Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:
- Welcome
- What�s Happening?
- Merciful Teacher Awakened Me
- Reflections on Life: �I have often deplored that my body is
not my own, when will I stop being consumed by self-interest?�
- Cultivating Oneself Well is also the Key to Saving Sentient Beings
- Reaching Consummation amidst the Fa
- The Evil Seizes Every Opportunity to Do Harm: Three Types of Interference
- Breaking Through Individualism is also Not Acknowledging the Old Forces
- 1. Welcome
Welcome to the July 2009 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.
As we start July, the dark memories of 20 July 1999 come back to us.
Let us not be despondent but look at how Master has given us the strength to
face adversities. Master has shown us how to turn crisis into opportunity,
by clarifying the truth and exposing the lies of CCP.
We should be steadfast in our path and do what Master expects us to do.
It is important for us to keep our righteous thoughts and clarify the truth to the world.
147 days are over since the disappearance of Gao Zhisheng. Please help save Gao Zhisheng. We would request you to visit http://www.freegao.com/ and sign the petition. Please do it if you haven�t already done it.
Please forward it to as many people possible to create awareness.
This issue has a compilation of experience-sharing Articles gleaned from Clearwisdom that always shine through because of their insights and fine quality of sharing. It is important to read the Clearwisdom, Pureinsight and other Dafa sites. We make an effort to select Articles from the Archives which people don�t go back to and are relevant even today. Contributions are welcome from practitioners.
Heshi! Hope, you like the selection of Articles and gain some new insights!
Note: "All the contents in this newsletter - except for quotations and excerpts of writings of the founder Mr. Li Hongzhi - are only ideas and experiences of practitioners and do not represent Falun Dafa in itself."
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- 2. What�s Happening?
After two articles appeared in early June in the Hindu and Deccan Herald, Bangalore, practitioners were invited to introduce Falun Dafa in two Homes for the Aged. The elderly people liked the concepts of Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance and made an effort to learn the exercises.
Many people are also coming to the practice site to learn the exercises. Some doctors took the day off and came to learn and perfect the exercises movements. They said they can relate to the medical benefits and gave their own understanding of the significance and impact of each movement.
Practitioners in all cities are planning what they can do to highlight the Tenth Year of persecution in China and make more people aware of the harrowing torture that has continued till today.
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- 3. Merciful Teacher Awakened Me
Experience sharing from the 2009 Canada Fa Conference
[PureInsight.org] I started to practice Falun Dafa in October 2004. My wife was already a practitioner. Prior to that, I had read Zhuan Falun and had done the exercises with my wife several times. However, I was too attached to fame, self-interest, and sentimentality and I didn�t really understand what Dafa was. My understanding of Falun Dafa was at the level of health and fitness. Although my wife had tried to persuade me to join her in cultivation, I kept putting if off because I didn�t think that I had any illnesses.
In 2004, I lost my bid for a much desired position during my company�s restructuring. I had no doubt that I deserved the position and I had worked very hard for it. But then it didn�t work out that way. When they announced that I would be staying in the same position and my subordinate would be promoted to the position above me, I was in despair. I felt I had lost face around people I know, and I wished that there was a hole in the ground that I could go into and hide. During that time, I didn�t want to talk to anybody. I was depressed and I felt that I could not face my friends and relatives. Then one day, I remembered a paragraph in Zhuan Falun.
�Yet one day this incompetent person gets a promotion instead of him and even becomes his supervisor. He will feel in his heart that it is unfair and complain to his boss and coworkers, feeling very upset and quite jealous.
I am telling you this principle that everyday people are unable to realize. You may think that you are good at everything, but your life does not have it. That person is good at nothing, but his life has it, and he will become a boss.�
This touched me a lot and I was no longer depressed. I picked up the phone and told my wife: �From now on, I will practice Falun Gong with you.� My wife was very happy to hear that.
And yet, my reason for practicing Falun Gong was not that pure. I thought as long as I do the exercises and read the book, that is cultivation, without realizing the profound Fa principles of Dafa. I slacked off as time went by. My wife was worried. She kept reminding me that I should cultivate myself well. But I just couldn�t be more diligent. I was holding onto my human attachments and at the same time, kept doing the exercises. During this time, Teacher also gave me hints and protected me, but I just didn�t enlighten.
I did not wake up until 2007, when I experienced a major ordeal. I decided to let go of my attachments and catch up with the Fa rectification. I realized the bountiful compassion of our teacher. He really didn�t want to lose even one practitioner. The following is my experience. I have written it down as a testimonial of Teacher�s grace and the magic of Falun Dafa.
In January 2007, there were opportunities in my company for our marketing staff to study in Canada. I was chosen by my boss to study in Canada, even though the study was not in line with my expertise. All my friends and relatives were happy for me. My family was very proud of me. The eight of us who were chosen by the company received four months of intensive English training in China. At the end of the training, we received our notice from the Canadian embassy to have a medical examination at a designated hospital.
So we went to the hospital for the check up. When they checked my blood pressure, I couldn�t believe my eyes. My pressure was 150/100. I have had annual physicals and I have never had this. So I asked the doctor to measure me again. But it got worse. I wondered whether the manometer was malfunctioning. But it seemed to work for other people. The doctor said, �You are a bit nervous. No need to measure it any more. I will tone it down a bit so it doesn�t affect your trip.� I just could not accept this result. I was very serious about my health. Other than doing the Falun Gong exercises, I was also swimming and playing table tennis daily to stay fit.
When I got home, I couldn�t sleep or eat well. My blood pressure was my biggest anxiety. I completely forgot that I was a cultivator. Teacher said,
�As true practitioners, we should look at issues from a very high level instead of from the perspective of everyday people. Should you believe that you are ill, this may really cause you to become ill. This is because once you assume that you are ill, your xinxing level will be as high as that of everyday people.�
�As a practitioner, if you always think that it is an illness, you are actually asking for it. If you ask for an illness, it will come inside your body. As a practitioner, your xinxing level should be high. You should not always worry that it is an illness, for this fear of illness is an attachment and it can bring you trouble just the same.�
I was studying Zhuan Falun, but I just couldn�t enlighten.
Since I was so attached to my health and thought about my blood pressure every day, whenever I had a chance, I measured myself. As a result, I managed to pursue my illness. I had symptoms. I was sick to my stomach and I found food repulsive. At times, I found my blood rushing to my head. My wife reminded me to let go of my thoughts of being sick. However, without righteous thoughts, I was miserable. How could I let go of it? During this time, I also studied the Fa and did the exercises and hoped to pass this ordeal. But I didn�t understand the principles well and I just wanted to be cured, so I never did elevate in my understanding.
A few days later, more symptoms appeared. I couldn�t take them any more and told my wife that I would like to see the doctor. It was getting close to the time to leave for Canada. My wife agreed knowing that I could not let go of my illnesses. That night, we went to the hospital. The doctor checked me and found nothing wrong except for my blood pressure. He suggested that I take an intravenous to bring it down. I agreed. But I was very nervous. I know that high blood pressure is permanent and one has to take medication forever. I was unhappy every time I thought about that. Half way through the intravenous, I had a bad reaction, and the doctor said that normally patients did not have reactions to this kind of medicine. But I was feeling really bad. I didn�t enlighten that I was a cultivator and I should not do this. Seeing that I was feeling terrible, the doctor stopped the IV and told me to come back to the hospital for a check up the next day. Hearing that, I felt even worse. I couldn�t sleep the whole night. The following day we went back to the hospital and found out that my blood pressure was still high. The doctor said that I had to take medication everyday. He gave me an assortment of medicine. My wife kept telling me to let go of my attachment and concentrate on cultivation. Although I promised her, I had too many things on my mind.
That night, we invited the local assistant to our place and we sent forth righteous thoughts, shared experiences, studied the Fa and did the exercises together. Everybody told me to let go of thoughts that are not righteous and have faith in Teacher and the Fa. Nothing bad would happen. When I placed incense in front of Teacher�s portrait, I begged teacher to strengthen me. Then a miracle happened. My blood pressure became normal for a few days. But my enlightenment quality was still low. I still felt that I had high blood pressure. Just as Teacher said in Zhuan Falun:
�There is another type of person. Someone was told in the past that he had spirit or animal possession. He felt that way as well. However, upon having it removed for him, his mind still worries about it. He always thinks that the condition still exists. He still thinks that it is there, and this is already an attachment called suspicion. As time passes, this person may bring it to himself again.�
Because I didn�t let go of self, my symptoms of sickness, fatigue and no appetite became more serious. As the departure date was approaching, I became more and more worried about my health. I could not cheer up, and didn�t even want to go. I wanted to get better at home and then go. Fellow practitioners all encouraged me to have faith in Teacher and the Fa. They said that this is the persecution of the old forces and we should not acknowledge it. I should just walk out and I would be fine.
With the encouragement of fellow practitioners, I left for Canada. When I got here, I started to have insomnia. At first, I thought it was jet-lag and I would get better after a few days. Then I was not able to sleep at all. I was sick to my stomach, had headaches and fatigue. I was not able to go to classes. I wanted to go back to China, but realizing that coming to Canada was an opportunity so hard to come by, I hung in there. Every day, I chatted with my wife and other practitioners online. They talked with me and encouraged me to maintain righteous thoughts. They reminded me that Teacher is always with me. I continued to study the Fa and do the exercises, however, because I didn�t get rid of my fundamental attachments and did not look inward, and was only pursing my own interest in the Fa, my symptoms just got worse. Then I went for another check-up and found that my blood pressure had gone up. This almost crushed me. I had very little righteous thoughts left. I would cry when I talked to my wife on the phone, feeling completely helpless in a foreign country. I had no interest in anything except wanting to have a sound sleep for just one night. I would rather have given up my well-paying job and go home. I asked the person in charge to purchase an airplane ticket for me.
And yet, my classmates managed to persuade me to see a doctor in the clinic at the university. I explained to the doctor what had happened and he said that he needed to watch me for a period of time. My classmates asked him to check my blood pressure. He refused because I had not been sleeping well and thus my blood pressure had to be high and I would feel more pressure as a result. My classmates insisted, so the doctor complied. At this time, I pleaded to Teacher to help me out. Surprisingly, my blood pressure turned out to be normal. I knew that Teacher had helped me. Really, I had no illness at all. It was my mindset. I should improve my character. So I cancelled my ticket and continued to study in Canada and cultivate myself well.
But my xinxing had not improved and my understanding was still at a low level. My blood pressure was normal, but my insomnia, headaches, and stomach sickness were not any better. After a while, I was depressed again and very miserable. Every day, I lived in fear and I was afraid of the nights and did not want to lie down in bed. I was about to collapse and didn�t know when this would end. Every day, I chatted with my wife on the Internet and complained about my misery.
My wife mailed me some medication for insomnia. I took it for a few days but it didn�t work. They said it was the most effective medicine available and it should work for me. So my wife mailed me a different medication. Then I realized that I should not take any drugs any more. If I cannot walk out of the ordeal with righteous thoughts and continue to practice, my life would not have any meaning. So I asked Teacher to strengthen me and not to let the medication arrive. With this thought, Teacher could see my determination. The medication never arrived. I continued to study the Fa and do the exercises and look inward, but I didn�t go very deep. Without finding my fundamental attachment, I was still feeling miserable.
Then my wife came to Canada on a visitor�s visa. We studied the Fa and did the exercises together and we read all of Teacher�s lectures and the articles on the Minghui website. I looked for my attachments one after another. I surprised myself: fear, seeking comfort, self-interest, competitiveness, jealousy, show-off mentality, and lust. I had never worked on any of those. They were the barriers in my cultivation. I was just an ordinary person, not any different. If a cultivator does not listen to Teacher and does not cultivate well, he or she becomes a target of the old forces. I enlightened. But then I had to get rid of it, too. I had to send forth righteous thoughts to get rid of the attachments and actually did get rid of them.
I had a good job in China. I was vice president of a company with two thousand employees, with good pay and benefits. I had an easy life. I should have used the opportunity to do the three things well, but I become too comfortable and lost in ordinary life. I spent a lot of time entertaining other officials and felt that I was very capable. My wife was worried and kept reminding me that I should focus on cultivation. But I didn�t take her seriously. I told her that I knew what I was doing. In fact, I was thinking to myself, �I don�t have any illnesses. I will make more money. I study the Fa and do the exercises regularly anyways. I won�t do anything that is bad.� I would encourage my wife to study the Fa and do the exercises, and I supported her to do the three things and I supported her donating money to the material production site and practitioners who needed financial assistance. As for myself, I read the Fa and did the exercises only when I had time. And yet, I kneeled down in front of Teacher�s portrait and burned incense everyday before I did the exercises because I was afraid that Teacher would not care about me anymore. Just as Teacher said:
�You do not have to worship a Buddha or burn incense. As long as you really practice cultivation according to the standard of a practitioner, Buddha will be very pleased to see you. If you always do bad deeds in other places, he will be disgusted to see you although you burn incense and kowtow to him. Isn�t this the truth? Genuine cultivation practice depends upon the person him or herself.�
My understanding was really shallow at that time. I regarded cultivation as doing things. My wife usually brought some Minghui magazines for me to read. I just picked and chose the articles as if I was reading a story book. I did not understand what Teacher said about Fa-rectification at all. I was lost in ordinary people�s life and was enjoying my very comfortable life. I could not deal with any trials and tribulations. I didn�t realize that this is a kind of persecution of the old forces. They just want to drag cultivators down. I thought I had a lot of virtue and therefore I was comfortable. When I realized this, I decided to negate the arrangements of the old forces. My wife and I decided to give up our life in China and stay in Canada, to break with our past and to get rid of our attachments to fame, self-interest and sentimentality, so that we could catch up with the Fa-rectification process.
The next attachment I needed to get rid of was my lust. I had a strong attachment to it and had thus received a lot of karma. I told my wife my darkest secrets so that they could not stay in my field. The pamphlet entitled, �Cultivating Hearts and Severing Desire,� by the Minghui website, touched the two of us a lot. We have since had a better understanding of lust. We realized that it was very important for cultivators to get rid of their attachments. So we decided to have separate bedrooms. Although we sometimes had sexual desires, we reminded ourselves that we were not ordinary persons and that we were cultivators. At the same time, we sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate the rotten minions in other dimensions. It has been two years now. We have been living in harmony, with no problems.
The other attachment is my fear. I was so attached to my health and afraid that I would have any illnesses. Due to the fact that I have not been sleeping well, I was exhausted. At night, as soon as I lied down and closed my eyes, I felt as if my soul was leaving me. I was afraid that I would disappear if I closed my eyes. So I just kept my eyes open, and the more I thought about it, the more difficult it was for me to fall asleep. It was a vicious cycle. Then I didn�t think about my body any more. I forced myself to go to sleep after sending forth righteous thoughts at midnight and just close my eyes and leave everything to Teacher. Whether or not I was able to sleep, I got up in the morning at 6:00 to send forth righteous thoughts and then do the five sets of exercises. No matter how bad I felt during the day, I would do whatever I was supposed to do. I would not let my sleeping problem bother me. I had to start from my heart. When I was able to let go of my attachment, I felt much better.
Gradually, after studying the Fa systematically, Teacher opened up my wisdom and allowed me to enlighten to many Fa principles. I finally understand the responsibilities and mission of Fa-rectification disciples. I have established my righteous thoughts to be a true Dafa disciple during the Fa-rectification period. I will no longer hold onto my own attachments. No matter what, I will do the three things well and save more people and get rid of my attachments, negate the arrangements of the old forces and have faith in Teacher and the Fa. After 8 months, I finally walked out of this ordeal.
Now I am immersed in Teacher�s grace and cultivate myself. I will do my best to do the three things well and live up to the standards of a Dafa disciple during the Fa-rectification period.Thank you, Teacher, for saving me.
Fellow practitioners, please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
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- 4. Reflections on Life: �I have often deplored that my body is not my own, when will I stop being consumed by self-interest?�
Author: Guan Ming
[PureInsight.org] If you haven�t learned how to take things lightly by the time you are middle aged, it will be hard to find satisfaction with anything in life. I recently ran into some old classmates from elementary and middle school. Although they were only in their 40�s, most of them had lost their hair and some even had white hair. It was hard to believe they were the same age as me. I asked them what had happened. They all said that life�s pressures and working long hours had aged them beyond their years. They asked me how I had managed to still be in such good health. I replied, �Once a person can take fame, gain, and desire lightly, he will immediately feel at peace. The first thing a person who is interested in cultivating himself has to do is eliminate desire and cleanse his mind.� If we look at this world calmly, we will observe that everyone is busy all their lives, but to what end? What does it take for a person to forget about all this and no longer pursue things so tirelessly? I think Dongpo Su said it best when he wrote, �I often deplore that my body is not my own, when will I stop being consumed by self-interest?�
Those words are from the Dongpo Su�s poem �A Saint by the River� (�Lin Jiang Xian�)
On the East Slope I became sober only to get drunk again.
When I came home it seemed the third watch.
My servant was asleep and his snores were like thunder.
I pounded on the gate but received no response.
So I walked to the Yangtze River with a cane,
Listening to the sound of the river running by.
I have often deplored that my body is not my own,
When will I stop being consumed by self-interest?
The night grew darker, the wind stopped,
The wrinkles of the mountain valley became smooth.
I will quit everything and row my small boat,
Entrusting my days to the river and sea.
When Dongpo Su wrote this Ci (a type of Chinese poetry), he had been demoted to Huangzhou city as a Militia Assistant. He stayed there for five years. As one could imagine, Dongpo Su was not happy about his new station, but he didn�t become demoralized. This Ci reflected the author�s open mind: his indifference to fame or gain, his yearning for freedom and peace of mind, and his open heart and upright mind. Dongpo deserved to be called a genius of bold and uninhibited character. �The night grew darker, the wind stopped, the wrinkles of the mountain valley became smooth.� That line describes a calm and relaxed scenery, such as could only be seen by a calm and free mind. He had come to realize the truth of life, so he said, �I will quit everything and row my small boat, entrusting my days to the river and sea.� How open-minded and removed he was from worldly affairs! Row a small boat, drift with the stream, travel down rivers and seas, go anywhere one wants, place one�s limited life into the hands of the unlimited nature�how elegant and natural it is! Dongpo stood aloof from honor and disgrace; he was no longer attached to worldly pursuits. That�s why his mind could reach beyond heaven and earth and compose those famous lines of verse.
Now one thousand years have passed, and most people are still seeking after fame and gain, wandering in this world, busy seeking profits all their lives. However limited material wealth is in this world, people�s desire for wealth is unlimited. People all know that, �One who is easily satisfied will easily find happiness,� but few can take fame and gain lightly. If one wants to live a happy life, one has to abandon one�s desires. That is essential. Being indifferent to fame and gain not only extends one�s life, but also purifies one�s mind and body, leaving one feeling content and unrestrained.
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- 5. Cultivating Oneself Well is also the Key to Saving Sentient Beings
By a Dafa practitioner in Mainland China
(Clearwisdom.net) We all know that in personal cultivation, cultivating oneself well is simply studying the Fa and cultivating the mind. But during the Fa rectification period, only through simultaneously doing the three things well can a Dafa practitioner cultivate oneself well. Of course, studying the Fa with a calm mind is the precondition of doing the three things well. So I want to talk about the significance of cultivating oneself well from the angle of studying the Fa with a calm mind. Cultivating oneself is also the key to saving sentient beings.
I experienced a period of deeply and perceptually understanding the importance of studying the Fa with a calm mind. I now share it with fellow practitioners hoping to show how closely related cultivating oneself well is to saving sentient beings.
The persecution started just after I obtained the Fa. My personal cultivation and validating the Fa were mingled together. Since the beginning of my cultivation, my primordial spirit has frequently left my body. Although the dimension that my primordial spirit initially entered was very evil, I felt that I had strength in my heart and I was guided by righteous thoughts. Although the density of evil was so high that I felt extreme mental pressure, I was determined to aggressively surpass the tribulation and overcome the difficulty. I had the courage to conquer the tribulation. Since then, I almost always broke through many kinds of tribulations in other dimensions. Although my heart trembled and it was difficult, overall I felt that the more I moved forward, the steadier my heart was, the stronger my righteous thoughts were and the less pressure I felt. At the same time, the evil dimensions and the evil in other dimensions lessened. I could distinguish more dimensions and experience more and more things.
Later, Master asked us to send forth righteous thoughts and eliminate evil with divine power. I realized only then that when my primordial spirit left my body, I actually was eliminating evil all the time. I just did not have a clear rational understanding about this. Afterwards, I wondered why my primordial spirit automatically left my body to eliminate evil almost every day when I did not know about eliminating evil and why I did not give any clear instruction to eliminate evil. I learned the reason later: every day I diligently studied the Fa with a calm mind and did actual cultivation.
Since the beginning of my cultivation, I have treated every day's Fa study with a calm mind as the key and always kept a serene mind. I strongly felt that the power and courage of my primordial spirit when it left my body and broke through the ordeals fundamentally came from my studying the Fa with a calm mind. I also intuitively felt that if I did well in studying the Fa with a calm mind every day, then automatically I had the best mentality and behavior in every day's practicing, bearing the pain in meditation, balancing the activities of ordinary life and handling relationships with family members who do not cultivate Falun Gong. It seemed very natural and could be achieved effortlessly without needing to think or arrange it.
For example, because I always studied the Fa calmly, I was in a constant state of serenity. I was barely afraid of difficulty when doing the exercises every day. From the beginning, the longest time that I could continue embracing the wheel was one hour and I could forbear the pain of meditation for one hour. Yet this was under the circumstance that I was cultivating at home after the persecution and there was no outside force to urge or supervise me. When there were conflicts with other people, I immediately looked inside. It took just a moment to overcome the uncomfortable feeling in my heart of not wanting to admit my mistake and I restored the mind of serenity right away. I did not feel uneasy, nor did I feel it was difficult. When handling everyday life routines, I did not go to the extreme either. Seeing it was the time to cook, I just cooked naturally. Seeing that the floor had become dirty, I just cleaned it naturally. Seeing dirty socks and other clothes that my family members had put on the clothes-washing platform, I washed them as needed.
Activities in everyday life are pretty commonplace. I did my best to hurry when doing these things, but I did not feel that it was wasting time to do these things and neither was my heart impatient. I did not even think about how a practitioner should do it well and so on before doing these things. I just did them naturally and did them well. I think that doing things naturally came from studying the Fa with a calm mind day after day. Precisely because of this, family members who did not cultivate did not oppose my cultivation and neither did they make any trouble for me. Even though I was later arrested, imprisoned, persecuted and became homeless because of validating the Fa and my family was often harassed and persecuted as a result, up to this day they have never complained and have continued to help me. Neighbors also treated my being persecuted with a positive attitude.
Studying the Fa with a calm mind brought out a stable and serene mind. When doing the three things with a serene mind, one's mind is pure, clear and clean. One also does not develop an attachment of a zealot. I think the reason that I could take good care of every aspect of cultivation and everyday life was because every day's Fa study with a calm mind was guaranteed. With a clear, righteous mind, a practitioner naturally does things in the direction of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance, naturally knows how to do things and can easily do things very well. Now I know why my primordial spirit automatically left my body almost every day to eliminate evil when I did not know I should eliminate evil and neither did I give any clear instruction to eliminate evil. It was because I gauged well from the root of studying the Fa with a calm mind every day. It was precisely because of this stable, pure compassionate status that the cultivated divine part of my body could be mobilized and "Your enlightened, original nature will automatically know what to do" ("Expounding on the Fa" from Essentials for Further Advancement). So I actually already participated in eliminating evil before Master asked us to eliminate evil with righteous thoughts. "Those whose primordial spirit can leave the shell are the ones who are able to control the divine part of their body that has completed cultivation" ("Teaching the Fa at the Discussion on Creating Fine Art"). Of course, whether your celestial eye is open or not, whether your primordial spirit can leave your shell or not, as long as you always maintain righteous thoughts, you have a positive effect and can eliminate evil.
The purpose of writing this article is to once again discuss the relationship between cultivating oneself well and saving sentient beings. Not being able to cultivate ourselves well from the root will definitely affect our saving sentient beings. The last remaining degenerated factors in the universe are still interfering with the Fa rectification and saving sentient beings. I think if we pay more attention to actual cultivation and cultivate ourselves well when doing the three things, then we will quickly decompose those last remaining evil factors in the universe. With a sober mind that is not controlled by other factors, sentient beings can treat Dafa wisely and make the best choices--choose not to interfere with Fa rectification, choose being saved, and choose a wonderful future.
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- 6. Reaching Consummation amidst the Fa
By a practitioner from Australia
(Clearwisdom.net) From attending our recent group study, I have gained a deeper understanding of the Fa [Law or Principles].
The first thing that I came to an understanding about was about "tests." I had thought before that whenever I had a conflict in my heart, felt angry, wronged, or my zealotry was shown, it was to test my xinxing [mind/heart nature, moral character]. When I read Teacher's lecture in Boston: "Let me tell you, no matter how well you've cultivated, as long as you still have everyday people's attachments, those are what demons can use, and when you're not paying attention they can be used at any moment." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston") I understand that when a thought jumps into our head, if we can analyze it from the standpoint of the Fa, then every thought is an opportunity for us to improve. Maybe some practitioners would think that it is an attachment to be too picky and strict on every action and every thought. My understanding is that the cultivation of the mind is related to the cultivation of body. As Teacher said in the book Zhuan Falun, "This high-energy matter has intelligence, and it is very capable. Once it increases and becomes denser, it will fill up all cells in the human body and repress human physical cells -- the most incompetent cells. Once the cells are repressed, they will no longer undergo metabolism. In the end, the human physical cells will be completely replaced."
The purpose of studying the Fa is to replace our acquired notions with the Fa, and eventually to have our every thought and every action meet the requirements of the Fa. This is also in my view the moment when we break through the final surface layer, and the moment when the Fa rectifies the human world. I think that this might be one important reason why Teacher always tells us to study the Fa more frequently. I notice that many practitioners have the attachment to time. No matter how big the attachment is, or how small it is, they all interfere with the progress of Fa rectification. Therefore, I feel that everyone should be paying attention to his every thought. Especially during this extremely important moment, we cannot give the old forces any chance to try to damage the Fa.
I still remember that when I first began to study the Fa, I was looking for tribulations. I hoped that the tribulations could come sooner so that I could improve quickly. After I studied the Fa for a longer time, I thought that I could just wait and eliminate it when it came to me. Finally, I understand that all interference is caused by myself not studying the Fa thoroughly. When the interference appeared, I felt sad because no matter what it was, it was still necessary that I eliminate it. At this moment, I often talked with it and hoped that it could assimilate to Dafa. My interference only exists because I need to improve in some way. I know that lots of sentient beings do not know the truth about Falun Gong. Our own attachments can cause lots of sentient beings to destroy their futures, so purifying our every thought is very important.
The second point I'd like to make is about group Fa study. Because we do not have a deep understanding about the Fa, sometimes people only care for the formality that shows on the surface during group Fa study. Everyone reads some of the Fa and then discusses (but actually the discussion does not follow Teacher's instruction about discussion in the book of Explaining the Content of Falun Dafa). So when a problem would pop up and needed to be solved, practitioners did not analyze and understand the problem from the perspective of the Fa, but instead would only focus on the details involved in the method used to solve the problem. We would spend a lot of time on conventional thinking, and we missed the most important part of the problem. I think that this is a big obstacle that stops us from improving as a whole body. If we have righteous belief in our Teacher and remember to look inside ourselves, we can find the cause of the problem from the Fa. When it is clear, then we can arrive at a course of action within our discussion and at the same time, we can improve as a whole body. One more thing is that we should use a bigger heart to treat everything that is happening around us, and treat our fellow practitioners with a pure and compassionate heart while improving as a whole.
The above is my personal understanding. Please kindly point out any incorrectness.
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- 7. The Evil Seizes Every Opportunity to Do Harm: Three Types of Interference
By a Falun Dafa practitioner in Mainland China
(Clearwisdom.net)
The first type of interference: Sudden state of eliminating karma in my body
One night after dinner, I suddenly developed a fever. Instantly, I thought that the fever had occurred in order to eliminate my karma, and subsequently it became more serious. I slept and was bedridden where I could not even read Zhuan Falun or do anything at all. I began to doubt whether it was the elimination of karma but rather thought that it could be disturbance by the evil forces. I immediately thought that I should not look for any excuse to escape the elimination of karma, so I resolved to endure. Right after this thought, the fever immediately became more serious and I felt so cold that my whole body was trembling. After a long time in this state, I realized that this is not right, it is the evil persecuting me tonight. I could not do Fa-rectification work or study the Fa, therefore it is obviously the evil interfering with me. I immediately remembered Teacher's words, "...thinking about eliminating the bad thoughts in their minds, karma, and bad notions or external interference..." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2001 Canada Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference"). Just one sentence relaxed my body immediately, and five minutes later, my body was back to a normal state. It was like awakening from a dream. The evil really took advantage of a loophole that was my lingering attachment to eliminating my personal karma. I realized that I had an unclear understanding of how "Fa-Rectification Dafa Disciples" need to treat the elimination of karma, with the understanding of their past personal cultivation. Therefore, the evil forces had taken advantage of this attachment to disturb me and make me unable to do Fa-rectification work, unable to study the Fa and unable to send forth righteous thoughts, thus achieving their purpose of damaging Falun Dafa.
I also enlightened to the concept that if one is unclear about the principles of Falun Dafa, he will waver, unintentionally let himself endure what he should not endure, and also prevent the advancement of the Fa-rectification work that he should do.
Teacher said, "So, it was arranged that when you reach the standard for ordinary Consummation, you still have, in the human world, all kinds of ordinary human thoughts and karma. The purpose is so that while doing Fa-rectification things, you clarify the truth, whereby you all bring in, for the consummation of your paradises, beings that can be saved. As you consummate your own paradises you are, at the same time, eliminating your last karma, gradually getting rid of your human thoughts, and truly stepping forward from humanness" (from Teacher's article "Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciples"). From this experience, I have gained a deeper understanding of the Teacher's words.
The second type of interference: Sudden sickness of family members or running into abnormal troubles
Recently, one night, a member of my family suddenly suffered from diarrhea. At first I did not know, because I was in another room, but when I found out about it, she unexpectedly got angry and then cried loudly. It was already about 10:30 p.m., and I thought calmly that her state was somewhat abnormal, so I did not comfort her using the human way but instead sent forth righteous thoughts to eradicate the evil things that were interfering with her. Then, for a long time, she did not experience any interference.
There was also a week when her relatives and friends from several places, continuously tried to contact her, all at the same time. She rarely had any contact with these people, and became very annoyed. She even felt very unusual herself. Fortunately, I knew about the factors behind these things and so it did not create any interference for me. Since the evil could not affect me, the troubles disappeared quickly, after only a week. The things that happened around me made me have a clearer understanding of evil. The evil forces took every opportunity to interfere with our Fa-rectification work, such as interfering with our family members, our daily trivial matters, and personal interests. I realized that if the Fa-rectification Dafa disciples' lack sufficient understanding of how cultivation must continue during the Fa-rectification period, differently from past cultivation, an opportunity would be created for evil to interfere. I further understood that we must still use the understanding based both on our past cultivation efforts and our human ways in order to understand and handle evil interference as it occurs. If we fail to see the difference of cultivation during Fa-rectification, or cannot clearly distinguish and identify the evil as it interferes, we will leave loopholes where we become vulnerable to the evil interference and will waste a great deal of time, and delay performing important Fa-rectification work.
The third type of interference: The evil is taking advantage of the loophole in our thinking, "If we have attachments, the evil will take advantage of our loopholes"
One night, I was lying in bed thinking about how things are different during Fa-rectification. I thought, "I hope I don't fall asleep here, because it would be an attachment of seeking comfort and the evil would take advantage of this loophole again." As expected, after a little while, I fell asleep and later awakened with a stomachache. I thought at that time that it was really the evil taking advantage of a loophole, so I immediately got up to read Zhuan Falun. But because I always thought the evil would take advantage of a loophole and always feared a stomachache (to fear something is to seek it, in fact I was inviting this tribulation), then my stomach really ached and I suffered the entire night. I sent forth righteous thoughts several times but it was no use. On the next day, I was even more alert. Every time I did something, I would think, "I can't have any attachments, if I have an attachment, the evil will take advantage of my loophole." It was all right as long as I did not think about it, but if I thought about it, my stomach would ache for a little while. Suddenly, I remembered an experience told to me by a fellow practitioner, "I don't allow the evil to persecute me simply because I have attachments." Immediately, I realized that besides my attachment of fear and other attachments, I also had an attachment that was hidden very deeply, that was behind the thought "If we have attachments, the evil will take advantage of our loopholes." I had accepted in disguised form that it was reasonable for the old forces to persecute Falun Dafa practitioners because they had attachments. The Teacher said, "A Dafa disciple completely opposes everything arranged by the evil old forces" (from Teacher's article "Dafa is Indestructible"). Wasn't this notion of mine conceding to the evil forces' persecution of Falun Dafa and Falun Dafa practitioners? Instead of opposing the evil, we have given them a reason and an opportunity to persecute us. After I realized this, I resolved immediately, "Even if I have an attachment, I will not allow the evil to persecute me" and sent forth righteous thoughts to eradicate the evil immediately. My physical ailments disappeared at once and have never returned again
Another practitioner shared their enlightenment in this area with me. They told me that recently, some fellow practitioners were illegally arrested, some summarized their lessons, by saying, "One of the practitioners was taken advantage of by the evil because he had attachments." I have gained a new understanding on this. I believe it is a fact that we had attachments, and it is also a fact that the evil took advantage of us because we had attachments. However, we also need to add an important point of understanding: Even if we have attachments, we need to take measures to prevent the evil from persecuting us! We must eradicate the evil at all times! This understanding is also very important.
Finally, I also learned from the experience that evil takes every opportunity to persecute us, but this is a good thing for us, as it will enable us to recognize the nature of the evil with a clear mind and allow us to more clearly see our own shortcomings. It will also strictly require us to get rid of all of our attachments in all areas and let ourselves advance and become more mature during Fa-rectification. When we improve and purify ourselves, we can then have the ability to eradicate the evil and do better during Fa-rectification. Therefore, we should cherish this environment.
Fellow practitioners, please point out the mistakes in my above experience so that they can be corrected.
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- 8. Breaking Through Individualism is also Not Acknowledging the Old Forces
(Clearwisdom.net) The old forces have made many, many arrangements. From everyone's individual environment, family factors, from the time of our birth through adulthood, in the formation of our temperaments, thinking, concepts, and so on, there is nothing that is not arranged by the old forces.
Their motives in so doing are, firstly, their so-called offer to let us acknowledge, in this Fa-rectification period, their arrangements and their tests, in order to "temper" us to maturity. Secondly, within this period they could make use of the special characteristics that they had arranged for us to smoothly control us to completely follow the requirements that they had taken pains to meticulously arrange at every level so as not to throw into disorder what they had arranged; thus they achieve their aims.
As Dafa practitioners, we know that we must not acknowledge anything that the old forces have arranged. We do not recognize the old forces. This must be reflected in our actions and conscious thoughts. Because the arrangements by the old forces are so meticulous, they are not easily discernable. We can therefore easily become complacent and unintentionally or unconsciously conform to the arrangements of the old forces.
All of us have our own concepts and temperaments. Only those who cultivate like us are able to alter them. Because we are immersed in the midst of humanity, if we do not study the Fa well, we can easily utilize our concepts to deal with problems and adversely affect our work in Dafa. To do well, we must overcome them and alter them.
Sometimes we hear fellow practitioners say that they like this, dislike that, or that during the day they cannot study the Fa well and must study at night; or within a certain period, they do not feel like reading the books, but only wish to listen to the audio tapes, and so forth and so on. Is this the correct way we should be thinking? Can these be arranged by the old forces?
If we are blocked and restrained to the extent that we cannot even study the Fa diligently because of our individual sentiments, concepts of goodness or evil, etc., we will no longer be able to smoothly cooperate and coordinate with fellow practitioners in our Dafa work. This is to submit to the arrangements of the old forces. Dafa practitioners must "break through individualism," break through the individualism arranged by the old forces, see through them, not acknowledge them--then we can achieve a new life within the Fa. Our every thought and consideration must come from the Fa. When doing Dafa work and in the manner we treat Fa-rectification, we must have this clear and sober understanding.
We must pay close attention to our every thought and consideration. We must be aware of breaking through the forms of base thoughts, sentiments, concepts, laziness and desire for ease and comfort and so on. It is crucial that we are not only cultivators in society, but we must have correct expressions of righteousness, as these are of utmost importance to our being clearly and consciously assimilated into the Fa, and in the validation of the Fa.
In " Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference" Teacher stated: "Speaking from another angle, my disciples, when the old forces are able to do what they want to do, isn't that because you've silently consented to what they want to do?" "Now since you're practitioners, if in this tribulation you can manage to not acknowledge the old forces' arrangements, then you've made it through. And those who haven't done well, in essence, aren't you acknowledging the old forces' arrangements? Once you acknowledge them isn't it like you're part of their group? Because you haven't done well amidst the persecution it's caused instability among the practitioners and aggravated the persecution, so aren't you, too, adding fuel to the fire and helping the evil? Negate them, completely negate everything of the old forces!"
Let us be more steadfast and wiser in the last portion in our path of Fa-rectification.
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