I came home from work, rather than putting it off into the evening. There are times when I would be overcome by drowsiness while reading, so I would enlarge the text size from the computer to read. Sometimes it was difficult to finish the lecture or I would miss the global time of sending righteous thoughts. Practicing the exercises was not a daily routine that I have kept up either. In order to break from working on some projects, I would go to the Commons on the weekends to practice, or send righteous thoughts more on the hour while trying to keep up with the reading schedule.

On the way back home after the monthly group study at MIT, it seemed that I was not overcome by sleepiness and was able to concentrate more during the reading. In fact, the mental pressure that was on my head seemed to have subsided.

This also points to my state and cultivation environment. I feel as if I'm forever cleaning up and somehow my place is still not clean. In doing the house chores, I felt really burdened and resentful having to do everything. I felt half of my weekend was spent doing housework, when the important priority is to do the three things well. Nonetheless, I did not want to neglect the housework that had to done, as a practitioners' cultivation environment should be tidy and clean so that there's no place for the evil to hide. Looking at my surroundings and thinking about the chores I had to do seemed to be tiring in itself.

When I did the laundry, I used to leave it downstairs when it was done so that my husband could bring it upstairs on his way home from work during the evening. He thought that I was being disrespectful of him by leaving our things outside the apartment in the hallway downstairs. It was a load of heavy laundry and I thought I would leave it for him. I would also leave my big hiking bag downstairs in which I carry groceries for him to bring up. I thought he wouldn't mind helping me with the heavy load, but he would complain about it whenever I asked for help. His reasoning was that I should complete the task that I had started. I also refused to pick up the newspaper lying outside our apartment, which my husband didn't like. He thought I was treating our belongings casually and considered that as representative of how I treated him. I was stubborn and didn't like his giving me orders and insisting on my bringing the paper inside. He thought I was rather careless about leaving our laundry downstairs and interpreted it as my being disrespectful of him and his things.

Several times, I felt spasms or a clenching feeling through my heart or arms, or a sensation of tingling in my brain when I was carrying the heavy load of groceries on the way back. I realized that it was related to the resentment I had in my heart so I had to let go of the resentment and harboring ill thoughts. I tried to be more righteous about it, rather than become fearful of what might happen to me while I was experiencing this discomfort.

I gradually stopped expecting my husband to help with the laundry and the groceries. I would bring it inside when I came home from work rather than leaving it outside. Looking inward, it was my trying to avoid hardships by expecting him to do household chores. I felt it was unfair of him to expect me to do all the housework. He thought it was my duty and a woman's job. I would endlessly argue with him about picking up the M&M's and the dishes left on the table for me to clean up after we ate. I was thinking about my own self-interest and how burdensome it was to have to clean up after someone. I was not putting the Fa first but validating myself and treating it as an everyday person would in our relationship. It wasn't until a few years into our marriage that I understood in my heart after rereading this quote: "Human beings think it's a bad thing to experience hardships. But suffering hardships can reduce an ordinary person's karma and sins" in "Teaching the Fa in Canada, 2006." If I had to be the cleaning monk, then that's what I'll do to repay previous debts.

In fact, my tendency to argue and my anger became very pronounced. And he would remind me to be kind to him. I really felt as if my stubbornness and anger was like a mountain that I couldn't overcome. Later, I understood why I felt that way when reading about "the extreme microcosm at the material formed by what your mind is attached to, [you'd see that] they are mountains, huge mountains, made of hard, granite-like rock, and once they are formed there's simply no way for a human being to move them." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference")

We would disagree about some matter and I would go along with my anger and say sharp words that I would regret later. Sometimes, I would end up going upstairs to visit my neighbor practitioner when our argument got really heated. It seemed like no matter how much Fa study I did, I failed to be considerate of my husband and his point of view and treasure him as a fellow cultivator. I would argue with him in the process of trying to point out what I saw as his notions, thinking what I thought was right. In fact, I was validating myself and not taking the Fa as Teacher and did not hold myself to the requirements of the Fa and Zhen-Shan-Ren. There are definitely shortcomings in many areas for me to improve on.

I am still struggling with basic household chores in daily life as well as far from meeting the basic requirements of the Fa and lack a solid foundation on the path of cultivation. But I will continue to strive forward to cultivate my character, to behave like a cultivator, strengthen my determination and do the three things better.

[PureInsight.org] (New England Fahui 2006)

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4. Clear Out the Notion of "Self" with Righteous Thoughts By a Dafa practitioner in China: Because of our selfishness, we generate many thoughts, words and deeds to protect and defend ourselves. This is an expression of our notion of "self." Recently, while sharing experiences with fellow practitioners, I suddenly realized another form of our notion of "self:" being attached to our own views on everything.

During the course of studying the Fa and practicing cultivation, we practitioners elevate our minds and realms, and our perspectives on everything improve as well, becoming closer and closer to the truth. However, as we are still cultivating amidst everyday people, we still more or less have human mentalities. Thus, we are likely to hold fast to our own understanding, forming a notion or even an attachment. This new notion of "self" or attachment will hinder our continued improvement, yet it is hardly noticeable, and we may magnify it unwittingly. Consequently, a new attachment will develop and become another obstacle to our improvement in cultivation.

These notions of "self" manifest in such areas as forming opinions toward fellow practitioners, either good or bad; being attached to one's own way of doing things and turning a deaf ear to different opinions; being attached to one's understanding of the Fa at a certain level, or even regarding oneself as superb; feeling delighted and pleased with oneself, or demanding others to do this or that, etc.

We should keep our main consciousness strong, maintain righteous thoughts at all times and study the Fa diligently, so that our minds will always be pure and clear. Only when we continue to discover and eliminate our newly developed notions of "self" during Fa-rectification can we do well in the things we ought to do.

The above is my personal understanding. Please point out anything improper.

(Clearwisdom.net)

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5. Making the Right Choices Every Day By Dafa disciples in Switzerland: Practitioners in China are always facing life and death situations because the police are omnipresent. The pressure obliges them to go further and further in clarifying the truth. Their choices are limited: whether they walk or run, they must advance constantly, or else be taken to prison or to forced labour camps to be tortured and killed.

In Switzerland, I have a tendency to let myself go between Fa-rectification activities, to sleep more, to go out less for truth clarification, to take time to do the ordinary day-to-day things my precious ego likes to do.

When my thinking is based on the Fa, I perceive that in some ways it is more difficult to cultivate in the West than in China. We have nothing external to lead us on, but must rely on our own inner motivation.

If my thoughts are not righteous, forms of interference such as the desire for comfort, laziness, and procrastinating prevent me from advancing and these factors can easily damage my cultivation. That is why in my heart of hearts I'm agonized when I allow my attachments to comfort to fill up time that I could have used for making progress in the Fa-rectification.

Little by little I am making an effort to overcome this arrangement of the old forces, which makes use of the gaps I have not yet closed properly. I realize that I too am continually making far-reaching decisions, just like the Chinese practitioners who cannot take time out; the difference is that in China they have fewer choices, while I have too many. Perhaps that is what is most difficult about cultivating in the West at this historic time.

As Dafa disciples we must be very strict with ourselves. We always have the choice to forge ahead or take it easy; we have no one behind pushing us, but the evil is always there, waiting around the corner for the smallest sign of weakness to appear. As Dafa disciples, we must be very clearheaded and responsible with ourselves, and continually study Zhuan Falun and our Master's articles in order to be able to keep up with the current of Fa-rectification.

Thank you for reading this account we have shared with you and do not hesitate to comment if you disagree with the understanding it contains.

(Clearwisdom.net)

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6. Completely Eliminate the Old Forces' Influence in Our Thinking: Many times in Fa-lectures, Teacher has mentioned the old forces. We know based on Fa principles that the old forces are elements impeding Fa-rectification and meant to be eliminated during Fa-rectification. Then, what are the old forces?

In the past I always thought of the old forces as evil beings that did damage to Dafa who had nothing to do with me. Later through studying Teacher's new articles and reading fellow practitioners' experiences and understanding on Clearwisdom, I realized that the old forces are all the elements in the universe that, in their lengthy existence, have become warped and impure after they deviated from the Fa. Our Dafa disciples' own attachments and selfishness are also manifestations of the old forces. The old forces exist not only externally but also within our bad thoughts and notions. Therefore, our conduct and xinxing that are the expression of and motivated by our selfishness and attachments are very similar to the bad behavior of the old forces during Fa-rectification.

Take myself as an example, previously I thought that I had a pretty good understanding of the Fa and had enlightened to many Fa principles. I was very perceptive and keenly aware of fellow practitioners' attachments. However, quite often I was not very tolerant of others' attachments and even treated the practitioner with disdain. Teacher has told us repeatedly that we should look inward whenever we come across problems, but I stubbornly thought that I had insight into others' attachments because I understood the Fa well. Later I realized that this was actually a manifestation of my limited capacity to tolerate others. Recently I was shocked to find out that my attitude towards fellow practitioners was similar to the old forces' treatment of Dafa disciples.

In reality, the ability to discern others' attachments and problems is not indicative of one's attainment in cultivation, nor are the knowledge of and the ability to talk about many Fa principles. Those old forces can see clearly Dafa disciples' attachments and know many Fa principles. The key is one's attitude and actions upon seeing others' attachments, which is a reflection of one's xinxing level. The old forces' reaction is to nit-pick, castigate, and take pleasure in our misfortune with cruel indifference while being devoid of kindness. So long as their requirements have not been met, they could not care less if Dafa disciples were destroyed. This manifestation reflects exactly the disposition of their xinxing. Meanwhile, Teacher always deals with our attachments with patient and compassionate guidance, sincere words and earnest wishes, and treats our difficulties with understanding. When we don't do well, he feels sympathy for us while encouraging us to do better in the future. He also bears a great deal on our behalf.

Among fellow practitioners, the inability to tolerate each others' attachments, or underscoring others' attachments while disregarding their cultivated side, or discounting someone totally just because of his attachments, are all in reality manifestations of one's xinxing that is under the influence of the old forces.

In fact, we know that we Dafa disciples as a whole still have many attachments and omissions in our xinxing, and we have not done well enough in many respects. Teacher sees them clearly and has also pointed them out. But why did Teacher say time and again in many Fa-lectures that Dafa disciples were magnificent and remarkable, and affirmed repeatedly what we had done? It is my understanding that although we still have attachments, Teacher places more importance on our hearts, our determination to cultivate, the entirety of our lives' journey, and our courage to cultivate in Dafa firmly amidst tribulations. Also, Teacher makes allowances for the reality that it is impossible to let go of all the attachments that had been formed through the many lives in our numerous reincarnations overnight. Therefore, Teacher does not make demands but instead bears a great deal in order to give us enough time to cultivate. He treats the difficulties and pains in our trials and tribulations with understanding, and continuously teaches the Fa to us, in order to guide us through the problems in our cultivation, truly taking into account everything for our benefit from our perspective. Therefore, I think we should also treat our fellow practitioners with a compassionate, tolerant heart, using our kindness to understand each other.

All of the above xinxing problems I mentioned resulting from the influence of the old forces have manifested themselves in my cultivation and that of my fellow practitioners close by. I would like to expose them to enable all of us to see through them and recognize them as a part of the old forces' arrangement, so that they can no longer hide in Dafa disciples' bodies.

(Clearwisdom.net)

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7. My Views on Chinese Medicine: The Human Body Dr. Li Defu: Most of the cases in my practice responded to the miracle of traditional Chinese medical treatments, but not all of them. In fact, many of the hard-to-treat illnesses were related to one�s karma. How much karma one has accumulated in this and previous lives will decide how serious the illness is. As a medical doctor, although I clearly understand this relationship between the karma and the illness, I cannot tell others explicitly for it is very hard for me to explain and for others to accept. Therefore, I often recommend to my patients who have karma-related cases, that they read Zhuan Falun by Li Hongzhi, as he describes this concept well.

These days, morality is declining daily, and society is degenerating morally. Therefore, many strange illnesses emerge. Patients also want doctors who only treat surface symptoms and can make them feel better instantaneously. Even if the patient is deeply troubled by the serious illness, he still chooses the medicine that matches his taste, takes acupuncture only if this treatment doesn�t cause him any pain, and sets the appointment only when he is free to come. The patient does not realize that his life will be gone soon.

The people in ancient times said, �Treasure the life before, when it hasn�t been threatened; Cure the illness that is not yet an illness.� This proverb talks about the same principle as that mentioned in another old Chinese saying, �Do not dig the well only after you feel thirsty.�

Lao Zi said, �Latent trouble should be handled before it results in a big problem; the preventive measures should be taken before the disaster comes. The huge round tree comes from the little sprout; the high structure is built with basketful upon basketful of clay.�

People run around all the time making a living for themselves, and their energy is consumed in an effort to satisfy their various personal feelings and desires. Their health gets worse and their hair grows gray day by day. Only after suffering illnesses do they seek medical treatment everywhere to save their lives. It is a pity, isn�t it?

Lao Zi had a wonderful comment on this issue. He said: �As for the person who is self-possessed and has morality, his personality is as pure and soft as a baby. Poisonous insects do not bite him, vicious animals do not scratch him, and furious birds do not attack him. His bone and muscle are tender and flexible, however his grip is very firm. He can shout out loudly without having a rough voice, this is because he is very amiable and compassionate with others. The life essence and harmony are the foundations of a living being. The wise person understands this fundamental principle. Overly pursuing a comfortable life leads to disaster; being swayed by personal feelings under the control of personal desire results in stubbornness, which is opposite to gentleness and flexibility. All matter will head towards degeneration once it reaches a peak. If one willfully pursues the high without understanding this principle, he�s not conforming to the requirement of the �Tao.� He who does not conform to the requirement of the Tao will speed up his steps toward death.�

People always say that the universe is everlasting and unchanging. The reason why the universe is everlasting is that the universe is selfless, and it has never existed for itself alone. If people could consider others, not seek fame and personal benefit, avoid lust and not get attached to money, tastes for things, or jealousy, then how could these illnesses come about? Therefore, people should follow the principle of the universe, and take it as the moral standard.

In the cultivation story of Milerepa [1], he said, � � For the people who have the blessings, virtues and predestined goodness, the human body is a precious vessel that enables them to cross the river of death, reach the other side and be released from tribulations! For the people who do evil deeds and commit crimes, this human body is an abyss that lures out people�s bad desires.� In other words, wherever people are going to go all depends on how they steer their ships.

[1] Milerepa: the founder of the White Sect of Tibetan Buddhism.

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8. Tolerance and Respect for Others Written by Xiaolian, a practitioner in China: Tolerance is having a broad mind, a great capacity to accommodate everything, a profound wisdom to see through everything and an ineffable realm of righteous and virtuous enlightenment.

In the eyes of enlightened beings, tolerance is an instinct, a nature. If there were only one person living in this vast universe, their existence would be bland. Only together with all other beings, will a life experience the joy and meaning of its existence.

Although we still have a lot of attachments and human notions that have not been eliminated in cultivation, this cannot be used as an excuse to abandon ourselves to them. Dafa requires us to attain the righteous Enlightenment of selflessness and altruism, so we should be very strict with ourselves. As for our fellow practitioners, provided they are still cultivating, we should treat them as "fellow practitioners" no matter whether they cultivate well or not. We should respect others' opinions, treasure others and believe in others. This requires us to maintain our "one body" well together, especially when the environment is so complicated at this time.

The state of tolerance is attained through cultivation. It doesn't matter if others understand or not, but it is essential that we ourselves stick to the Fa. What every enlightened being has enlightened to is different from others, so it is impossible to get them to conform to each other. For example, in doing something, different people have different approaches. Thus the universe can be so rich and varied.

The mind of understanding, the heart of tolerance, and the realm of treasuring others are the direct reflection of our Xinxing (mind nature). Every cultivator should be responsible to himself and herself. What will we get if we don't want to tolerate and treasure others? Only if we do everything with such a tolerant heart and really treasure other people, will our own existence become meaningful. Only if we tolerate others, will we able to return to the forever-beautiful and forever-lasting new cosmos.

(Clearwisdom.net)

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