Click on the below-mentioned, numbered subjects:
- Welcome
- What’s Happening?
- Practitioners Must Cultivate Compassion
- Everyday People, Good People, and People Who Practice Cultivation
- In a Few Words: Study the Fa - Don't Pursue Knowledge
- Remaining Unaffected, Becoming Calmer, More Mature and Clearheaded While Striving Forward Together
- A Reminder on the Issue of Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts
- No Guilt in My Heart
- 1. Welcome
Welcome to the June 2008 Falun Dafa India Newsletter.
You must have read about New York’s Chinese Consul General organizing a mob of several-hundred Chinese immigrants to assail Falun Gong practitioners in Flushing, New York day. Violence against Falun Gong practitioners keep erupting in different parts of the world.
It is important for us to keep our righteous thoughts and clarify the truth to the world.
Please visit this site and fill in the petition. Also join in the world wide
signature collection campaign.
www.thepetitionsite.com/14/help-stop-the-killing-of-falun-gong-practitioners-in-china
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?
The The Bangalore practitioners organized the Truth, Compassion, Tolerance Art Exhibition from 11 to 13 May at The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
There was a good response and most people who visited the exhibition appreciated the high quality of the paintings and expressed shock when they saw paintings of the torture of Falun Dafa practitioners. Many schools and colleges invited practitioners to introduce the exercises in their institutions. Practitioners from other Indian cities and some practitioners from Malaysia and a practitioner from Poland had attended the 3 day session.
The exhibition concluded on World Falun Dafa Day with a small celebration.
The local Press gave a modest coverage to the Art Exhibition.
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- 3. Practitioners Must Cultivate Compassion
By a Falun Dafa practitioner
(Clearwisdom.net) Recently I discovered that I had a long-term and very serious problem: I was not compassionate. A practitioner who is not compassionate can understand quite a few Fa-principles. I myself was just like this. A practitioner like this probably understands what compassionate actions are on very important issues, and can also give up his own attachments. In this way, he can have wisdom at a certain level, but still, he does not have a compassionate heart.
The lack of compassion with which I am familiar manifests when a practitioner does not know how to care for others, and does not cherish the lives of beings from within his heart. Righteous Fa-enlightened beings are like a deep well of compassion, nurturing all lives, encompassing and caring for all lives. However, those who understand Fa-principles but are not compassionate are not like this. They are nothing more than wise men.
Some such persons do not feel their above-mentioned shortcomings, but may feel that they have not completely gotten rid of their attachments, and that it is easy for those attachments to recur once in a while. Others may feel that they do not have the real motivation for cultivation. Actually these lives continue in cultivation for themselves, as they hope with selfish hearts to gain benefits after improving their realms. But they do not have compassion in their inner hearts. Their goals are supposedly to improve their realms and be responsible for the lives of beings, but these goals exist in name only.
These persons have a rectified brilliance that is only superficial. They keep talking about the Fa-principles in words while in their hearts they do not have compassion. Master Li has pointed out, "Those who are attached to their reputations practice an evil way, full of intention. Once they gain renown in this world, they are bound to say good but mean evil, thereby misleading the public and undermining the Fa"("Cultivators' Avoidances," Essentials for Further Advances).
Persons who lack compassion have a very serious problem cultivating Dafa, as this shows that the foundation of their lives has degenerated greatly. Even when dealing with issues of righteousness and wickedness, their minds are unmoved and they do not want to change themselves fundamentally. But for all beings who are willing to give up whatever they had before, everything will be rectified.
I will thoroughly re-mold myself, and become a being that is worthy of salvation by the righteous Fa.
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- 4. Everyday People, Good People, and People Who Practice Cultivation
(Clearwisdom.net)
During the course of Fa-rectification cultivation, many fellow practitioners and I have experienced "family tests." Our family members and relatives have also suffered from the evil's persecution to some degree or another because of their relationship with us, and sometimes they complain about it and hold negative emotions against us, making some of us relatively passive at times.
Through this cultivation process, my personal experience and understanding has been this: As Dafa practitioners, we are, first of all, members of society. Therefore, the way we speak and act should conform to ordinary human society's form. Moreover, we must be good people in ordinary human society and demonstrate the righteous human principles of "sincerity, kindness, and tolerance." Just as Teacher instructs us in Zhuan Falun: "We must be good and kind to others, not to mention to our family members. We should treat everyone in the same way. We must be good to our parents and children and be considerate of others in all respects. Such a heart is thus unselfish, and it is a heart of kindness and benevolence." We must care about our friends and relatives, and sincerely and selflessly consider them at all times. We must also, to the best of our abilities, use what we have enlightened to from the Fa to help them with problems in their everyday life and work, and use righteous words and actions to positively influence the people and things around us. Conducting ourselves this way will have a very powerful effect. Oftentimes, even when we try our best but still feel like we fall short, ordinary people will nonetheless be able to feel our sincerity and kindness.
When negative emotions and conflicts in our households arise that lead our family members to think negatively of Dafa, we must send forth righteous thoughts to eliminate any interference and clarify the truth to our family members. Sending forth righteous thoughts can eradicate the evil's remaining field while clarifying the truth can rectify a person's incorrect thoughts. At the same time, as practitioners we must look inwards to first determine whether or not the causes of the conflicts are within ourselves. Some practitioners might not pay as much attention to their words and actions while at home, and might easily loosen the requirements on themselves when spending time with family members and relatives. This is an omission that should be corrected in cultivation practice.
Teacher said in the article "Principles for Disciples Who Are Monks and Nuns" (Essentials For Further Advancement): "Disciples! As for disciples practicing cultivation at home, they will gradually, thoroughly abandon attachments to the secular world. But for disciples who are monks or nuns, this is a prerequisite that they must meet from the very beginning, as well as a requirement for becoming a monk or nun." I feel that at the present time in Fa-rectification, it has come to the point where practitioners practicing cultivation at home also need to seriously eradicate the sentiments and attachments they have towards the secular world and their families. Only when we let go of these attachments can we be truly kind and good towards all of our family members and relatives in our hearts. Because our hearts will be for the welfare of others, they will fill with broad and immense compassion.
When we truly act like this, we will be able to experience what Teacher said in Zhuan Falun: "As you continually practice and follow our xinxing requirements in cultivation practice, your energy will gradually become more powerful." "When an evil-minded person is thinking of something bad, this person might change his mind due to the powerful effect of your field; he might then no longer want to commit the wrongdoing. Perhaps a person wants to swear at someone. Suddenly, he may change his mind and will not want to swear. Only the energy field from cultivation practice in a righteous way can produce this effect." A practitioner with an extremely righteous energy field can exert a subtle, powerful influence on everything around him. When we truly reach a practitioner's standard, when we truly have a kind heart, and when we truly use "compassion and benevolence" to deal with everything around us, we will find that our surrounding environments will already have improved, the disharmonious factors in our households will no longer exist, and everything will be in a state of beauty and happiness.
This is only my superficial view, please point out anything incorrect.
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- 5. In a Few Words: Study the Fa - Don't Pursue Knowledge
(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, I found that some practitioners were studying the Fa with the mentality of wanting to enlighten to the principles of higher level in the Fa. Consequently, their understanding often went awry. As a matter of fact, it was studying the Fa with the attachment of pursuit while one was trying to enlighten to something in Dafa. A practitioner's thought karma and demons in other dimensions will take advantage of this attachment to create interferences that will encourage the practitioner to over-emphasize self-satisfaction and to think that he or she really does enlighten to some profound principles in the Fa. However, when practitioners truly enlighten to the principles in Dafa, their enlightenment can only be manifested at their corresponding xinxing realm with their words and action. Practitioner's enlightenment is not just a superficial understanding driven by the competitive mentality lurking in his or her sub-consciousness.
Actually when a practitioner studies the Fa with the mentality of pursuit, that practitioner is already treating Dafa as an everyday person's knowledge to discuss and study. In the process, when the competitive mentality and strong self-awareness of that practitioner naturally shows, how could the principles of Dafa at different levels be unfolded to him or her? On the contrary, when we are in front of the ultimate Great Fa of the cosmos that creates everything in the cosmos and read the Fa only with piety and respect, then the principles of Dafa will naturally unfold to us and "gain things naturally without pursuing them" ("Seeking Discipleship with Teacher" from Essentials For Further Advancement).
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- 6. Remaining Unaffected, Becoming Calmer, More Mature and Clearheaded While Striving Forward Together
By Yiyan
(Clearwisdom.net)
"Under any difficult circumstance, everyone, remain calm in your hearts. Just by staying unaffected, you will be able to handle all situations." ["Lecture on the Fa at the U.S. Midwest Conference" June 26, 1999, Provisional translation] Many practitioners have remembered this well by heart. Teacher told us about this at the Fa conference in Chicago when July 20, 1999, was approaching. Over the past five years of this persecution, we have all known not to compromise when faced with the evil and that under increasingly grueling environments we will still remain steadfast in our cultivation of Dafa to the very end. During this time many of our Dafa practitioners have handled these situations successfully, with a firm and strong convictions.
Recently I came to the sudden realization that the fact that I am "still cultivating in Dafa" does not mean that I have been cultivating everyday and that doing large amounts of Dafa work everyday does not mean that I have been "cultivating steadfastly." In addition to staying unaffected when faced with the test of cultivating or not cultivating, the Fa also measures and guides our day-to-day cultivation.
For example, many practitioners become quickly irritated when they see someone strongly attached to something or when they see someone's improper behavior. Even when the incident is over, their minds still remain uncomfortable and unsettled when they think about it. When you do this you are behaving like an everyday person, because at that moment your mind is greatly provoked by what you perceive as others' shortcomings, and you completely overlook the fact that you, yourself, are provoked. Even less do you think about looking inward to see why you are so disturbed in your heart. At that moment, your thoughts are not about treasuring this opportunity to cultivate yourself by eradicating your attachments created by this particular situation and thereby elevating your character. Instead, you are complying with everyday people's notions and thinking, seeing the situation as a problem or an obstacle to achieving your goal. You also forget what it means to be truly good or how to be truly benevolent to someone.
If you think it over calmly, others' attachments are not an excuse for not cultivating ourselves. Teacher told us that anything a cultivator encounters is not accidental and is, on the contrary, an opportunity for us to improve ourselves. It does not really matter whether it is the old forces taking advantage of our loopholes or self-imposed troubles arising from holding on to our attachments, these can all become stepping stones to elevating our character.
As a cultivator, there are so many areas to watch and be careful not to be affected by. For example, when your plans for Dafa work are disrupted; when you cannot meet a deadline; when you are criticized, reprimanded, wronged, or scorned by someone; when your mistakes are exposed before everyone; when you feel that others do not support or understand your work; when the temptations of everyday people's fame, gain and affection come along; when fellow practitioners, family members or friends praise you or do not understand you; when you clarify the truth and are met with people's rejection or unkind words; and so on. At moments like these, if you can truly consider yourself a Dafa disciple, then these are all stepping stones to improving ourselves in cultivation. In other words, cultivating oneself well and remaining truly unprovoked should be unconditional--it does not matter whether it is something big or trivial, whether it is an overwhelming, external evil pressure or a temptation or shockwave in your daily life that appears to be accidental. I don't know if this counts as one of the basics of cultivation, but it can clearly reveal a cultivator's demeanor.
Through cultivation I have come to understand that, before our cultivation is complete, because we still have human thoughts, there will still be moments when we will be provoked. However, the overall tendency is toward becoming more and more tranquil, peaceful, stable, and serene, and this should be the ideal state. Besides, in Fa-rectification cultivation, as soon as we are provoked we realize it, and as soon as we realize it we search within ourselves without reservation, and when we find our attachments, we send righteous thoughts to eliminate them. This means that our cultivation practice will be a rapid one. Historically we could not find any cultivation method as easy as this one, for Teacher has truly and surely given us everything and has done everything that can be done for us. What is left for us relies on a personal mentality that always remembers to cultivate, that wants to cultivate, and that genuinely cultivates with determination and righteous thoughts.
Meanwhile, it is only when we continue to improve our character and to cultivate to the high levels that Teacher intends for us to reach that we completely eliminate all the old forces' arrangements. It is only when we pay attention to cultivating our character that we can do the "three things" well: studying the Fa, clarifying the truth, and sending forth righteous thoughts. Otherwise, these activities turn into a routine formality or become a matter of "taking care of business" or something to "handle." Also, we may feel inadequate to accomplish what we want, that we have reached our limit, or that we want to indulge in an easy and comfortable life. After being provoked by fame, gain or affection we may even behave in ways that are not in line with the Fa-rectification's requirements. Any of these mindsets will definitely prevent us from accomplishing Dafa practitioners' historical mission. If we have a solid cultivation foundation, we will be calm and rational in the face of any grueling environment or conflict, and we definitely will not have any doubt or uncertainty about Dafa, because every moment we are cultivating in and are assimilated to Dafa. It is only by studying the Fa and cultivating our character that we are able to fundamentally break through all interference and obstacles in the course of doing the three things.
Of course, a Dafa practitioner's ability to stay unaffected and not be provoked by external factors is only achieved through cultivation and not by simply pretending to be undisturbed. You cannot just appear unaffected on the surface while your mind is in turmoil. Neither is it simply staying unaffected like a piece of wood without thoughts or personality; instead, it is true tolerance, open-mindedness and rationality. When a cultivator reaches such a state, he or she will truly be responsible to others and treat others benevolently from the bottom of his or her heart, possessing true calmness, rationality and wisdom, for this is the natural manifestation of a cultivator's nature, a manifestation of a god's nature.
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- 7. A Reminder on the Issue of Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts
By a Dafa practitioner in the Midwest USA
(Clearwisdom.net) During the Midwest U.S. Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference held in Chicago, I had an opportunity to participate in the conference as a staff member. During the ten minutes of sending forth righteous thoughts, I once opened my eyes to monitor the conference site. Since I was sending forth righteous thoughts in a standing position, I had a clear view of the site. I found that many practitioners' hand postures had become more or less distorted.
When holding the palm erect, quite a number of practitioners' hands were not straight, and they became tilted further and further as time went on. Furthermore, some practitioners' hands even became closed and turned into a fist. Some people seemed to realize the distortion of their hand postures, and made adjustments. However, one minute later, their hands became slanted again. Along with the distortion of their hand postures, some people nodded their heads and fell asleep. When holding the lotus hand position, many practitioners' two hands gradually converged. Some individuals even joined the two hands so that it became like a Heshi position.
The hand postures and the two-line formula used in sending forth righteous thoughts are the precious weapons Master has given us to eliminate the evil, and they are powerful weapons in the battle between righteousness and evil. Thus, we should perform the hand postures well. Master said in "Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference,""Well in principle, as long as you're rational and clearheaded, making hand gestures or not won't affect anything. But, it's apparent from your hand gestures whether you've entered into tranquility or not, or if you've fallen into a foggy state. So when you send righteous thoughts you have to be alert. And what's that state like? It's very pleasant, as if everything is still and quiet and the whole body is enveloped by energy." I suggest that everyone should have this understanding from now on during sending forth righteous thoughts, and make more effort to maintain the correct hand postures. In fact, if we apply just a little bit of force, we should be able to keep the palm straight. Often we become sleepy when sending forth righteous thoughts, and when the ten minutes are over, we immediately become awake and no longer feel sleepy. Think about it, isn't this interference by the old forces? Let us reject this kind of interference, eliminate the evil with righteous thoughts and save the sentient beings.
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- 8. No Guilt in My Heart
By Yi Chun
I have often asked myself, "As a Fa-rectification disciple, do I feel guilty in my heart?"
Especially when I read Teacher's encouraging words and praises, "Dafa practitioners are outstanding and great!" I would feel terribly guilty in my heart. I felt guilty for not having done a good job in cultivation; I felt guilty for not being able to study the Fa and send righteous thoughts peacefully; I felt sorry for not being able to clarify the truth in a more compassionate way; I felt upset for not being able to pass cultivation tests while still being attached to many human ways of thinking.
The closer to the end, the more attachments I could feel, the more anxious I felt in my heart, the more sadness I would feel. Would Teacher be very disappointed in me? Is Teacher still taking care of me?
Finally one day when I was doing the sitting meditation, I suddenly felt that my whole body was empty; nothing was there. I was totally emerged in a kind of energy and I was even levitating! When I realized that I was levitating, which I had never experienced before, tears came to my eyes. I was so touched. I said to myself, "Teacher has never given up on me and Teacher has always been taking care of me!"
I suddenly enlightened to this: After all, I had understood Teacher in a human way! Although I was once confused, sad, and not diligent in cultivation, Teacher never gave up on me. Teacher was always encouraging me every time, giving me clues and protecting me. How compassionate Teacher has always been! If I still cannot do well in cultivation and still am pessimistic, how can I face Teacher's benevolent salvation and boundless mercy?!
I know now: In order to do well and to live up to the title "Fa-Rectification Dafa Disciple", to be deserving of the highest honor that Teacher has offered to us, to be worthy of the expectation and waiting of all beings, to be worthy of my own oath and tremendous wish of the past, I should transform my guilty feeling to no guilt through action; only in such a way do we deserve these words of Teacher, "Dafa practitioners are outstanding and great!"
If we can achieve "no guilty feeling from the heart", it may also be a kind of highest state of cultivation. In the Chinese language, the character for "guilty" is based on the meaning of "ulterior motive." If we always do things above board and clear-headedly, we are naturally in the cultivation state of "no guilty feeling from the heart."
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